Sept. 12 - Good-Bye Maine

"Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious." — Stephen Hawking

We said goodbye to Maine today. As much as we hate to leave, it's time to move south. We've enjoyed every day and have great memories of this unbelievably beautiful place...we will be back. Our intention was to stop in Gloucester for the night, but the sea was flat and beautiful, so we decided early in the day to go to an anchorage just past the Cape Cod Canal. A total of 144 miles...our longest run ever. We'll stay in Newport for the rest of the week and then move south to the Chesapeake when we have a weather window.

Maine Fun Facts:

• Maine is known as the Pine Tree state.
• Maine Lobster annually yield is 40 million pounds, nearly 90 percent of the nation's lobster supply.
• Maine has 3,478 miles of coastline
• If the rocky coast of Maine was stretched out straight, it would reach from the northern most tip of Maine to the southern tip of Florida 
• Maine has 3,166 offshore islands. Only about 1,200 Maine coast islands have an acre or more.
• Maine has over 32,000 miles of Rivers and Streams.
• Maine has over 6,000 Lakes and Ponds.
• Number of Maine Lighthouses: 67 (Quoddy Head Light is the eastern most point in the U.S.)
• Acadia National Park is one of the most visited U.S. National Parks, with over 2 million annual visitors. The Park was first established and opened in 1916.
• Maine's Aroostook County at 6,453 square miles is larger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
• Eastport, Maine is the eastern most U.S. city, and the first in the country to see the sun.
• Maine's coastline has so many deep harbors it could provide anchorage for all the Navy fleets in the world.
• Maine State Capital: Augusta  
• Maine State Bird: The Chickadee
• Maine State Tree: The White Pine
• Maine State Berry: The Wild Maine Blueberry - (More blueberries grow in Maine than any other state, over 90% of the country's blueberry crop)
• Maine State Animal: The Moose - Maine has more Moose per mile than any other state, over 75,000 moose, second only to Alaska
• Average Summer Temperature in Maine: 70 degrees
• Average Winter Temperature in Maine: 20 degrees
• Maine is the only state in the U.S. with one syllable. Also Mainers don't pronounce their R's