Maine vacation help...

[lizzyann]

Anybody have any experience vacationing in Maine? Planning a vacation there this summer. Where is the best area to stay? It will be myself, my DH, my three year old son, my 5 month old son, my mom and her dog. We will be renting a home that allows dogs. I would like to find an area that has shopping/restaurants and beach nearby. A couple of friends have recommended Ogunquit. Any other advice? Thanks!

 

[vc10um]

DH and I spent 4 days in Maine this summer as part of our first anniversary trip. We based ourselves in Portland (for a very nice dinner out, make a reservation at the Back Bay Grill) at a fabulous B&B (The Pomegranate Inn, if you're interested...I'm not sure if they allow dogs, but a one-night getaway up there while your mom stays with the kiddos in the rental house might not be a bad idea. ) drove up to Acadia as a day trip, and also spent some time in Saco/Old Orchard Beach one evening for dinner at a place called The Chef and the Gardener. Old Orchard Beach appeared to be a cute area with a little adventure park and shops and a nice stretch of beach, though I think we preferred the public access areas a little further north off Rte. 9. We were there at the end of June and it was positively lovely as far as the weather was concerned. Pretty sure the water was not anything I would've considered testing, but there were plenty of children on the beaches, and even some body surfers.

I hope you have a wonderful trip and find exactly the accommodattions you're looking for!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi Lizzyann! I'm from northern New England and we go to Maine as often as we can (usually day trips though since we're local).

Here are some recommendations for the southern Maine coast (Ogunquit and York, specifically, but Kittery has good outlets and Fort Foster http://www.portsmouthnh.com/thingstodo/todoDetail.cfm?TodoID=82&CategoryID=17,, and Kennebunkport and Portland are great towns as well). There are a ton of places I could recommend but here are a few of my favorites. Kittery, York, and Ogunquit are so close to one another, and Wells isn't far from there either, heading up route 1. Wells has great beaches. Drake's Island and Moody Beach are really fun family beach areas. http://www.wellsmaine.com/best/beaches.html

- Ogunquit is a great little town with plenty of shops and restaurants.
Jonathan's is a great family place. http://www.jonathansrestaurant.com/
Bintliff's is a fabulous brunch place. http://www.bintliffsogunquit.com/ (We go there every time we visit Maine.)
Clay Hill Farm is a really good restaurant that's also a bird sanctuary. It's not on the water but it's tucked away in a very quiet area of town. It's a great place for date night if you have a chance to get away. They have a pianist who plays, and it's just a very nice, cozy, restaurant with a homey feel. It's also where I got married, actually.
The Ogunquit Playhouse is popular but we've never been. http://www.ogunquitplayhouse.org/
The Meadowmere is a great family hotel right on route 1, which goes right through Ogunquit. http://www.meadowmere.com/
The Anchorage by the Sea is another good family hotel. This one overlooks the water, and is along the Marginal Way. http://www.anchoragebythesea.com/ and http://www.ogunquit.org/aboutOgunquit.php

- York (and the area of York called Cape Neddick) is another great town with shops and restaurants. York Beach is there also, and that's the part of town that has all the tourist shops. York Beach has Short Sands Beach and Long Sands Beach. They're not my favorite because they're usually packed, but convenient if you're in the touristy part of town. York's Animal Kingdom is also there, and that might be fun to check out. Nubble Light House is a very popular destination and I recommend it highly. There's a good restaurant called Fox's on the property, and they serve food and ice cream. Downtown York (Route 1A) has a few shops and it's a nice area. That's where the York Harbor Inn is, which is nice for brunch, lunch at the more casual restaurant on the property, or dinner.

- Kennebunkport has a nice downtown area that is popular with tourists in the summer. http://www.kennebunkport.org/
The Colony Hotel is really nice. So is the Nonantum Resort. This one is probably more family friendly than the Colony Hotel.

Darn, I just realized you're planning on renting a house. I can't help you there but I left the recommendations above on here just in case plans change.

-Definitely go to Portland when you're in the area. There's so much to do and it's fun to walk around Old Port, which has shops, restaurants, etc. I haven't been to Old Port in a while so I can't give actual recommendations, but I'm sure you'd like it.


