NDR: Maine?

[tarheels]

Any of you girls vacationed in or from Maine?  DH has to go to Bangor for work in August, and I understand August is Maine's peak summer vacation season, so we thought of making a little trip of it.  But I looked on their tourism website and TripAdvisor and I'm sort of at a loss: what does one do in Maine?  Is it sort of British Columbia-ish with mainly outdoorsy stuff + a couple historic sites?  Camping, hiking, et al, is not my definition of fun by any stretch of the word, and that seems to be mainly what the tourism website is pushing - is there more to see and do?

[finally]

Bangor is not on my top vacation destinations however if you can swing Portland, we loved that! Quaint little town, artsy stuff to do, shopping (great outlets!), beach/boating stuff. Not your high activity vacation but a nice laid back trip. Then it's an easy trip to Portsmouth, NH (very similar town) and then easily onto Boston if you want to do a little New England tour.

[sailorgray]

My brother and his family live in Bath, Maine. We LOVE it up there. My brother has a boat so we spend a day boating to a restaurant for lunch. Portland is great and has a fun minor league b-ball team. The Yarmouth Clam Festival is a blast, but that's in July. There are so many great towns throughout Maine. Some of our faves are Bath, Freeport (home of LL Bean and outlets), Boothbay Harbor, Camden.... Also, right over the border in NH is Portsmouth. I LOVE it there and would move in a heartbeat. Great restaurants, walking, history...just as awesome town. I found a blog that is mostly about being preppy (!), but she does a great job describing the different towns she loves in New England, esp. Maine.

www.muffyaldrich.com/

[raqsfam]

LOVE LOVE LOVE Maine! I feel like it's such an under rated state! We visit every summer. I don't honestly think Maine has many historic sites...it's mostly outdoor stuff...beaches, lakes, hiking type stuff

If your going to be staying in Bangor def. check out Bar Harbor (ít's about an hour away). I agree that Bangor probably isn't a top destination...Portland is about 2 hours and a fun place, Old Orchard beach is just south of portland amd a great place to check out.
I would check the seacoast...any part of it is beautiful! We love to visit ogunquit, wells, york, kennebunport (2 1/2 hours from Bangor)...all beautiful places with really nice beaches (freezing water though...even in august).

[sailorgray]

Tarheels, with your love of houses, I also think you'd really enjoy just driving around coastal Maine. There are absolutely beautiful homes everywhere and they are unlike what you will see in other parts of the country. Even the rundown ones are beautiful.

[Deleted]

Ohhh, we had a great time in Maine. We missed Acadia, so we'd love to go back and visit there. Our favorite vacations are sort of road trip vacations. One year we started in Portland and ended up in Boston. I can't remember where they all were, but we chased down every lighthouse we could find for photo ops. A lot of them are in interesting places and have parks attached with tons of history, so that was a lot of fun. Interspersed with our lighthouse chasing, we did other stuff. In Portland we went to see a Sea Dogs game and walked around a bit. I think this is also where DH got lobster (I don't eat it). Then we drove south down I think Hwy 1 (really nice drive with shops along the way) to Kennebunkport, where we went to the beach and ate out and did a lot of shopping in the little town. Then we hit up Portsmouth, NH, right on the Maine border and visited the Strawberry Banke museum, a sort of live museum of a historic town, and wandered around town a lot. We stayed in a pretty amazing B&Bs all along the way, most of them really old houses, which you might enjoy. I can track down the names if you are interested. I do remember our splurge night was the Captain Lord Mansion in Kennebunkport. OMG, the breakfast!

[auntie]

Maine's pretty special.

Portland is an awesome little city, somewhat Boston-like but much smaller. There are a lot of fabulous places to eat and drink. Portland enjoys a great food and craft beer scene.

There are lots of places to hang out. I agree that driving around to enjoy admiring houses is a good way to spend an afternoon. My mother's family summered mid-coast. I was recently up on Harpswell and Brunswick. There's a nice little museum in Brunswick-

www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/


Brunswick is a cute town with a large common and adorable houses. They have decent shopping and restaurants as well. Don't miss the burgers at Fat Boys and the lobster roll at Cameron's on the road to Bath.

