Maine is almost as big as the other five New England states combined. It is still mostly forest, even at this late date and age, so its nickname of the Pine Tree State is not unapt. Since the state hasn't prospered as mightily as most of the northern half of the country has over the past century, it did not attract the immigration that other states did. As a result, Maine has a much more homogeneous population than the rest of the country—archetypal Downeasterners who have the sharpest twang of all, and many French Canadians who have managed to maintain their identity down through the decades.
For the vacationist, the state represents the greatest outdoor country in the northeast, a land of 2,400 wilderness lakes and 2,400 rugged miles of shoreline. It's hunting and fishing country (deer, bear and partridge, trout, bass and landlocked salmon), a land of canoe trips and portages, wood smoke rising from campfires, and summer cottages called "camps" by the natives.
It's also the home of a few celebrated, tradition-laden resorts, such as Poland Springs, Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert, Ogunquit, Boothbay Harbor, Rockland, Rockport and Rockwood, near Mt. Kineo and Moosehead Lake. Maine is so preponderantly a resort area that its vehicle license plates all read "Maine Vacationland"—all, that is, except those of hearses. Local undertakers deemed it undignified to be carrying bodies to cemeteries in vehicles plugging vacation travel, so they are issued license plates that read simply "Maine."
Vacationing in Maine, you'll dine on such local specialties as clam chowder, broiled lobster, salmon steaks and blueberry pie. Even though Maine's cuisine is distinctly American, there's an international flavor in its place names, including China, Denmark, Mexico, Naples, Paris, Peru, Norway, Poland and Sweden, all within a radius of about 100 miles of each other.
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