I live on a little island off of America. Ask me anything.

[Stimmyplip]

Due to living in a small island I'm frequently bored. Hence the thread.

We actually thought about going to Boothbay this weekend to see the Draken them realised coming to Portland so we'll wait to see it then. I do like to get to the gardens every so often - my kids absolutely loved it when they were little. I actually feel quite sad now they're too big to play in the children's garden and the bear cave and build fairy houses.

Glad the traffic wasn't too bad!

Glad the traffic was ok! My friends drove from the island back to upstate NY yesterday and it took them over 12 hours!!!!

We actually saw Draken down in Mystic last year and ds was pretty underwhelmed. Dh was excited though!

We went to a talk by the captain of the Draken which was hilarious, he has a very dry Swedish sense of humour. The video of them crossing the North Atlantic is very scary. We left early yesterday because we needed to get back to Boston for 5 so I think we missed the traffic, the first 10 miles on Friday leaving here at 5pm was excruciating.

Dh keeps talking about taking our boat the to the UK. Fuck.That.

I'm having to go to the mainland for work stuff today and dreading it as Sod's law it's rainy. Means of of the summer people and people on holiday go over too. I foresee hours of queuing in ferry lines.

If you had the rain we had in Boston I doubt anybody wanted to go anywhere! I had to cross town to get the train to New York and got soaked getting to the shop across the street to buy an umbrella. My phone also went mad with flash flood alerts which was weird, since DH’s didn’t and he actually lives here full time.

We didn't get that much. And haven't since. It's so dry!!! I'm watering over 2 hours a day!

This is so interesting, especially the property tax thing , think that would work lovely here in the UK

Would you ever go and live on the mainland again and if the island didn't exist would you have moved to America anyway?

@Stimmyplip - We had a lovely time in the Boston area and got as far north as Rockport, MA so I went out onto the breakwater and waved at you.

Hope all is well on your island.

This is fascinating.
Op if we wanted to go somewhere near where you are on holiday, ideally not too difficult to get to from Boston, where would you suggest?
And where would we stay - hotels? Airbnb?

@Train101

That's such a hard question. Given the state of school shootings, and that there have nearly been two locally, probably no.

@MissConductUS Ha! I thought I saw someone waving. Did you like a Rockport? I've not been yet.

@Frazzled2207

Camden or Rockland are probably the best places to stay. Rockland is more big townish. More restaurants and art galleries etc but way less beautiful and quaint than Camden. Both have a load of hotels. Camden has a 7 day minimum for air bnb which is annoying and ridiculous.

The island is great, has a few air bnbs but not so much to do. Unless you like cycling and beaches and then you'd be in heaven!

Stim Rockport was lovely - it's on Cape Ann. It's a beautiful historic fishing village. Fab shopping and dining too.

northofboston.org/7-reasons-why-you-need-to-visit-cape-ann-in-new-england/

It was also crawling with Brits. I overheard three families with British accents as we were walking around. It's well worth the trip from where you are.

Frazzeled take a look at the Boothbay Harbor area on Tripadvisor. There are lots of old hotels on the water and things to do in that area. It's also not that far north, so not a bad drive from Boston.

Where is the nearest Sephora/ ULTA?

That northofboston website is making me want to visit Salem and Newburyport and Haverhill now. Usually I just shoot through/near them down 95 to Boston.

It might have been asked, but what is the name of the island?

We used to live in DownEast Maine prior to moving to the UK (we live in London now). I can't imagine moving away from the UK now, but if we did, Maine would be a great option for us. I loved it.

That northofboston website is making me want to visit Salem

So sorry about that semster.

We spent most of a day in Salem and it was well worth it. We did the Philips house tour (it's owned by the non profit Historic New England) in the morning and the Peabody Essex Museum in the afternoon. It's a fabulous mid sized art museum with a very interesting collection.

There are lots of nice places for lunch and you can do the witch memorial and walk through the historic cemetery in the center of town for free.

Semster if you do get to Salem you have to have lunch at Turner's - best chowda evah!

www.turners-seafood.com/locations/salem-at-lyceum-hall/

It's right downtown too.

@macattack52 there's both in Bangor which is about 2 hours from me. (Ferry ride included.)

I wasn't that taken with Salem. I'd always wanted to go there and was quite underwhelmed and found it too touristy. Ds was too small too do any of the tours though so maybe it would be better if we go back now!

@Train101 I'd rather not put the whole name as then it'll be easily googlable lol but it starts with an I and ends with a 'boro.'

It's in Penobscot bay.

@Gingerivy it has its drawbacks but I love it! Still miss London a tiny bit though!

Found it

Oh, you're further north than I thought. For some reason I had you closer to my old stomping grounds around Wiscasset.

Have you had a visit to Boothbay?

Salem is a bit touristy, but the house tours and Peabody Essex museum are certainly worth it (but not with a toddler).