Maine*****

Maine
We’ve been wanting to visit Maine for several years and we finally made the trip in Sept. of 2015. We were hoping to be there when the leaves were at their most colorful and the weather was still warm enough for hiking. We were actually a couple of weeks early according to the locals as the leaves were just beginning to turn. This turned out to be a great trip; excellent food, very relaxing, friendly people, and beautiful scenery. We started at the southern tip in York Harbor and gradually made our way up the coast to Bar Harbor. It didn’t appear there was much to see north of Bar Harbor so we headed back south after our stay there. I would definitely recommend the Maine coast as a vacation spot and a place I would visit again.

Transportation

Our plan was to start at the south end of Maine and drive up the coast. For that reason we took Southwest airlines to Manchester NH, and rented a car. Manchester was only about 60 miles from our first night’s stay, which was York Harbor, ME. We had no schedule to keep other than our hotel reservations so we stopped and explored towns as we headed up the coast. Our flight back home didn’t leave until around noon from Manchester so we spent our last night in Ogunquit which gave us plenty of time to turn in the rental car and make our flight.

Lodging

There are lots of great places to stay in coastal Maine. A one hour drive from Manchester airport in far southern Maine is the town of York Harbor and our hotel for the first two nights, the Stage Neck Inn. The inn overlooks the beach and there is a fire pit right outside the bar where you can sit and enjoy the view. We had a small room with a king bed overlooking the ocean. Very quaint.

Our next stay was at the Harborside Hotel in Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor is a bustling town with a lot of traffic during the tourist season, and some of the cruise lines make stops here as well so thru September Bar Harbor is a busy place. The Harborside backs up to the bay but we had a second floor room without much of a view, although the bed was super comfortable. The concierge at the hotel was very helpful in helping us plan our route to explore Acadia National Park which is literally right down the road from the Harborside. The hotel has a nice workout facility adjacent to it and the $25 daily resort fee covers the use of it.

Our last night in Maine was spent in Ogunquit at a place called The Cliff House. The name certainly describes the setting as the hotel sits on a high cliff overlooking the ocean and provides stunning views from our room and most anywhere in the hotel. The hotel is in the midst of renovation with some areas such as the pool, workout facility, bar/restaurants looking beautiful, while our room had worn linoleum and little tubs in the bathrooms. Still, the views make this place worth the visit and it should only get better as the renovations continue.

Activities

Most of our activities were limited to driving from one town to the next, shopping, hiking, drinking and eating, but I’ll be a little more specific. The Nubble lighthouse is right up Hwy 1 a few miles from York Harbor and that is a must see if you’re in the area. We then continued north to Kennebunk and Kennebunkport and did some shopping. There are some interesting stores and galleries there but I didn’t consider anything a “must see”. We continued north and stopped in Boothbay Harbor. Very quaint little town with some cool pubs (McSeagulls!) and good shopping. We also drove thru Camden which looked like it had a lot to offer but we just didn’t have the time to stop as we wanted to get to Bar Harbor before dark. If you want to miss all of the traffic on Hwy 1 stay on the interstate and it will shave considerable time off your trip.

Besides shopping and sight-seeing our main plan for Bar Harbor was to explore Acadia National Park. Acadia is the oldest national park east of the Mississippi and is great for hiking and biking. Acadia is actually on a big island and the views from the top of Cadillac Mountain (you can drive to the top) are outstanding. If you like to hike this is the place for you. We stopped in town and packed a picnic bag with wine and snacks and made stops at Sandy Beach and Thunder Hole in Acadia the following day. Bar Harbor was packed with people both day and night, but we were told that when the last cruise ship leaves the end of Sept that the town basically shuts down until the following May.

Restaurants

I came home 7 pounds heavier than when I left which attests to the excellent food we had on this trip. Our first night which was in York Harbor we ate at the restaurant in the Stage Neck Inn. Very nice restaurant with excellent sea food and live music. Our hotel package included breakfast and they offered one of the best buffet breakfasts I have had in a long time. Just delicious. Right down the road from the Stage Neck is the York Harbor Inn. The restaurant there was recommended and we ate downstairs in their pub area. My wife started her lobster only diet that evening and I have to say it was delicious.

We arrived late into Bar Harbor so dinner our first night was at a pub called Paddy’s. If you are looking for chowder, sandwiches and a beer you can’t go wrong at Paddy’s. Ate breakfast the following morning at a little bakery called the Cottage Street Bakery. Not bad. The best decision we made was stopping in a bar that evening called Testa’s. We met a bartender named Deb and she clued us in as to all of the best restaurants around Bar Harbor. We said we wanted lobster and she sent us to the other side of the island to a place called Thurston’s Lobster Pound. It’s about a 30 minute drive mostly on a dirt road to a pier where they are unloading fresh lobsters. They have baskets of lobsters segregated by weight and all you have to do is tell them what size you want. We had two one and a half pound lobsters with corn, slaw, fries and beer for less than $50. Fantastic! We went back to Testa’s for dessert and a nightcap and to thank Deb for her tip. The next night we got Deb’s advice again. She sent us to an Italian place in Bar Harbor call Dimatteo’s. Food was wonderful, although the service was lacking. Our last dinner in Maine was in Ogunquit at a place called Bintliff’s. Upscale restaurant with excellent seafood menu and wine list. It gets a 9 on a 1-10 scale.

Big thumbs up for Maine!