The biggest, wildest state in New England, Maine is also the first state in the union to catch the light of the rising sun. As a September dawn wakes me in Kennebunkport, the nearby routes along this storied coast exert a very strong pull - nearly 3,500 miles of beaches, bays, inlets, and harbors - but I have other intriguing plans for the day.

Frosted with whitecaps, the cold sea reflects a slate-gray sky streaked with silver. The horizon has been lost. Looking east across the North Atlantic, my eyes gaze into infinity as the wind whips the tang of salted air into my nostrils. I turn up the thermostat on my Aerostich jacket liner - the day is cold and the damp air permeates everything.

There is no better time or place to tour in northern New England than when those fleeting days of Indian summer coincide with the crowning glories of fall foliage.