New England Sep 17! Day 4 - Travelling the Maine Coast to Portland

[Lolly90]

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Monday 4th September 2017

Today was the day we said goodbye to Boston As it was Labor Day and we didn’t know how busy traffic would get, we wanted to leave as early as possible. We got a taxi outside of our hotel at 07:45 to the car rental centre at Boston Logan, arriving 20 mins later. Total cost, with tip, was $36.00. We headed up to the Budget/Avis rental counter. There wasn’t a queue so it didn’t take us long at all to get the car. We paid for the sat nav we hired and headed to collect the car. We were given a Toyota Rav 4, which wasn’t quite as nice inside as the Ford Escape we had in California but it suited us fine.

It took us a little while to get organised and figure out how the sat nav worked but soon enough we were on our way. The car had an EZ Pass so we opened this out to use on any tolls. First stop, was back to IHOP in Cambridge. Even though the smell put us off slightly the first-time round, we weren’t going to see another IHOP for over a week so we stuck to the plan. I thought you could park outside IHOP on the road but once we got there we weren’t so sure what the rules were. Instead we parked up in the multi-storey car park next door. Mark went for the split decision again, this time with a maple bacon doughnut, which he wasn’t a fan of. I had the New York Cheesecake pancakes, which were very nice, with an iced coffee. Total cost $20.00 plus tip.

We headed back to the car and paid $10.00 for parking on our way out. Quite expensive for less than an hour but never mind. It was now around 10:00 and we were on our way to our first stop in Maine – Kittery Outlets. The drive was just over an hour long. We parked up at Starbucks first and grabbed a drink each.

The outlets here are quite spread out, so we drove a little further along and parked outside Nike. We picked up a voucher savings booklet from Tommy Hilfiger but there was nothing much in here we wanted to use. We spent some time looking in Under Armour and Nike and both picked up some bits for the gym. As it was Labor Day they were doing some really good deals and it wasn't too busy. Such a pretty area as well.

After we finished here, we drove to our first lighthouse of the trip - Nubble Lighthouse in York. This was about 20 mins away from the outlets. When we were driving in to York, we could see just how nice the area was. Everywhere is so clean and there's so many amazing houses. There's a carpark right by the lighthouse, so we parked up here. We spent some time viewing the lighthouse and the surrounding area. It's so beautiful here.

From here we continued up the coast to the town of Kennebunkport; this was one of my favourite places. We parked in Dock Square parking lot (cost = $6.00) and spent around an hour wandering round the town. There's so many lovely shops here and places to eat. We went to The Clam Shack for a quick lunch, which was a place I'd seen recommended online.

We got a lobster roll and chips to share. Total cost was $23.42. There's a small seating area available here along the water, so we sat here while we ate. The food was really good, I'd highly recommend a stop here.

We continued along to H.B. Provisions, which is a general store visited by the Bush family. We picked up a Whoopie Pie, the official state treat of Maine and a Snapple each. The Whoopie Pies were good but not as good as the ones we tried tomorrow

Next, it was back to the car and on to the next stop - Portland Head Lighthouse, which took about 45 mins. This is the oldest lighthouse in Maine and the most photographed in America. It's easy to see why, the whole area is stunning.

We continued on to our hotel from here, which was the Residence Inn by Marriott Portland Downtown/Waterfront. We checked in, unpacked what we needed and got ready to head out. We drove towards The Maine Mall, to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. This is one of our favourite restaurants in Florida, so we were happy there was one nearby.

We both got the Rib-eye steaks with fries, which were so good. Can't beat a steak when in America. Total cost was $50.00 plus tip. There was also a Target near here, so we went here for some waters, Starbucks Frappuccinos and snacks. We drove back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Next: Day 5 - Portland, Shopping & Arriving in Bar Harbor

[MichelleS]

Another lovely day ,fabulous photos .

[amy56]

Loving this report - Maine looks gorgeous! We are currently only planning as going as far up as Ogunquit (just below Kennebunkport I believe) and I'm thinking we might need to explore further north now! There is just too much to see! Lol!

[Melbatb]

What glorious scenery and lighthouses!

I didn't know whoopie pies come from Maine!

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by MichelleS

Another lovely day ,fabulous photos .

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Maine is beautiful

Originally Posted by amy56

Loving this report - Maine looks gorgeous! We are currently only planning as going as far up as Ogunquit (just below Kennebunkport I believe) and I'm thinking we might need to explore further north now! There is just too much to see! Lol!

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It really is gorgeous! Ogunquit looks lovely, it was on our list of towns to visit but as you say there is just too much to see! If you can make it to Acadia on your trip, you won't be disappointed

Originally Posted by Melbatb

What glorious scenery and lighthouses!

I didn't know whoopie pies come from Maine!

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The scenery is amazing, everywhere in New England is

I didn't either until I started planning this trip!

[WileyCoyote]

What glorious pics, the lighthouses and scenery are just so picture perfect. Fab day with a bit of everything, shopping, sights and some lovely food.

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

What glorious pics, the lighthouses and scenery are just so picture perfect. Fab day with a bit of everything, shopping, sights and some lovely food.

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They certainly are, reminds me of what you'd see on a postcard That's so true, was a bit of an everything day!

[hross42877]

What an idyllic area, so beautiful.

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by hross42877

What an idyllic area, so beautiful.

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Really is a beautiful place to visit!

[disney owl]

lovely photos