Having a rustic family “camp” in Maine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this idea of Maine. But the ticks. Yuck. Say what you will, but Florida is not full of ticks.

I'll take the Maine weather and do tick checks.

There are like 1500 miles of options in between too, just saying!

You have tick issues from Maine to southern Virginia. And anywhere on the East Coast is inundated by mosquitoes during the summer. It's pretty much impossible to get away from these pests without traveling west or to Europe.

Ticks better than virus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this idea of Maine. But the ticks. Yuck. Say what you will, but Florida is not full of ticks.

I'll take the Maine weather and do tick checks.

There are like 1500 miles of options in between too, just saying!

You have tick issues from Maine to southern Virginia. And anywhere on the East Coast is inundated by mosquitoes during the summer. It's pretty much impossible to get away from these pests without traveling west or to Europe.

Ticks better than virus

Really? If I had a choice between covid or Lyme disease I'd pick covid. I think Lyme disease has a much higher chance of ruining your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this idea of Maine. But the ticks. Yuck. Say what you will, but Florida is not full of ticks.

I'll take the Maine weather and do tick checks.

There are like 1500 miles of options in between too, just saying!

You have tick issues from Maine to southern Virginia. And anywhere on the East Coast is inundated by mosquitoes during the summer. It's pretty much impossible to get away from these pests without traveling west or to Europe.

Ticks better than virus

Really? If I had a choice between covid or Lyme disease I'd pick covid. I think Lyme disease has a much higher chance of ruining your life.

These are our choices now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this idea of Maine. But the ticks. Yuck. Say what you will, but Florida is not full of ticks.

I'll take the Maine weather and do tick checks.

There are like 1500 miles of options in between too, just saying!

You have tick issues from Maine to southern Virginia. And anywhere on the East Coast is inundated by mosquitoes during the summer. It's pretty much impossible to get away from these pests without traveling west or to Europe.

Ticks better than virus

Really? If I had a choice between covid or Lyme disease I'd pick covid. I think Lyme disease has a much higher chance of ruining your life.

Lyme disease is fine if you take antibiotics when you first get symptoms. My son got lyme at age 10. He's completely healthy now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love this idea of Maine. But the ticks. Yuck. Say what you will, but Florida is not full of ticks.

I'll take the Maine weather and do tick checks.

There are like 1500 miles of options in between too, just saying!

You have tick issues from Maine to southern Virginia. And anywhere on the East Coast is inundated by mosquitoes during the summer. It's pretty much impossible to get away from these pests without traveling west or to Europe.

Ticks better than virus

Really? If I had a choice between covid or Lyme disease I'd pick covid. I think Lyme disease has a much higher chance of ruining your life.

Lyme disease is fine if you take antibiotics when you first get symptoms. My son got lyme at age 10. He's completely healthy now.

And if you don’t?

More than half of my extended family (in Northeast) has battled with Lyme over the last 30 years. Those who caught it quickly fared better than those who did not. Seeing the long-term issues faced by those who didn’t catch it quickly frightens me every time we visit.

That said, we love going to Maine (and other parts of the NE) but are extremely diligent about tick checks.

[Anonymous]

I live in Maine after 20 years in DC and surrounds. Got Lyme 2 years ago and thought I would die; diagnosed very quickly (the assumption is that you have it if you show any symptoms, and they don't hem/haw and wait for test results, which are often inaccurate anyway, and instead get you on a long course of Doxy right away), and was better in a week. No lingering or recurring issues.
We do regular tick checks at bath time.

I live in a beach town that is flooded with tourists in July and August, and there is simply no better vacation than a Maine camp/lake house. If you get a year-round, you can rent it to skiers in the winter. (Whomever posted above that Maine winters are awful is a damn liar - Maine winters are beyond gorgeous!).

I'm betting lake house prices will crash by August because of the travel and rental restrictions in place, so if you're going to buy, do it in a few months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Maine after 20 years in DC and surrounds. Got Lyme 2 years ago and thought I would die; diagnosed very quickly (the assumption is that you have it if you show any symptoms, and they don't hem/haw and wait for test results, which are often inaccurate anyway, and instead get you on a long course of Doxy right away), and was better in a week. No lingering or recurring issues.
We do regular tick checks at bath time.

I live in a beach town that is flooded with tourists in July and August, and there is simply no better vacation than a Maine camp/lake house. If you get a year-round, you can rent it to skiers in the winter. (Whomever posted above that Maine winters are awful is a damn liar - Maine winters are beyond gorgeous!).

I'm betting lake house prices will crash by August because of the travel and rental restrictions in place, so if you're going to buy, do it in a few months.

