My husband and I and our two teens, ages 19 and (almost) 15 this summer, will be in Maine for 10 days this August. The first 5 days we are staying in Southwest Harbor in order to visit Acadia National Park from the "quiet side" of the island. The second 5 days we will be in Boothbay Harbor. Any advice on places to go, things to do, and good restaurants would be appreciated. We will be bringing our bikes to ride on the carriage roads at Acadia NP.
Posts: 29 | Location: Washington, DC area suburbs | Registered: 09 March 2008
I (and others) had some suggestions in an earlier discussion. I spent my summers in Boothbay at my grandmother's place, and know the area well. (My brother and I inherited the cottage from our parents, which we mainly rent out to others in the summer.) There is a wealth of tourist information available for both Boothbay and the Acadia Park region, so I won't repeat here. I will say that Boothbay Harbor in the summer, beautiful as the harbor itself is, is one of the most crowded and heavily touristed places on the Maine coast. That said, there are great boat rides out of the harbor, including fishing trips and even sailing boats. One good boat ride is a day trip to Monhegan Island, famous for artists and lobster fishing, where you can get out for several hours and hike and then take the return boat back. The Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce has links to a lot of activities. The Boothbay Region Land Trust maintains a lot of places for public access (hiking mainly) that are truly lovely. The Land Trust Website is down until next week (I just checked)but it has detailed listings, descriptions, and maps of all their properties. The CoastalMaine Botanical Gardens, which I confess I've not yet gotten to though it's right on the road to our cottage, is supposed to be lovely.
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Posts: 172 | Location: Bangor, Maine | Registered: 02 March 2006
Plan on a day in the Rockland Camden area. Visit the Farnsworth Musuem, Owl's Head Tranportation Museum, see the oreo cows at Aldermere Farm in Rockport, maybe dinner at Primo's or one of the other fine restaurants in Rockland, stroll on Main St., walk the breakwater to the lighthouse, visit Port Clyde and have lunch at the Port Clyde General Store or at the Dip Net.
Lots to see and do in that area and well worth a visit.
Callie
Posts: 655 | Location: Maine | Registered: 23 November 2002
Laura, We loved Southwest Harbor and our entire time in Acadia. Our favorite part of our entire time in Maine. We stayed at the Bass Harbor Inn, and ate at Thurston's twice. Lots and lots of hiking in Acadia and coastline exploring too. We longed for a boat (we are avid sailors) but we did take a day charter out to get the perspective from the water - fantastic. You will have a blast!
Whenever I'm in the States I try to get to Maine and recommend the port town of Camden with a few nights at the Hawthorn www.camdenhawthorn.com where innkeeper Maryanne Shanahan has created the picture book perfect inn. Try to be there for the Camden Literary Festival which brings top writers to town each year. The breakfasts are famous and the "lobstah" dinners in dock side restaurants are fantastic. Wonderful shopping especially for those of us coming from abroad now that the $ is so low. The town's public library is a delight- wish we had one like it here in my town in Italy!
