Maine 2018 - Preparation and Arrival

Autumn in Maine is spectacular. In the opinion of many, it is the time to go and experience all Maine has to offer. Maine is one of the places I had on my bucket list.

When I was very young, I told myself that I would travel to all fifty states. I had been to all of the lower forty-eight except for Maine. I had always put it off because it seemed so far since I live in Texas.

I found out that travel to Maine can be very affordable. When planning my trip to Maine, I first needed to decide what I wanted to do once I got there. A friend had recently taken a cruise, so I decided that I wanted to take a cruise but I didn't want to take just any kind of cruise, I wanted to sail.

I was sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office and saw a travel magazine. I started flipping through the pages and saw advertisements for cruises in Maine. Way in the back was a very small ad for Maine Windjammer Cruises. Yes! This is what I wanted to do. I wanted to sail on a schooner. I got out my phone and looked up the website. When I got home I looked it up so I could read all the details at leisure.

Maine Windjammer Cruises is a small fleet of boats which sail from the harbor of Camden, Maine. I had not done much research on Maine at that point, so I didn't know much about Camden. It was getting late in the season so I decided I was going to do it this year and booked myself on the last cruise of the year aboard The Angelique.

The Angelique in Camden Harbor, Maine

Sailing on the Angelique was surprisingly very affordable. I booked a four day / three night cruise for less than six hundred dollars, all inclusive. It was the Columbus Day Weekend special and the last windjammer cruise to sail from Camden in 2018.

I had planned to be gone for a week so I needed more things to do in Maine. Another bucket list item was to visit Portland Light Head, the countries first lighthouse commissioned by George Washington. I had seen many pictures of it and had even painted it several times. I knew it was located near Portland in Port Elizabeth, Maine. I also wanted to visit Acadia National Park. Another bucket list item for me is to visit all the national parks, so since I was going to Maine, I might as well begin working on that item too.

Now that I had an idea of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see, I decided to make a timeline. I had already booked my cruise, so I needed to book a flight. I hunted travel website to find a good deal and decided to travel on Tuesday. It looked like the cheapest day of the week for flying. I booked round trip airfare, Houston to Portland, for one Tuesday, returning the following Tuesday, for under four hundred dollars. I felt that was a bargain.

Then I needed a place to stay. I had never tried this before but my daughter recommended I find an Airbnb. I booked three nights in Camden for thirty-two dollars a night which included breakfast for the time prior to the cruise and one night in Portland following the cruise for fifty-five dollars. Each place was clean, relatively private, and secure. I really felt comfortable staying in these homes. They were both close to where I wanted to go and certainly beat hotel prices.

I rented a car to get me around during my visit for less than two hundred plus gas. It was the only way to visit the places I wanted to go.

I got to Maine rather late on Tuesday evening. It was dark and rainy. I got my rental car and luckily had GPS on my cell phone so I would know where I was going once I left the Portland Jetport. I immediately got lost and went the wrong way out of the airport in order to find my way to Camden, presumably an hour and a half drive north on US Route number one. I live in Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston where there is so much light on the main highways it seems to be daylight at night but not in Maine. There are only two highways in Maine and US Route number one is not one of them. It is a two lane road for the most part, which meanders along the coast weaving between island towns and winding around hills and mountains. The rain was coming down in sheets and it was a dark like I hadn't experienced in years. My first experience in Maine was like the opening pages of a Stephan King novel. Now I know where he gets his ideas. I felt like I drove forever at forty miles an hour to get to the small port of Camden. Once I finally found my Airbnb, I was exhausted and hungry. Fortunately, my host, John was there to greet me, help me to my room and offered me pie so I didn't need to go back out in the weather. He was great! I ate the pie and fell into bed.

My Airbnb in Camden, Maine