Comments on: Neff: Meet-up in Maine

By: DaveW

DaveW — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:21:13 +0000

Great to hilite this creative approach by no on 1, Lisa.

I hope people take them up on the offer. Maine is an amazing place and October is by far the BEST month of the year to go there. My husband and I just returned from a week in Maine and as always had amazing weather, great sunrises and moon rises and wonderful outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking.

I just want to point one thing out: you mention a lot to do in Southern Maine. Portland is a very nice city, nothing against it, lots to do…but it is not the REAL MAINE as locals always point out.

To really experience Maine head downeast. Most people start at Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island where Bar Harbor is located. Not yet as much the t-shirt and beer belly crowd we sadly see at Ogunquit, Bar Harbor is still quite crowded and Touristy.

Here are some places to go in Downeast Maine (and please go and spend some money there, Wahsington county is one of the poorest counties in the country!):
-Hike the “Bold Coast Trail” with some of the most amazing ocean views off high cliffs in the country. We saw dolphins, whales, seals and all kinds of sea birds and raptors.
-Visit the schoodic peninsula, the “quiet side” of Acadia park. Across Frenchman’s bay from Mt. Desert the scenery is no less beautiful but the crowds are absent.
-Hike Petit Manan reserve. A many thousands acre peninsula with only a few private homes. miles and miles of undisturbed bold rocky coast.
-Book a tour to Machias Seal Island to see the quirky penguin-like Puffins, an artic bird that lives off shore and can only be seen up close through one captain that has a license to bring visitors ashore (descendent of Capt. Norton, out of Jonesport).
-While in Jonesport witness a true fishing village. Some of the clearest/blue-green water on the coast..gorgeous harbor with ten mile long sunsets across Mooseabec Reach. Hire one of the many lobsterman willing to take tourists out for the day. The bays are studded with hundreds of islands and you will be amazed at the wildlife.
-Visit West Quoddy Light, the eastern most point in the country. Beautiful easily accesible cliff trail and light house..again, whales/seals etc just off shore.
-Jasper beach, south of Machias is a natural phenomenon that you will think was man made. Mile wide crescent beach, about 20 foot high dune made of small polished rocks (many of them are Jasper). It looks like they were put there by bulldozers, not waves.
-Hike Great Wass preserve. A famous island jutting far to see into the shipping lanes. 5 hour hike round trip, two of which are pink granite boulder scrambling along the shore.

I could go on….if you think crowded touristy trinket shops are for you go to boothbay or any of the many harbors and towns in Southern Maine.

Downeast starts in Ellsworth or the Blue Hill Peninsula…you won’t be sorry you made the 4 hour drive East of Portland!

By: Morgan

Morgan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:18:45 +0000

I dug deep into my pockets to help Maine and California and will soon do that that to help Iowa stand up to those antigay conservatives like Vander Plaats who want to be governor of Iowa. In Vander Plaats’ case, he wants put a screeching halt to Iowa marriage equality on his first day as Iowa governor if elected.

By: tristram

tristram — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:59:01 +0000

Thank you, Lisa !!! Maine and Washington state are huge. This is about more than marriage and more than two states. It’s about standing behind the courageous legislators (and governor) who did the right thing by us. It’s about devoting the effort and money necessary to counter a massive campaign of deception financed by national anti-lgbt groups and the full might of the Catholic Church. It’s about winning one at the ballot box and forever changing the narrative about lgbt equality and dignity. The side that wins in Maine and Washington state will have the moment in all the big battles coming up at the federal level. ps – Can 365 Gay put a permanent contribution box for Maine and/or Washington state in the sidebar? [Bilerico has one via ActBlue - but a live link to the local campaigns would do the job, too.]

By: ScottNH

ScottNH — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:36:30 +0000

The Maine No on 1 Campaign: http://www.protectmaineequality.org/index.cfm

By: paulhogarth

paulhogarth — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:31:13 +0000

Thanks for helping to spread the word. Here in California, we have a lot of people angry about what happened with Prop 8 – and determined to avoid the same mistakes that happened all over again. We are working with a group that last year successfully sent hundreds of Northern California Obama supporters out to the swing states — by having people donate money and/or airline miles.

Now, anyone can do it at: http://www.travelforchange.org

Read more about it at: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7327

By: Wayne M.

Wayne M. — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:25:11 +0000

As the LGBT community fights to retain marriage equality in Maine, it is imperative to be sure we have ALL our allies on side. This must include progressive religious/Christian voices who support and defend our community and who also want to have their right to marry same-sex couples protected.