Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Introduction
Discovering Maine
Adventure is worthwhile in itself
. - Amelia Earhart
T
he farthest east of any state, and the largest and wildest of any in
New England, Maine is often perceived as the literal end of the line.
In many ways it is.
But that is not the entire story.
Granted, there is only one major interstate highway in and out. Regular
passenger rail service is only now coming to fruition. Only two airports -
Bangor and Portland - have regular service by commercial jets, although
scheduled flights by commuter air serve most larger towns.
West Quoddy Head with its distinctive red-and-white-striped lighthouse
near Lubec is the easternmost point in the United States. The Appala-
chian Trail, a 2,158-mile footpath that begins on Springer Mountain in
Georgia, ends atop mile-high Katahdin in Baxter State Park. More than
a thousand hikers begin down south each year. Fewer than 200 will fin-
ish the entire journey. Yet even as one path ends, another begins. A new,
International Appalachian Trail, which heads north to Mount Jacques
Cartier in Quebec, begins at the base of Katahdin.
Maine is the only state in the lower 48 that borders only one other state.
Except for a long frontier with New Hampshire the only way in or out is
through another country - Canada - or by sea.
Just over one million year-round residents are spread out over more than
20 million acres of land. With most major population centers located in
the southern part of the state, the farther north you go the faster the pop-
ulation density drops. It's not long before moose and loons begin to out
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number humans.
Popular trends, fads and crazes seem to hit Maine last - if at all.
Distance both physically and culturally has created a land rich in closely
held tradition. Yet a steady stream of visitors, connections to the world at
large, and an almost institutional rejection of insular attitudes has re
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sulted in a society remarkably open to embracing new ideas, methods
and fashions - providing they bring with them sufficient utilitarian pur
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pose or practical application to stand the test of time.
