July Vacation from California

This is our first vacation to Maine and have 11 days. We would like to go up the coast and was wondering where is the best place to start and finish. I love to shop at little shops not malls. I love little town shopping, my husband loves to fly fish. Please help us plan our trip and let me know what are the not to miss places. Should we just stay one night in each city or stay for a couple of days in each area. What is the best airport to fly into?

Jodie

July Vacation from California

Fly into Portland, if it works for you. Plan on staying a couple of days in Pportland. You will enjoy the Old Port - restaurants, shops, clubs and entertainment at night. Consider taking a ferry ouot to one of the islands in Casco Bay. They are cheap, it is a fun way to get on the water, and the islands are intersting. If you want to spend an extra day, you could do some exploring of the nearby coastal towns and attractions from Portland, including Old Orchard Beach, Freeport (home of LL Bean) and other places within less than an hour. Great area to explore.

Then, head up the coast - Downeast. Definitely spend more than one night in each location. In fact, I would recommend splitting your time between just 2 or 3 places. Some of my choices would be: The area and many coastal towns around Bath. The stretch of towns along Penobscot Bay, from Camden, Rockpport and Rockland on down to Port Clyde, and maybe take a day ferry ouot to Monhegan Island from Port Clyde. Acadaia National Park/Mount Desert Island. The town of Bar Harbor on the island is the largest town and very touristy. But the rest of the island is beautiful and entertaining. Your husband may find good fly fishing here, but I am not a fisherman and cannot really say.

It may turn out that the best fly fishing will be to go inland form the coast. Perhaps someone else in the forum will be more helpful.

Don%26#39;t feel that you have to see everything. Enjoy the depth of what the many coastal treasures of Maine have to offer.

July Vacation from California

Re: Fly fishing in Maine

I love Bar Harbor and Acadia. I love to fly fish. Alas, the two don%26#39;t really go together very well. First, what kind of fly fishing does your husband enjoy? Freshwater? Saltwater? Streams? Ponds?

I have seen an occasional fly fisher fishing from a canoe on one of the ponds in Acadia like Great (Long) Pond. There are apparently some brook trout and landlocked salmon in some of the ponds and lakes. I just don%26#39;t like still water fly fishing. I have also seen someone fly fishing off the rocks along Ocean Drive in Acadia but that%26#39;s pretty much an effort in futility. I have been told that fishing (saltwater) can be ';good'; in Somes Sound off of Sargeant Dr and over Bass Harbor way in Tremont.

Quite honestly, if you want to experience the best fly fishing Maine has to offer, you will have to go elsewhere. The best saltwater fly fishing is farther down the coast in the Cape Neddick and York area. You might want to check out Eldridge Brothers Fly Shop in Cape Neddick. For freshwater fly fishing try some of the streams flowing into/out of Moosehead Lake in the Greenville area. Or hit the Rangeley area in Northwest Maine for brook trout. About 3 hours or so from Bar Harbor is Grand Lake Stream which is known for Landlocked Salmon and Brookies during certain times of the year.

And finally, this year for the first time, they reopened the Penobscot River near Bangor (about 75 minutes from Bar Harbor) for Atlantic Salmon (an endangered species in most Maine Rivers). I think it is in the Fall for just a couple of weeks.

Another possibility, and something that we have done on several occasions, is to take maybe three nights and head up to New Brunswick to one of the salmon rivers (i.e. Miramichi).

Hope this helps.

Definately Freeport for you. Bar Harbor would be my first choice. If you fly in there you%26#39;ll take a small plane to the island. You can also take the CAT from there to Nova Scotia. It%26#39;s cheaper to fly into Portland and I have done that. Not my best experience as they lost my luggage both times but that could happen anywhere. Portland has a neat restaurant ina boat on the water...little pricey. I have no idea about fly fishing...stop in at the Thirsty Whale in Bar Harbor and ask the locals. I try to get to Bar Harbor every other year as one of my best friends lives there. It%26#39;s a beautiful place. Steven King lives nearby...not too far away.

Hi Jodie,

I can%26#39;t answer anything about fly fishing but I%26#39;ll suggest a few places to stay in which you could make daytrips and see alot if that%26#39;s what your goal is.

Fly into either Portland, Bangor, or even Manchester, NH. If you fly into Manchester it%26#39;ll take about 1 1/2 hours to get into southern Maine. To Portland, will put you almost at the midcoast area, or Bangor which is about an hour or so from Bar Harbor. You could even fly into Boston if that%26#39;s more convenient and it%26#39;ll take you less than 2 hours to get into southern Maine (if you don%26#39;t hit rush hour!).

