Travel Diary: Mid Coast Maine
This summer we took a slight detour from our annual trip to Nantucket and veered a little further north to spend 10 days in the mid coast region of Maine. We loved our fall visit to Maine so much we were inspired to return and explore more of this beautiful state. We knew we wanted a good mid coast location that would serve as a home base for us to visit lots of the small coastal towns that dot this part of the country.
We rented an Airbnb on Southport Island, which is just a couple miles from Boothbay Harbor. In my mind I pictured a sleepy community, away from the hustle and bustle of more touristy spots, where we could walk to the general store in the morning for muffins and coffee, bike to rocky beaches to watch the sunset, and go on plenty of long morning hikes before the boys got up. Unfortunately, Southport isn’t really set up that way. There aren’t bike paths or sidewalks and the one main road that loops around the island is hugged tightly by towering pine trees, offering only the occational glimpse of water. One night Jimmy and I grabbed a couple cocktails and a blanket and went to find a spot to watch the sunset (we drove) and couldn’t find a single place on the island that wasn’t a private road. On the plus side, the island has a couple terrific resturants, two of our favorites from the trip: Cozy’s Dockside and Robinson’s Warf. I think if you are lucky enough to have a home on the water and even luckier to have a boat, then Southport must be pure magic. And while our rental was a charmer of a cottage, the location was a miss for us.
Since Southport didn’t offer the walkability we wanted, Jimmy and I set out to discover other morning walk options and found some great ones. The Boothbay Region Land Trust has a number of stunning hikes. We also loved walking along Ocean Point in East Boothbay. We alternated between wooded walks in forests and ocean view walks. Maine is stunning, truly post card perfect and hard to capture and do justice in photographs. The fresh air smells of pine, salt water and wildflowers. We had exceptional weather, warm with sunny skies during the day and chilly evenings. After our walks we would stop to grab baked goods and coffee to bring home for the boys who were usually just waking up. A favorite were the cranberry and orange muffins from the East Boothbay General store, their breakfast sandwiches were delish too!
During the day we visited lots of charming towns (Wiscasset, Camden, Rockport, Bath, Damariscotta), popped in bookstores and antique shops, ate our weight in lobster rolls and oysters and met the friendliest people. Some of our trip highlights were a day trip to Monhegan Island, a sunset sail from Boothbay Harbor and visiting Rockport on a foggy afternoon. It was a trip full of lots of family time with morning Scrabble games on the screened in porch and evening Corn Hole matches in the gravel driveway. We are so thankful to have had the chance to vacation in Maine in the summer and we greatly appreciated all the wonderful Instagram recommendations we got along the way.
I know I will be asked to compare Nantucket to Maine, to pick a favorite or recommend one over the other. They are different slices of the best of New England. I have spent 25 years (more if you add in my childhood) visiting Cape Cod and the islands, it’s where Jimmy proposed to me and where I have some of the happiest memories of my life. There is really no place that will ever be able to top it, so to try compare one trip to Maine to a place that holds so many memories isn’t realistic. If you’ve never been to New England and want a classic New England vacation, you can’t go wrong with either. If you want more walkability, better beaches for swimming, and upscale dining then Nantucket is the way to go. If you want a more rugged coastline, less crowds and a variety of towns to explore (and don’t mind a little driving) then I would opt for Maine. (Link to AirBnB - highly recommend reading all the reviews, including mine, if you plan to book)
