BAR HARBOR – There’s a saying that “as Maine goes, so goes the nation,” but in summer, it seems the nation comes to Maine.

Vermont, Ohio, Missouri, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, California, Virginia – the license plates alternate along Route 1 with local Maine plates as travelers whisk along heading Down East toward Bar Harbor and beyond. And in each vehicle, the visitors come looking for their own vision of the way life ought to be.

For some, the attraction to Maine began at a young age.

“It’s something I always wanted to do, ever since I was growing up,” said Gary Schatz of Palmdale, Calif., who had stopped in Eastport for lunch before heading to Bar Harbor. “I wanted to have lobster where Maine, the ocean and Canada come together. We’ve done that, and now we’re going back.”

Gordon and Trish Woodruff of Melbourne Beach, Fla., hadn’t been to Maine since they were little kids.

“We had planned to come up to Bar Harbor and then take the Cat [ferry] over to Nova Scotia,” Gordon said. “We won’t be able to [go to Canada] this year, but we’re getting information and we figure to be back next year.”

It was Maine’s natural beauty that brought Karen and Ed Berusch of Kennett Square, Pa., back to the state.

“We’d heard about the beauty of Maine, the quaint and picturesque towns and the small fishing towns,” Karen said. “I’d come here as a kid, but I haven’t been back in 25 years. I wanted to return and share this with my husband.”

Some come for the lobster, some for the hiking and kayaking. Some come to Maine just because it’s here.

Bob and Rachel Kirksey of Mantachie, Miss., have spent most of their vacations in the Pacific Northwest, but traveling in their RV with their Australian shepherds, Hank and Willie, they took the northern route through Canada and crossed to Bar Harbor on the Cat ferry.

“We’d never been up in these parts,” Bob said. “We wanted to see the Northeast. The scenery here is so much more beautiful than we expected. Cadillac Mountain just blew us away. We really had no idea this was such a tourist-friendly place.”

Others, however, make Maine a regular vacation stop. Bob and Paula Peters regularly travel up by motorcycle from Berlin, N.H.

“We love the ocean,” Bob said.

“And lighthouses,” Paula added.

Tracy and Gary Patterson of Mt. Misery, N.J., come up every few years.

“We’ve been to Bar Harbor, and we try to get to Camden and Moosehead Lake, and then a couple of places we haven’t been before,” Tracy said.

What draws them is that Maine is very different from their New Jersey coast.

“We like the rocky coastline,” Gary said. “Diversity. That’s why we come. We’ve got warm water, beaches and great fishing in New Jersey. We don’t have diversity. We come to Maine to see the rocks, the fog, the loons.”

But for some travelers, the essence of Maine is not in the lobsters or the lakes, the whale watches, or the rugged coastline. It is the people they meet here.

Walter and Joan Okray come from Stevens Point, Wis., landlocked in the “dead center” of the state.

“The thing I like about Maine is the people,” said Walter Okray, who was spending his 36th anniversary with his wife, Joan, in Bar Harbor on their second visit to Maine. They’re similar to the people I live with – just down-to-earth Maine people.”