Let’s ignore for a moment that summer is ending (see related post on previous summer reflections here) and talk more about fun travel destinations.
For those who’ve never been, Maine (AKA Vacationland) is split into eight regions.
(Note: I’m not sure how official the ‘regions’ are, but Maine Bed and Breakfast endorsed them, so that’s good enough for me. See map.)
Obviously, there’s a lot of ground to cover (and on rather local roads), so it makes sense to review the regions one by one. I’ve spent the most time in ‘Mid-Coast Maine’, the region that stretches from I-95 down to the water between Brunswick and West Penobscot Bay.
I lived there for a semester in high school (see vaguely related post here) and my boyfriend’s family rents a house there every summer, so without further ado, here are five fabulous things to do in Mid-Coast Maine:
1 Shop for Pottery.
If there is a better way to pass an afternoon than to spend it shuffling around in a pottery shop, exclaiming about how cute the dishes are and buying unnecessary kitchen utensils, I don’t know what it is.
I literally don’t even own a set of dinner plates, but you know what I do own? TWO oven-safe, earth-tone dishes used to bake brie. I keep them wrapped in newspaper and packed lovingly away in a closet at my mother’s apartment for a future attempt at nesting. (I’m terrible at nesting. See related post here.)
Some great Mid-Coast pottery shops: Sheepscot River Pottery
(a favorite of my boyfriend’s family, so many fun designs!) Center for Maine Craft (technically a smidge outside of Midcoast, in West Gardiner, but it’s right off I-95 and is great for soothing that ‘I’m-driving-out-of-Maine-and-didn’t-buy-enough-pottery-yet’ feeling)
2 Food (and Beer).
It is a well-known fact that salt air promotes ravenous hunger. There are lots of great food options in Mid-Coast, from fine dining at Little Village Bistro in Wiscasset (but like, the kind of fine dining where I still wore a Patagonia fleece and it was okay) to pub food at Newcastle Publick House next to the Damariscotta River (pro-tip: they also have an excellent-looking karaoke night), to great seafood at Shaw’s in New Harbor (at least, my boyfriend and his family says it’s great! I am a vegetarian so can only vouch for the excellent veggie burgers and grilled cheese). Really, your best bet is the figure out where you are staying and then look at the dining options close by (the ‘local roads’ thing is real).
Also, it’s worth noting Maine is seriously into craft beer. You can even pick up a ‘beer passport‘ and use it to tour around the state.
3 Get in the Water.
Here’s a fun fact: The state of Maine has 3,478 miles of coastline (over 5,000 if you include the islands). Definitely get out onto the water. There are lots of boat tours that leave from Boothbay Harbor and Camden, and Midcoast Kayak in Damariscotta leads trips and rents kayaks. Swimming is also highly encouraged (and easy in some state parks-see below).
4 State Parks.
Lots of people that go to Maine want to drive up to Acadia National Park (in Downeast on the map above). Like, 3.5 million people last year, to be exact. Needless to say, it’s pretty crowded up there. You’ll do better staying in Mid-Coast and visiting some of the state parks in the area. Two great options: Camden Hills State Park (a family-friendly campground and lots of hiking) and Damariscotta Lake State Park (huge beach, swimming and lots of picnic areas).
5 Lodging.
There are a LOT of lodging options. Hotels abound in Camden (harbor pictured below), Boothbay Harbor and Brunswick. If you are traveling with a group, you can’t go wrong renting a house (water access is preferable!) through VRBO or Air BNB. Anyplace you go, expect to rent a car if you want to get around to do…anything.
More great resources on mid-coast (or any part of Maine): https://campmaine.com/our_regions/mid-coast/
And before we get too depressed about this whole ‘end of summer’ thing, remember a vacation in Maine is great in the fall, too! Picture of fall foliage to celebrate (disclaimer: the picture is from NY, but hey, leaf-peeping is leaf-peeping). Happy fall!
