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Author Topic: Maine Coast  (Read 2091 times)

SZRitter

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Maine Coast
« on: April 25, 2013, 12:35:51 pm »

So, in July I am headed to the coast of Maine for my honeymoon. I have never been there, so I am really clueless where to start. We do plan to camp a couple of nights in Acadia and do a whale watching and puffin watching tour.

Right now we are trying to figure out where to stay. Originally we were looking at Southwest Harbor. Is there better towns to look at? Where are some of the more interesting towns?

Also, I'm trying to figure out camera kit. I could bring everything (D7000 + two lenses, X10, and Yashica EM), but really I would like to just take the X10 and Yashica. Will I regret not having the 70-300mm on the D7000 during the whale tour?
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mshea

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Re: Maine Coast
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2013, 08:58:00 pm »

Mount Desert Island is a pretty packed place in the summertime. Bar Harbor will be wall-to-wall traffic. I hope you've already made your camping reservations! Just west of Mount Desert is the peninsula with the towns of Blue Hill, Castine, Stonington, and some little hamlets. It's much more of a "Down East" experience. Also, there's a beautiful little Nature Conservancy property in Sunset, a stone's throw from Stonington, called Barred Island. Totally moss-covered and a pretty little beach at the end of the trail. Right next to it is Goose Cove Lodge, the perfect honeymoon retreat, if ever there was one!

On the way to Acadia is Pemaquid Light and Pemaquid Point; classic Maine photo locations, particularly at sunrise. Stop in picturesque New Harbor for lobster on the pier on the way down the peninsula to Pemaquid.

Further eastward along the coast are all sorts of small towns, many of which have seen better days, but still very quaint. Jonesport harbor is a great pano shot, especially if all the fishing boats are tied up. Try to reserve a campsite at Cobscook Bay State Park; beautiful and VERY popular. It's near Reversing Falls State Park. Make reservations now.

Pick up the DeLorme Maine Atlas and explore as many back roads as you have time for.

Merrill
« Last Edit: April 25, 2013, 09:00:38 pm by mshea »
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JohnBrew

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Re: Maine Coast
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2013, 09:21:33 pm »

Southwest Harbor is a wonderful place to use as a base of operations. Personally I love Stonington. I've been twice and shooting in these locations can be very rewarding. I've many images of this area on my website.

SZRitter

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Re: Maine Coast
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2013, 01:30:08 pm »

I have booked two nights in Acadia at the Seawall campground (walk in, less RVs...).

Currently we have expanded the lodging search to areas below Bar Harbor (Deere Island, Blue Hill, etc.). Our biggest problem is that with buying a house, we have limited funds, so we can't drop $200+ a night on lodging. I'll take a look at the places suggested. Thanks!
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framah

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Re: Maine Coast
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2013, 06:28:32 pm »

Those of us who live up here (I'm in Ellsworth), pretty much stay away from the island during the summer. If i wanted to sit in traffic, I would have stayed in NJ.

Any place like Northeast or Southwest are very expensive! ...and more so in the summer.
  You can get some of the Acadia experience by going further Downeast to Schoodic Peninsula. WAY fewer people and just as beautiful.

If you want to do a whale watch, try to go with Allied Whale Watch. They are associated with the College of The Atlantic and they are out for the whole day. Their main reason for being out there is whale research and you are along to help pay for that research.... whereas the other whale watching businesses are there solely for the purpose of getting your money. You go out for half a day and they sell you the food and drink. You bring your own with Allied but I'd rather help support research then someones pocket book.

One can rent rooms in Ellsworth or along the way to the island for less then on the island.
For puffin watches, you'll need to check out this place:

http://www.boldcoast.com/msi.htm  Machias Seal Island where you get to go out on the island and sit in little buildings that look like 3 seater outhouses and  the puffins are all around you. You open a little window and point your camera and shoot away!!

Way more stuff to do up here than just the big island!!

Enjoy!!
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SZRitter

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Re: Maine Coast
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2013, 03:39:12 pm »

Update: We are now going to do two nights camping in Acadia, then two nights on North Haven. Prior to that, two nights at Sunday River, ME.

Still need to sort out the whale/puffin tour. I only want to be out half the day so we can have a good amount of time to hike in Acadia. Thinking I'll be leaving the DSLR at home, as we plan on using our bikes as primary transportation in the park and on North Haven. And carrying all of our stuff in our backpacking packs when we head over to North Haven.
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Ken Bennett

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Re: Maine Coast
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2013, 08:52:46 pm »

We enjoyed Seawall. Nice camp ground, not too crowded compared to a lot of NPS camp grounds, decent size sites. It's far from the central tourist areas, so you'll be driving, but that's okay since there's a lot to do along the way. (Stop at the little bakeries and buy blueberry and raspberry pies. You'll thank me.)

We did the puffin tour at Machias Seal Island. Awesome if you're a birder. The only equipment I took on the whole trip was a Canon G7, and I got plenty of good puffin photos with the 200mm equivalent lens. At that location there are blinds with plenty of birds right in front. Looking at Trip Advisor I see that some of the puffin tour companies are out of business, so I can't help with which one to use.
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