Maine Line to New England Color

We are off to the often overlooked state of Maine and perhaps greater New England.. We are flying into Boston, and driving up through New Hampshire, perhaps to Vermont, and on to Maine. I was in Maine before, as a company I worked for, had an office in Augusta when we administered the state Medicaid drug program. I also stopped here on my first big trip in 1971 to Europe, in Bangor, to refuel. It was a real thrill (ha ha). It was basically an old airplane hangar with a small snack bar, and a big fuel truck.

The capitol of Maine is Augusta. The state animal is the moose, and the state bird is the chickadee. Maine has 5500 miles of coastline, and about 2000 islands off of its coast. But it has only 1.2 million residents, including Bush 41. Over 90% of American lobster is trapped in Maine.

Maine has over 60 lighthouses. And earmuffs were invented here by Chester Greenwood in 1873. It is our 23rd state, and is the only continental state to be bordered by only ONE state (New Hampshire). But I always associate Maine with lobster and L. L. Bean.

L. L. Bean was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. Annual world wide sales are $1.5 billion. Headquarters are in Freeport, just down the road from the original store. LL began in the basement of his brother's apparel shop. He did not meet with immediate success, as 90 of 100 of his Maine Hunting Shoe were returned for defects. But he made good on his word, and a business was launched. There are no locks on the flagship store in Freeport. Believe me, I checked. He said he threw away the keys to the place!

We are here for some fall colors and some good seafood, particularly Maine lobster. I certainly am not ready for driving on dusty, gravel roads hither and yon. If things get too whacked, we can always head to Boston and the Union Oyster House and Harvard Yard.

I have always wanted to visit the L.L. Bean flagship store, since my first turtlenecks that I purchased back in the 70s. This is one of a few American brands that still has some clout in the world. Though we saw mostly Columbia and North Face stuff in Patagonia, LL would be my first choice.

The fall folaige report for today is now ranging from 35 to 75% toward peak.
Good timing for our trip, we hope. I just hope we have a little better luck here than we did chasing the cherry blossoms in Japan.

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