Maine Lighthouses
 

Hello, I've been looking through all of the Maine msgs. But, I am looking forward to a trip with my cousin to Maine to look at lighthouses. We will be celebrating our 40th Birthdays.

I am coming from Texas and she will be coming from Missouri and meeting up in Maine next summer. What area do we need to fly into to see the most lighthouses and of course the prettiest ones. Is there a particular area that has quite a few lighthouses. Would be spending 5 to 7 days there and renting a car.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Melissa

Do a google search and you'll find quite a few websites with good description and photos of many of the ~63 lighthouses in Maine.

The highest concentration is in the Mid-Coast region, from east of Portland to Acadia National Park at Mount Desert Island and Schoodic Peninsula. I think you'll see the most if you concentrate on that region.

happy birthday!
as rkkwan says you have many of choices.
go to http://lighthouse.cc/me.html for a complete list with photos of all of maine's lighthouses. click on the pics for the info you'll need to determine whether a particular light is of interest to you. (i.e. in your driving range, whether you can enter or not, if it's on one of the islands instead of the coast)
one of my personal favorites is the light at owl's head. the drive around the point to it is spectacular.
when you do your planning remember that many of the lights are at the end of penninsula's that have single lane windy road access - in other words it may take considerably longer to get someplace than you'd think, so don't try to squeeze in too many.
if possible i would advise flying into bangor and out of portland or vice versa. otherwise you are going to do some backtracking. not that that can't be done - just 3+ hours on I95 and you'd be back to whichever city you flew into.

Greater Portland has a nice concentration - Bug Light, Spring Point Light, Ram Island Ledge, Portland Head Light and Two Lights. All can easily be seen in one day.

We stayed in Camden, and had an easy drive along the coast, to see about 6 or 7 lighthouses. Most were south of
Cameden, and two were north. We thought several, along the 'fingers' south of Camden were quite nice, and one had a mile long walk out into the water to get to it.

OK, does anyone remember/know which lighthouse is now a museum and has a family living in it portraying the keeper's family? I know it's the mid-coast area. We visited Wiscasset but didn't go to this particular lighthouse. If I recall correctly, you have to get there by boat. We had a terrific all-day boat tour a few years ago which departed from the Maritime Museum in Bath. We were told to bring a picnic lunch which we had on a small island with a lighthouse, free to wander and choose a spot. I have never seen this particular cruise repeated but here is the current offerings
http://www.bathmaine.com/default.asp...z1=22&z2=1
Make sure to get the cruise info now because this information wasn't on the website earlier this summer. We lucked into a perfect day but were told that some days the all day cruise couldn't do the entire route because of tides and weather. So, I'm not surprised that they now offer shorter cruises. I second Owls Head lighthouse (Rockland), it's just a short easy hike with a tremendous view. Also plan a visit to Pemaquid Point (near Damariscotta). The Wiscasset/Bath area of mid-coast Maine is a great location for day tripping. It's best to stay near Rt 1. Boothbay is popular but it's 8 miles off rt 1 and just adds up the mileage. Great for a day visit though. The other poster wisely advised that you consider the miles it takes to go down the points. It's a marvelous place to explore but plan on a good half day jaunt if not longer. We usually also headed to some great lobster place for lunch.

Hubby and I took a 5-day Windjammer Cruise out of Camden in The Mercantile in 2001 and we saw many lighthouses that are only accessible by water. I can't say enough how much we enjoyed that trip! Windjammers offer trips of varying length, so you may be able to fit one of those trips in. www.sailmainecoast.com

Probably the most photographed lighthouse in the country is the Portland Head Light. You'll recognize it as soon as you see it. That's right in Portland. You can see several other lights from there, just scan the horizon.

Bass Harbor Head light is another spectacular one -- that's on Mount Desert Island near Bar Harbor.

Fly into either Portland or Bangor and just drive up/down the coast.

Have a great time!

Thanks for all the posts. I'll get my map out tomorrow and start visualizing the trip.

Anything else us 40yr olds should do while we are there?

We are more into R&R at this point in the game. Just sitting and watching a great view.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Melissa

Here's the living history lighthouse -
http://www.maine.gov/dmr/education/l...useprogram.htm

more info -
http://lighthouse.cc/burntisland/

Some years ago, we stumbled across a section with maps and driving directions to many of the lighthouses in a free booklet we picked up somewhere. We spent the rest of our trip driving to lighthouses. I don't know if this still exists, but since then I've found "Maine Lighthouses Map & Guide" which is excellent. You can find it at www.amazon.com.

Lighthouses are all along the coast. Our favorites are Pemaquid Point, Owl's Head in Rockland, the Portland Headlight, Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth, and Nubble in York.

As mentioned previously, there are dozens of websites with fantastic photos for determining which you'd find most appealing for an up-close look.

You'd probably want to fly into Portland. Or, Manchester, NH if flights are significantly less/more convenient times. Note that Southwest Airlines (generally the most economical) does not come up on any of the airfare shopping sites.

Then, my recommmendation would be to drive as far north as you care to go, work your way as far south as you care to go, then return to Portland. You can cover a LOT of the coast in 5-7 days.

If you can, plan your travel before July 4th for better accommodation rates, less traffic and constructions, and fewer places requiring 3-night minimums.

