1. Grey Havens
City: Georgetown, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 371-2616 or (800) 431-23
Address: Seguinland Rd.
Description: This is the place you picture in your mind’s eye when you think of a Maine vacation. A shingle-style castle with turrets on either end, it was built in 1904 by the man who gave the people of Maine the land for Reid State Park, which is just up the road. The vistas from its wraparound porch are overwhelming, staring out across Sheepscot Bay. The owners of the place have left the old inn as untouched as possible, while making it comfortable for the guests of today, and it is a rustic beauty, from the rockers on the porch to the fieldstone fireplace to the simple, whitewashed wood-paneled rooms. All of the 18 rooms have a private bath (which wasn’t the case when this place opened with 26 rooms and two baths). Four of them are in turrets with 180-degree views that are just stunning, and the lobby and sitting area downstairs hark back to simpler times. Not where you want to come if you like your vacations to be all TVs and bustle, Grey Havens is an escape from all of the annoyances of modern life, a restful spot to relax and refresh. Read a book in an Adirondack chair on the lawn, play a board game, paddle the canoe out to a nature preserve for a walk, or head on down to the beach. The inn is open from May through October. No children under age 12.
2. Reid State Park
City: Georgetown, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 371-2303
Address: 375 Seguinland Rd.
Description: All of Maine’s beaches front some famously frigid water, but Reid State Park has a reputation for being the coldest. The inviting, bodysurfable breakers here offer bathers swimming that often results in an all-over ice-cream headache sort of feeling. Mainers, of course, call this invigorating. People from away consider it just shy of arctic and spend most of their time at this mile-and-a-half beach just testing the water with their toes, as if they can’t believe it. The saving grace of the place for these people, and for kids, is the lagoon, a strip of sand that is protected from the freezing water by a sandbar and fronts a small pool that is noticeably warmer. Along with Popham, about 4 miles away by boat, Reid serves up the big one-two punch of Midcoast beaches—there are a few sandy strands east of here, but they’re much, much smaller. Consequently the pair are extraordinarily popular. The bathhouses are crawling with people, and you usually have to wait for a while at the snack bar. Bring your own hot dogs and burgers for the grills in the picnic area if you don’t want to wait. You’d better arrive early if you want a parking spot. Open year-round. A small fee is charged.
3. Five Islands Lobster Co.
City: Georgetown, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 371-2990
Address: 1447 Five Islands Rd.
Description: Food with a view is what you’ll find at this Midcoast staple. A long wharf extends out into the island-studded drink south of Bath, and there are tables atop it at which to enjoy a traditional lobster dinner. Local fishermen help run the place—they’re usually hard at work on the other side of the wharf—so you know the bugs have just arrived, but there are plenty of other options, too. You’ll find excellent fried clams, made from a secret family recipe, as well as mussels, shrimp—you name it, as far as seafood goes—and locally famous onion rings.
4. Robinhood Free Meetinghouse
City: Georgetown, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 371-2188
Address: Robinhood Rd.
Description: Chef Michael Gagne made quite a name for himself at the old Osprey Restaurant on the Georgetown peninsula in the early 1990s, and when he opened this beautiful eatery in the spring of 1996, a lot of people followed him. He’s built a larger clientele since, making the Robinhood Free Meetinghouse into one of the state’s finest dining rooms. That’s no small feat, as this is a tiny village far from the usual corridors of tourist traffic. Gagne’s menu is a diverse and worldy affair, with as many as 40 different dishes on any given evening. You might try the Szechuan rib eye, the grilled duck breast with shiitake soy broth, or the haddock Oscar with Maine crabmeat. And he manages to pull it off admirably. The setting is as pretty as they come, too. Built in 1855, the restaurant’s home is one of the state’s distinctive old meetinghouses, a post-and-beam structure that’s all white clapboards on the outside, 16-foot ceilings and 10-foot windows on the inside. As fine as dining comes in Maine and well worth the drive. Reservations are a good idea.