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So there you are in
the comfort of your own home thinking about taking a Maine vacation.
Congratulations, you’ve arrived to the ultimate Maine vacation
anywhere in the state. This is the real, truly authentic Downeast
Maine. Downeast Maine has it all for you to take in. Make sure you
take the Downeast Maine interactive virtual tours of the entire
region. You can use the
tour map or the index
on the left to tour the Bar Harbor &
MDI Region, the
Blue Hill
Peninsula Region Area, Ellsworth Area and
Schoodic Downeast Area. It’s a big place and our tours
will help you out immensely. The beauty of coastal Maine, its quaint
villages, its local culture and lure and the good ol
Downeast Maine
hospitality await you and yours with open arms. For us locals, we
consider that the “real” Downeast Maine geographic starts once you
leave Ellsworth on your way up the Downeast Highway. You can use our
interactive virtual tour map to guide you. You can stop and pick up a DeLorme map of Maine and get to the Downeast Maine pages or you can
pick up a map totally dedicated to Downeast Maine.
Get on the
Downeast Highway (Route
1): From Ellsworth, Maine, the road splits, stay left at
the triangle (Rite Aid) and you'll be on the Downeast Highway.
You’ll hit
Hancock first, Sullivan next and Gouldsboro. You’ll pick up Acadia
National Park Schoodic Peninsula by heading off the Downeast Highway
in Gouldsboro and going to Winter Harbor. When you get to Winter
Harbor, you will feel the clock turned back 75 years. Check out
Grindstone Neck and its seaside mansions. There’s even one of the
oldest golf courses in Maine threaded along the ocean that just
happens to be a public course. What a gawgiss little town. You’ll
find the Acadia National Park Schoodic Peninsula park entrance right
in Winter Harbor. The major stop points in
Acadia National Park Schoodic Peninsula
can be seen via virtual tours. It’s
simply breathtaking. When you come out the other side of Acadia
National Park Schoodic Peninsula, you will be in Birch Harbor, a
beautiful tiny Maine lobster fishing village. Just around the bend,
there’s one of the oldest Sardine canning plants in Maine,
Stinson’s. That puts you in Prospect H arbor, another of Maine’s
beautiful quaint Maine Lobster fishing villages. Look across and
you’ll see Prospect Harbor Light, a beautiful and very old
Lighthouse that can be visited only during Winter Harbors Lobster
Festival listed on our events calendar. By now, hopefully you’ve
been out of the car and done some business with the locals. You will
never forget that you have truly met “the finest kind”. Totally
unpretentious, non judgmental and real are all words that come to
mind when you brush arms with a local. They’ll tell you anything you
want to hear and then some and they’ll do it with an accent you’ve
never heard before. You might even get an “AYUH”! Maybe you’ll find
an old storyteller that never left the village. Make sure you take
the 10 minute detour to Corea Maine, a lush and exclusive
Maine
Lobster fishing village. Moving on, you’ll come back out on the Downeast Highway where you will continue to
Steuben, the beautiful
village of Milbridge,
Harrington,
Addison and Columbia Falls. Head
into Jonesport. Jonesport is the real deal when it comes to Maine
lobster fishing. What a picturesque little village with the same
kind of people I said you’d find anywhere in Downeast Maine. As you
travel this one of a kind coast, you will see Frenchman’s Bay with
breathtaking views of Bar Harbor
Maine and Acadia National Park. You’ll
find lots of local festivals and celebrations listed in our events
calendar. You’ll have plenty of chances to pull over to a classic Downeast Maine roadside snack bar where you’ll find fresh
Maine
lobster, fresh clams and all the fresh Maine seafood you can
eat. Our activities directory will keep you busy with kayak rentals
and a million launch sites. Scattered in every one of these towns
are Downeast Maine Vacation Rentals, Shops, Downeast Art Galleries,
Downeast Maine Restaurants, Activities
and Events. If your Maine vacation is a family vacation then Downeast
Maine is where I’d take my family.
Click here to see Downeast Maine vacation rental properties and
Lodging. You'll
find rental cottages and bed and breakfast inns, on the seaside
(ocean), on ponds, lakes, steams, bays, coves and in coastal
villages. Downeast Maine's properties are uniquely
different from one another and
Click here to see Downeast Maine Shops
(stores). There are many little shopping areas
in Downeast Maine, some are on major roads, some are tucked away.
You'll need this guide to show you the way to all the shopping
Downeast.
Click here to see Downeast Maine Art Galleries.
The art galleries are stuffed with locally influenced art.
The Downeast Maine crafters will
show you lots of unique ways to memorialize your Downeast Maine
vacation with pottery, paintings, sculpture, jewelry, baskets and
more. Plus there’s no shortage of antique shops.
Click here to see Downeast Maine
Restaurants. You'll
find a lot of food in Downeast Maine where you can dine casually in
all types of Downeast Maine settings. Downeast Maine has
the best Maine Lobster, Fried Clams, fried Haddock and Pizza. This Maine vacation will never be forgotten.
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