To paraphrase Audrey Hepburn, Maine in the summer is always a good idea. Our friends’ son was getting married in Camden, so why not make it a road trip?
In Portland we stayed in a fabulous hotel, met old friends, began our lobster journey and stalked a long-lost cousin. In Camden we hiked on Mt. Battie, dined on Main Street and attended wedding activities.
In Rockland, we found the best lobster roll, ferried to Vinalhaven and walked the breakwater to a lighthouse. Sadly, our trip took a turn for the worse when we had to literally jump ship in Camden.
Portland: Meeting up with old friends, starting our lobster journey and stalking my cousin
With its walkable downtown with cobblestone streets, working waterfront, art galleries and funky shops, Portland, Maine earned a place in my heart and I was happy to return for the first stop of our Maine road trip.
We stayed in a lovely new hotel, met up with college friends and once again, tried to connect with a long-lost cousin who owns one of the best bakeries in the country. (Can you call it stalking if it’s a relative and you only try every 4-5 years?)
Portland is where we started our lobster journey, which involved eating half our weight in lobster, primarily in lobster rolls. Later, we visited the place where the first lobster pound was established in 1876, but more on that later.
The first night was a meal of fantastic pieces of fried lobster at Becky’s Diner located on the waterfront. It’s not fancy, and you may encounter a long wait, but the food is so good. Don’t forget the blueberry pie.
We enjoyed lobster #2 with my college friends, Laurie and Whitney. Laurie lives in Portland and Whitney drove up for the day from Boston, surprising me when they picked us up at the hotel.
Laurie took us to the Portland Observatory, an 86-foot tower built in 1807 by Captain Moody who charged ship owners a fee to let them know when their ships were in the harbor. The views are fantastic, but not recommended if you can’t handle stairs.
Then we were off to Fort Williams Park where we found a lighthouse and a lobster roll, the quintessential Maine experience. There are some good hiking trails in the 90-acre park in Cape Elizabeth and we enjoyed our lobster rolls from the Bite into Maine food truck.
For another magnificent view of the harbor, check out the Luna Rooftop Bar where we enjoyed an adult beverage one evening.
In addition to the fantastic view of the Fore River from our hotel, we loved the Cambria Hotel Portland for its location, modern rooms and fantastic restaurant. Our room had a mini fridge, comfortable bed and full-length mirror. Sadly, it was just a normal mirror.
(I once had a magic mirror at a resort in North Georgia. Not normally one to stare at myself for long, I kept returning to this mirror – I looked so good! About four inches taller and 10 pounds lighter. Alas, I believe it was an optical illusion but it was fun while it lasted.)
I loved the black-and-white mural with ships and a downtown Portland scene that depict Portland’s history as a working waterfront. The décor throughout the hotel features metal work that pays homage to the shipbuilding history of Old Port.
Beer is big in Portland and six suites in the hotel have a craft brewery theme. You don’t need to walk far to hoist a pint. Shipyard is right next door with flights, growlers and packaged beer to go. You can also grab small bites, flatbreads and pizzas.
We had breakfast and dinner at ALTO Terrace Bar & Kitchen. I recommend the bruschetta avocado toast, omelets and blueberry muffins for breakfast. For dinner we dined in the courtyard and feasted on bacon-wrapped scallops, mussels, pan-seared scallops and stuffed haddock.
The only part of our visit to Portland that wasn’t successful was trying to connect with a long-lost cousin. Our mothers were sisters, and both passed away years ago. I haven’t seen Matt since we were in high school, but after reconnecting with another cousin on my mother’s side, decided to try to find members of this family.
My Googling efforts revealed he is the co-owner of Standard Baking Co. a critically acclaimed bakery opened in 1995. On a previous visit to Portland in 2019, I stopped by there twice trying to see him and even left a note, but he didn’t respond. This time I was told he doesn’t go in much anymore. So, my cousin-stalking days have ended.
It would have been nice to connect, and yes, I was hoping to get a free almond croissant out of it.
Please see our related story: 25 Incredible Things to Do in Portland in Winter
Camden: Hiking on Mt. Battie, dining on Main Street, wedding activities
Our next stop was Camden, a scenic 1 hour and 45-minute ride from Portland. We stopped in Freeport to visit the giant L.L. Bean store and took the obligatory photo of the giant boot in front.
We were lucky enough to visit Camden for a few days on a previous trip to Maine so were thrilled to be returning for our close friends’ son’s wedding there. I had fallen in love with its quaint Main Street with its 19th-century architecture, cobblestoned streets and harbor full of boats just waiting to head off on the next adventure.
In addition to our wedding activities, we hiked some of the 25 miles of trails in Camden Hills State Park that we could walk to from our Airbnb. I got a kick out of one named Bubba’s Trail – I didn’t think that name traveled north of the Mason-Dixon line. Another day we drove to the top of Mount Battie for spectacular views of Camden Harbor.
For a great view of the harbor we headed to the aptly name The View at the top of 16 Bay View where we met our friends, the groom’s parents, the day before the wedding frenzy began. They make a killer Old Fashioned there.
We also joined friends Charles and Caroline for breakfast at Buttermilk Kitchen, where we chatted with the owner and chef Suzanne Vizethann who we were familiar with as she opened the first location in Atlanta. After running her restaurant there since 2012, she was ready to leave big city life and fell in love with Maine, opening the location in Camden in the spring of 2024.
While it has a few sandwiches, the main draw here is breakfast. Pancake fans will love the ones here made with Maine blueberries, but I had to have the chicken biscuit with red pepper jelly and pimento cheese grits. So good!
