We got back last night from four days in coastal Maine and NH. This is not enough information to be a travel report, but it might be useful to those of you driving to Maine for the rest of the summer.

1. Traffic north of Brunswick is heavy. Traffic around Wiscasset is a nightmare, partly owing to Red's Eats, right at the end of the bridge. Count on a two mile backup going north and a backup almost to the Edgecomb turnoff (Boothbay) going south, a minimum of half an hour in each direction. Part of the problem is caused by local cops directing traffic.

2. Camden is a great destination but a lousy place to pass through. US 1, the through highway, yields to local traffic at one key intersection. This is the only coastal road north, and it has heavy refrigerator truck traffic. If you get into a line of cars entering Camden, expect to be there for 15-20 minutes, but the jams disappear once you are through the town.

3. Paradoxically, the Rockland bypass (Maine 90) isn't particularly advantageous. Owing to one-way streets, traffic in Rockland flows smoothly, and it has a wonderful downtown and working waterfront.

4. Gas is much more expensive in Maine than in NH, and it gets worse as you go north. Fill up before crossing the border, and you will save at least 25 cents per gallon.

5. The views from the mountain in the state park just north of Camden are fantastic and would be at twice the price. It is an easy drive to the top.

6. Back roads are badly marked. They are wonderful if you don't mind not knowing where you are. Finding the Olson House (site of Andrew Wyeth's painting of Christina's World) was a real adventure. My GPS helped but the level of ganularity is such that it was hard to keep track of both where we were and where we wanted to be. I am not _sure_ that the lcals remove road signs the way they do arounf Bolinas, CA, ut it would not surprise me.

7. Live lobsters are cheaper in Nantucket than they are in the tourist hot spots in Maine, but I saw them offered for $4.50 per pound on a hand-lettered sign on a back road. Wild blueberries are in season, and they are completely different from cultivated ones. Church, lodge, and volunteer fire department meals are alive and well. Meet and eat with the locals.

8. Though we live on an island surrounded by water, we took a schooner excursion in Camden (Surprise) and an excusion to the Isles of Shoals out of Portsmouth, NH. Both were excellent, though the latter may require advance reservations. The Farnsworth Museum in Rockland is spectacular and is a real draw for downtown., and we have previously visited the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and the Portland Museum with great pleasure.

Have fun, be patient. Remember that they have to make a whole year's income in three months.

Great points that should help all those people on this forum currently planning trips to Maine. I was just up in Acadia (I usually do the coast from Camden South) and posted a very similar 'report'. Here's the link to my 'notes' - so if someone is planning on going as far as Bar Harbor/Acadia they can check that. http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...s-and-tips.cfm

From Camden up to Bar Harbor can easily take another two hours. It's all 'local' road meaning goes through towns that may not look very big on maps but can take a while to go through. Time of day matters too. Compared to NYC, Maine doesn't exactly have a rush hour, but it took us twice as long to go from Bar Harbor to Belfast between 4 and 6pm as it did the day before when we were driving around noon.

Ackislander covered the coast from Brunswick to Camden, and I discussed Camden to Bar Harbor. But the south coast is also worthwhile - Portland and around, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, and York are all great. Any one with a week or so should see it all. But if someone is trying to plan a two day trip I would consider the southern points. Driving past all that wonderful scenery so you can spend 15 minutes in Acadia is not worth it.

Thanks for travel tips. Just posted query "Maine trip suggestions" going the end of the month, seeking ideas on places to visit and eateries. Anything to add? What's in Camden which you seem to like...view of the mountains? Could be a stop off en route north from Boothbay Harbor? We head through Portland on a Monday, eventual destination Bangor.

Bill in Boston

Bill, if you haven't been to the top of Mt Battie, it's a must do. Auto road (toll) to the top. We usually bring bag chairs, a picnic lunch and binnoculars. Fantastic view overlooking Camden harbor.

Rt 1 in the Wiscasset area is to be avoided Friday afternoons. We had no trouble mid-day. There are some streets in Camden you can take to avoid the downtown Rt 1 congestion but we used DeLorme's Atlas to find them. Part of the problem in both areas are pedestrians and Camden, esp, is full of people who need to cross the street to get to the shop on the other side.

I'm crazy for waterfronts, and it still has a working one, as does Rockland on a much bigger scale and Rockport on a smaller one.

We took a sailing cruise on the schooner yacht "Surprise", Captain Jack Moore, and found it a pleasant two hours. My wife has two sailboats, and our friends operate the Endeavor, a Friendship sloop doing excursions here in Nantucket, so we can't resist getting out on the water.

We also had a nice dinner at a waterfront restaurant (no view, but no loud bar, either)called Fresh. There is lots of shopping, nice houses to look at, and so forth.