Maine is called the Pine Tree state. Forests cover much of the state. I have never been to Maine but it sounds like a beautiful place to visit.Maine became a state on March 15, 1820. That land had originally been a part of Massachusetts.
We enjoyed reading about and looking at pictures of Maine. The jagged shoreline, the lighthouses, the sunrises (the first in the US) , the islands, the blueberries, the trees and the small fishing villages all look and sound like neat places to see and spend time in. I think part of my high interest is because though I have never been to Maine, I have heard about it from friends and also in many ways it sounds much like Northern MN.
The State bird is the Chickadee (a bird that is common here in MN as well, I especially love hearing it's Springtime song!), the state flower is a unique one as it is the white pine cone and tassel. The state tree is the white pine, the state insect is the honeybee and the state herb is wintergreen. The state animal is the moose and we read that it is fairly common to see a moose. We have some moose here as well but I think I have only seen one once.
Here are some of the foods we enjoyed:
Down east Maine pumpkin bread.
The Mainiac chicken casserole was pretty good.
And fried dough was very yummy!
Blueberry frozen yogurt (except I made some changes). We enjoyed in very much.We also enjoyed pancakes with real maple syrup (though it didn't come from Maine, it came from my parents farm.)
We read that 99% of the wild blueberries sold in the US come from Maine. They must have some dedicated pickers there! I know that picking wild blueberries is a lot of work! (but fun work).
Some of the interesting things we read about Maine were:
- A large part of Maine has no roads (at least not public ones).
- Maine has the largest percentage of people (in the US) that speak french at home.
- Boat building is a big thing in Maine.
- Acadia National Park (in Maine) is the only park where the Mountains meet the sea.
- Maine produces a lot of toothpicks. I did intend to take a picture of all of us picking our teeth with wooden toothpicks but I didn't get it done. Sorry! I am sure you are very disappointed!
Okay, now it is your turn! Please tell about all the wonderful things in Maine that I missed! (And please remember to tell us all you know about Florida!)