I usually stay in Harpswell at Harpswell Inn. It's a splendid home base, vert inviting. Breakfast is amazing. My favorite room is Rackliffe. The little camps are sweet too. I stayed in Piece two years ago when the inn was fully booked for a wedding. I can't wait to return with my DH and son.

harpswellinn.com/

In Harpswell, my favorite place to eat is The Dolphin. The view is like a Winslow Homer painting.

www.dolphinmarinaandrestaurant.com/restaurant.html

[tottenham]

Maine is a really beautiful state. I love Acadia National Park. It has tons of beautiful trails that are easy to moderate and it abuts the ocean. We did a really nice sunset kayak trip around Acadia one night. The water was so calm it was like glass.

Just a word of warning - the black flies can be kind of bad in August in Maine. Bring bug spray if you plan to go hiking.

ETA: Just re-read your post and realized you don't like hiking.  I agree with others then, stick to the cute towns (Bar Harbor, Portland) and the beaches.  It's really quite lovely.  

[pugz]

Maine is beautiful! We honeymooned there on the coast, we visited Portland, Bar Harbor, Camden (favorite town) and Ogunquit (least fave). August is peak tourist time, the weather is amazing during July and August.

we shopped, went to restaurants, hiked, kayaked, took scenic drives, went to the beach, etc. Loved it.

[heygrey]

Please. British Columbia is way classier ;-)

I've driven Maine from end to end at least 50 times, but I can't tell you a whole lot about it other than it is outdoorsy and quaint. But I'd totally go to Bangor in August. Go to bar harbour, see the coast. It's gorgeous. And if you like seafood you'll be hard pressed to find better than the east coast.

The only places I could direct you to in Bangor specifically are Walmart, Bangor mall, and Applebee's. important last stops for American kids going to college in New Brunswick :-)

[magdala]

Bangor is five hours north of Boston so a day trip would be a long day. It is very similar to British Columbia with lots of outdoors activities mixed in with some historic areas. Distances between attractions are large. Bangor is not coastal Maine; but, as others have pointed out, coastal Maine would be right up your alley. Baldaccis, an Italian restaurant, has great food in Bangor. www.baldaccis.com The family that owns it includes the former Governor.

[315]

I've been to Maine many times for vacation. In August, it's a perfect time to visit. Not too hot, nice long days, and on the coast is gorgeous. I've been to Bangor quite a bit. It's a sleepy little town, but still relaxing if you find the right things to do. There's a teeny little downtown with cute little shops and a bar, that kind of thing. There's a pretty spectacular lobster shack down on the river. If you want the name, let me know.

Acadia is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. There are some lakes and beaches in Maine that are forever in my heart (and the subject of several paintings in my home). Bar Harbor is very cutesy and touristy. Portland has lots of fun things to do as well. The Islands off the coast are fun to visit. There's a ferry that can take you around to the bigger islands. I mapped a coastal walk just north of Portland last summer that was one of my favorites of all time. Again, let me know if you want info.

[tarheels]

Thank you all so much! I spent last night on TripAdvisor just saving whatever interested me and it worked out that things are spread out pretty evenly along the coast.

Would it work to fly into Bangor, spend the first day at Acadia/Bar Harbor, then drive down to Camden the next day, then Portsmouth the next, then leave out of Boston? (Rough place names - there are things along the way.) I mapped it and Acadia to Portsmouth is only 4 hours, so splitting the drive that way seems manageable on paper, but we wouldn't want to be run ragged by our itinerary. Could we get a good feel for Maine in 3-4 days and not need a vacation from our vacation? Or should we pick one spot and park it? I assume, btw, that there's a coastal highway (is US 1 up there?) to do this on?

[Deleted]

Do you want to see Boston? If not, you could fly out of Manchester maybe. IIRC it's kind of a drive from Portsmouth to Boston just to catch a flight. I think we spent a total of 4 or 5 nights in Maine and it felt right, but we really like a traveling vacation a lot more than sitting in one spot.

We did do most of our trip down Hwy 1. It was really nice. I think it's parallel to an interstate, so if you need to speed things up, you could probably hop over there.

[magdala]

US 1 is indeed up there. US1A is the scenic and slower route. US1a joins and diverges from US1 through out New England. US1 will take you into Logan (Boston airport). By Logan, US1 can get a lot of traffic during rush hour (7:00 to 9:00 am and 4:30 to 7:00 pm). Check out Yankee magazine in July to see what local festivals will be coming in August.

