It was given that we had to visit at least one lighthouse in Maine, and what better way to do that…read morethan by visiting the most visited one in the state?? We were staying nearby in the area, so it was an easy drive here. This park is small, but has such a rich history. The guys working at the park were super friendly, and one gave us some fun facts about the lighthouse before heading up to the top! Speaking of, going up to the top is really neat. It's a tad bit scary and has a steep, spiral staircase, but has some great views once you get up there. There's also a little room with more on the history. Outside, you can climb around on the rocks to have a great viewing spot of the ocean. You need to come visit this place if you are nearby!

Pemaquid point lighthouse park is the lighthouse on the back of the Maine quarter. It is located in…read moreBristol. We were here on a foggy June day. There was a line to go up in the lighthouse. It is tiny, but worth the view, even in a foggy day

This is worth stopping in. The tour is really good and guide is very knowledgeable. The castle…read moreis all original which is unusual. It takes you back to the "old" days.

Delightful tour offered by Historic New England, this house has been passed through the same family…read moreso all the things in the house is original. Limited parking is available on the front drive and there is a porta potty on site for visitors.

Had to stop in and check out the tourist sights while driving through…read more Parking lot is large. And was full around 3pm z went inside, I'm the only one there. I don't know if this parking lot is always a share ride kind of place. But literally I was the only one with a full parking lot. The globe spins around. Kind of cool to watch. You can view from upstairs too, as the globe is basically 2 stories high. They do have a small cafe. They also have a couple small seating areas where you can sit and relax and watch the world pass you by.

When we found out we would be driving past the world's largest rotating globe, we knew we had to…read morestop. Luckily for us it ended up being late in the evening so it was very dark and quiet and peaceful when we pulled in. Because it was so late we didn't end up going inside, but you really don't need to. We stood for about 15 minutes and watched her through the glass rotating slowly. It's actually quite beautiful to see and it's one of those things where you have to see it in person to really understand it. This could easily have been a 5-minute stop, or if we had come during the day, most likely a much longer stop because I would have wanted to go inside and examine everything close up. If you're driving through the area, especially after dark. It's definitely worth a quick detour. It's simple, unique, and it's way cooler in person than you can tell from the photos.

Great place to visit, it is beautiful and very well marked and maintained. Trees and lush fields…read morewith wild flowers. We never made it to the oyster shell middens. The pictures I see on the website are great--just don't come at sunset when we arrived... else be devoured by hordes of mosquitoes!

I feel the need to preface all of my nature reviews with this: being 90% forested and having around…read more3500 miles of coastline, Maine has a tremendous amount of spaces, walkways, paths, and trails of all kinds and of all levels. There's something for everyone. What I'm reviewing is how a spot compares to similar outdoor spots in my personal opinion. Being in nature - and remembering to carry in, carry out - is always five stars! :) Parking? Yes. Loop trail? Yes and no. Well marked signs? Kind of. Element of surprise? No. I feel like the concept of Whaleback Shell Midden's State Historic Site is incredible. But, unfortunately, over time it's perhaps lost it's impressiveness. So, what is a shell midden? It's essentially an enormous pile of discarded shells (primarily oyster) located on the Damariscotta River that were formed, they believe, 1000+ years ago by Indigenous Americans. Originally the Whaleback Midden was more than thirty feet deep (and looked like the back of a whale) -- most of which is gone now since it was used to create chicken feed in the late nineteenth century, or because of erosion from rising sea levels, or because it was simply taken by people (there are lots of signs that kindly ask that you do not do this). As such, there isn't much to see here: there's a nice walk through a field, a lovely walk through a very small but historic apple orchard (the best part when we visited was the earthy smell of summer heat bouncing off the apples), a swinging bench that over looks some of the river, and some really interesting informational boards. But that's about it. Across the river, and completely inaccessible, you can see the Glidden Midden which is the largest mound left in Maine (and, again unfortunately, it's not that big).

Ruins dating back to 17th century with a wealth of information provided. Colonial Pemaquid State…read moreHistoric Site is situated in a peaceful location with lovely views of the surrounding area. The introductory video is informative, and the museum hosts a number of artifacts excavated from the site. The ruins themselves are not much to look at, but enough information is provided to explain the history of the site to answer many questions that a visitor may have. Overall, even though it is a bit out of the way, I would recommend a stop at this historic site if you have time.

We visited the fort and adjacent exhibit on a rainy day and found it fascinating. Yes, we got…read moredrenched, but so much the better to imagine life there in colonial times!

