We spent five nights in Bangor. We should have spent only four. We explored all there was to explore in about three days. Monday morning, we were ready to move on! We got up early and was on I95 heading north for the Canadian border before our second cup of coffee. We had no plans to cross into Canada. We wanted to explore the most northern city on the interstate. Besides, the border is closed to non-essential visitors due to the pandemic.
Houlton, Maine is known as the “end of the line” for I95 and has some of the state and country’s most rural, scenic, and rugged landscapes. We found the city to be quite interesting. The downtown square had well preserved thriving businesses. Much of the brick architecture was from the late 1800s. For a city that is off the beaten path, it was busy even with no tourism.
“Downeast” is the term used to identify Maine’s most northern coastline. It comes from the days when ships were still powered by sail and the prevailing winds was at their backs to make it an easy downhill run to the farthest eastern ports.
We are in Eastport, it’s about as far north on the Maine coastline without entering Canada. Very few tourist venture up this way, probably discouraged by the lack of services. I have been told; “that this is how all of Maine used to look in the 1940s and 1950s before southern Maine became popular. It’s rugged. The locals still live the same lifestyle as their forebears did. They make ends meet by doing forest work and lobstering.”
A few miles outside of Eastport is Lubec, Maine. The eastern most point in the United States. We were asked if we wanted to join a couple to be the first in America to see that morning sunrise. They were planning on getting there at 4am…..We asked them to take pictures…..
While driving along the very northern section of Route 1, just south of Calais, Maine, we stopped at the mainland Saint Croix Island International Historic Site to view the actual island which is located in the St. Croix River between Maine and New Brunswick.
We enjoyed walking the interpretive trail down towards the river and the view. Along the path were impressive statues and placards summarizing the history. This is the very first French settlement to North America. The original colony did not last in this location but later moved to Nova Scotia where it survived.