If you have 11 days I would suggest staying at 2 to 3 different locations and not changing accomodations every night. That could get really old after a few days.

If you fly into Boston, Manchester, or Portland you could start your stay in southern Maine. I would suggest staying in either Ogunquit or Portland. From either of those towns you could easily make daytrips to York, Kennebunkport (summer home to the Bush%26#39;s), Freeport (home of LL Beans and tons of outlet shops), Bath and Reid State Park beaches (gorgeous).

All of these areas from Ogunquit would take you anywhere from just 10 minutes (Ogunquit to Kennebunkport) to about 45 minutes or so (to the beaches mentioned.) For info re: Ogunquit see www.ogunquit.org. For Portland see www.portlandmaine.com. You could spend 2 or 3 nights at either place.

See my recent response to a poster Emilyii re: %26#39;First trip%26#39; for a brief description of Ogunquit.

Re: Portland. This is Maine%26#39;s busiest city and sits right on the water. There%26#39;s the Old Port area with lots of action, restaurants, art galleries, shops, etc. It also offers lots of boat tours to Casco Bay and its islands. In addition there%26#39;s the Portland Museum of Art and Portland Headlight in Cape Elizabeth of which both are well worth spending time at.

A second location would be either Boothbay Harbor or Camden. They are about an hour apart from each other further north from Portland and each has it%26#39;s own charm and flavor.

Boothbay Harbor is located at the southern tip of a peninsula just off of route 1 north of the town of Wiscasset. It%26#39;s long been a summer destination and offers a wealth of things to do and see. Downtown has lots of shops, restaurants, galleries, as well as a small waterfront park, and every kind of boat tour you could dream of.

Short rides away are some very scenic drives and places to go such as Ocean Pt. (again see one of my recent posts which describes OP); Hendricks Head Lighthouse, Southport Island, King Phillips Trail, the Boothbay Region Land Trust trails, the Maine Coast Botanical Gardens, and on and on. All of these places are no more than a 10 minute or so drive from downtown BBH.

From BBH you could easily make daytrips to Damarascotta (about 15 minute drive) which has a charming downtown and is home to Reny%26#39;s, Maine%26#39;s own discount retail store. After stopping in Damarascotta you could run down to Pemaquid Lighthouse which sits high on a bluff overlooking the ocean. On the same peninsula is Pemaquid Beach.

You could also make daytrips to Camden and Rockland which would takes about an hour each way.

Or you could stay in Camden which is right on route 1 and is a truly charming town nestled within small mountains and a beautiful harbor. From Camden you could easily make daytrips to Boothbay Harbor, Pemaquid, Rockland, and Rockport. Or down to Port Clyde, Tenant%26#39;s Harbor, and/or visit the Olsen House (the house in the background of the Christina%26#39;s World painting by Wyeth which sold at auction years ago for over $25 million).

From either Boothbay Harbor or Camden definitely take a daytrip to Monhegan Island. This is one of the most enchanting places you%26#39;ll ever visit. There are only a few Inns %26amp; B%26amp;B%26#39;s, no cars allowed, and spectacular walks and hikes (most easy) to 200 foot high bluffs looking out to sea where you might see whales (depending on the time of year).

It%26#39;s also home to alot of artists and many a famous one has spent summers trying to capture it%26#39;s beauty i.e. Homer, Hopper, Wyeth, Fairfield Porter, and on and on. I cannot say enough about Monhegan. It%26#39;s a must see sort of place. However, it%26#39;ll take up a whole day so prepare for that if you decide to put it on your list.

The last area to stay in would be Bar Harbor or the Acadia Nat%26#39;l Park location. This is truly a destination in and of itself and once there there%26#39;s so much to do and see you probably wouldn%26#39;t have the time or inclination to travel elsewhere! Hopefully the Bar Harbor/Acadia Nat%26#39;l Park expert will pipe in about what to do/see there.

Overall, you want to split your time between 3 different locations i.e. southern coast; midcoast; and downeast. Staying in Oguqunquit/Portland area; Boothbay Harbor/Camden areas; and the Acadia Nat%26#39;l Park will just about cover those locations. By doing so, you%26#39;ll get a chance to see the different faces of the Maine coast whether commercial and touristy or less so. The key is to stay in one of those towns and then branch off to make daytrips to the lesser known places to see the real Maine. Each town suggested will put you in a situation where it%26#39;ll be easy to make daytrips and not have to travel more than an hour to do so each way. And each area will offer a variety of accomodations in all price ranges.

Good luck with your plans and if you have further questions, post again and I%26#39;m sure someone will respond :).

cozyharbor