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Maine cops ready with speeding tickets
If you decide to drive in from the south, watch out for the State Police on I-95 and I-295. Recently, they’ve seemed to be especially aggressive on the Maine Turnpike and on the interstate stretch around Freeport.

The National Motorist Association ranks all 50 state from best to worst on their attitude about speeding. Low scores mean they rank high, and have a bad attitude about speeding. The six New England states are fairly aggressive, with Maine at about mid-way for the region, but in the top 30% nationwide.

Here's the breakdown: Massachusetts, 10; Vermont, 16; Maine, 17; Rhode Island, 22; New Hampshire, 24; and Connecticut, 32. MSN has a story on the highway ticketing tendencies of the police; click this link.

Getting about demands patience
Even if you arrive by plane, in the end you will be driving. And driving in Maine - especially during the summer-- requires patience.

Since Maine has only two seasons — winter and road-repair — the summer must serve multiple purposes: repairing snowplow damage [which this year, is quite extensive] and expediting tourists' flow in and out of the state.

Avoid the Route 1 Wiscasset back-up
If, like most travelers, you enter Maine from the south on I-95/295, sooner or later you will find yourself on US 1, the so-called coastal route even though you never see the coast until you get to Rockland.

Typically, travelers exit at Brunswick or Topsham to travel northward through Bath. If you choose to take the coastal route, we prefer the Topsham option, even though it is a tad longer, because the road is better, the town more pleasant and the presence of more retail establishments gives you a chance to pick up what you forgot when leaving home. However, before making this decision, read on.

If your actual destination is the Camden or Rockport — or even Rockland — areas, taking US 1 from the south is a bad decision. The highway is very heavily traveled during the summer high season and daily traffic jams in Wiscasset can extend several miles on either side of the village — seriously, several miles and a snail's pace or less.

And, on other stretches of Route 1 you stand a good chance of encountering either a local or someone "from away" who is in no particular hurry to get on down the road and, therefore, sees no need to go faster than 45 or 50, which holds up an entire column of traffic at, well, 45 or 50 miles per hour.

If you are not seeking to arrive at points south of Rockland and north of Bath, the best alternative is to remain on 95/295 to Augusta, then head east. Route 17 East from Augusta to Rockport-Camden-Rockalnd is a reasonable alternative.

Depending on your destination, this option may take a bit longer, but it will be a lot less frustrating.

Other arrival options
Alternatives, which might be cheaper than paying for the gas to drive from Boston's Logan airport, are to flying Bangor or Augusta and then drive east to the coast. Frankly, if you are flying into the region, we recommend bypassing Boston completely.

Yet another option is to fly into Halifax, Nova Scotia; visit that beautiful Maritime area, and then you can catch The Cat to Bar Harbor or Portland, where you can rent a vehicle to tour locally.

The CAT is a high speed passenger and car ferry operating on two Maine routes: Portland - Yarmouth, NS, and Bar Harbor - Yarmouth. Carrying up to 775 passengers and 240 cars across the Gulf of Maine, the ship operates from May to October.

In our opinion, The CAT is the best way between Maine and Nova Scotia, and the most fun.