In Wells, right on Route 1, is a magnificent "everything lighthouses" shop called Lighthouse Depot. Try not to fall in love with "Harbor Lights" collectibles. They are exquisite! You'll want to begin a collection immediately, especially of those you visited.

Of course my cousin and I collect nautical items. I've been looking for an authentic ship's wheel. A lady I used to work for said she found one somewhere in Maine for $25 and it was awesome. Any hidden places we might check out?

Melissa

That's it! Thanks, Starrsville.
Bring bag chairs with you. We've taken them on planes as luggage but they're inexpensive so you could get them once you are in Maine. Also need a small cooler for picnics. A soft-side insulated bag is good. Great places to picnic include top of Mt Battie in Camden (take the auto road). Get the list of farmers markets at a visitors center. The one in Brunswich (Friday 9am to noon) had some great bakers. We got a tasty small pie. Just right for two (with big appetites for Maine blueberry pies). Strawberries were still in season so we bought fresh biscuits and made our own strawberry shortcakes. At Pemaquid Point you can find some shade while you sit and enjoy the scenery.
Didn't see any ship's wheels at Elmer's Barn which seems to be a legendary "antique" place. Nice selection of grindstones, though, which another poster reported earlier this year.

My husband was just at Pemaquid last week. This is a lighthouse we visit every year when in Maine visiting family, and he said last week they had the lighthouse open so that you could go all the way up into it. First he'd ever seen that. (Figures, I wasn't able to go on this trip this year...) He said there was no admission fee but there was a donations box.

Apparently, they are trying to raise quite a sum of money to be able to maintain the lighthouse, and aren't really having much luck doing so.

Pemaquid Point is one of my most favorite places -- I love to sit out on those rocks and watch the ocean! It's also the lighthouse depicted on the Maine quarter.

If you want to rough it a little - you can stay at a lighthouse keeper's house on an island off of Acadia Park. Never done this, but it's on my list. http://www.keepershouse.com/ Check out this site which lists other lighthouses in New England where you can stay. http://www.lighthouse.cc/links/overnight.html

The American Lighthouse Foundation is based in Wells - one town north of Ogunquit. Their site has lots of info
http://www.lighthousefoundation.org/

Many great suggestions. Topography in Maine changes from the southern part which has beautiful sandy beaches to mid-coast where the coastline becomes rocky with some beaches with finger/pennisulas (formed by glacier/volcanic). There is a saying in Maine with the typical Maine accent "You can't get there from here". Which is what everybody else was saying in their notes. When you go down the pennisula you have to come back - there are no bridges. You can see it but you just can't get to it unless you go down and come back up. Pemaquid Lighthouse is one of the more famous lighthouses with a beautiful view (approximately 25 min from Route 1). Either this year or last was the first time I think that the lighthouse part was open for a tour to the top – the museum itself has always been open. Be extremely careful on the rocks at Pemaquid - we have heard countless stories of people getting too close to the water and losing their lives because of a rouge wave. Rocks are very slippery when wet. You don't have to go down too far to enjoy it. If you take route 32 down to Round Pound (just before New Habor) and stop at the Round Pound Lobster CoOp or the place across the street where you can eat lobster, clams or mussels and sit with a beautiful view of Muscongus Bay. This is where the locals go.
Portland Head Lighthouse is great. Two lights in Portland has a small crab shack next to it with great food and lots of picnic tables. You need a Portland Map (a new one). The last couple of years they changed all the exit numbers in the state. Two lights wasn't that easy to get to. It is however on the Portland map. From Portland to mid coast is about a 2hr drive and from mid coast to Acadia is about 3 ½ hr drive. From the southern border of Maine to Portland is about 1 hr., but all of this depends on the season and time of day. From Brunswick up through Wiscasset it is a bottleneck area on business route 1. By mid morning it is bumper to bumper traffic in summer! There is only one bridge going through both Bath and Wiscasset and it backs up quickly. Leaving in the morning early is a good thing. I agree with all the other suggestions and especially Owls Head lighthouse in Rockland. There is a smaller lighthouse in Rockport out near the Samoset Resort out on a long walk way. Sunsets there are very pretty. There are two separate families living in lighthouses that I know. One is in Camden and the other is in Boothbay Harbor. Boothbay is only accessible by boat. I am not sure about the Camden one. There are many boat cruises going to different places, whale watches, harbor cruises, puffin watch, seal watch, sunset cruise in Camden is the best along with the view from Mt Battie, overnight cruises out of Rockland, deep sea fishing, ferry rides (limited), mail boat rides, etc. The CAT was doing cruises out of Portland this year as well as Bar Harbor. The main cruises are out ofPortland, Rockland, Boothbay, Acadia and Camden but you can still find some out on the peninsulas as well. Maine has many local farmer markets or stands along the roadside. They even publish a guide on where to find them. Hope this information helps.
Cherie

The Portland Museum of Art has a superlative, little known collection of major work by major artists. Follow that with dinner at FORE STREET RESTAURANT, one of best in town.
The INN BY THE SEA in Cape Elizabeth is a good upmarket on beach to stay in.
Would also recommend taking the ferry out from Thomaston to MONHEGAN ISLAND
and staying overnight/it's Wyeth country...

I was at a dinner party last week and a wonderful couple has gone to this B&B twice a year for 15 years. They obviously adore it. It may serve as a base for your Maine trip.

http://www.farmstead.qpg.com/