Our Maine vacation began with our flight to Portland International Airport. After looking at the stuffed Moose and other animals welcoming everyone to Maine we made our way to the rental car counter. Once we picked up the car we were ready to explore.
The first item on our agenda was to experience a Maine lobster roll so we stopped at Day’s Crabmeat & Lobster on our way to Bangor. It was a dreary rainy day but that didn’t stop us. This roadside stand had a window where we ordered our food. We sat outdoors at the picnic tables that were thankfully covered. My classic Maine lobster roll was very good. My husband and I shared a Whoopie Pie for dessert and it was delicious. This was a great stop for our first meal in Maine.
Once we arrived in Bangor we checked into the Hilton Garden Inn. The room was nice and the bed was comfortable but the highlight for me was the onsite Irish Pub. The Claddagh Irish Pub was a great place to get a bite to eat and hang out after a day of exploring the town. I ate the bangers with the vegetable of the day the first night and they tasted great. The cocktails were also very good.
After a good night’s rest it was time to explore Bangor. Since Bangor is the inspiration for the fictional town of Derry in several of Stephen King’s novels we decided to create our own little tour of some of the places in his movies. First on our agenda was Stephen King’s House. The historic mansion is red with white trim. There is an iron gate with spiders and bats that encloses the house. There is also a three-headed dragon on the gate and a tree sculpture in the yard. We snapped some pictures and then made our way to our next stop.
Our next stop was the statue of Paul Bunyan. This 31-foot statue came to life in “It”. It is located in Bass Park and easy to find. All you have to do is look up.
Next up was Dysart’s Restaurant & Truck Stop in Hermon. This was the truck stop in Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive. I watched that movie several times when it came out so I was very excited about this stop. We grabbed some drinks and snacks and then on to our final King destination.
Our final Stephen King movie landmark was Pet Sematary. The real name is Mount Hope cemetery and is located on State Street. This cemetery is more than 180 years old. We walked around and even found the gravesite of Carrie that was supposedly the inspiration for Stephen King’s book Carrie.
Next we made our way to Orono Bog Boardwalk. This was an interesting nature stop to stretch our legs. This 1-mile loop trail is full of several kinds of plants and flowers. The walk was unique and worked up our appetite.
Sea Dog Brewing Company was a must stop for food and sampling unique beer. The fried haddock and fries were fantastic and I really enjoyed the beer flight. We sampled ten different beers but the coolest beer was the Blue Paw Wild Blueberry Ale. This beer is served with blueberries floating around in it.
We started our second day in Bangor at Wicked Brew Cafe with espresso and a breakfast sandwich. This really hit the spot and was much needed energy for our day of exploring Acadia National Park. The Park was very crowded but still enjoyable. We made our way around Park Loop Road until it was time to see Cadillac Mountain. Acadia is beautiful with many exciting stops and hikes. We had reservations for Cadillac Summit Road which was necessary as it is a very popular spot. It is three-mile drive to the highest peak in the park. The views were amazing and worth the wait.
We made our way to Bar Harbor for food after running around the park all day. Geddy’s looked like a fun place for dinner so we put our name on the list for a table. It was a short wait. We were seated at a table in the front looking out onto the street. I had Ahi Tuna tacos that were amazing and a cocktail called Painkiller that hit the spot.
The next day it was time to leave Bangor and head to Boothbay Harbor but before leaving Bangor we made 2 stops. Our first stop was to get breakfast at Grind House. This was a great breakfast spot. After breakfast we stopped in the police station to get our picture taken with the Duck of Justice. The duck is in the museum at Bangor Police station. This small museum is full of interesting artifacts.
Fort Knox and Penobscot Narrows Observatory has the tallest public bridge observatory in the world. It was on our way to Boothbay Harbor so we popped in to check it out. The fort was interesting and the bridge had amazing views.
We stopped in Camden in search of the town waterfall. There was supposed to be a great view of the waterfall at Camden Deli so we decided to go here for lunch. The sandwiches were good but the waterfall was dried up and missing.
We stayed at Fisherman’s Wharf Inn at Boothbay Harbor. It was on the ocean and a very short walk to the main reason for our stay. We were in town for a whale and puffin tour with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises. The cruise was amazing. They can’t guarantee whale sightings but we were lucky and thankful. Not only did we see 3 different whales on our cruise but we got to see them breach the water multiple times. Our tour guides explained how rare it was to see this.
Red Cup Coffeehouse was a great place to get coffee. There was a line at the walk up window but it moved fast. Marcel’s Submarine Shop was a very cool sandwich place. I had the best tuna salad sandwich. We ordered at the counter and then went to the back and sat at the bar. The bar was awesome and they had many specialty cocktails. Our dinner and drinks were extremely enjoyable.
Boothbay Harbor was a quiet oceanside little town with shops and restaurants. We enjoyed a peaceful stay here. Just know that if you are looking for nightlife this may not be the place for you. Everything seems to close pretty early.
LL Bean was a must visit on our way to our next destination. This is the main store in Freeport and you need to allow at least an hour if you want to fully explore everything it has to offer. Anything you could possibly need for outdoor activities can be purchased here.
Our last hotel destination of our trip was at Abellona Inn on Old Orchard Beach. Old Orchard Beach is a classic coastal seascape town with plenty of rides and attractions. We walked to the pier where all the attractions were in search of food. We happened upon Bull and Brew Wing House so we decided to eat there. Who doesn’t love wings and beer? They sure are my favorite. The service was good and the bar was nice.
Our next day was spent discovering Ogunquit as that is where our sailing departed. My favorite restaurant of the entire trip was in Ogunquit. It was a place called Food for Thought. The tables were outdoors and the place had a laid back fun atmosphere. The menu was very unique and exciting. My friend got the donut grilled cheese with tomato bisque. The donut grilled cheese came on a hook over the bowl of soup with the cheese dripping down into the soup. I ordered the chicken & waffle cones which was fried chicken in a waffle cone with maple syrup and blueberries. If you are ever in this area I highly recommend this place for dinner.
We had some time to kill in Ogunquit before our sailing so we took a pleasant walk along Marginal Way. It gave us time to walk off our lunch. The trail had amazing views. After our walk we made our way to the cove to catch the boat with Silverlining for our sailing trip. This was our first sailing and it was so much fun.
Maine was a beautiful state and we had a lot of fun. The only disappointment was we didn’t see a moose. We would have had to go further north to have better chances of seeing one. We chose to stay by the ocean like the water lovers we are.
