Our first trip to Maine. Leslie said we were in for a treat and she was right! Beautiful morning coffee view watching the lobsterman check their traps and beautiful sunset view while eating fresh seafood on the back deck. Perfect set up for my wife and I and our 16 yr old son. He had the downstairs pullout sofa and we had the upstairs in a REALLY comfortable bed with a nice flow of ocean breeze each night to make for perfect sleeping conditions. And we had our own rental dog for the week - love Pilot!

Plenty of things to do to fill a week. We were pretty active, but always returned to the cottage for dinner preferring the peace and serenity of nature over the tourists of Camden. If you are looking for an active itinerary, here was ours (comments like this from others were very helpful to our vacation planning efforts):

Saturday - arrive early evening and dinner at McCloons - a place you will visit more than once!

Sunday - Camden State Park hiking 7 miles, lunch on the deck at Camden Deli (very good), then a stop by a lobster wholesaler for a few bugs to be steamed at the cottage.

Monday - Ferry Ride to Monhegan Island, another 7 miles of hiking and great views, and a stop at Millers Lobster company to pick up more big red bugs for dinner.

Tuesday - Leisurely drive to Boothbay to grab some fresh oysters at Scullys - the price list is on the cooler - take what you want and leave the money in the box (honor system) - grab an oyster knife, some cocktail sauce, and seat yourself at one of the picnic tables in her yard and enjoy. Had lunch a little later and then stopped by Beth's Market in Warren on the way home - a real treat! Leslie and Gordon hooked us up this day with 20 lobsters put in a trap off their dock for our weekly consumption. We cooked 8 that night. (L&G are the best!)

Wednesday - Daytrip to Acadia State Park. Another 6 miles of hiking/views. 2 hrs each way and really crowded this time of year. Plan to arrive by 10:00 a.m. if you want a parking spot. The park has a really good free bus system to take you from stop to stop (47,000 acres).

Thursday - Rain. So a good day for the 1.5 hr drive to Freeport to visit the LL Bean village. By the time we returned, the rain had yielded to a beautiful, cool evening. We ate the last 12 lobsters and gathered around the fire pit.

Friday - lunch at Long Grain in Camden (excellent) and a visit to Breakwater lighthouse, then ice cream at Dorman's.

BOOK IT!!! The best!