Maine Stay Inn & Cottages

Recently renovated family cottage suite #10

Monday afternoon, a gorgeous spring day, I hear the horse and carriage going by our front door, I hear the driver talking about our historic home.  The passengers are not wrapped in blankets.  I guess spring is here.  The phone rings and I book a reservation for this upcoming weekend for one of our newly renovated family friendly cottages, yes another sign of spring.  Guests are going to the Sea Dogs this week, it must be so.  Spring has sprung.  Cottage 6 our two bedroom unit is booked all week.  Saturday, we are planning to set up the front porch with the outdoor furniture. Mabel’s Lobster Claw has opened.  Perhaps it won’t be too long before we can serve breakfast on the porch.  It must be so…we survived our first winter in Kennebunkport and in a few days we will celebrate our first anniversary of owning the Maine Stay Inn. The reservations are coming in for summer and we are beginning to welcome back repeat guests.  We look forward to seeing old friends and new and enjoying the gorgeous Maine spring and summer.

2009 is off to a great start!  The Maine Stay Inn rang in the New Year with fantastic guests, now great friends.  We celebrated New Year’s Eve with assorted appetizers, including blue cheese, honey, and spiced pecan stuffed endive, crab claw salad, homemade pureed mushroom spread on baguette rounds, and a variety of cheeses and crackers, all enjoyed as  guests, staff, and the innkeepers’ family mingled together for hours around the living room fire.  The Melville Walker house glowed with its Christmas decorations and multitude of white poinsettias.  By the end of the evening everyone had made new and lasting friendships.  Several of our guests even delayed their dinner reservations because we were having so much fun together!  A father-son duo from Marietta, Georgia, joined us, venturing  north to savor the New England snowy, cold winter weather, which Mother Nature delivered in spectacular fashion.  Their delight and enthusiasm was clearly palpable and absolutely infectious - a real treat for all!  One young couple, Sean and Andrea, treated us to a peak at their outrageous New Year’s Eve attire, complete with miniature disco balls, silver nail polish, and oodles of sparkles.  They went all out for On the Marsh’s “Denim and Glitz” party.  All decked out in with glitz from head to toe, they were quite a sight, especially when Sean had to carry Andrea to the car because her sparkling stilettos were not made for winter walking.  Because we knew she would be a hit of the party, we were not surprised to learn she won their prize as the sexiest diner!

Although we were in bed before the ball dropped, our guests celebrated the night away, so we served brunch instead of breakfast, allowing them to get their beauty rest.  Together, we all gorged on roast turkey, cheese rabbit (a.k.a, Welsh rarebit), iced cinnamon rolls, and a composed salad featuring parmesan cheese, pink grapefruit, endive, boston lettuce, and fresh fennel. 

Although we were sad to see the celebration end, we are looking forward to our first full year as the owners of the Maine Stay Inn, where we now know the saying is spot on, “we have the nicest guests!”

So Labor Day has come and gone, and you never got to take that much needed (and deserved!) summer vacation.  Don’t fret!  Here in Kennebunkport, Maine, it’s not summer…. it’s better!  Now that the kids are back in school, the beaches are desolate (well, not quite, but close) and the streets are quiet.  Even a few ice cream parlors have closed up for the season, but the water is at its warmest and the air lacks the humidity that seems to plague New England in July and August.  Granted, we have had a bit of wet weather - thanks, Hurricane Hanna.  Except for her saturating visit, we haven’t had the afternoon downpours that doused the area during the peak of summer, and, despite cool early mornings and evenings, the days are truly spectacular.  The common conception of summer is June, July, and August, but here in Kennebunkport, September is our favorite (often overlooked) summer month!  Come experience this “hidden gem” in Kennebunkport with The Maine Stay Inn, where, “we have the nicest guests!”