Nestled on the furthest point of the eastern out-cropping in the state of Maine is the small town of Lubec. Founded in 1811, the town has a little over a thousand people living in it. From the University of Maine campus, the drive is about two and a half hours, but if you are an antique junkie, there are a lot of cool antique shops on the way up to break up the trip, as well as beautiful coastal views along the way.
Lubec is the epitome of a cozy and charming seaside fishing town. The air is perfectly cool and kissed with a thin layer of mist that awakens your senses to the lush foliage and briney sea breeze around you. It is a quiet town, which some would find boring, but it is far from it. The energy is so calm and relaxing in the town to a point where it feels like a welcome retreat from society.
The rainy northwestern climate with rocky cliffs and abundant greenery is prominent in this east-coast town, giving it a similar feeling to that of Forks, from the movie “Twilight.”
The town is right on the Canadian border. On the far side of town there is a bridge called “The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Bridge” that leads from Lubec right into Campobello Island, an island in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. A passport is required to travel to the island, as you will need to pass through Canadian border customs.
The town also features a few nice restaurants. “The Fisherman’s Wharf” is a restaurant planted right on the rocky outcropping before the ocean. The spectacular thing about this eatery is the huge windows that allow a serene view of the waves crashing on the rocks below. This creates a very cozy atmosphere where family and friends can gather for hours. There are many great seafood options as well as a pleasing wine and drinks list. The seafood is as fresh as it gets.
During my stay there, I spent a weekend at the “Inn on the Wharf,” which I highly enjoyed. The history behind the building is an interesting one. A couple, Judy and Victor Trafford, stumbled upon the town of Lubec by accident in 2006, but they completely fell in love with the town’s charm and natural beauty. Soon after, they bought a house and then an old sardine factory that came with its own wharf. The factory, more than a hundred years old, was preserved by the couple and converted into an inn. You never would have thought that it used to be a sardine factory with how charming it is. There are also balconies attached to the rooms, allowing you to step out above the rocky outcroppings to view the ocean beyond, a beautiful sight to say the least.
Possibly the most well-known part of Lubec is its red and white striped lighthouse that serves as the marker of the easternmost point of the United States. The charming lighthouse holds quite the significance and is a popular tourist attraction. It is named the “West Quoddy Head lighthouse” and sits inside of Quoddy Head State Park.
Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec is a little bit of a hidden gem in Maine. It is home to awe-inspiring black cliffs that hover over crashing ocean waves. The looming black cliffs were created during the Silurian Age from volcanic magma.
Always wreathed in fog and cool sea-mist, the state park is a great place to visit if you are ever in Lubec. The “Coastal Trail” is a definite recommendation for hiking trails. It is a moderate skill-level hike with mildly challenging maneuvering and a four mile round trip, but the views along the coast during this trail are pristine.
The lighthouse is now staffed by volunteers, but once had a live-in lighthouse keeper. Visitors may tour the former rooms of the keeper. The tower itself is closed to the public, but the lighthouse beacon still shines, one of 63 left active on Maine’s coast.
Lubec is a must-visit town in Maine because it has so much to offer. The environment provides such peaceful energy and it helps with centering yourself when your life feels a bit chaotic.
CORRECTION: The headline was changed from “city” to “point” as West Quoddy Head in Lubec is the easternmost point in the contiguous United States.
