A Coastal Trip to Maine
A visual story of an early summer adventure by the rocky coast
Since we moved to Boston two years ago, my husband Ross and I have discovering New England through day-trips and loger vacations. Last September we spent 10 days driving around the beautiful state of Vermont and this year we knew we wanted to discover Maine beyond its capital.
So making use of the pre-holiday season, on June 7 we started driving north from Boston in our first coastal adventure in the region. An early summer trip that left us well-fed and renewed.
This is a photo journal of the trip, with recommended places we visited and loved. I hope you like it!
Portland and Casco Bay
Portland is a fantastic city, where you can eat some of the best meals of the USA (comment below to get recommendations). But aside that, we didn’t need to seightsee much as we had been there on two other occasions before. So we took the chance to spend a day in Peaks Island, a short ferry ride from Portland.
It was a fantastic day — bright but not too hot yet. We discovered the island by golf cart, driving around it and stopping whenever we saw a nice corner. For lunch, we found a boy that was shucking fresh oysters and it seemed like the best idea!
Into the North Eastern woods
The next day we drove up to the small town of Camden, but on the way we stopped at the Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment, in Freeport. In their website they claim: “We are a one-of-a-kind place on the coast of Maine advancing agriculture – on our own farm, regionally, and nationally – to accelerate change in food systems through regenerative farming demonstration and training, innovative research, and collaborations.”
We walked around the center but couldn’t explore much of it as it was partially closed to the public due to a running educational course. But we discovered some walking trails surrounding the and we decided to get into the woods.
The walk lasted for about 2 hours and it took us to the coast through Christmas-smelling forests. Pines and firs dominanted the space with creeks and meadows in the end, where the farm animals grazed undisturbed.
Pick your own lobster
Continuing the trip north, we arrived to Bar Harbor, dominated by Acadia National park and multitude of lobster shacks. We stopped at one of those, the classic Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound —a recommendation from
—, and discovered how the locals enjoy the most classic of Maine foods: “by the pound”.In a big tank, dozens of lobsters are clustered, awaiting. Their different sizes, and weights, will determine the final price of the meal. Ross picked a small sized one, weighting about a pound, and the owner took it and handed it to someone else that would cook it for us in the boiling pots set outdoors.
A row of 6 brick ovens held their correspondent pot filled with water that boiled continuisly, cooking lobsters non-stop. The sight, next to the parking lot, warned customers of what the restaurant was about. Possible ethical questions aside, the meal was an interesting experience and the lobster really flavorful!
Acadia National Park
If this trip had a destination, it was Acadia National Park, the “highest rocky headlands along the Atlantic coastline of the United States”. Small enough to visit in one day and interesting enough to spend a week or more exploring all its trails! We did the former, but still enjoyed a lot of it — including the view from its peak, Cadillac Mountain, a picnic and walk around a lovely lake, Jordan Pond, an afteroon in its beach, Sand Beach, and a slice of bluberry pie in a lovely meadow.
The following day, we took a boat to explore the park from the water and all the small islands in Bar Harbor. We saw seals and lots of sea birds relaxing on the granite rocks, and many buoys in different designs pointing out lobster traps.
A farm to table James Beard awarded restaurant
On our way south from Bar Harbor, we stopped at Rockland, a lovely artisty town. Our highlight was dinner, though. We had a reservation at Primo, run by Melissa Kelly who in 2023 won the “American Express Best Chef: Northeast Award”, awarded by the James Bear Foundation.
It’s a farm-to-table “full kitchen” restaurant, cooking most of the ingredients from their own greenhouses and farm. The location is lovely and our food was simply put, delicious.
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
I love gardens and when we saw that in Boothbay there were the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens we knew we had to visit. It ended up being one of the best mornings of the trip. We walked amongst blooming flowers and wooden trails, admired the paintings some women were creating on site, and geeted all the Guardians of the Seeds — wooden sculpures of trolls created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo.
Boothbay Harbor and a clambake
The close to last stop of our trip was in Boothbay Harbor, where we spent a night and enjoyed a traditional clambake in Cabbage island. I wrote about it on my lattest newsletter: The Clam in New England.
We also experienced perhaps the most Maine activity of all times: a lobster boat race!
An atmospheric holiday
It’s very difficult to condense 9 days of road trip. We stopped in many more places, in some for just a quick snack, but they all left an imprint. To my Mediterranean soul, it felt strange to spend 9 days by the sea and not swim or sunbathe. The Maine coastline is not necessarily a coast of beaches — at least not the idea of a sandy beach that many of us have.
It’s a rocky coast, where crabs and lobsters find their home, where the rythm of the tides set the tone, and where people are quiet but welcoming. Still, it was one of my favorite trips of recent years. Relaxing, atmospheric and local.
This newsletter is already too long, but comment down below or send me a private message if you’d like some recommendations!
The national park is so beautiful! So glad you got to enjoy a relaxing trip.
Gorgeous photos as always! Maine is so beautiful in the summer, and I adore the Camden/Rockport area (I’m usually there in September for the camden film festival). Definitely adding some of these stops to my next trip itinerary :)