Only in Maine

cany said:

Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park is one of Maine’s most thrilling coastal sights. Here, waves rush into a narrow channel and slam into a small sea cave, trapping air and forcing it out with a deep, echoing boom while shooting saltwater high into the air. The name comes from that thunder-like sound, best heard during high tide or rough seas when the spray can reach 40 feet. A sturdy viewing platform lets you walk right up for the full experience, with sweeping views of Acadia’s rocky shoreline...but if you’re here when it’s roaring, be ready to get soaked!
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Been there multiple times
Its very contingent on tide wind etc and how much water comes rushing in splashes around
If you’ve never been its an awesome sight
Acadia in general is awesome as is the entire Downeast coast

CELLFISH said:

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My neighbor has the same plate

CELLFISH said:

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I went on vacation twice to main…loved it

JackPrintMD said:

I went on vacation twice to main…loved it

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i’m here now, two more days… nice place… cell…
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Very nice, enjoy Michael.

100 Lb anchor, used as a post holder, MADE IN CHINA… ️
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CELLFISH said:

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What part of Maine are you in? Well, I figured out you were in Freeport. Where else do you plan to go?

HOME.!

Chevy1 said:

What part of Maine are you in? Well, I figured out you were in Freeport. Where else do you plan to go?

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Impressed you picked up on that Freeport restaurant, not the usual landmark..,

You really don't want to live in Maine, especially along the coast between the mouth of the Sheepscot River and Mount Desert Island. Travel from the seaward end of one peninsula to another, something that's around 10 nmi by boat and 20 minutes, is over 30 miles and 45 minutes by car, a reliable cell phone signal is a unicorn, and you can't find a decent bagel shop, a pizzeria, nor Chinese take out place.
When you read the article please ignore the fact that our home prices and real estate taxes are just small pimples on your butt when compared to LI...

Maine home prices fell in July but are still rising faster than the rest of the country​

Maine's median home price hit a record in May and June. But prices cooled slightly in July, as the number of available homes and the total number of homes changing hands increased compared to 2024.

After plateauing at a record high in May and June, the median price of a home in Maine fell moderately in July, according to data released Thursday by the Maine Association of Realtors.

Maine’s median home price hit a peak of $425,000 in May and remained at that apex through June. But prices cooled slightly last month as the number of available homes and the total number of homes changing hands both increased year-over-year, the association said in its report.


For years, Maine’s home prices have been squeezed by increased demand and limited availability, both of which have pushed costs to new heights.

And while July’s median sales price was a few thousand dollars lower than the month prior, it was still tens of thousands more than the median home sale price in 2024: $390,200 — a record at the time.

Here are five key takeaways from the July housing report:

Median sale price down slightly last month​

The statewide median sale price for July was $419,950, meaning half of homes sold for more and half sold for less, according to the report.

While that’s about a $5,000 — or roughly 1% — decrease from May and June’s record high of $425,000, it still represents a more than 5.2% increase since July 2024, when the state saw a median price of $399,000, according to the report.

Prices outpacing national, regional rates​

At a roughly 5% increase over last year, Maine’s median sales price grew far faster than the national average, though prices were still relatively low in Maine compared to the rest of the country, according to the August report.

Nationally, the median sales price for a single-family home was $428,500 in July — a 0.3% year-over-year increase.

“Near-zero growth in home prices suggests that roughly half the country is experiencing price reductions,” said Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “Current inventory is at its highest since May 2020, during the COVID lockdown.”

The median price was even higher in the national group’s Northeast region, which includes all of New England, plus New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Regionally, the median sale price was $509,300 — a nearly 1% increase since July 2024.

In neighboring New Hampshire, the median sale price for a single family home was $545,000 in July, according to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. While that’s thousands less than last month’s median, it’s nearly 3% higher than July 2024.

Home sales still outpacing trends​

Maine had 5,346 homes for sale in July, the highest number since October 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That figure has increased for five months in a row, said Jeff Harris, president of the Maine Association of Realtors.

“With more homes for sale, buyers can be more discerning,” Harris said in a written statement. “We’re seeing that some sellers are adjusting their original pricing downward to entice buyer interest.”

At the same time, the number of homes sold statewide increased about 5% year-over-year, with 1,570 closings reported in July — 75 more than in July 2024. That’s a roughly 9% increase since June.

Home sales in Maine​

Year-over-year, that increase in Maine home sales far outpaces national and regional trends.

Nationally, sales volume was up 1.1% for existing single-family homes; in the Northeast region, that growth was about 2%.

Double-digit increases in Aroostook, Lincoln counties​

Comparing data from May to July 2024 against the same period this year, median home prices are up about 6.2% statewide, but that growth varies widely from county to county.

