Coastal Maine
It had been years since I took my first trip to Maine with my family. I remembered seeing lighthouses and a beautiful rocky coastline, eating blueberry syrup on pancakes at our B&B, and donning a bib to eat fresh lobster. Unfortunately, that was about it. Going back to Maine had been on my U.S. bucket list for a while, and I’m so glad we made it there last month for our last trip before baby. We flew into Portland, where we met up with dear friends to start our five-day adventure. On the first day, we briefly headed south to the famous town of Kennebunkport for breakfast and a stroll around town, swung over to Cape Elizabeth to check out Portland Head Light, then slowly began a road trip up the coastline. We stopped in small towns along the way – every one was picture perfect – and made two special stops specifically for the best of the best in lobster rolls (they did not disappoint). We continued on until we reached Mount Desert Island, then checked into the historic Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor for a few days. The next days were filled with leisurely visits to Bar Harbor to dine, exploring Acadia National Park’s trails, beaches, views and even getting up to its highest peak for 5:20 a.m. sunrise, learning straight from a seasoned fisherman all about lobster on a harbor tour, and of course, eating copious amounts of lobster and blueberry everything.
We wrapped up our road trip by heading back along the coast, stopping in Rockport for a farm-to-table brunch at the lovely Salt Water Farm (I’m already plotting a return to attend their cooking school), checked out the Maine lobster festival in Rockland and the massive L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, and then landed back in Portland for some fun shopping and delicious dining.
I’ll let the photos in the slideshow above do the rest of the talking – Maine’s coast is breathtakingly beautiful and its towns are downright charming to say the least. And I’ll share my packing list and a guide with specific must-dos with you next week!