St. Agatha Maine

We drove to St. Agatha Maine on Monday 6 July 2026.  We were booked to stay at Lakeview Camping Resort and it certainly was a beautiful view of Long Lake.  We got settled in a little after 4pm since we made two stops enroute.  One stop was to fill up the truck and one stop was to grocery shop. 

The view from our back window for the week...

Tuesday 7 July we didn’t go out till after lunch since we slept in and went for a walk around the campground.   We took the National Scenic Byway in St. John Valley. We went to the Four Corners Park in Madawaska, then we stopped to see St. David Catholic Church, and Mt Carmel Cultural Museum, and finally we made it to Acadian Village.  The Mt Carmel Cultural Museum is part of the National Park Service effort to preserve the Maine Acadian Culture. The gentleman working inside and giving tours works for the NPS, but is also a descendent of one of the original families who settled in the area. His last name is Cyr.

We took the tour of the Village and that lasted over an hour and a half.  It was interesting to hear about settlers from Canada with names Anita knows from Louisiana too.  We got back to the campground around 6:30pm so we had dinner at the Lakeview Restaurant.  It turns out that the restaurant right in our campground is well known in Maine.  It’s open year round and popular with snow mobile riders who come to the Long Lake area for the snow mobile trails. The original owners, Dick and Carol Derosier have passed, but their children have kept the restaurant and campground going.

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

Founders of this park were avid long distance motorcyclists who wanted to bring tourism to northern Maine. The park is one of the four corners of the United States motorcyclists travel to with the other three being San Ysidro CA, Blaine WA and Key West FL. The challenge is to complete a 7000 mile ride to the four corners of the US in 21 days!

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

He looked so real we took a picture with him...

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

Mr. Knucklehead - named after the classic Harley-Davidson "Knucklehead" motorcycle engine

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

Madawaska Maine - 7 July 2026

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

St. David Church - Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Church was built in 1911

St. David Church -\Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

We've started seeing this banner in front of Catholic churches in the Diocese of Portland ME

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Acadian Historic Cross

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Acadian Historic Cross

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Acadian Historic Cross

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Acadian Historic Cross

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Acadian Historic Cross

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Acadian Historic Cross

Village of St. David ME - 7 July 2026

Acadian Historic Cross

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel - Grand Isle Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Anita has enjoyed being in this Acadian-rich area with so much feeling familiar with the same efforts to preserve the Acadian heritage in Lafayette LA where Anita grew up.  On our tour we did learn about the original Acadian flag.  It has the blue, white and red colors (French flag) with one yellow star.  From the Internet:  The yellow star on the Acadian flag represents Our Lady of the Assumption (the patron saint of the Acadians) and is historically known as Stella Maris (Star of the Sea). Placed on the blue stripe, it symbolizes hope, a guiding light for the future, and the traditional devotion of the Acadian people to the Virgin Mary.   Additionally, its gold color honors the Pope.

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

The Ouellette Family was wealthy. Not sure what the "canopies" are for over the pillows...

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Notre Dame de L'assumption Chapel

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Inside Notre Dame de L'assumption Chapel

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Inside Notre Dame de L'assumption Chapel

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Inside Notre Dame de L'assumption Chapel

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Inside Notre Dame de L'assumption Chapel

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Inside Notre Dame de L'assumption Chapel

Acadian Village - Van Buren Maine - 7 July 2026

Inside Notre Dame de L'assumption Chapel

Wednesday 8 July we went the opposite direction to Fort Kent.  The town of Fort Kent seems to be the hub for the surrounding smaller towns.  The fort of Fort Kent itself is one blockhouse, so we went inside to read about it.  We found a roadside park to have our lunch and then we continued driving southwest to Allagash, a wilderness area to say the least.  We turned around after a little ways on a barely paved road.  All we saw in Allagash were a few guide services for moose, bear, deer and grouse hunting.  We stopped at the store designated on an official sign that said this store would have official information.  The lady behind the counter was a little surprised to hear that her store would have “official” information but laughingly offered local gossip.  She was very pleasant and said the flies and mosquitoes come with the beauty of the wilderness.  We haven’t found St. Agatha to have the mosquitoes we battled further south.  The lady at the General Store told us about an ice cream place in Fort Kent.  We stopped at Al’s Tastee Freez for each a scoop of ice cream and we sat with a lady and her grandsons.  She lives in Sinclair and invited us to the Historical Society’s event Sunday afternoon in St. Agatha.  We weren’t planning to leave till Monday morning, so we thought we'd check it out.  Anita realized in talking with the lady from Sinclair that although places seem to take long to get to, people in the different towns know each other, so the 50-mile radius has a small town feeling when you get to talk to locals.  Also at the ice cream place, a lady sitting behind us heard Anita saying she didn’t know Maine produced so many potatoes.  She said she and her husband are potato farmers! 

We took a different way home and saw more of the beautiful yards.  The homes are modest with lots of well kept land and some spots were just postcard beautiful. We made it home by 4pm Wednesday, so it was nice to relax and read for a change.

Thursday we stuck around the campground.  We had to do laundry, so that took up the morning, especially with the area losing power during the last load drying.  Our neighbors were out for a walk to pick up their Corvette which is in storage near the laundry room, so they stopped to chat with us for a bit.  They told us they have been coming to the campground for years, mostly in the winter for snowmobiling.  They now have a large Class-A motorhome and they’re here for ATV'ing on the snow mobile trails around the area.   They showed us a scenic overlook across the lake from the campground.  They found it on their ATV, but said we could drive to it.  That evening we had surf and turf for dinner.  Steve grilled steaks over the campfire and he steamed some shrimp.  We had that with baked potatoes outside looking at Long Lake.  It was one of those times we had to stop and feel how blessed we are to be living this lifestyle and having so many beautiful sites right from our home.

