A Porsche 911 Carrera on Mount Desert Island.
Photographer: Tobias Hutzler for Bloomberg Businessweek
Travel
The Perfect Fall Foliage Drive Is Along Maine’s Coastal Route 1
A trip up the coast in October, when most of the tourists have left, is a great time to experience the beauty of the season—and discover the real personality of the place.
“Maple trees go first. That’s red. Then comes birch, ash, and poplar,” my dad explains. “You see the yellows and oranges later. Oak and beech trees go last and hang on to their leaves a long time.”
We’re driving along a particularly lush stretch of U.S. Route 1 between Portland and Rockland, Maine, where I grew up, and he’s reminding me how fall foliage works. I’ve lived in New York City for almost 15 years, and there the street trees entirely skip this stage of life—one day they’re providing welcome shade, and then seemingly the next they’re stripped bare, revealing themselves for what they truly are: menacing squirrel labyrinths.