When in Maine at Halloween time, what do you do? Go to an old 1600's cemetery and learn the history…read moreof this incredible place. Super fascinating to walk around and see these head stones, and the history. A lot of the head stone were craved in Boston as there wasn't any head stone engraving in Maine. Once the head stone was done, they had to be shipped up by boat. You will see and learn about the different sections of the cemetery. The rich, the working class, and the poor. One section was interesting as it was like a vault where they just piled the bodies in. A smaller section where they had stairs. So they would remove the sod, the boards, and stairs would appear and you'd walk down the stairs to the vault. Our tour guide Jeff described head stone details, what the markings meant. And how an apprentice would practice on the bottom of a head stone before engraving the phrases. If he messed up, it was okay, because that bottom part was going in the ground anyway. It was all pretty cool. Even if you're not into cemeteries, it was a good place to learn the history of the oldest cemetery in Maine. And it is Halloween day. Think it's a good place to be

Lovely little cemetery with nice view. It's filled with history. There's a tour at 4pm. I wish…read moreit was earlier.

Fort Gorges is a two-story fortress made of granite. Fort Gorges was constructed before the Civil…read moreWar and used to store guns and ammunition. When I first saw it, it looked like a mini Alcatraz as it is on it's own little island. Usually when there are mini islands with a fortress, it usually has wartime historic values. This is one of three fortresses in the Portland Harbor.

Fort Gorges at Portland Maine in Casco Bay. This is old Civil war Fort you can access by boat and…read moreexplore! We did not get to go there! Noël Teel Lisa Diane Boyce-Vanoy Dale Lisa Vanoy Tony Vanoy #newengland25trip

What a gorgeous spot, quiet, great store/restaurant, nice people. Great pizza. Make sure to ask…read morefor fried clams extra crispy.

Don't go here! I…read morelearned about this bridge by watching a Sunday morning show (it's now on youtube) highlighting this bridge and the store close by (store review: https://www.yelp.com/biz/trevett-country-store-trevett?hrid=oku17hRS1AbII9VF_hMjTA&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)). Since we were planning a trip to Maine in our future, we moved it up due to the bridge being upgraded by 2020. This is an 86 year old hand-cranked bridge. Some locals refer to it as the Pony Truss. It is one of the few remaining hand-cranked bridges in the United States. However, it will be ungraded later on this year. I thought it was sad and I wanted to share this important piece of history with my son. After all, not everything used to be automatic or just happened with the touch of a button. We learned while staying in Boothbay that the bridge doesn't get very much boat traffic and we'd be lucky to see it...or the operator, Terry F. (full name in articles about the bridge and videos), open the bridge that is. We felt this was an important piece of dying history, so we decided to go anyway...have lunch and wait for it. If nothing else, maybe we could meet her to express how sad we were this change is coming. We've read a few articles about the bridge and Terry F. after we saw the show...and we were excited to at least see this piece of history. Our adventure didn't go as planned that's for sure...what a waste of time! We thought we'd to go to this store to have a lunch, watch the bridge if we could and/or just enjoy the scenery. Or have a meal and maybe shake hands with Terry F. if possible (if we couldn't see the bridge opening) since she seemed to love this bridge and the history of it so much and it's going away. She seemed so nice on the show/video after all and the articles about her are so nice. I got that wrong! What a joke! I made a colossal mistake by going to view this bridge (and have a meal at this store) with my family. Terry F. seemed genuine on the show, so if we couldn't see the bridge open, then maybe we could meet her...we tried both. No boats, so we drove to the other side and waited, kept our distance from her hut since you can't go past a certain point and hoped she'd come out to get her attention. As luck would have it she came out and we spoke to her at a distance...again, since you can't go beyond a certain point. She just yelled at us...she was nasty mean. We didn't even go where we weren't supposed to, we followed the rules. We tried to tell her why we were there...she wouldn't listen. Being horrid gave her pleasure it seemed. She is quite the brusque person...totally different and the exact opposite from the interview on the show. Absolutely nothing like the articles describe either, nor was the experience. The area in general is nothing to write home about, nor send a postcard! It was a wow moment...her rudeness is indescribable. My son got a lesson alright, but not exactly the one I thought...ha! End Note: I did find it sad that the bridge is changing. But after our experience (between the bridge and store), I am happy to see the bridge changing and it's for the absolute best. Perhaps one day soon they can figure out how to make it fully mechanical where a human isn't needed at all. After all, there isn't much boat traffic and seems to be a colossal waste of money to have a person just sitting there most of the time. At least that is all she was doing when we were there...just sitting. Going to the area is a complete waste of time, energy and money and I would not recommend it to anyone. Not to mention this is a perfect example to not always believe what you read, see on TV or the internet.