Fort Kent Blockhouse - Fort Kent Maine - 8 July 2026

Fort Kent Blockhouse - Fort Kent Maine - 8 July 2026

Fort Kent Blockhouse - Fort Kent Maine - 8 July 2026

Beginning of US Route 1 - Fort Kent Maine - 8 July 2026

Beginning of US Route 1 - Fort Kent Maine - 8 July 2026

Beginning of US Route 1 - Fort Kent Maine - 8 July 2026

Beginning of US Route 1 - Fort Kent Maine - 8 July 2026

We sat on a bench overlooking the St. John River and we could see the border crossing...

Beginning of US Route 1 - Fort Kent Maine - 8 July 2026

Bridge into Canada...

Allagash Maine - 8 July 2026

Friday 10 July, we headed out to see the scenic overlook across the lake. Next we drove to Mizpah, a serene place to walk the grounds. Our tour guide at Acadian Village earlier in the week had mentioned checking this place out after we discovered we were all Catholic. We then drove to the Grand Falls Gorge in New Brunswick CA, only to find out we've already been there. We realized it as soon as we saw the area. We had our lunch and a bathroom break and then headed back to the US. After that, Steve wanted to see the Air & Space Museum at the decommissioned Loring Air Force Base in Limestone ME.  It was closed the day we were there, but we thought we might see airplanes outside. It turned out the Loring Air Force Base has been abandoned and there were no aircraft to see.  There is a wildlife refuge just outside the base.  The visitor center was open so we stopped in to check it out.  The lady in there must have been a little lonely as she talked quite a bit.  It didn’t look like she’d get much (if any) traffic through there.  After the wildlife refuge, we tried to drive around Long Lake, but we learned that there is no road all the way along the East side of the lake.  After the slow-going drive on gravel/dirt roads we ended up getting home close to 7pm.

St. Agatha Maine - 10 July 2026

Scenic Overlook across Long Lake from us...

St. Agatha Maine - 10 July 2026

Scenic Overlook across Long Lake from us...

St. Agatha Maine - 10 July 2026

Scenic Overlook across Long Lake from us...our campground can be seen at the top

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Mizpah was started by a young man, Richard Corbin age 24, who was diagnosed with cancer and given 6 months to live back in 1969. He made a promise to God that if He would spare his life, Dick would build a spiritual place of reflection and healing for people living with cancer, pain, or grief, or who suffer in any way. Dick Corbin wanted people to know they're not alone in hard times. He died in 2015. Mizpah is definitely a place one feels embraced and peaceful. We really enjoyed our brief time there.

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Floating rosary

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Sts Peter and Paul

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Dick Corbin - Founder of Mizpah

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Mizpah - Grand Isle Maine - 10 July 2026

Grand Falls Gorge Visitor Center - New Brunswick CA - 10 July 2026

Olympic Torch

Grand Falls Gorge Visitor Center - New Brunswick CA - 10 July 2026

Grand Falls Gorge Visitor Center - New Brunswick CA - 10 July 2026

Grand Falls Gorge Visitor Center - New Brunswick CA - 10 July 2026

Grand Falls Gorge - New Brunswick CA - 10 July 2026

US National French Fry Day - McCain's gave free fries...

Loring AFB - Limestone Maine - 10 July 2026

Base where B52s flew to Europe WWII

Air & Space Museum

Limestone Maine - 10 July 2026

Saturday morning we walked to the St. Agatha Post Office to pick up our mail.  It was exactly one mile from our doorstep.  It was a cool 73 with a nice breeze, so a very enjoyable walk.  When we got home, we hung around the campsite and took care of odds and ends. Anita worked on the blog and Steve put air in the camper tires. We did things we can't do when we're out site seeing. 

We went to mass Sunday (12 July) at 8:30am in St. Agatha.  Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church was just under 2 miles from our campsite.  There was a Catholic Church every 10 miles in this area and we could have gone Saturday evening or later Sunday morning, but we opted for the closest one.  Sunday afternoon, we went to the Historical Society’s event featuring a book reading by author Cathie Pelletier with a performance by the musical group Les Chanteurs Acadiens.  This event highlighted the rich Acadian and French-Canadian heritage of the St. John Valley. 

Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church - St. Agatha Maine - 12 July 2026

Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church - St. Agatha Maine - 12 July 2026

Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church - St. Agatha Maine - 12 July 2026

Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church - St. Agatha Maine - 12 July 2026

Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church - St. Agatha Maine - 12 July 2026

St. Agatha Historical Society Event - 12 July 2026

Les Chanteurs Acadiens

These guys were entertaining, singing one verse in French and then one in English...

St. Agatha Historical Society Event - 12 July 2026

Author Cathie Pelletier

Cathie Pelletier is a novelist and songwriter who was born and raised in Allagash, a rural town in Aroostook County, Maine. She lived in Nashville for 30 years and now lives again in Allagash. She was at this event signing her latest Book "Evangeline's Journey" about one young lady's trials after the 1755 Acadian expulsion from Canada. Anita bought her book and had it autographed. After the music and book signing they had "build your own ice cream sundae" in another building which was air conditioned. We got home around 3:30pm and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon relaxing at home.

Tomorrow 13 July we are driving to Kamouraska Quebec for our first week of a four week tour in Quebec.