First trip

Hello,

My husband and I are planning week-long stay in Maine. I prefer to be on or near a beach and we are looking for a nice, centrally-located resort (on a beach or near one) that we can call home-base and do day trips from there. It looks like southern Maine has the best beaches, but the midcoast and Acadia areas seem a bit more interesting.

Does anyone have suggestions on a good place to call home base?

I was thinking about York Harbor Inn but am not sure.

First trip

Hi Emily,

If you really want a beachy town/area I would choose Ogunquit over York. York Harbor is nice but Ogunquit just offers more and is a bit closer to other areas for daytripping.

A bit about Ogunquit. It%26#39;s a very small town right on the water with shops, restaurants, art galleries, summer theatre, boat tours, and the wonderful Marginal Way (which I%26#39;ll write about more in a bit).

What%26#39;s great about Ogunquit vs York Harbor is that once you park your car, you can leave it whereever it is and walk everywhere. Plus there are lots of different types of accomodations either right on the beach or within a short walking distance. Even if you couldn%26#39;t afford to stay at one of these there are additional hotels, B%26amp;B%26#39;s on the trolley line so you could easily hop on one of those from your hotel to go to the beach.

I%26#39;m not sure what your price range is or what you prefer, but my favorite place to stay is the Beachmere Inn on the Marginal Way. This is a combination turn of the century inn that also offers motel like accomodations too in separate buildings. It offers spectacular views of the open ocean, lots of lawn for relaxing on a chair with those same views, breakfast, has wi-fi throughout the property, and almost all rooms have frige%26#39;s and microwave ovens and views out to sea. They book really early so if interested I%26#39;d look into them asap. Their website is: www.beachmereinn.com.

For more ideas on where to stay check out Ogunquit%26#39;s local chamber and visitor guide at www.ogunquit.org. This site will also offer all kinds of info on just about anything you%26#39;d want to know about the area.

Now about the Marginal Way. This is a unique path that runs between the open ocean and summer cottages and often runs high on a bluff. The views are spectacular, the path charming with benches here and there to either rest or just drink in the views, and will take you from one end of town to the other. It runs about a mile each way and there are a few spots where you can exit if you desire to go right into town. Or you can take it and end up either at the beach or Perkins Cove depending on which end you start.

Summer theatre is another venue that you won%26#39;t see at York Harbor. Oqunquit has one of the oldest summer theatre%26#39;s in the country and offers top notch performances with well known names. Many a hollywood star got their start here.

In addition to all of the above you can easily take daytrips to Kennebunkport (10 minutes away), Portland (about 30 minutes away), Freeport (about 40 minutes away), and even as far as Boothbay Harbor (about 1 1/2 hours away). These areas are all worth seeing and are north of Ogunquit. Or you could go south to York or Portsmouth, NH which would take about 10 minutes and 20 minutes or so respectfully.

In any case, good luck with your plans and if you have further questions don%26#39;t hesitate to post again :).

zits