Day 5. We arrived in Maine late in the evening and headed to our Airbnb. We stayed at the York Harbor Inn and it was just lovely. They have multiple buildings and different kinds of rooms. Just a warning – there are not elevators in this beautiful old inn, so you may have to climb some narrow staircases with your luggage.
Our first day in Maine was spent exploring the Cape Neddick Nubble Lighthouse. In colonial days, mariner traffic was important to the commerce in this area. The rocky coast of Maine was very dangerous to mariners. In 1874, President Rutherford B. Hayes approved $15,000 to build a lighthouse on this “nub” of land. Construction was finished in 1879. Today, the lighthouse is taken care of by the parks department of York. In addition, there’s a small gift shop that is open from April to mid-October.
This lighthouse and the views all around it are just stunning. Photographers could probably spend hours here just capturing all the beauty. We took tons of pictures ourselves and just kept saying “This is stunning.”
You are allowed to bring picnics to enjoy if you’d like. There are benches and also huge rocks that you can sit on and just enjoy the view. This is definitely worth your time to visit if you are in the York area.
We ate dinner at the Sand Dollar Bar and Grille, which was so good! We both had a fried haddock sandwich and they were HUGE and absolutely delicious. You may be thinking that it’s just a fish sandwich, but I’m telling you, it was so good. Highly recommend this place!
Day 6. We spent day 6 exploring Portland and visiting the Portland Head Light lighthouse. The Portland Head Light is Maine’s oldest lighthouse. It was commissioned by President George Washington. It was first lit on January 10, 1791. The town of Cape Elizabeth maintains the lighthouse today.
The Portland Head is situated along the shores of Ft. Williams park. The park has lots of picnic areas, hiking and sports areas and unlimited ocean views. There is a museum in the former keeper’s quarters. We really wanted to see this, but it was already closed for the season.
If you are in the Portland area, do not miss this spectacular lighthouse and park.
We spent some time walking around downtown Portland, which is just beautiful. The Old Port waterfront has working fishing wharves and tons of restaurants in converted warehouses. There’s incredible shopping and amazing food in this area, not to mention the beautiful waterfront views. Take the time to just walk around and explore downtown Portland – you’ll be glad you did.
Next, we stopped in Kennebunkport – home of the summer retreat of the George Bush family, Cape Porpoise, and great shopping and restaurants. If you visit Kennebunkport, you have to try the Clam Shack. The Clam Shack was originally a fish market that opened in the 1930s. In 1968, it started its legendary take out seafood. You can get lobster rolls, clams, scallops, fish, shrimp, calamari – you name it. But you can also get burgers and chicken tenders and hot dogs. Be warned – there is almost always a long line!
Day 7. We spent the morning just walking along the beach and enjoying the little town of York. There are cliff walks if you like that sort of thing, but also there are miles of sidewalk along the water or you can walk along the water’s edge if you prefer. If you come here in the fall, just be aware that some shops and restaurants are closed for the season starting in mid-October.
Now the time had come for us to eat a whole lobster in Maine! My husband and I both love lobster and have eaten it a lot, but neither of us had ever done the work of cracking and eating a whole lobster. We literally sat in our room and watched YouTube videos of how to do it correctly. Then we headed out to the Lobster Cove and had our lobster! It was a fun and delicious experience, but we both concluded that we’d rather let other people do the work for us and just enjoy the results. We also had lobster mac and cheese, because why wouldn’t we?
We also ate at a beautiful restaurant called the York River Landing. What an incredible dining experience we had here. They specialize in steak, seafood and craft beer. I had the Maine Maple Filet with carmelized onions and a maple glaze. I would definitely recommend this restaurant.
Time did not allow us to visit Bar Harbor or Acadia National Park this time, but we are certainly hoping to go back to do that some other time. Maine’s beautiful rocky coastline, lighthouses, quaint villages, beautiful cities, and friendly people are wonderful and everyone should visit!
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