I live in Bar Harbor but the over the top tourism gets to you after a while.

I kind of like Castine. Lots of historic homes and way more low key and less touristy.

Quebec City is 100% worth the drive. You’re not going to find anything even close in Northern New England.

There are still some French speaking households in northern Maine, but it’s really on the decline. Pretty much only elderly people.

I think the Volta climbing gym in Trenton occasionally has a queer climbing night.

Also, you could try getting involved in the Bar Harbor Pride group: http://barharborpride.com/

My solar production is pretty awful in the dead of winter, especially considering I’m doing a lot of heating with my heat pump so I use a lot of electricity that time of year.

But I produce a surplus in the spring/summer and thanks to 1:1 net metering it offsets winter months.

Maine’s 1:1 net metering is pretty favorable for homeowners.

I used Maine Commercial Solar, which is basically a side business of the general contractor that also built my house. Cost less than Revision. I’ve had it about a year and a half and I’ve had no problems.

Total cost was around 27,000 before tax incentives. I paid cash and didn’t finance it.

They built a stream-like fish bypass around the Howland dam. Milford dam has an inadequate fish lift.

Lol. They just can’t admit they’re wrong!

Dude, you’re wrong. $4 million is the jackpot if you take the annuity. It’s 2.6 million if you take the lump sum, which you still need to pay taxes on.

If so many people weren’t buying up properties to AirBnB prices wouldn’t be as high in the first place.

Building an ADU on your property to AirBnB is cool. Outbidding a family that needs housing, or kicking out your long term tenants so you can AirBnB is not cool.

I have a friend that built a nice studio apartment over his garage to AirBnB. That’s not hurting anyone. I know other people that bought up multiple properties that had long term tenants and kicked them all out to make room for tourists. That’s an asshole move.

Some parents don’t have a choice other than to “ship them off to camp”

Where in Maine? We had good luck with Camp Beach Cliff, COA summer field studies, and Acadia mountain guides rock climbing camp on MDI. None were cheap though. The local YMCA had a more affordable option for summer day camp.

I’m a local.

I’m not sure I’d call it thrive. Every year more and more houses get turned into AirBnBs and there are fewer and fewer families here. Non-tourism businesses like the Jackson laboratory and the MDI hospital now have to get into the real estate business so they can provide housing for new employees. The amount of tourists we have now is suffocating but certain business owners in town fight anything that might promote anything other than seasonal tourism.

I definitely don’t hate tourists. They make the town more interesting and vibrant in the summer. However, it’s gotten completely out of hand (and the rise of AirBnB and similar services that make single family homes profitable investments for short term tourist housing is really fucking over the town).

A bunch of loyalists fled there during the revolution.

The post 9/11 border restrictions, lack of a year round ferry connecting it to the rest of New Brunswick, and difficulty accessing Canadian healthcare have really made things difficult for residents. Lots of abandoned / run down houses now. It quite sad.

Every few years some dumbass goes out and adds their own blazes to some trails in Acadia. Last time I remember it happening they at least tried to somewhat match the blue used by Acadia. I don’t get it though, do they think they’re helping or something? It’s not like it’s random graffiti tags. In this picture you can see one of the Bates Cairns (which they also defaced with red paint) so it’s not like the trail is poorly marked.

In and around Cherryfield the wild blueberry barrens are owned by commercial berry harvesters and you can get in trouble for stealing from them.

That being said you can find wild blueberries along many of the dirt “logging roads” in that area, but probably not in August.

Grand Lake Stream is a fishing Mecca. Hire a guide and you’ll have a good time.

I breed prizewinning salamanders. 1.3M/yr.

If you’re in Naples I’d probably book someone out of North Conway. Plenty of options there.

Ford has this for their front camera. No idea why this isn’t universal for rear cameras.

Did they ditch the idea of selling their campus and going completely online?

I had a friend that was dating a teacher when they were both right out of college. She dumped him before going back to her summer job working for a rafting company because she wanted to be able to have casual sex with the other seasonal workers. He did not handle it well (he was really a kind of asshole about it and got drunk and made a scene when he ran into her at the bar afterwards). She had some unique talents though. 🤣

I think the last time I might have been in the old Auditorium might have been to see a certain senator from Illinois making a campaign stop in Maine on February 9th 2008.

The breadsticks and pub cheese are the only thing I remember about that place.

I also remember that after it closed the BDN ran a story about a “gentleman’s club” that wanted to move in to the old spot. People got all up in arms about that and complained so the Bangor city council changed their mind about allowing them to have both adult entertainment permit and a liquor license at the same time so they withdrew the applications.

I just went for the first time in a very long time because I was in Bangor near the mall. It was insanely depressing.

> and there is no water, the salon can't open.

It’s not just the salon that can’t open without water. The people that work there need to be able to use the toilet.