We ended the summer with 4 days in Maine to recharge and unplug. Since, COVID, I hadn’t taken a real vacation and I was desperately in need of rest and a change of scenery. We chose Portland, Maine because we could drive instead of flying to be safer and it was easy to explore local places from there.

Stay 

We stayed at the Autograph Press Hotel which was nestled right in the heart of Portland allowing us to walk to restaurants and shops. 

Explore

We arrived later in the day so we checked in, walked around town, and headed to dinner.

Day 2, we started the day with an unsuccessful hike in Bradbury Mountain State Park because we forgot bug spray. We didn’t end up finishing the trail.

We made up for it later in the day with we headed to Cape Elizabeth to check out the famous Portland Headlight, the most photographed lighthouse in the world. It was beautiful and totally worth the trip. I dipped my feet in the water to cool down and it was very rejuvenating. 

Day 3, we spent the entire day at Crescent Beach, which was lovely. It was a 17-minute drive from Portland. The beach is part of a national park so there is a fee to get in. The water was a bit too cold (for me) to swim but it was still one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Day 4, we checked out and drove to Kennebunkport for breakfast so we could explore another town before we left. It was more of a touristy beach town but very pretty. Good for picking up souvenirs! 

Eat

We had many great meals in Maine but here are a few noteworthy places to check out. They were all very accommodating to my food restrictions.

The first night we ate at Union Restaurant in the Autograph Hotel.

We had delicious Greek food at Emilitsa. 

I would also recommend Fore Street Restaurant for dinner. The food was amazing. 

We stumbled across The Good Table on our way to the beach and ended up stopping there for lunch. It was too adorable not to stop in with their outdoor garden and wrap around the porch. They made me a lobster salad instead of a roll so I could get my fill in. The lobster was delicious.

Many of the Portland restaurants weren’t taking reservations but we had many lovely meals sitting at the bar or making early bird reservations to get in. 

Overall, our 4 days in Maine were lovely and relaxing. Next time, I will bring bug spray so I can explore their hiking trails a bit more.