I’m not talking about 25th state of the union, Maine was actually number 23, so not far off. But it was the 25th state of the US I had visited. I’d been stuck on 24 states since 2007 and on any subsequent visits to the US, I’d just had repeat visits to a state I’d already been in, which tended to be the Rocky Mountain states or Alaska, my two favourite parts of the US. Now I was so close to Maine, I had to visit.
Originally I had planned to spend a few days in Maine and go to Acadia National Park, however, even though I was travelling for 7 weeks, going to Acadia would mean a lot of driving, a lot of dashing and a lot of simply looking at things out of the car window. I decided that if I was going to go to Maine, I’d be better off going there on another occasion when I had more time to dedicate to the area and do some proper hiking in Acadia National Park. So this was just going to be a short detour into Maine to post the beautiful blanket I’d bought on Prince Edward Island to my friend’s daughter in Oklahoma which would be cheaper and faster than sending it from Canada.
Judy from the bed and breakfast told me she had hiked up the highest mountain in Maine and that was hard going. It took 7 hours to get up and another 7 hours to get down. I certainly wasn’t going to have that time to spare in Maine. Judy mentioned she had friends currently hiking the Appalachian Trail, 25 miles a day and camping every night. She said they were really suffering and it sounded miserable. Judy said that she liked to be more comfortable when she travelled. I did too. So with no ambitious hikes in mind, I set off for Maine.
I stopped off in McAdam, New Brunswick first, lured by the beautiful railway station. The last train to leave McAdam was in 1994, so I would have a long wait for a train there! The station was built in the early 1900s and the town grew up because of it. These days, even though the station is very beautiful, the town gets most visitors because of the local gun dealership!
You can tour the whole station or see a portion of it for free, and as it wasn’t busy, Avery, who was working that day, showed me round the free part. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother had come through McAdam on the train although they had not been inside the station. There was a ladies waiting room in the station where women could smoke or chew tobacco which they weren’t allowed to do in public.
They had redecorated one room as a 1950s style diner and there was a more traditional dining room that was being used for a graduation ceremony later that day. You could also hire the diner for events. I was particularly interested in the posters on the wall of the diner, original railway company posters of West Coast attractions such as the Rocky Mountains to encourage people to travel across the country by train. Apparently in the West they had posters for places like Niagara Falls to advertise attractions in the East in the hope of persuading residents there to travel east.
After that I made it to the border of Maine. Had I known what a time consuming rigmarole getting into Maine would be, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. Even though I had an ESTA for visiting the States, it was apparently only good for entering the US by air, so a Visa Waiver was filled in. The woman in the office who looked about 80, was at least a bit more with it than the bloke, who had no idea what he was doing. The fingerprint machine didn’t work, so it took ages to get my fingerprints processed. Then they printed out the wrong Visa Waiver, so we had to go through all that again! It took almost an hour and I noticed the prominent photo hanging on the wall of Donald Trump grinning down at me. Why was I coming to Maine again? Remind me?
I finally got the go ahead to drive into Maine and encountered some of the worst weather of my trip, pouring rain and low visibility. I got the parcel posted in the small town of Danforth and then started my drive along the Million Dollar View National Scenic Byway.
The Million Dollar View Scenic Highway in Maine is just 8 miles long and in sunny weather I imagined it was a beautiful drive, with a view of the mountains and lakes in the distance. But in the pouring rain, you couldn’t see too well and when I got out of the car to try and attempt a couple of photos, I was getting wet and getting bitten, since the rain was not deterring the insects. I did get some photos of Grand Lake from the viewpoint near the top of Peekaboo Mountain. Even in the rain it was pretty spectacular, so in good weather it must look fabulous.
I crossed back into Canada which was much more straightforward than getting into Maine and took another detour off the Trans Canada to Nackawic because I simply had to see the world’s largest axe! It’s here to illustrate the importance of Forestry to the province of New Brunswick. And it is a very big axe! It dates from 1991, it is 15 metres tall and weighs 55 tonnes. Yes, forestry is that important to the economy of New Brunswick.
I had to drive to Lunenburg today which was about a 5 hour drive, so I only had time for a very brief look around the pretty provincial capital of New Brunswick, Fredericton. I’d have to come back here another time to explore the city more thoroughly and I’d stay at the same lovely B&B.
For now I had to say goodbye to New Brunswick and head off, the weather was getting worse and driving conditions were appalling, torrential rain and strong winds.
I did notice in Nova Scotia, that the towns like to have a claim to fame. As you’re driving along the Trans Canada Highway, various signs try to lure you to visit the town. Just a couple of the ones I saw on my drive to Lunenburg were “Oxford, Nova Scotia – Blueberry capital of Canada” and my personal favourite, “Stewiacke, Nova Scotia – Halfway Point between the North Pole and Equator”.
It was late by the time I got to Lunenburg and it was dark, but I managed to find the art gallery where I was staying overnight without too much of a problem, an envelope was stuck to the door with my keys. It had been a very long day. I settled into my room for the night and looked forward to exploring tomorrow.
I travelled around Atlantic Canada in June 2018.
McAdam is approximately 80km from Fredericton and a one hour drive. McAdam Railway Station is open every day from 1 July to 30 September. Tours cost $8. I visited in June, but as a special event was being held at the station later that day, the station was open for an informal look around.
Nackawic is home to the largest axe in the world. It is free of charge to see. Nackawic is approximately 62km and a 45 minute drive from Fredericton.
The Million Dollar View National Scenic Byway runs for 8 miles between Danforth and Orient in Maine near the summit of Peekaboo Mountain and with views of Grand Lake.
I crossed into Maine at the Vanceboro/Saint Croix border crossing. It isn’t usually a busy crossing but anyone who doesn’t have a US or Canadian passport will have to fill out the paperwork at the border post.
Check out my posts about my other adventures on this trip.
Magnetic Hill and Fundy National Park
Quebec – Waterfalls, Via Ferrata and A Religious Theme Park
North Cape Coastal Drive Part 1
North Cape Coastal Drive Part 2
Charlottetown – Pocket Capital of Prince Edward Island