Welcome to Lee!

By: Melanie Brooks

Yesterday my esteemed assistant Ashley and I hopped in my car and drove to Lee. Our purpose -- besides having an adventure -- was to do some reporting for an article I'm writing about private high schools for the September issue. We spent the morning with some staff and students of Lee Academy.

Nestled (hiding out really) in the Lincoln Lakes region of Maine, Lee Academy is an international high school. With just about 275 students, almost 100 of them are boarding students from abroad. Kids from 11 different nations including China, Vietnam, Australia, Germany, and Israel bring in international flair to the rural academy.

The main schoolhouse (pictured below) has a historic charm to it. The wood floors are shiny and worn from years of boots, saddle shoes, and sneakers.


The cafeteria is an old hunting lodge. A big stone fireplace still stands inside. Ashley spent a good hour interviewing a handful of students -- both domestic and international. They were good sports and posed for a picture.

(Left to Right: Ben Guido, Taylor Averill, Samer Jassar, Blake Stevens, Jason Oh, Vu Phan)

But there's more to Lee than the Academy. After our interviews, Ashley and I headed over to Raymond's for some lunch. If you have a hankering for a delicious sub sandwich and you also need to pick up some blaze orange hunting gear, a pair of sunglasses, and a can of beans, Raymond's is your place. We even got to watch Wheel of Fortune during our lunch! What a deal!

We were so taken with the local diner that we decided to drive around a little bit and see what else we could find.

Need a picnic table to an outhouse? This place was right down the street from Raymond's on the left. Tell 'em Bangor Metro sent cha!


We even ran into a cow that was pretending to be a giraffe. So handsome!


We were also taken by this adorable general store/ice cream shop. Had we had any room in our tummies from lunch, this would have been our next stop.


So the next time you drive through this little village, take a look around. You never know what you're going to find!