CAThe Curious AtlasFamily Field Guide

Week 14 of 52 · Year One: United States

MaineThe Pine Tree State · Wabanaki homeland · Statehood 1820

Every Monday we drop one state: what to see, what to eat, what it's like to grow up there, and a kitchen-table project so the trip keeps going after you're home. Fifty states in fifty-two weeks — then we cross an ocean.

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Wooden boardwalk steps descending through spruce trees to the bay in coastal Maine
Fig. 01 — The boardwalk at Wonderland Trail, Mount Desert Island

Field notes

Four facts to tell the kids in the car

3,478 mi

of tidal coastline

More shoreline than California, hidden in all those coves.

90%

of U.S. wild blueberries

They grow low to the ground — kids can pick them standing up.

65

lighthouses still standing

The oldest, Portland Head, was lit in 1791 by order of Washington.

1820

the year of statehood

The 23rd state, split off from Massachusetts.

See & do

A three-day route that survives a nap schedule

  1. Day 1

    Portland Head Light & the working waterfront

    Tide-pool at Fort Williams, then let everyone pick a boat in the harbor and guess what it catches.

  2. Day 2

    Acadia by carriage road

    Rent bikes for the flat gravel loops. Sand Beach in the afternoon — the water is 55°F and the kids will not care.

  3. Day 3

    A blueberry barren and a lobster pound

    Pick a quart, then eat outdoors at a picnic-table pound where a lobster costs less than a burger.

Blueberry pie, camp mug, topographic map and a field notebook on cream linen

From the kitchen · Recipe No. 14

Wild Blueberry Slab Pie

One pan, one bowl, and a lattice loose enough for a five-year-old to weave. Wild berries are smaller and tarter than cultivated — if you can only find the big ones, cut the sugar by two tablespoons.

  • Wild blueberries, frozen or fresh6 cups
  • Maple syrup, dark⅓ cup
  • Cornstarch + lemon zest4 tbsp
  • All-butter crust, doubled2 discs

Kid job: crush the berries for the jammy layer

Culture & people

How to listen like you're not from away

Language

"Ayuh" means yes. "Dooryard" is the patch of gravel in front of the house. "From away" is anyone who isn't from here.

First peoples

The Wabanaki — Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Mi'kmaq — have lived here 12,000 years. Visit the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor.

Working life

About 4,500 licensed lobster harvesters. Talk to one about trap limits and you get a lesson in sustainability kids remember.

The photo roll

Week 14, shot by hand

Sand Beach in Acadia National Park seen from a wooded overlook, turquoise water and pink granite cliffs
Fig. 02 — Sand Beach from the overlook, Acadia
Waves washing over seaweed-covered pink granite ledges along the Maine coast
Fig. 03 — Tide ledges near Otter Point
Two adults with backpacks walking a sandy path through beach grass toward the shore
Fig. 04 — The last hundred yards to the water
A small sailboat with people aboard under grey skies on Casco Bay
Fig. 05 — Casco Bay, sails up in the flat light
A girl in a rain jacket smiling at the rail of a sailing schooner
Fig. 06 — Rain shell weather on the schooner

The route ahead

Next stops on the calendar

Vintage travel poster illustration for Utah

Week 15

Utah

Arches, slot canyons and fry sauce

Vintage travel poster illustration for Louisiana

Week 16

Louisiana

Bayou boats, zydeco and a gumbo roux

Vintage travel poster illustration for Michigan

Week 17

Michigan

Freshwater dunes and pasties

After week 52 the passports come out: year two runs the same format abroad — one country a week, same facts-recipe-culture-itinerary spine.

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The week's facts, recipe, printable kid worksheet and the itinerary. Paid members also get the packing lists, offline maps and the archive.