12 Things Mainers Are Tired of Explaining to the Rest of the Country

Yes, the L.L.Bean store in Freeport really is open 24 hours a day.

Mainers have answered questions like that for years, and they have the answers memorized.

Here’s what Mainers are tired of explaining to the rest of the country.

1. The Other Portland

Portland, Oregon, got its name from a coin toss that a man from Portland, Maine, won.

In 1845, Francis Pettygrove and Asa Lovejoy tossed a penny to name their new town.

The stakes were Boston if Lovejoy won and Portland if Pettygrove won.

The 2020 Census counted 652,503 people in Oregon’s Portland and 68,408 in Maine’s.

Say Portland to a stranger, and they often picture Oregon’s Portland first.

2. The $5.85 Lobster

If you ask what lobster cost in Maine in 2025, the boat price was $5.85 a pound, according to the state’s Department of Marine Resources.

Harvesters landed 78.8 million pounds that year, worth about $461 million.

They took over 21,000 fewer fishing trips than in 2024, a drop of nearly ten percent.

Adjusted for inflation, lobster’s 2025 value was more in line with the value earned in 2008.

3. The Moose Lottery

Maine’s moose permit lottery put 3,705 permits up for 2026, according to the state’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

That’s 3,343 for residents, 288 for nonresidents and 74 for hunting lodges.

In 2025, 76,217 people applied.

Resident applicants had about one chance in ten that year. Nonresidents had about one in 70.

If you ask a Mainer whether they hunt moose, many will tell you they just enter the lottery and wait.

4. L.L.Bean Around the Clock

L.L.Bean’s Hunting & Fishing store in Freeport lists its hours as open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so a 3 a.m. lure run is possible.

The company’s 24-hour tradition in Freeport dates to 1951, when its founder wanted sportsmen and women to be able to buy lures and other gear at any hour.

The store ran on limited hours after the company briefly closed all its stores in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Round-the-clock sales resumed in 2021.

Check the store page before you go, since hours can change.

5. Black Fly Season

Black fly season in Maine once ran from mid-May to mid-June, according to a University of Maine Cooperative Extension pest specialist.

Black flies now show up from early spring until November, and cleaner streams are part of the reason, since they support more species.

Maine has more than 40 species of black fly, though only a handful bite people.

Only the females bite. Black flies need running water to breed.

If you hike beside a stream, you’re passing the water where they breed.

Many locals plan their yard work around them.

6. Roads Without Billboards

Maine’s sign law says no person may erect or maintain signs visible to the traveling public from a public way, except as provided in the same chapter.

The law’s findings say scattered outdoor advertising hurts scenic resources and doesn’t work well for telling tourists where to find services.

They call the proliferation of outdoor advertising hazardous to highway users.

If you run a business there, you can in general post on-premises signs without a license or permit, with a cap of 10 per business or property.

7. Aroostook Versus Two States

If you picture Maine as a strip of harbor towns, you're leaving out Aroostook County.

Aroostook County has 6,671 square miles of land, more than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

Connecticut has 4,842 square miles and Rhode Island has 1,034.

The county's 2020 Census population was 67,105, fewer people than live in the city of Portland.

8. Camps and Seasonal Homes

If a Mainer says they're headed "upta camp," you're probably going to a camp or cabin on a lake, river or the coast, according to The Maine Mag.

People don't regularly live in more than one-fifth of Maine's homes.

In the 2020 American Community Survey, 72% of Maine's vacant housing units were for seasonal, recreational or occasional use.

Only Vermont's rate was higher, at 75%.

9. Harvest Break

If you wonder why some Aroostook County students get a fall break, the answer is potatoes.

The tradition of a potato harvest break goes back to at least 1945.

In 2025, Maine School Administrative District 1 still ran a three-week break.

At Porter Farms near Presque Isle, students earn about $19 an hour.

Over 90% of Maine potatoes grow in Aroostook County.

Superintendent Ben Greenlaw has said the break can continue as long as at least 15% of students use it to work.

10. The Trail's End at Katahdin

The Appalachian Trail ends on Katahdin's Baxter Peak, and Baxter State Park has the trail's final 10 miles.

Myron Avery set that northern end on Baxter Peak in 1933.

If you hike the trail through the park, you'll need a free long-distance permit, and the park issues no more than 3,150 a year.

If you'd rather day-hike Katahdin, the park says parking at Roaring Brook often fills early in the morning.

11. Eastport's 20-Foot Tides

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the East Coast's largest tidal range occurs in Maine.

The areas near Eastport and Cobscook Bay have tidal ranges of about 20 feet.

The highest tides in the world are in Canada's Bay of Fundy, at Burntcoat Head in Nova Scotia.

If you visit Eastport, check a tide table before you plan a walk along the shore.

12. Augusta, Not Portland

Augusta became Maine's capital in a bill the governor signed in 1827, and the Legislature first met in the new State House on January 4, 1832.

Portland had served as the temporary capital after statehood, but that wasn't permanent.

Augusta had 18,899 residents in the 2020 Census, while Portland had 68,408.

If you're planning a visit to see the State House, point your navigation to Augusta.