1. Excursions Coastal Maine Outfitting Company
City: Cape Neddick, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 363-0181
Address: Route 1
Description: “Wanna get paddled?” That’s the slogan of Coastal Maine Outfitting Company in York, and to that end it offers half-day paddles along area gunkholes, leaving at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and launching wherever conditions are best. These trips are $60 for adults and $50 for kids 13 and under.
2. Cape Neddick Harborside Restaurant
City: Cape Neddick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 363-5471
Address: Shore Rd.
Description: Like the best of the state’s lobster pounds, Cape Neddick has a deck where you can sit and watch the action in the harbor as you tear apart your crustacean. The dining area inside is open and bright from big windows that shine over the simple wooden tables, and there’s a bar where the locals like to gather. Fare is a tad broader than you might expect from a pound, with the lobsters, of course, but also with small-plate items like smoked Maine shrimp ravioli, scallops wrapped in apple-smoked bacon, and fried calamari. Seafood is obviously the draw, but there are grilled options, too, in the form of steak and chicken. You can’t beat the view.
3. Clay Hill Farm
City: Cape Neddick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 361-2272
Address: 220 Clay Hill Rd.
Description: Leave time for wandering the grounds when you visit Clay Hill Farm. The restaurant sits on 30 acres, and it is the only restaurant in the country (so it says) to be certified by the National Wildlife Association as wildlife habitat. Chef Melissa Ettinger calls her cuisine “New American” or “American Fusion,” both of which seem about right. Entrees might include roast half duckling, chicken piccata, grilled lamb chops, and Haddock Maison, which comes topped with a lobster soufflé. The restaurant has received the Distinguished Restaurants of America Award of Excellence nine times and is always winning local most-romantic polls, so you want to bring your appetite and maybe your sweetie. Open year-round.
4. Frankie And Johnny’S Natural Foods
City: Cape Neddick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 363-1909
Address: 1594 Route 1
Description: An unassuming place on Route 1, this dinner spot quickly gets creative when you step inside. The menu is known for its Whole-food fare, and everything is made from scratch with fresh ingredients, from the signature crustolis—which are French bread rounds topped with goodies like a pizza—to the smoked lobster salads to the blackened pork Demonico. You can get as wacky as you like here, in terms of the cuisine, or keep it fairly traditional (baked chicken), and you’ll always go home happy. There’s a bit of a Mediterranean flavor to Frankie and Johnny’s, and the candlelight is a nice touch. Oh, and bring cash—plastic is not “natural,” and they don’t accept it here.
5. Knight’S Quilt Shop
City: Cape Neddick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 361-2500
Address: 1901 Route 1
Description: Quilters in southern Maine make frequent pilgrimages to Michelle Knight’s Route 1 Cape in search of all their stitchery necessities. With more than 4,000 bolts, she has the area’s largest inventory of quilt fabrics, from the simple to the designer. And of course she carries all the supplies that one would need to do the job, including batting, stencils, pattern books, thread, and other notions. The service can’t be beat.