Have you read Part I? Click here to read how the trip started.
Camden is a great place to call home if you’re looking to explore MidCoast Maine. Outside of Camden itself, we spent our days in and around Damariscotta, Rockland, and even stretched beyond the MidCoast and drove up to Bar Harbor and Acadia for the day. Now, there is so much more to explore in this area than what we did. We didn’t go near any of the islands, and this itinerary certainly isn’t one for the hikers & adventurers. But we did cover a lot of ground. Let’s start with what was such pleasant surprise to us:
Round Pond and Damariscotta
As I mentioned in Part I, I often use images I see on Instagram as inspiration for our travel itineraries. Emily Nathan, founder/editor of Tiny Atlas Quarterly, posted this house on her personal feed, and I knew I had to go to Round Pond to see more.
Now, that being said, there isn’t a lot more to Round Pond. But what is there is worth the drive. (And my daughter got car sick on the way into town, and I STILL think it was worth it. How’s that for high praise?) You don’t need a lot of time to explore the town, because you can practically stand in the middle of the main road, turn around 360 degrees, and see most of the sights.
This tiny house immediately caught our eye. Maine Homes has a nice article about it and the owners, which is worth a read. 300 square feet of pure old house goodness right here.
After admiring the house and debating what it looked like inside, we popped into the town general store, and you should, too, because it’s as cute as a small town general store should be. There’s an ice cream shop attached, which we passed on (see aforementioned car incident), but it looked like the perfect place for a treat on a summer’s day.
What we didn’t pass on was The Art of Antiquing. This shop was everything I want in an antique shop, namely layers upon layers of items that each seem to have their own story to tell. We needed a U-Haul to take home the wishlist I left with after we visited. I would plan a trip back to Round Pond with said U-Haul solely for this shop.
After a chat with a local resident and a drink from the coffee shop, we got back in the car and drove to Damariscotta. The rain kept us from properly exploring the town, but we did enjoy these two gorgeous shops - The Kingfisher and the Queen and Wildings - which made ducking in out of the drizzle so enjoyable.
Back in Camden, we wandered around downtown, soaking in the views of the harbor and the cute shops - including the great Sugar Tools. Our sunset cruise got cancelled on account of some not-very-summery weather, but the moodiness suited us just fine.
Rockland and Owl’s Head
Speaking of moodiness, we started the next day with a walk at Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse under a thick veil of fog, which, now that I’ve experienced it, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It was really lovely to try to spot the lone lobster boat out on the water and to have the lighthouse emerge from the mist at the end of the nearly mile-long breakwater path.
The excursion put us in the mood for more lighthouses, so we ventured further out to Owl’s Head, and once again, the moody weather made for a great visit to what might otherwise be “just another lighthouse”. (They are all pretty special in my view.)
My favorite scene from the drive to Owl’s Head was the one at the corner of Lobster Lane (shot on film). Does it get more coastal Maine than this?!
Now, there is a thriving food scene in this area that we sadly did not get to experience. Again, as I mentioned in the previous post, COVID precautions had restaurants either closed for onsite dining or with very limited capacity. As a result, we missed out on gems like Primo in Rockland. And we didn’t get the full Long Grain experience that everyone raves about in Camden. (Our takeout experience didn’t do the restaurant justice.) But it’s good to have a reason to need to return, right? I’m guessing a dining experience at Primo and dinner-done-right at Long Grain would be well worth the trip back. (Lots of parentheses in this post and lots of reasons for me to plan another trip to Maine, right?!)
A New Hotel
As I shared previously, we split our time in Camden between two hotels, and The Norumbega Inn was a special way to finish our trip.
Known to some as “The Castle,” the Inn was built in 1886 by Joseph Stearns of duplex telegraph fame. (Don’t worry, I had never heard of him either.) He sold his invention to Western Union and, after visiting the castles of Europe, decided to come back to Maine to build a castle of his own.
Proprietors Susan Wasler and Phillip Crispo bought the Inn in 2013, and their hospitality is really the star of the show here. Sue runs the front of the house with a friendly and easy manner, and Phil, a former instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, turns out an incredible three course breakfast every morning for guests.
We stayed in the picture-perfect Library Suite, which, as my sister commented, was perfect for our crew. The original library of the house, the room has a lofted balcony with shelves packed with books, and there is an adjoining sitting room where my daughter slept. It was novel and charming and something our family will talk about for years.
Bar Harbor, briefly
This may be an unpopular opinion, but we were not fans of Bar Harbor, and I won’t spend a lot of time on it here. In short, we found it lacking what we had come to Maine for: charm.
We did manage to dip our toes into Acadia National Park, and by that I mean that my daughter took a polar bear plunge into the freezing north Atlantic ocean. The park is beautiful. I imagine for the more outdoorsy travelers, it is a wonderful experience. A family we met in Camden said they spent a wonderful week glamping in Acadia, which maybe I could be convinced to do one year. Maybe.
Acadia National Park, shot on film.
Mount Battie
We spent our final night in Camden atop Mount Battie, which offers wonderful views of the surrounding area. I highly recommend that you go at sunset, take in the surroundings that so inspired Edna St. Vincent Millay, and start making your plans for your return trip to Maine. That’s exactly what I did.
View of Camden Harbor from Mount Battie, shot on film.
Sunset on Mount Battie, shot on film.