I would recommend going to the Old Port in Portland. There are some great quirky shops there plus tons of great places to eat. If you do go, I would highly recommend getting an ice cream at the Coldstone Creamery – it’s the only place you can spend $5 on an ice cream without feeling the slightest bit of regret!

Mmmmm, Coldstone Creamery!

Also, how about Acadia National Park?

Be sure to take advantage of all the little restaurants that serve cheap lobster! And, of course be sure to get up early at least one morning to walk along the coast… and pick up oysters!

Cheers,
Sissy

I would rent a kayak and bring hiking boots. The water is sooo beautiful. Eating lobster is amazing.

ogunquit, right near new hampshire, is a great town. if you are staying in a small inn its always good to ask the locals where to eat lobster, many prices are too high. and if you go to mount desert island to go to the acadia national park, do some research before, the place has many tourist traps.

A good site that I love is www.exploremaine.org Please let us know how much fun you have on your trip!

Maine is the most easterly state in the country and has the nickname “Vacationland” so you know you will find plenty to hold your interest. There are lakes, beaches, mountains and cities all within a couple of hours drive from one another and southern Maine is only an hour and a half from Boston. Blueberries and lobsters abound and you can see miles and miles of unspoiled forest, have dinner in a four star restaurant or visit places frequented by Andrew Wyeth or Stephen King. Check out the state of Maine website for exact details like population and industry and what the state song is!

Where to Stay:
There are several different ways to experience Maine – the beaches, the cities, “Down East”/Acadia – and I would not miss any of them. Either start up North and work your way down or vice versa

Food/Drink:
Go down to the Old Port (which is the port area of Portland) and just walk around and find anything you might want. Portland, Maine has more restaurants per capita than New York City so you are in for a serious treat!! It depends what you like (and how much you are going to spend). As Bill recommended above, taking the mail boat in Casco Bay is an excellent way to see the area and a few hours well spent.

Shopping:
Freeport – about half an hour’s drive North of Portland is shopper’s heaven. Freeport has every outlet store imaginable including the open-24-hours mecca of Maine – LL Bean

Kittery – Freeport’s little sister – Kittery is just over the NH border and has way less stores, but you can get some good deals and go to the beach!\ in near by York where there are 3.

Museums & Parks:
Acadia National Park – As Sissy also said. Did you know that Maine has fjords?
Portland Museum – an excellent small collection in a wonderful building with views of the port.

Let us know how your trip goes! Have fun.

I have to agree with the above answers. I was just in Maine last week and it was great! I stayed in Ocean Park which is right next to Old Orchard Beach but it’s a lot quieter. I went into Portland one day too. If you enjoy light houses, there are quite a few in the Portland/Old Orchard area. My favorite is the Portland Headlight which is about 10 minutes from Portland.

i second the calling to the “OLD PORT.” I’ve been to cities of all sizes around the world, and portland remains my favorite. walk around congress, middle, and commercial street- grab dinner on the water in the restaurant-on-a-boat (Dimillo’s) – catch a film in the nickelodeon or The Movies on exchange st- browse music at Bullmoose Music (151 middle st), books at Books, Etc on exchange. the art museum has free admission on friday nights.

while you’re in MAINE, check out the ocean – take an LLBean tour in kayaks, visit one of the beaches or lighthouses, or just sit on the docks in portland. i highly recommend taking a ferry out to Peaks Island for the day – its a great small community where you can experience “maine life” without being too intrusive.

whale watching was a lot of fun, just make sure you take a warm sweater, the air tends to be cold. acadia is beautiful as well, nice for hiking.

I highly recommend going to Kennebunkport & Wells areas in Southern Maine, they are just stunning.

Best Regards and enjoy!

Hi, We made three major stops on our Maine vacation: Acadia NP area, Mt. Katahdin area, and Moosehead Lake area.
We really appreciated all three and for different reasons.
First off our vacation was late September. That was a good decision on our part. Less tourists, yeah I know we are that too, but we don’t like to share the beauty.
Acadia was great for the natural beauty and a photographers dream. If you go there, don’t forget to have popovers at the Jordon Pond House. Wow, yummy! We also did the requisite whale watch too.
Then we went to Baxter State Park, Mt. Katahdin (the northern start of the Appalachian Trail). Very pretty, very remote, and a great place for moose sightings.
Then we went to Moosehead Lake area and stayed in a small cabin right on a lake/river areaI believe it was Wilson’s cabins. It turns out that was the one we were least sure of. And instead it becomes our most favored memories. A small cabin with a fireplace and screened in porch. We actually got to relax and enjoy ourselves the most there.
I also have to admit we enjoyed going to the LL Bean store at 2 AM.

If you like shopping Kittery has an outlet mall,it’s right next to York where I always like to visit. Theres some nice beaches there. I like shorts sands because I don’t like staying in the sun too long so when I get bored theres little places closeby to keep attention including a movie theater,arcade,little stores,candy shops and places to eat. Also an amusement park/zoo but its pretty crappy. York has like no chain places in it because they aren’t aloud to, to preserve its historic-ness my aunt who lives there told me.

Old Orchard beach is pretty cool too though.

Make sure you have dinner at Joe’s Boathouse in South Portland.

It depends where in the state you are going to stay. We love it all – we have stayed on an island off the coast where we got to row over to the mainland to get supplies, in a cottage on a small lake between Camden and Augusta, on a farm in the lake country, in an A frame in the snow country.

There are great golf courses, day sails on a Windjammer, the Bath Maritime Museum (for the rainy day), kayak rentals on the ocean or on lakes, a great city to explore in Portland, bargains galore in Freeport, beautiful hikes up French’s Mountain to a veiw of the bluest of lakes, with absolutely no one else encountered along the way!

We prefer to rent our own space, preferring the less commercial side of Maine, so we plan way ahead for that and then do what the weather allows wherever we end up staying.

Have a great trip!

If you have the time and patience to deal with tourist traffic, take route 1 and you will just find all sorts of quaint Maine towns (think Murder She Wrote comes alive – without the murder rate of that shithole cabot cove).

I digress.

I am from Scarborough originally, so I have a soft spot for it. It is just outside of Portland, but my favoritebeach (Scarborough beach) is there.

Definitely make the trip to Freeport and Portland. While you are in Freeport go to Wolfe’s Neck State Park. It’s a beauty!

Eat lots of wonderful seafood (DIMILLOS IS A TOURIST TRAP, don’t bother). Plenty of other good seafood places. Have fun!!!