Another night we met with our friends Martie and Dennis for a dinner on the patio of Peter Ott’s where Martie grabbed us a table right by the harbor. The menu includes oysters, seafood, steaks, quesadillas, and of course, a lobster roll.
My husband, Chris, had a reunion of his own with his first boss. Philip Carter was editor of the Delta Democrat-Times in Greenville, Mississippi, and now lives in Camden, Maine, with his wife Lynn. They were kind enough to invite us over for a drink where Chris loved sharing old stories from his cub reporter days.
The wedding, held at a waterfront location on the evening of a full moon, was absolutely stunning. And yes, there were delicious lobster rolls passed around during the cocktail hour. I think I limited myself to three – hey, they were little!
Rockland: Finding the best lobster roll, visiting a fabulous museum, ferry ride to Vinalhaven, braving the Rockland Breakwater
Our trip to Rockland was shorter than the average sitcom, just 20 minutes. Our home for two nights was the Rockland Harbor Hotel where our corner room had a view of the harbor and of the shops on Main Street.
We had a comfortable bed, mini fridge and the best feature of all, a balcony. Breakfast was included with the room and in addition to the indoor dining area, there was a pleasant patio where you could enjoy the hot breakfast.
The location is perfect for exploring the town so we set out to walk down Main Street, which was shut down that day for a festival. It’s lined with art galleries, shops and restaurants. The Farnsworth Museum of Art, known for having one of the best collections of American art, is worth a visit.
One evening we drove to Primo Restaurant for dinner where James Beard-award winner Melissa Kelly is executive chef. It is a true farm-to-table restaurant as the property includes two greenhouses, three acres of vegetables and 350 chickens. The menu changes daily.
We sat inside and had a wonderful server. The food was good, but I wouldn’t call it outstanding, and I found it a bit galling to pay $4 a person for bread. But the restaurant and gardens are lovely.
At the recommendation of our friends, we headed to McLoons Lobster Shack where we found the best lobster roll of our lives. The parking lot was packed and the line was long, but we found a spot and jumped in it.
It was worth the wait – a quarter pound of delicious, large clumps of lobster. You can opt for a half pound if you’re extra hungry. Or go for the 1 ¼-pound steamed lobster, clams, corn chowder, crab cakes or burgers. I used every bit of my small tub of butter.
We did get a bit of exercise to counteract some of our lobster gluttony. We visited the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, which involved walking the 7/8-mile long breakwater made of granite blocks and completed in 1899 to protect the harbor.
At the end of the breakwater we could walk around the exterior of the lighthouse. You have to watch your step on the breakwater as the path is not smooth so it’s not recommended for rainy or windy days.
To add yet another lighthouse to our Maine trip, we headed to Owl’s Head State Park and Lighthouse on the south side of Rockland Harbor. The walk is pretty easy and has lovely water views.
The Rockland Ferry Terminal is just across the street and we hopped on the ferry one day to visit Vinalhaven where one of Chris’s high school classmates has a home and invited us for the day. The ride was beautiful, passing by ships and small islands, accompanied by the ever-present seagulls swooping around the boat.
Amy and Phil met us at the boat in Carver’s Harbor and gave us the locals’ tour of the island, at 23 square miles the largest of Maine’s offshore islands. It has a population of around 1,200 and has shops and restaurants.
It’s notable for two industries: granite and lobsters. From the early 1800s to the early 1900s, Vinalhaven was the leading producer of granite in the U.S. The quarries are no longer active, but some has been turned into popular swimming spots.
Carver’s Harbor is the home of one of Maine’s largest lobster fleets, and the first lobster pound was established here in 1875. Dozens of lobster boats dot the waters in the harbor.
After giving us the grand tour that included driving by charming wooden homes, hiking to beaches and stopping to dip our toes into one of the quarry pools, we went to their summer home. The white wooden home had comfortable living areas, gorgeous gardens and a deck overlooking the water. I was thrilled to see another version of lobster in the form of a delicious lobster salad Amy made and we enjoyed sitting on the deck. Heavenly.
Jumping ship in Camden
After an idyllic nine days in Maine, our trip took a turn for the worse. It started on our last day in Rockland when I woke up to two distressing realizations: 1. it was raining. 2. I felt sick.
After getting a negative result on a COVID test, we headed back to Camden where we were booked on a four-night sailing trip on the Schooner Mary Day. We had been the talk of one of the wedding cocktail parties on the upper deck of Sea Dog Brewing Co when our friends were pointing to the ship in the harbor and telling people about our plans. Earlier we had walked over there to take a look at the boat, excited for the trip.
Described as more like camping than a cruise, a sail on a Windjammer is not for luxury-seekers. The bunks are small and there are only two bathrooms for 28 passengers. But people love the experience and many return every year.
Hoping that Zicam would work its magic and I’d feel better the next day, we boarded the ship, me wearing a mask, and I hung out on my bunk to rest and keep my germs to myself. Mary Day was docked in Camden for the night before heading out the next day.
We both spent a rather sleepless night and when I felt worse the next day, we literally jumped ship. Our car was blocked in with those of the other passengers so I stood in the rain, body aching all over, while he got the car and picked me up for our drive home.
We didn’t have too big of a pity party for ourselves as we had had 10 glorious sun-filled days in Maine and had been lucky enough to sail along the coast a few years ago. To paraphrase Audrey Hepburn, Maine in the summer is always a good idea.
– Jan Schroder, Editor-in-chief