. .dudicle; 05.12.31 1 pm Hawai'i time •

. .um. . it's cold, snowy and can be quite boring. They talk funny too. .ayuh √. .Yet; The bath brunswick area (specifially Phippsburg =) is stunning. from robinson rock you can see al of casco bay. .etc. btw - Mainerz are very reticent.

~ 404 •

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM MAINE IF,
* You've had arguments over the comparative quality of Fried Dough.
* You diet all week so you can consume 40,000 calories at a fair.
* You eat ice cream with flavors like 'Moose Tracks" and "Maine Black Bear".
* When it snows four inches you call it "a dusting."
* You are surprised to discover there aren't fried clam shacks elsewhere in the country.
* You know what an Irving is and the location of 15 of them.
* Your car is covered in yellow-green dust in May.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM MAINE IF,
* You can drive the Augusta traffic circles without breaking into a cold sweat.
* When the word "stove" refers to what you did to the right front fender of your truck going around the Augusta rotaries
* When there's too much "stuff" in your 2 "cah" garage to get either of your cars into it.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM MAINE IF,
* You've hung out at a gravel pit.
* You think a mosquito could be a species of bird.
* You once skipped school and went to Bar Harbor, Old Orchard Beach or Reid State Park.
* Even your school cafeteria made good chowdah.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM MAINE IF,
* You know how to pronounce Calais and Machias.
* You know that The Airline has nothing to do with planes.
* You've made a meal out of a Jordan's red-skinned hot-dog and a bag of Humpty Dumpty potato chips
* You know that a chocolate doughnut is not a white doughnut with chocolate frosting.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM MAINE IF,
* You've gone to a bean supper.
* You know the difference between pea, Yellow-eye, and Red Kidney
* You wouldn't eat beans in tomato sauce or Manhattan clam chowder if you were starving. . ,
* In high school, you (or a friend) packed Deering or Gifford Ice Cream cones.

u frum maine¿;
*At least once in your life, a seagull pooped on you.
*At least once in your life you've said, "It smells like the mill in here."
* Every summer and fall, there's a fruit and vegetable stand within 10 minutes of your house.
* You call that long sandwich an "Italian" .
* Your idea of a traffic jam is being the second car at the stoplight.

You mite b frum maine if. ..

* Your house converts to a B&B every July & August for people from away that you happen to know.
*All year long you're tracking sand in the house-from the beach in the summer and the roads and sidewalks in the winter.
* You have a front door but no steps to get to it.
* Your kids start using "wicked" as a multipurpose part of speech.
You start your shopping by looking in Uncle Henry's.
* You HAVE shopped at the Big Chicken Barn.

You mite b frum maine if. ..
*You've ditched the car on the side of the road somewhere because you thought you saw some good fiddleheads or cat 'o nine tails √

you mite b frum maine if. ..
* You've had a vacation from school just to help the family pick potatoes.
* You know a lobster pot is a trap, not a kettle.
* You know not to plant tender crops until the last full moon in May.
* You go to the dump and bring back more than you brought.
* You've taken a date to the dump to watch the bears

You might b frum maine if. ..
*You watch "Murder She Wrote" and snicker at the stupid fake accents.

You could be frum Maine if. ..
* You’ve swum in a quarry.
* You take the New Hampshire toll personally.
* You feel really good when you cross the Piscatiqua River bridge into Kittery.

You mite b frum maine if. ..
* You always wave when you see a Maine license plate in another state, esp. Hawaii ;)

You mite b frum maine if. ..
*When you eat supper at night and dinner at noon.
*As a child, you played outside in a snow storm without hat, mittens, scarf and with your jacket open because it was just a little cool.
Is the area around your back door is referred to as “the dooryard”?
* When you know what fly dope is.
* When you're supposed to dress up, you wear flannel with a tie.
*You know that Moody's Diner does NOT take credit cards.

That's a big move!

Like other states, Maine has many regions and all are different. I live in the Bangor area and really like it. It's sort of a small town with some "big city" conveniences thrown in. Mainers are very "live and let live", but you have to remember that *you* are expected to "let live" too!

I like that most Mainers are down-to-earth, no-nonsense, and casual, but sometimes I miss having a reason to dress up. Bangor and Portland both have theater/music events and both have a thriving Middle Eastern dance scene too. You have to get used to driving long distances for happenings, events, and even for visiting friends.

