Maine Vacation Superlatives
it's hard to pick favorites!
Hello supporters! I’m popping in today with a round-up of my very favorite things about our trip to Maine ~ it’s always hard to pick favorites, but some things just really stood out and deserve all the enthusiasm! And remember, all weekday newsletters are now just for paid subscribers ~ thank you for valuing and supporting my work here.
Friends, it was an absolutely magical trip. It’s funny, though, because the more I think that and tell people that, the more I start questioning whether it was the actual TRIP, or the uninterrupted time with my kids for 6 whole days that made it so magical? When you have older teenagers (our older two are 17 and 18) it’s not unusual to go days without seeing them for more than a minute or two at a time ~ for them to arrive home and announce as they’re running through that they’ll be leaving again in a few minutes and oh, they’re staying at so-and-so’s house tonight and they’ll probably just go straight to work tomorrow from their house and then they’re going xyz after work, so maybe they’ll be home tomorrow night sometime? And after their younger teen years were decimated by COVID isolation, how does any parent feel anything but exquisitely happy that these beautiful creatures are social and happy and alive?
Anyway, YES, the uninterrupted time with the kids was amazing. But the trip itself really was too! I could write on and on and on and on about every single detail, but I’m going to hold myself back to just sharing my favorites here.
Please note that my photography priority was pictures of the kids and I don’t share those here, and I’m also not a photographer ~ what you get is some happy simple pictures not necessarily exactly of the things I’m writing about, taken on my battered iPhone SE 2. Enjoy!
Comfort Camping at Wolfe’s Neck
I just realized that I took ZERO pictures of our amazing Comfort Camping set up that don’t have kids in them, so please go to the Wolfe’s Neck site and scroll down to Comfort Camping to see our lodgings for this trip! It was so nice to be able to fly in AND camp - there is no way we could have flown with all the gear needed. And camping + having a massive tent with a queen-sized real bed to sleep in? Heaven.
I can’t rave enough about how much I loved camping at Wolfe’s Neck! Our glamping experience was made absolutely perfect by our perfect campsite (above) that had distant views of Casco Bay AND adorable cows that came up right to the fence to be petted. I know I’m from Wisconsin, but our cows here don’t have ocean bay views behind them! Our site was wooded with this view at the back with water access only about a 5 minute walk down the camp road. The farm store (shown above) had hot coffee and pastries (and so much more) and we were there at least once a day. The staff was delightful, the amenities were all we needed, and my kids were forced to spend six straight days with me with no escape to their rooms. PRICELESS.
And the absolute selling point of this place? Hanging out down by the water at low tide every morning and evening, wandering the rocks, looking for creatures, and basking in the views. We also rented a three-person canoe after dropping the oldest off, and canoed in the bay at high tide ~ that was a wild adventure and a true bonding experience!
Given that I live in complete isolation on a gorgeous ridgetop, I don’t get very excited about regular campgrounds ~ I can get all the outdoorsy views and nature right outside my door at any time, so I need to level up to be willing to sleep in a tent and not have running water for days on end. Madeline Island checks that box for me, as does Wolfe’s Neck. I need big water access, and in this case, no-work GLAMPING, to cause me to go all-in on the experience.
The Audubon Puffin Tour
The Audubon Puffin Tour was truly one of those experiences that you had to be there to truly understand, because damn, was my phone not up to the task of documenting it! recommended this 2.5 hour boat tour to a seabird sanctuary island that launches in Boothbay Harbor, and I’m so very grateful that she did - I never would have found it on my own, or at least trusted that it was worth the cost. You can read all about it here on the tour website to get the full info! Yes my video above just appears to be a foggy view of a rocky island, but it was an absolutely amazing nature experience narrated by an Audubon employee and we learned SO much! We saw countless puffins and other sea birds and got to spend a lot of time contemplating what it would be like to be a researcher living out on the island. Once the fog cleared on our ride back we were able to see all of the lighthouses and islands that the captain was telling us about, and I adored seeing all of the lobster boats in the harbor.
While in Boothbay Harbor we also had a wonderful lunch and did some touristy shopping before heading out to the nearby Coastal Maine Botanical Garden. That was also a fabulous experience, but we were in such a rush to get to Pemaquid Point Lighthouse before it closed that we didn’t nearly do the Gardens justice. We could have used a full half day there to fully experience them and walk on all the trails and see all the trolls!
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse was SUCH a special experience! Of the lighthouses we saw on this trip, this was the only one we were able to climb up into, and the museum was so neat. All of the staff on site, from the parking lot attendant to the lighthouse docent to the museum lady, were so wonderful and we learned so much. The museum featured a news video about the massive storm this past January that damaged a part of the bell house. Listening to the volunteer explain all of this and recount the trauma that the storm caused the local community made me reflect on the book I read last month about being a mindful tourist and taking the time to understand the community you are visiting. We wanted to spend a lot more time here, but alas, time ran out and the park closed.