[heygrey]

I think 3-4 days is perfect. If you're hustling you can make it from Portsmouth to Bangor in under 4 hours easily so if you start at Bangor and work your way down you shouldn't be driving for more than an hour and a half in any stretch. And for the most part, the things you'll be doing wont take a lot of time either (tour a lighthouse - 1-1.5 hours, etc). It shouldn't feel like a crazy rushed trip at all.

And I'm curious to know what you've done in British Columbia! I want to make so many recommendations that don't involve the outdoorsy stuff.

[tarheels]

Mar 17, 2013 9:54:10 GMT -5 heygrey said:

I think 3-4 days is perfect. If you're hustling you can make it from Portsmouth to Bangor in under 4 hours easily so if you start at Bangor and work your way down you shouldn't be driving for more than an hour and a half in any stretch. And for the most part, the things you'll be doing wont take a lot of time either (tour a lighthouse - 1-1.5 hours, etc). It shouldn't feel like a crazy rushed trip at all.

And I'm curious to know what you've done in British Columbia! I want to make so many recommendations that don't involve the outdoorsy stuff.

We went to Victoria and it was fine, it just wasn't what we were expecting.  It was another one of those things where I just couldn't piece together a good picture online, and once you go, you get it, but that doesn't help you plan decisions.  We did Washington State at the same time, and the trip just...eh.  And that was partly our fault for not trying harder to get a better understanding to set our expectations.  We feel bad for feeling like, ok, we've checked the box on the Pacific Northwest, we're good now, thanks.  It's very pretty, just not us.  Like we went to New Orleans last weekend and it was probably the best trip of my life - so.much.fun, better than our honeymoon even, so I just think the PNW's maybe not our scene.  If I had had your guide to the non-outdoorsy stuff, we probably would have been more satisfied with the trip  

[tarheels]

Mar 17, 2013 8:51:38 GMT -5 @juno said:

Do you want to see Boston? If not, you could fly out of Manchester maybe. IIRC it's kind of a drive from Portsmouth to Boston just to catch a flight. I think we spent a total of 4 or 5 nights in Maine and it felt right, but we really like a traveling vacation a lot more than sitting in one spot.

We did do most of our trip down Hwy 1. It was really nice. I think it's parallel to an interstate, so if you need to speed things up, you could probably hop over there.

Should we see Boston?  I know there's something about beans lol.  My only thought was really that bigger airport = cheaper flights and non-stop flights.

[heygrey]

Mar 17, 2013 10:21:55 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Mar 17, 2013 9:54:10 GMT -5 heygrey said:

I think 3-4 days is perfect. If you're hustling you can make it from Portsmouth to Bangor in under 4 hours easily so if you start at Bangor and work your way down you shouldn't be driving for more than an hour and a half in any stretch. And for the most part, the things you'll be doing wont take a lot of time either (tour a lighthouse - 1-1.5 hours, etc). It shouldn't feel like a crazy rushed trip at all.

And I'm curious to know what you've done in British Columbia! I want to make so many recommendations that don't involve the outdoorsy stuff.

We went to Victoria and it was fine, it just wasn't what we were expecting.  It was another one of those things where I just couldn't piece together a good picture online, and once you go, you get it, but that doesn't help you plan decisions.  We did Washington State at the same time, and the trip just...eh.  And that was partly our fault for not trying harder to get a better understanding to set our expectations.  We feel bad for feeling like, ok, we've checked the box on the Pacific Northwest, we're good now, thanks.  It's very pretty, just not us.  Like we went to New Orleans last weekend and it was probably the best trip of my life - so.much.fun, better than our honeymoon even, so I just think the PNW's maybe not our scene.  If I had had your guide to the non-outdoorsy stuff, we probably would have been more satisfied with the trip  

Eh, my suggestions would have you in the okanagan valley and tipsy most of the time from wine tasting ;-) there's really two different PNW scenes - the cities (Seattle, Vancouver) and then the outdoorsy stuff. I'd put the island in the later category. I love love love living here, but then again, running out my back door and hiking a mountain is my idea of a good time. It's okay if it wasn't you're favorite, we can still be friends :-)

[Deleted]

Mar 17, 2013 10:23:29 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Mar 17, 2013 8:51:38 GMT -5 @juno said:

Do you want to see Boston? If not, you could fly out of Manchester maybe. IIRC it's kind of a drive from Portsmouth to Boston just to catch a flight. I think we spent a total of 4 or 5 nights in Maine and it felt right, but we really like a traveling vacation a lot more than sitting in one spot.

