Families brave the chilly waters on a beach in Blue Hill.
Photographer: Greta Rybus
Everybody Wants to Go to Maine
A wave of chefs and hoteliers have moved to the state’s coastal region in recent years, chasing a way of life that’s always been there. And they’re just a small part of a significant migration and tourism boom. One former Mainer heads Down East to see what all the fuss is about.
Thirty years ago, when I was a kid in rural Maine, my elementary school bused some of us to a TV studio in Boston, where we fielded questions from Massachusetts city kids about life in our home state. Someone asked how much milk a cow gave in a day. My friend Noah, son of a journalist and an artist, gamely took a wild guess. He was off by many gallons.
Outsiders have always been curious about Maine, and its unassuming charms seem to be more alluring than ever these days. Acadia National Park received a record 4 million visitors in 2021—more than Yosemite National Park, despite being almost one-fifteenth its size—and 15 million tourists a year come to the state for its lakes and beaches, cool air and fresh seafood. Thanks to remote work, many of these folks “from away” are staying—which has turned Maine into one of the fastest-growing states. From 2020 to 2021 the median age dropped for the first time in two decades.