On a short road trip from Boston, Massachusetts, we headed north along the coast passing (briefly) through the bottom section of New Hampshire, and into the state of Maine. As the main purpose of our road trip was to go ‘leaf peeping’ then we only travelled as far as Scarborough in Maine, before turning inland, however our day on the coast in Southern Maine was wonderful – yes, lobsters and lighthouses were involved!
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Where is Maine?
Maine is one of the 6 states comprising the collection New England states. It is the most north-easterly state on the US mainland, bordering New Hampshire to the west and Canada to the north (the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec). The coast of Maine sits on the Gulf of Maine, and the state shares a maritime border with Nova Scotia, Canada.
Southern Maine is the region of Maine that includes the coastal areas of York County and Cumberland County and includes popular coastal towns like Ogunquit, and Kennebunkport, Scarborough, and Portland.
Why travel to the state of Maine?
Maine is the largest of the New England states and the only one of the six states to include a US National Park – Arcadia National Park. Sadly, for us on this trip, we didn’t have enough time to visit Arcadia but hope to be able to do so in the future as it is supposed to be stunning.
Maine has a very long coastline which is known for its lighthouses, lobsters, and fantastic craggy coastal views. This contrasts nicely with the state’s forested interior of moose, mountains, lakes and abundant white pine trees.
Maine used to be known as ‘Vacationland’ due to the numerous opportunities for leisure in the state, whether for a coastal stay, a summer lodge in the forests, or fall leaf peeping. More recently the state has adopted the new slogan of ‘Life the way it should be‘ which many feel is more representative of the slower pace of life, spectacular scenery, and opportunities to get back to nature in Maine. Both slogans are relevant!
Driving from Boston, Massachusetts, to Southern Maine
We were originally planning to set out early, around 8.00am, however when we checked Google Maps, we could see red traffic jams coming out of Boston. We therefore decided to grab a coffee and wait until 9.30am before leaving, by which time all the traffic had gone, and we were straight out of the city and heading northeast without any traffic stress. Thank you, Google Maps!
We travelled on the Interstate freeway I-95 for about an hour, passing through the small section of New Hampshire which reaches down to the coast – only about 21 km (13 miles) across, and the shortest ocean coastline of any US state. We came off the I-95 at the turning for The Yorks – being from Yorkshire, England, it had to be done!
The Yorks, Maine
The area known as The Yorks in Southern Maine is made up of 4 different areas, namely:
- York Village – the first English city chartered in North America and a living history museum.
- York Harbor – developed a century ago as a posh summer resort with grand Victoria mansions.
- York Beach – seasonally filled with RV parks, candy shops, and
- Cape Neddick (see below).
We stopped at Sohier Park to look at the Cape Neddick Lighthouse or ‘Nubble Light’. The Nubble Light rose to notoriety in 1977 when the Voyager shuttle launched into space carrying an image of the iconic lighthouse in its ‘Golden Record’, a carefully selected group of photos of iconic places on earth including the Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China and Sydney Opera House.
The Nubble Light was chosen for the Golden Record as it shows humans proximity to water. As a result, it has become Maine’s most photographed lighthouse, and Maine has a lot of lighthouses!
The Cape Neddick lighthouse, built in 1879, sits on a small, rocky island just off the residential peninsula and is not open to the public. You can park up outside the Visitor Centre which is directly opposite the lighthouse. Notice the cable car wires to the left of the lighthouse running from the shoreline – these were once used to take goods across to the lighthouse keeper when it was manned prior to 1987.
Several people were sitting out in deck chairs on the grass enjoying the views and looking out to sea with binoculars – I wondered if they were looking for whales, but apparently, they were bird and boat spotting!
Once we’d soaked up the views, we continued our drive to our next pitstop in Ogunquit (7 miles north).
Ogunquit and Perkins Cove, Maine
Ogunquit
Ogunquit is a small town in Southern Maine overlooking the large sweeping bay and Ogunquit Beach, a stunning 3.5-mile stretch of sandy beach which slopes gently into the Atlantic and is backed by dunes. No wonder that its indigenous name, given by the Abenakis people, means ‘beautiful place by the sea’.
Whilst being relatively small and compact, the town of Ogunquit can be quite lively in the summer season. The town proudly flies rainbow LGBTQ+ flags and offers the opportunity to see Broadway musical theatre performances at the iconic Playhouse built in 1033, or to sing show tunes at the piano Bar, Front Porch. The Playhouse was showing Titanic – The Musical when we visited. If only we were staying the night here, I might have enjoyed singing some Billy Joel in the piano bar!
Walk The Marginal Way to Perkins Cove
We parked up in Ogunquit at a car park (with toilet facilities) near the start of The Marginal Way, a 1.5-mile-long footpath along the cliffs from Ogunquit to the neighbouring hamlet of Perkins Cove.
The Marginal Way cliff path was gently undulating, and easy enough to walk with plenty of benches to stop along the way and admire the views. The views from the path are spectacular, across the large, sweeping bay of Ogunquit and then down into smaller bays where the waves were gently lapping on the sand. There was a small white and black lighthouse on the way, and a lovely houses on the cliff side to admire.
Perkins Cove
The path brings you into the small arty hamlet of Perkins Cove which was once a working lobster harbour. In the 1890s it was settled as an artist’s colony when a chap called Charles Woodbury established the Ogunquit Summer School of Drawing and Painting here. He converted wooden fishing shacks into spaces for artists and things developed from there.
Today you can wander around the cluster of wooden huts, now housing art galleries, gift shops, boutiques, and restaurants, along one side of an inlet filled with boats. There’s a narrow, white, wooden pedestrian drawbridge over the inlet which you can cross to explore the other side. The bridge has a red button on the side to raise and lower the bridge for the boats if required.
