In 1917, Leon Leonwood Bean opened a hunting-boot store above the Freeport Post Office with a doorbell so sportsmen could make pickups on their way upstate. Topics include wilderness survival and fly-fishing for beginners. Rebuilt with brick and slate roofs, the structures now serve as taverns, restaurants, and boutiques in what remains a bustling port for fishing and lobster boats. This 16-mile stretch of continuous whitewater, the longest in the East, offers ideal rapids for canoeing and kayaking. Visitors to this working lighthouse can tour a maritime museum in the old keepers quarters and see adjacent remnants of Fort Williams, built in 1899.
Daily cruises go whale watching, puffin watching, or seal watching.
Swimming is common along the southern coast up to Portland, where water temperatures in July and August average in the high 60s. While not exactly bath water, it is a warmer dip than off the state's most northern coast, where summertime ocean temperatures usually top out at 50 degrees. Inc. All rights reserved.