We did do most of our trip down Hwy 1. It was really nice. I think it's parallel to an interstate, so if you need to speed things up, you could probably hop over there.

Should we see Boston?  I know there's something about beans lol.  My only thought was really that bigger airport = cheaper flights and non-stop flights.

I think you are going to need more time if you want to see Boston.  I LOVED Boston.  Or did you just mean 3 or 4 days in Maine and then a few days in Boston?  

We were able to use Airtran rewards to fly to/from Manchester for free, so that's why we used that airport.  Definitely depends on who you're flying and where you're going.

[tarheels]

Mar 17, 2013 10:40:44 GMT -5 @juno said:

Mar 17, 2013 10:23:29 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Should we see Boston?  I know there's something about beans lol.  My only thought was really that bigger airport = cheaper flights and non-stop flights.

I think you are going to need more time if you want to see Boston.  I LOVED Boston.  Or did you just mean 3 or 4 days in Maine and then a few days in Boston?  

We were able to use Airtran rewards to fly to/from Manchester for free, so that's why we used that airport.  Definitely depends on who you're flying and where you're going.

We can take as much time as we want.   Would you say this is a good overview of Boston? www.tripadvisor.com/Guide-g60745-l161-Boston_Massachusetts.html

[Deleted]

Mar 17, 2013 11:04:24 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Mar 17, 2013 10:40:44 GMT -5 @juno said:

I think you are going to need more time if you want to see Boston.  I LOVED Boston.  Or did you just mean 3 or 4 days in Maine and then a few days in Boston?  

We were able to use Airtran rewards to fly to/from Manchester for free, so that's why we used that airport.  Definitely depends on who you're flying and where you're going.

We can take as much time as we want.   Would you say this is a good overview of Boston? www.tripadvisor.com/Guide-g60745-l161-Boston_Massachusetts.html

That looks great; we did almost all of that and really enjoyed it.  We didn't get to see the ballpark, and we would have loved to, so I'm glad that's on the list.  The Freedom Trail was so interesting.  And the commons were beautiful.  I'm sure natives would have a lot of input, but from a tourist's perspective,  :Y:

[heygrey]

Boston is my favourite east coast city, by far. So much to see and do and eat and drink! If you weren't a huge fan of Vancouver island I'm not sure coastal Maine would be up your alley either. It's a lot of lighthouses, antique shops, pretty houses, and quaint towns. You can do all of that close to Boston and still have tons more to do that's not outdoorsy at all. I might skew your trip to have more time in the city if that's possible.

[lb2006]

I've been to Bar Harbor twice, and LOVE it. We flew into Bangor the first time & it's around an hour to drive there. You should definitely check it out. Go see Acadia National Park - if for anyhing Thunder Hole, great photography, popovers at Jordan's Pond House.

Downtown Bar Harbor is cute - we've loved everywhere we've eaten there, but definitely make sure you stop in at Ben & Bill's Chocolate Emporium - delicious chocolates & ice cream.

We ran Mt. Desert Island Marathon and enjoyed all of the scenery - we love the Somes Sound area, Southwest Harbor.

You can also go to a lobster pound for lunch/dinner.

Really, I love that area If you have any questions, PM me.

[tottenham]

I live in Boston, so if you'd like specific recommendations, let me know. The itinerary you linked to is good, but I'd suggest spending your third day either going to Concord and Lexington, Salem, or to the Harbor Islands.

[dougsbestgirl]

Mar 16, 2013 19:19:57 GMT -5 @juno said:

Ohhh, we had a great time in Maine. We missed Acadia, so we'd love to go back and visit there. Our favorite vacations are sort of road trip vacations. One year we started in Portland and ended up in Boston. I can't remember where they all were, but we chased down every lighthouse we could find for photo ops. A lot of them are in interesting places and have parks attached with tons of history, so that was a lot of fun. Interspersed with our lighthouse chasing, we did other stuff. In Portland we went to see a Sea Dogs game and walked around a bit. I think this is also where DH got lobster (I don't eat it). Then we drove south down I think Hwy 1 (really nice drive with shops along the way) to Kennebunkport, where we went to the beach and ate out and did a lot of shopping in the little town. Then we hit up Portsmouth, NH, right on the Maine border and visited the Strawberry Banke museum, a sort of live museum of a historic town, and wandered around town a lot. We stayed in a pretty amazing B&Bs all along the way, most of them really old houses, which you might enjoy. I can track down the names if you are interested. I do remember our splurge night was the Captain Lord Mansion in Kennebunkport. OMG, the breakfast!

