Travel with Rebecca

In June 2022, we did a week long road trip through Maine. We had a great time!

Portland

Our first stop, Portland, was approximately 5.5 hours from home. Portland is a charming old city with a vibrant food and brewer scene. On our first day, we met up with friends and went to one brewery. For dinner, we had a fantastic meal at Street and Co. It had great reviews but I first heard of it from watching an Anthony Bourdain episode from the 90’s. The restaurant is on commercial street, surrounded by many other bars and restaurants. We had a round of local oysters to start our meal. My entree was a lobster and garlic pasta dish. It was one of the best meals that I had in a long time. The wonders of garlic and butter! Our server also noted that the kitchen uses a house made seafood to add flavor. 

On our first morning, we took a walk to the Eastern promenade. This seaside park offers expansive views of the local area. It is perfect for a morning stroll. While staying in Portland, we headed to see the local lighthouses. Our first stop was Dyer Point at Two Lights State Park. This was the most secluded lighthouse. The best part was the natural rock formations at the beach. Next, we went to Portland Headlight. This is likely the most photographed lighthouse in the country. Next to the lighthouse, there are several food trucks. We stopped at Bite into Maine. We got one traditional lobster roll and a chipotle flavored lobster roll. The line builds quickly at lunch time but it moves fast. These lobster rolls were our favorite of the trip. After lunch, we went to the next lighthouse, Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse. This one is located on a stone jetty. You can climb out to the lighthouse but some rocks can be a bit slippery. 

After our lighthouse adventures, we decided to visit some local breweries. The first stop was Shipyard Brewing Company which was right next to our hotel. Then we went to The Shop for oysters. The Shop has very nice indoor and outdoor seating. There’s also a distillery next door which we didn’t get a chance to visit. Next, we went to Oxbow Blending and Bottling. They serve farmhouse ales. The brewery is very nice and they have a food stand from the local restaurant, Duckfat Frites Shack. We ordered a round of fries and it was so worth it! 

For dinner, we went to Eventide. This is probably one of the most popular restaurants in the city. It has received multiple awards. There’s almost always a wait but trust me, it is worth it. We ordered lobster rolls, a fish dip, oysters and clams. Everything was great. Another fun item on their menu is their take on a dirty martini called the dirty dirty. In addition to the regular dirty martini ingredients, they include some oyster brine as a twist. Last stop on the night was Portland Hunt & Alpine club. This small restaurant offers a really impressive cocktail menu. 

Bar Harbor

Our next stop was Bar Harbor. On the way, we stopped at the L.L. Bean headquarters in Freeport, ME. Near the exit is another quick stop at the L.L. Bean headquarters. They have the largest globe in the world. It is free and worth a quick peak. The L.L. Bean campus is massive and it is next to an outlet mall. Although my husband found most of his purchases at old navy, we still picked up a few items at L.L. Bean. For lunch, we went to the Maine Beer Company. Their newly renovated space was very clean. They have a menu of pizzas for lunch as well. 

Our main reason for going to Bar Harbor was to go to Acadia National Park. On our first night, we drove into town to get the lay of the land. It was especially foggy so there was not much of a view. We found the town to be very charming with lots of restaurants and shops. 

Prior to our arrival at bar harbor, I had tried to get tickets for sunrise at Cadillac Mountain but they were sold out. Ironically, I happened to wake up early on our first morning and was able to see the sunrise! The fog had cleared away and it was truly so beautiful. Luckily, I was still able to get daytime tickets for Cadillac Mountain. The road to the mountain is very narrow with a lot of turns. The National Park Service restricts access to this part of the park to avoid intense traffic. The view from the mountain is great. There’s a short trail that can be taken from the top to get a variety of views. We went at 9 am. I would recommend going at a similar time to avoid larger crowds. Next, we went to the Ocean Path Trail.The trail runs along Park Loop Road and people park along the road because the parking lots are too small. It was by far the most crowded part of the park that we encountered. It did have great views. We went to the thunder hole but we missed high tide so it wasn’t as impressive as it might normally be. Next, we stopped for lunch in town. A small portion of Acadia national park is accessible from town. The trail is called the Bar Island Trail. The trail is only accessible at low tide. If you go too late, you can risk being stuck. The trail is a fairly easy walk from the mainland on rocks. Once on the island, there’s a half mile trail to get to a small viewing area.  The trail takes you through a field of lupines. It was a fun experience. 

On day two, we went to see the Bass Island Lighthouse. The nearby trail was closed but we were still able to get a glimpse of the lighthouse from the cliffs. Next we stopped at the Carroll Homestead. It was an interesting view of earlier life on Mount Desert Island. We then stopped at the Canadian peaks trail. It was far less crowded then the rest of the park. I found the trail to be fairly strenuous. We didn’t complete the trail but we were able to get a decent view. For lunch we stopped at Atlantic Brewing Company. They have some great food and even better beer. Since it was our last day in Bar Harbor, we decided to head back into the park and try to see a few things that were too crowded on earlier days. We were able to complete the Jordan Pond Trail and the Bubble Rock Trail in the early evening. It was perfect because it was much quieter and cooler. 

York & Portsmouth 

The next day, we headed to York on Route 1. We stopped in Camden on the way. This route is much longer but worth it if you have the time. We stopped at Allagash Brewing Company for lunch.  They have also had a Bite into Maine food truck. Next, we stopped in Kennebunkport. The town was cute but we didn’t have much to do. Lastly, we made it to the Airbnb in York. We stopped at the Short Sands beach before dinner and had a nice time walking around. 

The following day, we decided to check out Portsmouth, New Hampshire as it was about 20 minutes away from York. We walked all over the city and found a lot of interesting information regarding the city’s colonial history. Next we went to the Wiggly Bridge and York Cliffs. Beware that the York Cliffs Trail is very irregular. It has multiple warning signs. We turned around part of the way since it began to rain. Our last stop in York was the Nubble Lighthouse and we ate at the nearby fish restaurant, Fox’s Lobster House. Our Airbnb was located near Cape Neddick beach. The beach consists of all rocks but we were able to find some interesting rocks to bring home. Another benefit was that we had the entire beach to ourselves. Since we had a late lunch, we decided to just have ice cream for dinner. We went to The Goldenrod and ordered two small ice creams. A small was actually a large in most places. After ice cream, we went to the arcade to play skee ball. It a fun place for families and couples alike.