When you think of Maine, what comes to mind? You got it, Lobsters and Lighthouses. I was recently talking with a number of friends on three different occasions and the subject of taking a small group trip to Maine came up in each of these discussions. That motivated Robin, who is from Maine, and me to build a post highlighting a ten-day tour up the coast of Maine. Starting in Boston, the tour visits a number of important lighthouses from York to Acadia. It also identifies some great places to stay along the way and, of course, some great places to eat lobster. If Maine is also one of your favorite places to visit, we would love to get your ideas of where to visit and where to stay. We have already had some additional suggestions from the people who participated in our discussions on this topic. The Post is titled, Maine in August: Best Lobsters and Lighthouses. But, it also suggests that traveling in September before the leaves turn colors might also be a great time to visit. The trick is to attempt to avoid the crowds but visit when the weather is still good. Late August and early September might just be the best times. Please write me at Cos@cosguide4travel.com with your thoughts about a trip to Maine. Also, if you are a foodie, like Robin and me, then you might also want to check out our earlier post: http://cosguide4travel.com/19-best-restaurants-mid-coast-maine-rockport-etc/. This post highlights the foodie scene in the mid-coast part of Maine. We would also appreciate any comments you have that might allow us to improve our selection of restaurants in the area. Other Posts This Month We have updated several posts since we sent out this newsletter last month. Here are the details about the revised posts: 1. A good friend, Andy Swartz, informed me that an AI travel planning app, roamaround.io, makes travel planning much easier. We checked it out, and it turned out he was right. So, we updated our AI Post to include this new app. Check it out here:
http://cosguide4travel.com/best-ai-travel-apps/ 2. Our golf travel post was one of the first we had written, and we realized it was getting a little old. It needed some new life and title, so we rewrote it as Best Couples Golf Trips. Click on the link. It still has Robin’s perfect golf swing as the lead picture. 3. In reviewing one of our favorite educational travel posts, The Impact of Wars, we realized that it hadn’t been updated since our trip to the Balkans. The Balkans had been more impacted recently by wars than in any place we had visited. So we needed to add our experiences traveling in Kosovo and Bosnia & Herzegovina. Please take a look at
http://cosguide4travel.com/impact-of-wars/, you should find it interesting and educational.
Next Month One of the biggest travel headaches is the process of renewing your passport. Mine is due for renewal next year, which is required for most of us every ten years. Since we have international travel planned next year in both the Spring and the Fall, I only have a small window of time to renew it between the two trips. Once you figure out how to get it renewed, the wait time for going through the normal process is six to eight weeks. Anyway, I am now researching the best ways to renew it, and I plan to share what I learn in an update to our Passports Post. Don’t check it out yet, as I still need to finish my research, but there is good news: a new online process is now available. We’ll explain the new process and help you get your passport renewed. We would love feedback about the newsletter and the blog. Please write to Cos@cosguide4travel.com, especially with suggestions for improvement. Finally, as I said last month now that it is fall, we were looking forward to the start of the football season. Well, other than the Tampa Bay Bucs, and the Miami Hurricanes, the Florida teams have not had the best start to the season. The Florida Gators are 2-2 but did not look good in their two losses, while the Seminoles are 1-4. The Jaguars, who were undefeated in the pre-season, have started the season with four losses and looked terrible. There is already talk about getting a new coach or quarterback. This is what happens whenever they give the quarterback a big new contract. However, in my opinion, the real problem is the weak offensive line. Perhaps, they should offer Jason Kelce, the former Eagles center, a contract. | 
