Welcome to Maine

July 22, 2017 11:40 AM

I'd like to drive somewhere north with my dog for about 3 days next week. I'm in Portland, Maine.

My husbands gone for a week and I want to see some more of this lovely state.
- I don't like camping too much
- I'd love to see some rural natural beauty
- hopefully not too swarming with tourists

I like inland and the coast. I'm thinking Monhegan or MDI. I'll drive up to 8 hours. Any ideas?

posted by pintapicasso to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total)

Acadia National Park will be swarming with tourists. Go anyway. Go up to Quoddy Head State Park; you'll see lots of blueberry barrens, and continue up to the Roosevelt Campobello International Park. This technically requires a passport to come back to the US, but you may be able to do without (they let me back in).

One summer, we made a point of going to the tourist spots - Ogunquit, Boothbay, etc., and it was really fun. Another project is to go to all the little museums.

I've never been to Vinalhaven, Monhegan, Matinicus, etc., but islands have a particular feeling.
posted by theora55 at 1:28 PM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Camden/Rockport/Rockland is a nice area. Touristy this time of year, but pretty much everything on the coast is touristy this time of year. There's the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, and lots of gallery stuff and artisans. I don't know if you can get three days' worth out of it, but if you're already heading up the coast, it's a day.
posted by briank at 2:55 PM on July 22, 2017

We really liked the Quoddy Head/Lubec area. We camped, but you wouldn't have to. Bonus points for seeing the first sunlight to hit the U.S. each day.

Belfast and surrounding towns are also charming. Lots of natural beauty, some interesting/quirky things to do (observation tower at Ft Knox, Big Chicken Barn!)
posted by donnagirl at 3:54 PM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Monhegan is lovely.
posted by kestrel251 at 4:44 PM on July 22, 2017

This can be a challenging time of year to avoid tourists anywhere in Maine.

Have you considered Rangeley Lakes? The area is less than three hours from Portland. We rented a comfortable cabin there a while back, and found it a really neat area to explore, as it's also a state park.

There appear to be some rentals for the area on VRBO and AirBNB. It looks like there are a few pet friendly traditional lodging options, as well.
posted by SteveInMaine at 1:57 AM on July 23, 2017

Go up to Quoddy Head State Park

Coming here to say that. Great hiking/walking around there. Can scoot to Canada if you want ketchup chips. Campobello is fun.
posted by jessamyn at 3:24 PM on July 23, 2017

Lubec is a really great little coastal town. The Lubec Brewery allows dogs and there are several great hiking trails in the area. You could easily drive up in a day, spend a night or two, hike a trail or two, and drive back.

The Sunrise Bakery has the BEST muffins, and Wags & Wool is one half yarn and one half dog accessories. It's super tiny but I enjoy Lubec a lot compared to other northern Maine spots.
posted by zizzle at 5:06 PM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]