Summer Vacation: The Maine Event

The final piece of the puzzle from our summer vacation. The main event. The one place we were looking forward to the most: the coast of Maine.

After finishing our time in Cape Cod (our full trip can be seen here), its an easy 3 hour drive from Cape Cod MA to Portland ME. We checked out of our VRBO and headed North through Boston, Newburyport MA, and Portsmouth, NH. On this particular trip we decided to stop in Portsmouth on the way up for lunch and Newburyport MA on the way back home. We just drove through (or should I say under) Boston for this trip as we have both been to Boston several times before and were eager to get to Maine. But all three of these are definitely work visiting or at least stopping if you have the time to grab a bite and see the sights.

Marginal Way in Oguinquit, Maine is such an underrated beautiful 3 mile round trip paved pedestrian path along the rocky coastline of Maine. It’s a great way to be welcomed to the coast of Maine for the first time. Parking in Perkin’s Cove is very tough in the busy summer months, but if you can grab a parking spot here, this is a good spot to start the “trail’ and grab a bite to eat before or after.

Our second day in Maine was full of walking and eating, our two favorite things to do. We had our first lobster roll of the trip at McCloons Lobster Roll after visiting the Marshall Point Lighthouse. You may recognize this lighthouse from the scene in Forest Gump when he decides to turn around and head to the other coast. So naturally I had to make this video. Marshall Point Lighthouse is located in the quaint little town of Port Clyde. Afterwards we ventured to our VRBO in Camden which would be our home base for the rest of the trip. Camden is my favorite town in Maine as I love the shopping and restaurants downtown that makes it feel like a little “city” but at the same time it has beautiful parks and hiking trials. It really has it all and is a great central location for day trips.

A trip to coastal Maine would not be complete without a trip to Acadia National Park. The hike at Jordan’s Pond is so beautiful and safe and easy for a family with young children. And its perfect to do first thing in the morning to work up an appetite and then settle down at Jordan Pond House for popovers and tea. There is usually a wait to get a table but it moves fast even in the busy summer months. We didn’t do any long hard hikes this trip because of the kids but we did walk the Ocean Path Trail after lunch all the way to Thunder Hole and back. Thunder Hole was very disappointing and did not put out its big display like it was suppose to despite being there at high tide. But the path is still fun to walk. Afterwards we got in the car and drove to the other part of the park to see Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse before heading back.

At the last minute we decided to tack on one last day in Maine before driving back down to my sister’s house in New Jersey. I love this idea to have one day at the end of the trip with nothing on the itinerary. We drove into town for blueberry pancakes and decided to then go check out Owl’s Head Lighthouse. The lighthouse is beautiful but even more so was the off-the- beaten path beach we discovered via a trail next to the lighthouse. From there we headed back into the “town” of Owl’s Head to buys gifts and snacks and lunch at the general store. From there we learned about Birch Point State Park which ended up being the favorite spot from the entire trip. So much fun beach combing and rock climbing and beautiful scenery of the rocky coast and the forest lined beach. And we would have never found this place had we made a “plan” to do something else!

Already missing the Maine summer weather and wishing we were back there but that’s a wrap on Maine. And now its back to school for this crew.

xx Priscilla