boothbay harbor

With the prospect of full-time employment looming on the horizon, I've been trying my best to get in as many wanderings as I can. Yesterday mom and I took a drive up to Boothbay Harbor and spent the day exploring the seaside town.

One of my best friends got married here a couple of years ago, so our first stop was to Newagen Inn. I strolled around reminiscing for a few minutes before heading into town to scope things out.

Boothbay is a pretty little town, mixing quaint with touristy. It's quite popular in the summer, though the day we went wasn't too unbearably crowded. There are plenty of places to park and about a million seafood joints to choose from. After popping in and out of the shops downtown we decided we'd take a tour of the harbor with the very cheesy sounding Cap'n Fish's Boat Trips. Our trip (a "Seal Watch Cruise") was $19.00 - a little pricey for an hour long tour, I think, but probably on par with these kind of things. The views were really, really gorgeous and we did indeed see a ton of harbor seals, and spending any time on the water is top notch in my book.

For dinner we tried The Lobster Dock, which is well known locally for having been on that Bobby Flay Throwdown thing. Between us we chowed down on crab cakes (which were featured on the throw down), corn on the cob, onion rings, clam chowder, scallops, and a wedge salad. Too much food for two people, probably, but everything was simple and delicious.

While we were there, the clouds went from nonexistent to fluffy white to dark and ominous and back again. Be prepared.

Boothbay Harbor is an easy trip from Portland, being a little over an hour. It's a little more accessible than Bar Harbor or Camden, though both of those towns are 100% worth the longer trip. Be aware, if you go in the off season almost nothing is open. We went back in March and found one lone restaurant that was serving. I personally kind of enjoy the desolate feeling to the overrun one, but either way, the ocean is there and it's beautiful.