Aside from the southern coast towns such as Kittery, Ogunquit, Kennebunkport, and Portland, popular places to visit are the Rangeley Lakes area (western mountains), or farther north (Boothbay Harbor, Camden, or Bar Harbor). I've only spent time in southern Maine but I have friends who love Camden and Boothbay Harbor.

 

[VapidLapid]

Do you want remoteness or village? I go to little cranberry island every year, a friend has a house there. Very small, access by ferry, magically beautiful in the bay off Acadia Park. But there is not much town, or mainland services. Small towns like Brooklin or Friendship are nice if you want to be mainland and coastal but less touristy.

 

[NTave]

I love Portland, it's worth a stop to the Old Port. If you want to head way up the water is freezing, but Acadia is the prettiest place I've ever been..and I've traveled a bit. Bar Harbor is quaint yet pricey.

 

[lizzyann]

Wow! Thank you all so much!

VL, I actually would prefer to find a house in a not so busy/touristy area and then be able to go to shops/beach/restaurants/kid friendly things within a short driving distance. I've only ever been to the outlets in Maine and it was just a day trip! Thanks for your help!

VC, I have heard great things about Old Orchard Beach and Acadia too! I wish DH and I could get away with a night to ourselves, but I think I'll be lucky to get maybe a dinner to ourselves! My mom's dog is like having a third child, but she NEVER leaves her dog so finding a pet friendly house is mandatory unfortunately!

Zoe, I totally forgot you were from New England! I am from Western Massachusetts, so hello fellow New Englander! Thanks for your help! I've only ever gone to Maine for the outlet shopping and it was only day trips! We usually vacation to Cape Cod or Lake Champlain Vermont, but we'd like to switch it up this year and try something new. I think Southern Maine makes the most sense driving distance wise for us. We have had great luck renting houses on Homeaway.com and have found wonderful, clean, pet friendly homes (beautiful new builds and log cabins) in CC and VT. I'm hoping to find something nice as well in ME. But in order to narrow down my search for homes, I need to figure out where in ME to stay you know? If we found a house in York or Ogonquit, we'd be pretty close to beaches and shops/restaurants right? My DH is hoping to go to a brewery while we are there and I'd like to find an are with maybe a boardwalk or something to just stroll. We don't need a ton of things to do. My kids are small so a couple trips to the beach and they'll be happy!

 

[SB621]

Hey there!

I lived for several years in NH so we did day trips to ME. I would definitely check out Portland (great shopping at neat local places) and Kennebunkport. Both are very nice and popular during the summer. There will be lots of stuff to keep kids entertained and many more family friendly activies. There is a big state fair/ festival that goes on in ME during the summer so I would check dates to see if your trip co-insides. When we went there was an Aviation Heritage Festival that was pretty neat and all the kids could climb in and out of historic aircraft!

 

[lizzyann]

NTave, I'm sorry I totally missed your post last time! I have never been to Acadia, but everyone seems to love it! I keep forgetting how big of a state Maine is. It's over 3 hours to get there from Kennebunkport!

Sarahbear, thanks for your post! I have found a house in Kennebunkport that looks nice so I am going to inquire with the owner for more info! Did you go to any beaches while you visited Maine?

 

[zoebartlett]

Kennebunkport is a really fun place to visit. The downtown is nice because there are a ton of shops and restaurants all within walking distance from one another, and it's quaint. I like that in a tourist place. Portland is also nice and because it's bigger (Old Port, specifically), there's more to see.

Farther south, as I mentioned earlier is Kittery, York, Ogunquit, and Wells. Other than Fort Foster in Kittery Point, I'm not sure about beaches in Kittery. York, Ogunquit, and Wells are your best bets. I may be wrong about this, but Wells seems to have more private/quieter beaches than the others. The beaches at Long Sands in York are right across from beach houses, a few hotels, and at the beginning of the beach, a small RV Park. Parking along the road is a nightmare in the summer (unless you rent a house along route 1A, which is the road that leads you to Nubble Lighthouse in a park called Sohier Park). The beaches at Short Sands in York are right near the tourist shops and restaurants. There's a parking lot to park in, which is convenient. I'm not as familiar with the beaches in Ogunquit, but I know there's access near downtown, close to shops. I love walking along the Marginal Way in Ogunquit and the beaches at Moody Point and Drake's Island in Wells. Very nice.