You can't come to Maine and cry like a baby when it gets cold. This area offers tons of wonderful outdoor activities for all seasons of the year: hiking, swimming, boating, ocean fun, lake fun, mountains, rivers, kayaking, hunting, skiing, ice skating, camping, fishing, and historical places. The base has a very nice exchange and the commissary is big and clean, although it's located off-base in Topsham. The FFSC is very helpful. The MWR has a bowling alley, a couple of cheap food places, and a wonderful activities area for the kids and family. The base does a lot of family functions.....our favorite is getting a lobster or a steak every Friday in the summer for only $7. I've never seen the base housing, but rents are affordable off-base and many buy their own homes. The schools are good and the crime rate isn't too bad ~ better than a city. It does get cold and snowy in the winter, but this IS Maine. The winters are long and the summers are short. The summer temps get pretty hot in July and August (90 plus humidity), but the winter temps dip pretty much into teens and lower. It's wonderful in the winter to snuggle up before a fire. You are within 2 hours of many historical places.....there's a wonderful Naval Museum in Kittery; shopping, museums, theatres, and clubs in Portland; tons of shopping and a desert (yes, a real desert!) in Freeport. There are mountains and lakes galore. It's an outdoorsman paradise, and a wonderful environment to raise your children.
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