USA – Maine to home August 9-30, 2025
MAINE (Portland, Augusta, Bangor, Presque Isle)
Cross the bridge, and the border station is at the end. Immigration was fast.
Price of gas: Use convertgasprice.com to convert USD/gallon to CAD/litre.
I bought the cheapest gas in northern Maine at an Irving station in Columbia Falls – US$3.539 = CA$1.28. This is about 25 cents less than in the Atlantic provinces of Canada.
I saw a few stations with $3.339, but then nothing but $3.899. I finally filled up in New Hampshire for $3.579. The price only got higher as I entered Massachusetts.
For the entire trip, $3.25 in North Dakota was the cheapest, with uncommonly high prices of $3.33 and more often in the $3.45-$3.55 range.
The cheapest gas is in the towns, not on the highways.
Centre Street Congregational Church/United Church of Christ, Machias, Maine
Formed in 1782, this building was erected in 1836. “Open and Affirming” is the motto of this wonderful church. It has a tall spire and stands out from the road. I decided to see it.
A door on the left side was open (I was surprised). Nobody was around. The hall itself is a plain square with a high flat ceiling, but what is inside is very special – the original pews, the floor slopes downwards so everyone has a view, a children’s play area with big soft bean bags, four rocking chairs, and a selection of paintings with the church in it. The best, though, are the tall stained glass windows full of great scenes, many not religious. Every pane is framed by lead came around jewels, some painted scenes, flowers, everything. Most are dedicated to people, including family names like Longfellow and Smith.
The most surprising was the display in the front entrance affirming LGBT rights!!!!!! With many excellent pamphlets labelled the Trevor Project.
BAR HARBOR & Acadia National Park
Duck Brook Bridge. This magnificent stone bridge is one of 16 Rockefeller bridges on the carriage way through Desert Island, built in 1929. No two bridges are alike, and all were designed by architects using local stone. There is a large central arch, a smaller arch on the east end, a stairway down to the river and lovely jut outs on the bridge.
The road ends here. There were many cyclists.
Wild Gardens of Acadia. A lovely garden through a bog with narrow trails. Great labels, a wigwam, and benches. Free
Fort Knox and Penobscot Narrows Observatory, Prospect. The fort was built in 1844 to protect the Penobscot River Valley against a possible future British naval incursion. It is very well preserved.
The observatory is unique at the top of the west pier of the Waldo Hancock suspension bridge, built in 1931. It is 417 feet with an elevator. There are spectacular 360-degree views of the Penobscot River and Bay—$ 6 reduced, including the observatory elevator.
ROCKLAND
Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. It is 1.3 miles from the small parking lot to the end of the breakwater and the lighthouse. It was built in 1902, following the construction of the breakwater in 1899. It is unusual in that the light tower rises from the keeper’s house, a 1 1⁄2-story frame structure with a brick chimney. It can’t be entered.
ON I couldn’t get data on my VOI phone, so I stayed at a McDonald’s in Rockland to get data.
Day 69 (Day 2 of US portion) Sun Aug 10
I finally fixed my data problem. When entering a new country, it was necessary to reboot my Fonus SIM card. After 60 minutes of dealing with my SIM tool kit, chat finally told me to remove the SIM and reinsert (30 sec).
Farnsworth Art Museum. A very good “normal” art museum with many great pieces: Wyeths, Norman Rockwell, Homer Winslow and mostly Maine art. Expensive at $20, $18 reduced
Center for Maine Contemporary Art. Actually had some contemporary that was enjoyable. $10, $8 reduced.
Owls Head Lighthouse. The original light from 1825 was replaced with this building in 1852. It is 30′ tall, round, brick painted white with a black cap. The 6x fresnel lens has a light that can be seen for 16 nautical miles. It was automated in 1989. Park and walk along a gravel road for 5 minutes.
Owls Head Transportation Museum. A very good museum with impeccable planes, trains and automobiles. I liked the energy exhibit with examples form the horse (25 lbs of manure per day that when dry created endless dust), steam, internal combustion, internal combustion, jets and more. $17, $15 reduced
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay. This was too long a drive.
Maine Maritime Museum, Bath. Good museum with exhibits on fishing, light houses (top of a LH), camp culture, war ships, the Perry Shipyard (1894-1921), yachting, a coal schooner, many ship models, and the best, a birchbark canoe dating from 1745. Outside is the shipyard, a blacksmith and a sail loft. Boat tours are possible. $22, $20 reduced.
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick. Two very good photography exhibits: Gordon Parker was a black photographer for Standard Oil who main subject was a man who ran a service station/store in the 50s. He unusually had good composition and used light well. John McKee showed the seamier side of life. Four large marble panels from Nimrud, Iraq were coloured by a projector (I was surprised these hadn’t been claimed by Iraq), a not so good exhibit by the Third Bowdoin. Free
Earth Globe. At the Garmin office, this gigantic globe fills a huge room and rotates. Bizzarium. Free
PORTLAND
International Cryptozoology Museum. Bizzarium. About hidden and unconventional legends – think Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, UFOs, jackalopes and many other crazy ideas. This museum was a complete waste of time. I only paid and entered because I am obscessed with the Bizzarium series. $10 no reduction
Portland Museum of Art. Has exhibits on 4 individual artists and the best, an overview of American art with may Homer Winslows. $20, $18 reduced
Morse-Libby House (Victoria Mansion). I was too late to see this.
Tate House Museum. Closed Sunday to Tuesday.
ON McDonalds in Portland
Day 70/3 Mon Aug 11
St. Margaret Catholic Church, Old Orchard Beach. A lovely older church but closed.
I did my laundry down the street.
Palace Diner, Biddeford: In a street car behind a building and next to a parking lot, this restaurant was founded in 1927. There are only 6 mains and 6 sides on the very simple menu. 12 stools at a counter, all but one occupied at 10 am. Cash only. Hours 7-2. Hospitality Legends
KENNEBUNKPORT
Seaside Inn. A small 2-story hotel with 32 units. Not very imposing but very close to a good beach and busy.
Goat Island Lighthouse, A long ways out of the way.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE (Concord, Manchester, Keene)
PORTSMOUTH
USS Albacore. A class of submarines started in 1942 and whose hydrodynamics has been copied by all subsequent submarines. It sits in a drydock and can be visited. A small museum with good timeline of all subs and other exhibits. Memorial outside to all killed in submarines – 52 were sunk in WWII with 3505 dead. $14, $10 reduced
Strawbery Banke Museum. Open-Air Museums. $22 reduced so I didn’t go.
GO TO Massachusetts. I didn’t go into Vermont.
