After cancelling our originally-planned vacation due to funding issues, we decided on a trip to coastal Maine via Amtrak. We had to leave at a godawful hour of the morning for that to avoid an overnight stay in Boston, and spent about 13 hours in transit. From there we saw Freeport, Portland and Kennebunk before heading back.
June 27: Amtrak to Freeport
We spent most of the day Saturday on the train. Not much to see en route, to be honest. We started at five-something in the morning on the Northeast Regional out of DC Union Station.
After that we got to North Station and got on the Downeaster to go to Freeport. We had dinner at the hotel and that was about it.
June 28: Freeport
We were left to our own devices for the day and there wasn't a lot to do if you're not interested in LL Bean's offerings. We hit the oyster fest that happened to be going on that weekend (and I bought a couple bottles of interesting hot sauce) then went for a bike ride to try to see the cove that resulted in the only photo from the day.
20260628_170941.jpg
The Soliders and Sailors Memorial in Freeport, which we saw on the way back from trying to bike to the cove. Which I did not find a good experience.
Yeah, Freeport ended up being a bit of a letdown. But the next day we drove the little way down the coast to Maine's largest city, Portland.
June 29: Portland Day One
The trip down to Portland was quick, we got there in time for lunch (lobster rolls of course) and then took a trolley tour.
20260629_130728.jpg
On the trolley tour of Portland. This cannon in Fort Allen Park, east of downtown, overlooks Cacso Bay.
20260629_130829.jpg
At the same spot, looking a little to the left, this is Fort Gorges out in the bay.
20260629_130907.jpg
The main mast of the USS Portland, which fought in World War II. And my finger.
20260629_131705.jpg
Back downtown, in front of City Hall.
20260629_132128.jpg
The Maine Lobsterman, in the appropriately-named Lobsterman Park, next to the Nickelodeon Cinema.
20260629_132512.jpg
Robert Indiana's sculpture "Seven" in front of the museum of art.
20260629_132919.jpg
The statue of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at the corner of Congress and State.
20260629_133310.jpg
The statue for Thomas Brackett Reed in the Western Promenade. Reed served as Speaker of the House in the late 19th Century.
20260629_135934.jpg
The Portland Head Light, Maine's oldest lighthouse, on Cape Elizabeth.
20260629_140055.jpg
And another lighthouse, zoomed in.
20260629_140141.jpg
The marker has eroded over the years, it says (said) "Annie C. Maguire shipwrecked here Christmas Eve 1886". It gets repainted from time to time. All 14 aboard survived.
20260629_140151.jpg
More of the visitors center/museum.
20260629_140206.jpg
The other side of the lighthouse.
20260629_141437.jpg
There's a cliffside trail off to the other side. I didn't have time to go exploring, but got this other picture of the lighthouse.
20260629_141520.jpg
Proof of attendance.
20260629_141622.jpg
Looking away from open water into the bay.
20260629_141631.jpg
Fort Gorges again in the distance, from the opposite side as before.
June 30: Portland Day Two
20260630_115224.jpg
The next morning we took a walking-and-eating tour of the wharf. This was a painting our guide did based on an old photo of the pier.
20260630_115328.jpg
And that same pier today.
20260630_133625.jpg
John Ford (real name John Martin Feeney), who directed some of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns.
20260630_135828.jpg
Inside the Victorian Mansion, looking up the main staircase.
20260630_140153.jpg
A table service set in a room off of the sitting room.
20260630_140156.jpg
Paintings on the wall of the sitting room. The muses, if I remember right.
20260630_140204.jpg
The first owner of the house, Ruggles Sylvester Morse, who had the place built.
20260630_140817.jpg
The dining room.
20260630_141223.jpg
This piece of furniture was custom-built inside the house.
20260630_141253.jpg
A painting on the wall of one of the other rooms. It was gifted to the mansion by King George VI in 1945.
20260630_141521.jpg
The house's library. The shelves are original but the books are not. They are period-correct however.
20260630_141950.jpg
Upstairs, the master bathroom with separate spaces for the tub and toilet.
20260630_141957.jpg
And a sink.
20260630_142019.jpg
A dressing room, I think.
20260630_142024.jpg
And the bedroom itself, or at least the paintings on the wall.
20260630_142655.jpg
The smoking room, above the entryway.
20260630_142733.jpg
The ladies' sitting room, since it was rude to have the men hanging out smoking around the women.
And the tour moves on again, the next day we went down the coast to our last destination.
July 1: Coastal Tour and Kennebunk
20260701_110201.jpg
We left Portland and headed down toward York before looping back to Kennebunk. On the way we stopped at Sohier Park to see the Nubble Lighthouse.
20260701_110211.jpg
It's on an island, you can't get to the lighthouse from shore.
20260701_110833.jpg
Looking toward York Beach, one of the few actual sandy beaches in Maine.
20260701_130218.jpg
Continuing on we stopped in Ogunquit for lunch at Perkins Cove. These are birdhouses on the wall of the harbor master's(?) house.
20260701_130419.jpg
The pedestrian drawbridge over the channel from the mainland.
20260701_135237.jpg
At Kennebunk we stopped at Gooch's Beach. I took my shoes off and waded in a couple feet so I could say I'd been to the Atlantic again.
20260701_154912.jpg
Walking over the Kennebunk River, between Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. The big boat is the Spirit of Massachusetts, attached to one of the restaurants.
20260701_182525.jpg
I went for a walk after dinner and got a picture of the South Congregational Church.
20260701_182834.jpg
Then I looped around a bit and got a picture of the Village Baptist Church near the end of Spring Street (the street the bridge from before is on).
20260701_182947.jpg
The Kennebunkport Historical Society. They have an exhibit about former president GHW Bush, whose family still lives in a compound a little ways away. I didn't get a chance to go in, it seems to be closed more than it's open.
20260701_183857.jpg
On the way back to the hotel I stopped by where Shipyard Brewery makes its beer.
20260701_183907.jpg
They have a small display visible from the outside showing the process.
20260701_183913.jpg
Step 2.
20260701_183931.jpg
Step 3.
20260701_183953.jpg
Step 4.
20260701_184003.jpg
Step 5. The next step, where the beer is consumed, is left as an exercise for the reader.
July 2: Kennebunk Day Two
20260702_114957.jpg
The trolley tour of the Kennebunks didn't give us any chances to get out and take pictures, and being on small streets they couldn't pull off too often. This is a house built by sea captains, it's now a hotel.
20260702_115913.jpg
This is on the grounds of the Franciscan monastery and is a monument to the Lithuanian church.
20260702_131419.jpg
After the trolley tour ended, we went and sat in the park near the South Congregational Church. This is looking at the river, you can see the bridge and the Spirit of Massachusetts to the left.
The next day (and night, and the morning after) were back on the train so no pictures. Which makes this the end.
And that was Maine. The tour package wasn't bad, but it left a bit too much free time with little to no guidance. I feel like it could have easily been more, but it is what it is. Hopefully next year we're able to do something a bit more interesting. Or at least more photographable.