Pfft! Beyond gorgeous is a matter of perspective for sure.
It gets dark at 3:30 in the afternoon. Maine needs its own time zone.
It was 27 degrees when I was there on THANKSGIVING
It snowed what, two, three days ago?
You have to hire people to plow your drive way and pull snow and ice off your roof.
Every time my parents have a doctor's appointment - in Boston since health care in Maine is crap - it snows and they have to drive all that way in terrible conditions.
Drugs are a huge problem
The schools are terrible

I could go on and one. Been trying to get my parents out of there for years.....

[Anonymous]

Enjoy this article about the Maine health care system.

https://bangordailynews.com/2020/04/02/news/down-east/dhhs-worries-whether-calais-hospital-can-handle-coronavirus-after-doctor-cant-intubate-patient/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Maine after 20 years in DC and surrounds. Got Lyme 2 years ago and thought I would die; diagnosed very quickly (the assumption is that you have it if you show any symptoms, and they don't hem/haw and wait for test results, which are often inaccurate anyway, and instead get you on a long course of Doxy right away), and was better in a week. No lingering or recurring issues.
We do regular tick checks at bath time.

I live in a beach town that is flooded with tourists in July and August, and there is simply no better vacation than a Maine camp/lake house. If you get a year-round, you can rent it to skiers in the winter. (Whomever posted above that Maine winters are awful is a damn liar - Maine winters are beyond gorgeous!).

I'm betting lake house prices will crash by August because of the travel and rental restrictions in place, so if you're going to buy, do it in a few months.

Pfft! Beyond gorgeous is a matter of perspective for sure.
It gets dark at 3:30 in the afternoon. Maine needs its own time zone.
It was 27 degrees when I was there on THANKSGIVING
It snowed what, two, three days ago?
You have to hire people to plow your drive way and pull snow and ice off your roof.
Every time my parents have a doctor's appointment - in Boston since health care in Maine is crap - it snows and they have to drive all that way in terrible conditions.
Drugs are a huge problem
The schools are terrible

I could go on and one. Been trying to get my parents out of there for years.....

Alas, as you see with your parents, Maine gets in your blood and you can't just leave.
Indeed I would love our own time zone.
Thanksgiving snow is breathtaking;
In Southern Maine we had a small picturesque flurry yesterday, but nothing stayed on the ground - warmed up quickly and we enjoyed a perfect bike ride on the trails after lunch
Get a truck or a good snowblower and you're all set with the plowing; get a roof rake, and you're set for the roof
Hospitals in Portland are good and well-funded, thanks in large part to Barbara Bush, and my young son has received incredible emergency care at our local hospital (including being seen and treated without any wait, which never happened in DC/Fairfax);
Drugs are a problem everywhere, and you're kidding yourself if you think not. The bigger issue here is a lack of affordable treatment - this is something I bemoan daily as I seek resources for clients.
Schools are great. Our public elementary class sizes are between 16-18, and I couldn't be happier with the results we're seeing. Our school has done an exceptional job adaption to home/distance learning, and far beyond what lower-state friends post about on facebook.

Unless health issues prevent, I'm certain your parents are happy to be able to isolate in nature. There simply is no better place to quarantine.
But we digress from the lake houses - they're dreamy regardless of the ticks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Enjoy this article about the Maine health care system.

https://bangordailynews.com/2020/04/02/news/down-east/dhhs-worries-whether-calais-hospital-can-handle-coronavirus-after-doctor-cant-intubate-patient/

Do you realize where Calais is? Any state bigger than DE or RI has isolated, small hospitals where you could get low quality care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Enjoy this article about the Maine health care system.

https://bangordailynews.com/2020/04/02/news/down-east/dhhs-worries-whether-calais-hospital-can-handle-coronavirus-after-doctor-cant-intubate-patient/

It mirrors my experience with my parents in coastal Carolina. You really need to be near a big medical facility or else be prepared to die earlier than you need to.

[Anonymous]

Can someone post a real estate listing of the sort of camp they are talking about? I'm just curious what this looks like

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone post a real estate listing of the sort of camp they are talking about? I'm just curious what this looks like

As someone explained upthread, it looks however you want.

A seasonal cabin without heat.

A piece of land with tent platforms and outhouses.

A piece of land with numerous structures.

A piece of land with a modern 4 season house.

In New England, a vacation house in nature is often called a camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone post a real estate listing of the sort of camp they are talking about? I'm just curious what this looks like

They run the gamut. It's hard to find an actual rustic family camp listing because they're held for generations and are sold privately.
You can find million dollar lake houses, which don't do anything for me, and you can find cozy smaller places where you do don't have to freak if some dirt comes in. Examples on the market are:
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Pleasant-Valley-Cir_Poland_ME_04274_M34796-83304
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1250-Redding-Rd_Woodstock_ME_04219_M47814-63014

Traditional camp with no bathroom:
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/155-E-Shore-Dr_Byron_ME_04275_M94974-35967#photo19

[Anonymous]

its kind of cool that the woodstock me house comes with two extra islands for free!