Maine in October: Fog, Lighthouses and Poor Judgment

New England in autumn is genuinely as advertised, which is unusual. The consequence is that everybody knows, and availability rather than choice becomes the binding constraint on the trip.

Two things are worth building the trip around: the coast, which is cold and working and indifferent to you, and Salem, which is busy and — to its considerable credit — honest.

Maine has a great many lighthouses because Maine has a great many rocks and had, historically, a great many ships. The fog that makes them photogenic is the same fog that made them necessary. This is not a metaphor anyone has to reach for.

Boat trips out to them cancel for sea state, not for rain, and October sea state is a real variable. Put a spare day in the itinerary and treat the trip as something you might get rather than something you have.

In 1692 this town executed twenty people on spectral evidence. It has since decided to be straightforward about that, and the history walks reflect it. There is also an enormous amount of costume-shop commerce sharing the same streets, and the two are easy to confuse from a booking page.

October is the busiest month of Salem's year by a very wide margin. Book far ahead, or go in a different season and have the place largely to yourself.

A working port with a long memory. The after-dark walks here are short, cheap and good.

One scheduling note that catches people out: in late autumn this far north and east, sunset arrives absurdly early. An after-dark walk in November begins before you have had dinner.