Before crossing the drawbridge, grab some lunch at one of the eateries, such as Barnacle Bills (mentioned in Season 7, Episode 20 of Gilmore Girls by Lorelai) or The Lobster Shack. We choose to grab a ‘crab roll’ (as a change from Lobster!) at the Lobster Shack which was fresh and delicious – so much white crab meat, and not ruined by mayo, perfect.
The Ogunquit Museum of American Art
If you cross over the footbridge and turn left on the other side, you can walk up the hill for a short while to reach the Ogunquit Museum of American Art (about 10 minutes’ walk from the bridge). The Museum is set on the cliff overlooking the ocean at the head of the inlet to Perkins Cove. You can walk around its garden for the best views of the sea (as in the featured photo of this blog) and to view the outdoor sculptures.
The Museum itself it not very big, so does not take long to explore. I particularly liked the paintings by Henry Slater who painted ‘Summer destination for artists’ (1919) of Perkins Cove, and ‘Rocks at the Nubble’ (1930) of the Cape Neddick Lighthouse.
The Ogunquit Trolley
From the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, you can either retrace your steps to Perkins Cove and along the headland back to Ogunquit or take the Ogunquit Trolley from Perkins Cove back to Ogunquit (if its running) to collect your car and head off.
Kennebunkport, Maine
Our third stop was at Kennebunkport, a small but smart town, 12 miles northeast of Ogunquit. As well as having a fantastic name, Kennebunkport was a major centre for shipbuilding between 1760 and 1867 when hundreds of wooden vessels were built in the yards along the Kennebunkport River.
Kennebunkport then became a favourite summer destination for wealthy East Coasters who would decamp to spend the summer here (“Rusticators”). Today, many grand mansions and large houses remain as prime real estate in this beautiful coastal location.
We parked up at Dock Street car park (paid) although we found out later that there is free parking at 30 North Street, further along from Dock Square.
We just wanted to have a gentle dander around for an hour, but if you are in Kennebunkport for longer then you could visit the Kennebunkport Historical Society who give guided tours or take the Intown Trolley for a one-hour bus trip with narration.
There are plenty of gift shops selling ‘coastal’ themed items and eateries overlooking the harbour. The Clam Shack by Kennebunkport bridge had a huge queue so that must be a good spot to pick up food on the go. We grabbed an ice-cream from Rococo’s instead which I would recommend. I also tried a famous McIntosh Apple and was not disappointed.
Walker’s Point
On our way out of Kennebunkport to Scarborough, our next destination, we followed Ocean Avenue until we reached St Annes by the Sea Episcopal Church, the Bush family’s church to which President Bush parachuted in for his 90th birthday. Apparently, it has a pine ceiling and slate floor from 1857, plus lovely stained-glass windows, however it was closed when we passed and so we couldn’t have a look.
A little further along the road brings you to an ‘unofficial’ look out across to Walker’s Point, summer estate of the Bush family and their ‘summer White House’. There will no doubt be other rubber-neckers pulled over by the side of the road to glimpse the houses securely positioned on a small promontory.
Note – although Kennebunkport was lovely, I did prefer the Ogunquit / Perkins Cove stop, so if you can only make one stop in Southern Maine, I’d suggest Perkins Cove.
Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Like York, Scarborough had to be visited on our trip through Southern Maine, as it is a Yorkshire town which lent its name to the US version. Scarborough is 23 miles north of Kennebunkport and sits at the southern end of Cape Elizabeth.
We had booked a Guest House on Higgins Beach, Scarborough, without realising that Higgins Beach is a surfing hot spot at certain times of the year. So, after checking in at Higgins Beach Inn, we sat watching the surfers catch a wave and enjoyed the sea air, which was lovely.
We had planned to eat at The Lobster Shack on Two Lights Road (with Lighthouse views), but as we’d already visited a Lobster Shack today, the Higgins Beach Inn team recommended Black Point Inn so we diverted our plans.
Just a short drive away, Black Point Inn is a large hotel sitting in a prominent position overlooking the water. We sat outside on Adirondack chairs watching the sun finally set with a cocktail in hand, before eating in the restaurant to the backdrop of a very loud live band. The hotel was rather old style but very cosy with a real fire burning in the bar.
Ironically, being the English person in the room, I ended up helping a group of American ladies work out if it was Mount Washington in New Hampshire that we could see on the horizon from the hotel – it was!
Portland Head Light
The following morning, we drove to the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth to see Lighthouse number 2 (and 3) on the trip – its partner lighthouse was visible in the distance across the bay. It turned out to be just a quick look as we arrived just as two coaches of tourists pulled up outside, so we decided to quit our losses and keep moving.
Falmouth, Maine
To continue our New England road trip, and hopefully spot some beautiful fall leaves, we bypassed Portland and turned inland. Before leaving Southern Maine however, we made a stop for brunch in the cute village of Falmouth – another connection with the UK as our daughter is studying at Falmouth University in England.
We picked up some incredible bagels from the Town Landing Market in Falmouth – Jalapeno Hummus Everything Bagel and a Rubens – and enjoyed a stroll around the pretty marina behind the market. A brunch with a view!
Final thoughts….
We very much enjoyed our time travelling along the coast of Southern Maine – lobster/crab rolls, a walk to blow the cobwebs away, a spot of culture at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, and several lighthouses. Whilst it was a great introduction to Maine, I recognise that this is only one side of this beautiful state. Arcadia National Park beckons, but in the meantime, next stop New Hampshire for leaf peeping, a ride on the Conway Scenic Railway, and an incredible drive on the Mount Washington Auto Road – Yes!
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