New2Maine.com

We took a day trip up to the mid-coast region Wednesday. We took along our dog Cindy too, and we intending on a hike in the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area. Alas, the guide book we used didn’t mention that no dogs were allowed in the Conservation Area (although, really, I guess that should be somewhat obvious), so we ended up heading over to Fort Popham at the Popham Beach State Park. There Cindy got to play in the surf a bit:

Check out more photos from the area in our Maine Beaches and Parks photoset.

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Tonight is trash night on Forest Ave. For anyone who’s just moved to Portland, you may be a bit surprised at how Portland handles trash pickup. Instead of it being a city service funded by property taxes, as it was in Troy, NY, or a for-pay service as it was in Delmar, NY, Portland sells trash bags through the local grocery stores. You can get your blue Portland trash bags at the register in the local Hannaford, and I’m sure the Shaw’s up here have them in the trash bag aisle or at the register too. The five-pack of large bags (30 gallon, perhaps?) was $7.50 and we’ve gone through one a week so far. That works out to be cheaper than it was for disposal in Delmar, if we keep up that pace.

Portland also does a single-sort recycling program. Check out this video for more information. The big blue bin needs to be purchased at the DPW building on Portland St. and costs $7.00. I’m quite amazed by just how much is recyclable here. It seems like they recycle just about everything. Some things, like paperboard, I didn’t even know could be recycled, but I’m sure glad that they do. I feel very good about how little I need to put in the trash every week.

New2Maine.com reader SteveG was kind enough to contact me and let me know that he and his wife were up in Portland for the week and would like to get together for lunch. After some discussion we settled on The Great Lost Bear on Forest Ave. This is a nice pub with a great beer selection and good food. One word of caution–they have a tiny parking lot (no more than 15 cars I’d say), and there’s not a ton of street parking.

Once you find a spot to park and get in the door, you’re greeted by a typical, though very clean and nice, local pub atmosphere. There are a couple dining areas and the bar with its impressive array of taps. The menu is pretty standard pub fare, but they have just about everything you could want. The selection is far more varied than I’d expected. I chose a Buffalo chicken sandwich and She had a chicken parm sandwich. Both were good, though I would have liked my Buffalo sauce to have a bit more kick. SteveG and his wife had a veggie burger melt and a salad with tuna steak, respectively. Both seemed to enjoy their meals. We’ll definitely go back again. It’s not a short walk from our place, but it is within walking distance, so I’m sure I’ll become better acquainted with their huge beer selection.

We shared some very pleasant conversation during our 90 minutes lunch. SteveG and his wife were very helpful in pointing out all of the places to eat and shop they’ve discovered in the area. They were quite interested in Her teaching experiences, as they have a daughter looking to go into the profession as well. We chatted about impressions of Portland thus far, the pleasant and helpful people we’ve encountered up here, and the general feeling that this is a great place to live and we’re glad we decided to give it a try. SteveG also picked up the check, so I can now report that I’ve actually earned at least one free lunch with this blog. Thanks SteveG!

I’ve blogged before about difficulty in finding out exactly what is needed to register an out-of-state vehicle. I’m happy to report that we now have accomplished just that, and Her car no longer sports the amusing “Another New York” plates. The vehicle registration process takes two distinctly different steps.

1. Pay your excise tax. This is done at the local level, so in Portland, we had to visit City Hall on Congress. In order to accomplish this piece of the registration puzzle, you’ll need the following:
   • Proof of insurance
   • Your VIN
   • Money (they take cash, check, or plastic)

   For Her 2002 Subaru Forester S, the excise tax was $91. For my 2002 Subaru WRX, it was $95. Not too bad, but it’s an annual tax, so it will be a bit expensive over the long run.

2. Go to BMV and fill out the registration and title paperwork. The BMV/DMV is everyone’s favorite place in the world, right? Unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid it. We’ve gone twice so far, once for our Maine driver licenses and once for registration. We breezed in and out at about 1:30 on a Thursday afternoon (driver licenses). The wait at 10:00 AM on Tuesday was quite a bit longer, but it gave us plenty of time to fill out the paperwork. You’ll need to bring the following with you:
   • Receipt excise tax payment
   • Bill of sale for vehicle (just in case, though we didn’t actually need this)
   • Title from previous state of ownership
   • Proof of registration in previous state
   • Proof of current insurance
   • Your current odometer reading

   There are two separate forms to fill out for this part. The first is for your new title in Maine. The second is for the vehicle registration itself. Once your ticket number is called (you’ll need a B ticket for this in Portland–can’t say whether they use the same system at other BMV locations), the actual registration and title process is pretty quick–10 or 15 minutes. The fees are $25 for the registration (annual), and $23 for a new title (one-time).

   If you want a special license plate (the have a lobster plate, a loon plate, a UMaine Black Bear plate, and a UMaine System plate available to the general public), there’s an extra $20 charge. After the first year, you pay $15 extra each renewal year. These extra monies benefit various Maine causes.

So there you go. That’s the process. The Maine BMV site outlines the above process, but isn’t particularly specific about what the differences were depending on whether this was an out-of-state transfer or a vehicle purchased in Maine. The big difference is that you don’t need to pay sales tax, as you didn’t buy it in Maine, and you don’t need the green dealer form they mention (though this is why we brought our bill of sale, just in case). I’ve seen a few hits here searching for information about registration transfers, so hopefully this answers all those questions. If you need any more information, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

We bought her car from Goldstein Auto in Latham, New York last year. Their advertising slogan is “Another Goldstein,” and every car they sell comes with a license plate holder with that emblazoned on it. The license plate holder on her car is no longer fully intact, but that which remains is pretty funny given Mainers’ attitudes towards people From Away (especially New York).

Now please don’t think I’m saying that we’ve found people up here to be unfriendly or unwelcoming. Their attitude has been quite the opposite. But there is definitely a difference between native-born Mainers and those who are From Away.