Vacation Highlight Reel: Maine

A week in and around Boothbay Harbor

Earlier this summer we squeezed in a family vacation to Maine. I say “squeezed in” because I find that the older our daughters get, the harder it’s gotten to carve out a solid week with them. They have jobs, travel commitments with friends, and, you know, their own lives (the nerve, right?) so gone are the days of organizing The Big Family Trip, the kind that require plane tickets and passports, painstaking itinerary plotting at the dining room table, multiple laptops open to Google Maps and Resy. Instead this year, back in late April, sick of not having a plan, I picked the best week possible in terms of everyone’s availability, knowing they’d each only make part of it, opened up my Airbnb app, clicked on the “amazing view” filter for Maine and booked a waterside cottage in Boothbay Harbor. In spite of the impulsiveness, it couldn't have been better: For starters, the trip didn’t require airfare (Boothbay is a 5-hour drive from New York), there was plenty of availability because we booked a stay in early June (i.e. not high season yet). And lastly, because we’ve explored Acadia and Portland, but had always wanted to see Midcoast Maine with its rocky headlands, charming movie-set seaside towns, and its shoreline of inlets and coves and marinas dotted with sailboats and marina life. My whole life I’ve loved the New England summer vibe, especially since it usually comes with dinners sitting at picnic benches outside of weather-worn seafood shacks. Here’s a rundown of where we stayed, what we did, and what we ate.

Where We Stayed