However, we were able to head a short ways down the road to Pemaquid Beach and it was such a treat! We spent about an hour walking the sandy beach and looking at shells and birds and wading in the water.
Crescent Beach State Park
So, Crescent Beach State Park is an absolute GEM and we found it because the oldest wanted to go to Two Lights State Park and I told her she needed to also find me a BEACH for this day’s adventure in Cape Elizabeth - and this is what she found! We paid to get into both state parks and I will never ever complain about paying for such things because PRESERVING NATURE IS IMPORTANT, but I will say that we spent way more time at Crescent Beach. We spent hours walking and wading on the beach, watching birds, looking at shells, and ate our packed sandwiches at the picnic tables right above the beach. After lunch, the two older kids and I walked a coastal trail while the youngest read her book on a bench by the beach - we didn’t make it very far before finding more rocks to clamber on and explore!
As you can see here, we were surrounded by rain, but we stayed dry this whole day! It rained most of this day back at the campsite, but we got a delightful day in the sun.
After this we went to see the Two Lights lighthouses and explored a bit at Two Lights State Park, and then went to see Portland Head Light. This was very cool and we loved seeing both this lighthouse and Ram Island Ledge Light out in the bay. Yet again, time was running out and we got there after the museum was closed for the day - we definitely would have loved to see that! We walked around a bit at Fort Williams Park, but by that time everyone was pretty exhausted so we didn’t last long. This was the only place on the entire trip that felt at all crowded, and we still weren’t overwhelmed by people. We were pleasantly surprised!
Mainely Custard
While on summer vacations, we always make it a goal to get ice cream at a different place each day. While on this trip we did have lots of stellar ice cream, but the standout winner was Mainely Custard on Route 1 just south of Freeport. A huge thanks to Jessica G. for recommending this to me! Here in Wisconsin, Culver’s is a mainstay and their custard really is hard to beat. However, Mainely Custard’s diverse flavors and massive serving size truly gave Culver’s a run for their money! No picture - we were too hungry!
Freeport, Maine
I can’t forget to mention how much we liked the actual town of Freeport! Wolfe’s Neck is only about 5 miles out of town, so we drove through town every day, and ended up in LL Bean three times during our stay - ha! I have been an LL Bean fangirl my entire life, so getting to be in the homeland and see the entire (massive) retail campus and drive past their headquarters and fulfillment center was really neat for me. And the retail campus is open 24/7 365, which proved to be very handy when I had to sprint there on our way to the airport to buy all the things the departing daughter forgot and then go to the Freeport post office to mail it to her in Augusta! Please note that the lady at the post office was so delightful and patient and helped me with all of my packaging struggles - these things really matter and aren’t forgotten.
There is also a whole retail center in the town’s downtown with outlet stores and lots of outdoorsy stores (Patagonia! Toad & Co.!) , touristy stores, and restaurants, all very quaintly designed to hide the well….. retail-ness of them. We had one “town day” for the oldest to use wifi and get all of her last minute admin stuff taken care of - it was supposed to rain from 9-3 that day and very much did so, so it was a good opportunity to do a little shopping and get lunch in town after she was done at the coffee shop. Then, the laundromat so she would have all clean clothes to head into her adventure with. The laundromat was perfectly serviceable, and bonus - it is named Lighthouse Laundry, so it very much fit my theme of the trip! We did grocery shopping at the Shaw’s in town and got more last minute stuff at the CVS and all was so convenient. Seriously, the boring real life stuff is actually a pretty big deal when you’re camping and dropping off a kid, and Freeport more than came through for us. I know you know that I am already plotting how I can somehow live both there AND on my hilltop utopia in Wisconsin.
She’s Heading West
And guess what? We just found out tonight that our brilliant and brave oldest kid got her Maine Conservation Corps assignment (they are currently at orientation week) - she will be doing rock work at Tumbledown Mountain in western Maine for the next 4 months! 9 days on, 5 days off - camping for ALL OF IT. And doing lots of hard things with ROCKS. It’s pretty wild that you give birth to kids and have absolutely no idea what their future will hold ~ I certainly had zero idea that this is where she would head after high school, but her grandparents who led trail work crews for years in the Colorado mountains and a cousin who did a service gap year and an aunt and uncle who served in the Peace Corps and another grandfather who has done WiscCorps work for years certainly helped shape her. I really hope I get to visit her at Tumbledown, but we shall see what budget and schedules have in store for us.
I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our trip to Maine! I so hope I get to go back in the nearish future!
Thank you for being a supporter!
I love to hear from readers, so please do reach out to me with questions or feedback at mindfullibrarian@substack.com . If we aren’t already connected on Goodreads, I would love to see you there as well!
Thanks for stopping by!