Lincoln and Aroostook counties each saw prices rise more than 12% from July 2024 to last month — the highest proportional increases in Maine.

Aroostook’s median sales price shot from about $155,000 between May and July 2024 to $175,000 during those same months this year. While Aroostook’s median sale price is the lowest of all 16 counties, it boasts the largest year-over-year increase of nearly 13%.

Lincoln saw the second-largest growth during that period: Prices went from $450,000 to $505,000, a 12.2% change.

Still, Cumberland County held onto its status as the state’s priciest county, charting a median sale price of $605,000 during the three-month period ending in July. That figure hit $600,000 for the first time in the three-month period ending in June.

Prices fall in Franklin, Knox counties​

When looking at the three-month period between May and July, only two counties saw median sale prices drop from 2024 and 2025.

Knox County saw the most significant decrease in the state, with median sale prices down 6.7%, falling from $485,000 to $452,500. That’s still higher than the statewide average, which was about $425,000 during that same period.

Franklin County saw a dip of about 4.6%, bringing median prices down from $325,000 to $310,000.

Video my friend took. Spoiler alert moose sighting towards the end

Would have expected this in the Blood Bank...​

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Maine Med addressing bat problem in neonatal intensive care unit​

Hospital officials say they are working on various measures to prevent 'bat incursions.'

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland has struggled in recent years to keep bats from getting into the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, prompting a complaint last year to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Hospital officials said on Thursday they are currently addressing the “occasional incursions from bats.”

Despite efforts to control bats at the Coulombe Family Tower, where the NICU and the critical care nursery are located, hospital officials confirmed there have been seven bat sightings this year.

Employees filed an OSHA complaint about the bats in June 2024 and since then the hospital has launched numerous measures to keep them from getting into the hospital. This includes replacing the facade at the Coulombe Family Tower, John Porter, MaineHealth spokesperson, said in a statement.

The OSHA complaint has since been resolved, Porter said.

“OSHA accepted MaineHealth Maine Medical Center’s corrective action plan. No fine was issued, and required notices were posted,” Porter said in the statement. An OSHA official on Friday confirmed that the hospital addressed the complaint and the case is closed.

Porter said “there have been no known bites of patients or staff” and that “every bat caught has been tested for rabies and they all have been negative.”

No patients or workers were tested for rabies, Porter said, because “there have been no instances where testing a person for rabies was advisable or necessary.”

The last known human case of rabies in Maine was reported in 1937, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Ten bats captured statewide tested positive for rabies in 2024, according to the latest statistics available from the Maine CDC. Tests of the bats captured at Maine Med were conducted by Maine CDC labs, Porter said.

A Maine Med nurse with direct knowledge of the situation told the Press Herald that workers have complained about bats in the Coulombe Family Tower for years, and that hospital officials were slow to respond.

The employee asked to remain anonymous over concerns she would be retaliated against by hospital management for speaking out.

“I do think they are working on resolving it now, after the OSHA complaint, but they were slow in starting to do anything about it,” she said.

A June 2024 letter from MaineHealth to OSHA, dated about a week after the complaint was filed, noted problems with bats going back to 2023. Bat incursions into the hospital accelerated in 2024 — with six sightings — and was likely related to bats getting in at the site of where building repairs were being done at the tower, according to the letter, obtained by the Press Herald.

The Press Herald shared a copy of the letter on Thursday with Porter, who said in the statement that “in addition to on-going pest-mitigation work by contractors, MaineHealth Maine Medical Center is currently undergoing a façade renovation project in the Coulombe Family Tower, which should also address bat incursions.”

The employee said MaineHealth should have notified the public about the bat problem, “especially since we are talking about newborn babies.”

Porter, explaining why the public wasn’t notified last year, said that MaineHealth “relies upon regulatory agencies,” including OSHA, to “determine what disclosures are required for its care team, patients and the public when an incident of this nature occurs. MaineHealth has complied fully with those requirements.”

According to the June 2024 letter from MaineHealth to OSHA, the hospital protected patients by temporarily closing a portion of the critical care nursery, which is a unit where babies need specialized care but are in a condition that is not as severe as babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Other steps included sealing various areas to prevent bats from entering and pest control measures, including disinfecting and monitoring areas where bats could get in, such as heating and air conditioning ductwork.

Porter said the hospital responded in 2024 “by moving staff and patients and working with contractors to minimize intrusions by bats.”

Measures to control bats are ongoing, Porter said, as the hospital “continues to take all necessary steps to mitigate the problem and protect patients and care team members in cooperation with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”

Bat populations in the Northeast have rebounded in recent years, after bats learned to better avoid places where a fungus grew that was reducing their populations in the 2010s.