Bangor has a great Folk Festival every August - three days of excellent world-class musicians (ranging from Piedmont Blues to Classical Indian music/dance to to Acadian folk tunes) on five stages on the Bangor waterfront. And it's all free!

The rent in this area is about $600 a month, more or less, for an apartment. You can find better deals outside of the "urban" areas. The coast is much more expensive, and I don't know what the prices are like in the "big city" of Portland. That's definitely the most cosmopolitan place in Maine, so if you like city life/night life, that might be the best choice.

Do you like participating in winter sports? The season can be very long and very trying if you don't like to get out in the snow. Snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, winter hiking... there are lots of ways to make sure you get some sunshine on your skin. It does get - and stay - very cold here though. For example, this coming week the forecast is: cloudy, snow showers likely, daytime highs in the 20s, nighttime lows 4 to 8 F. Windchill factors of -20 F and -30 F are not unheard of.

By the end of next week we will be back up to 9 hours of daylight! I think the shortest day of the year was 8 hours and 45 minutes. Spring doesn't get here for certain until June, summer can be nice or rainy or hot and humid (or a mixture of all of the above), and fall is the nicest time of the year (if you ask me).

If you have any specific questions, I'll be glad to dig the info up for you.

Take care and enjoy,

Lorien

I would like to thank everyone that's responded back to my thread as it's much appreciated. As my fiance has stated, I have been a native of Florida (unfortunately forever) and I am looking foward to all of the snow that's up there in Maine. If the tempuratures are that cold then it's all good because I have my human heater ( my fiance) to keep me warm...LOL! I guess there will be some type of racial/ stereotype issue anywhere you go but what I really wanted to know do we have to watch our backs everywhere we go like it's the last day on earth or not.

As far the place of living, I'm not sure on that but i like the idea of being able to rent that much space. What kinds/ types of employment are out there?

0Well there are some people that talk funny. And also the ways of mainers are a little different. also it snows a lot cause it is so freakin cold. I personally hate the cold and the snow. There is also nothing to do here at all. I have done pretty much all that there is offered to do here, well in Northern Maine anyways. But the crime here isn't bad at all. This is one of the very few places you can leave you car unlocked, and running.

remember also there 2 maines, northern maine, and southern maine. they are completely differant politicly (if thats a factor for you) northern maine is the real maine way of life. southern maine, ( agusta and south) you might as well be liveing in new hampshire or mass.this is a great state to live in for people raising kids. we dont have so much of the evil that seems to prevail in the larger cities.

Ok everyone, let me first say that I am really sorry about not keeping up and responding to a post I submitted. :-( It's a mixture of being sidetracked and procrastination.....yea, I'll get on and see what's going. My fiance has been telling me about all the post in regards. I have gotten a chance to read all and I thank you all for replying. Here it will almost be year since the first post. Then by now, we thought we would no longer be in Florida but here we are still....hot, humid and tired of it. We signed a new year lease with another apartment here in March so we will be here again. This time though we are really preparing ourselves for the big move. We both are very much so looking foward to it and by this time next year we should be up there living and starting new lives.

No fried chicken? No sweet tea? Well, believe me when say that we are true tea drinkers. If it's for sale in the grocery stores, then I may just have introduce it to the company we may come across. The more I think about it, it will be a big change for us, especially me since I have lived in Florida all my life. But like I remember reading in one of the many post, it's about what you're looking for. I have no problem adapting and experiencing new places and things to do. Shoveling snow in 11 degree weather? I would rather do than be outside in Florida weather in 90+ degree weather with a mean humidity level where just being outside will cause you to sweat.

I'm sure there will be likes and dislikes about Maine, just as here in Florida but the only difference now is we would rather be up north making that determination where the enviroment is different for the both of us instead of where are now hating it.

I will be more persistent with my post going forward so I be brough back into the loop to provide feedback as well as receive it. Again, everyone that's made a post is much appreciated.

i grew up in southern maine, wells beach, then saco, outside of portland..definelty more affordable than where i am now, its small town, simple, portland is pretty sweet, cool coffehouses, bars and restaurants, the weather is not great, which is one of the reasons why i live out west..i love the sun..
but you can ski, and hike and kayak and go to the beach in maine, even surf if your brave, and have a 4/2 wetsuit..Boston is like 1.5 hours away..Maine is a good place to raise a family if you are into that..
i would say maine definelty over florida, im not a florida fan..too hot, too many malls, no hills, at least my experience anyway...
i would move to Portland or Wells Beach, or Ogunquit or York...