@juno- We had our "mini-moon" in Kennebunkport and stayed at the Captain Lord.  LOVE that place and looking forward to going back. We stayed in the Merchant Suite, such a great room.  Takes up almost half of the first floor.  So relaxing.  Kennebunkport is a great town too.  We stayed for 5 days and had a great time.

[aweilba]

I loved going to Maine!  I went with my family when I was in college.  We stayed in a few different places along the coast, and did a lot of eating and shopping.  We spent some time on the beach, too.  I loved going lobster fishing and whale watching, too!  It is one of my favorite vacations I've been on.

[Deleted]

I can also recommend the Omni-Parker House hotel in Boston. It was a perfect location and had nice rooms.



dougsbestgirl, we couldn't afford that room  But it did look beautiful in the photos.  I think we were in the Lincoln one night on the second floor and then decided to stay a second night, but it was booked, so we had to move to the third floor.  The third floor room definitely wasn't as opulent.

[tarheels]

I'm afraid I don't "get" Boston as a destination :^). Reading that tour list, it seems like (and I'm truly not trying to be unkind) countless other cities in America: a couple museums, a park or two, some local history, a pretty neighborhood or two, some nice restaurants. On paper, it could be anywhere. What is it that makes Boston Boston? We've done Philadelphia before and all the Revolutionary sites there - someone who's been to both will have to tell me how similar they are. Vacation days and dollars are limited for everyone, and we try to choose destinations (other than when we're just chilling on a beach for the sake of chilling on a beach ) with "Is there something at this destination that I can't experience elsewhere?" in mind. That's what I'm not understanding about Boston.

heygrey, we didn't like Victoria because it was an in-between: neither a glittering, 24/7 city like London or New Orleans, nor a relaxing escape. It was pretty, yet average - with city parks and a couple museums and a little history and some nice restaurants. Culturally, it seemed just sort of generically North American, like you could move it anywhere on the continent and it would fit in. I don't mean to insult it - we had a fine time and it's a fine place, but that's it - it's just fine, not wow, not "I had a great time," not "I can't wait to go back." And it was holy expensive, batman! (By comparison, even Maine's August prices have surprised me as very affordable.) Spending what we spent on "fine" made us more than a little cranky.

I feel like Maine checks the bucolic escape box and its culture of lobster and lighthouses and fishermen and quintessential "summering" is something I know we haven't experienced before. Though my main concern is still whether or not there's enough there that's unique enough and special enough to "earn" my vacation days and dollars.

[auntie]

I'm afraid I don't "get" Boston as a destination . Reading that tour list, it seems like (and I'm truly not trying to be unkind) countless other cities in America: a couple museums, a park or two, some local history, a pretty neighborhood or two, some nice restaurants. On paper, it could be anywhere. What is it that makes Boston Boston? We've done Philadelphia before and all the Revolutionary sites there - someone who's been to both will have to tell me how similar they are. Vacation days and dollars are limited for everyone, and we try to choose destinations (other than when we're just chilling on a beach for the sake of chilling on a beach  ) with "Is there something at this destination that I can't experience elsewhere?" in mind. That's what I'm not understanding about Boston.

Maybe you aren't a city person? You're certainly right about spending your vacation days as you prefer; I have a trip planned to Charleston this June and I am actively seeking a way out of it. It gets on my nerves. For the record, I've been to Maine 5 times in the last 2 years without going to Boston. I even spent a few days in Salem (only because I have a relative there)

Boston is a swell city, in part because of the vibrancy of the most intensely populated college town in America. It's filled with smart and interesting people at the tops of their games. And you can pretty much walk everywhere. It has a very different vibe from Philly. Boston is cocksure, a little arrogant and acts as if they are the brains of the U.S.; given that they host both MIT and Harvard, they have a point. Philly's ascendant days are history and the entire city has a Quaker attitude of being undeserving of notice. Maybe it's why their sports teams suck. I've lived in both areas and the contrast is stark.