Maine Stay Inn & Cottages

AOL Travel has just discovered something that we have known all along – Kennebunkport is one of America’s best beach towns!  Though they mention our incredible beaches and great shopping, their short blurb just can’t capture all that makes Kennebunkport the perfect place for your summer vacation. Yes, the beaches here are breathtaking.  Parson’s Beach is one of the most spectacular stretches of sands I have ever seen.  Gooch’s beach lingers for nearly a mile with soft, white sands, while Middle Beach is is filled with stones polished smooth by the sea.  Mother’s Beach is nestled between two rocky protrusions, creating a protected storybook-like cove – plus there’s a playground nearby for tykes. Colony beach sits less than a mile from your favorite Kennebunkport bed and breakfast and offers glimpses of the Maine Beaches and craggy rocks characteristic of the northern Maine coastline.  And secluded Goose Rocks Beach offers tranquility – and the chance to collect sand dollars and see seals!  Dock Square is home to excellent shops of all varieties, while the outlet capitols of Kittery and Freeport are just a short drive away.  And let’s not forget about antiquing!

But what they don’t mention is what makes Kennebunkport special – and the perfect summer vacation destination.  First on the “missed” list is its proximity to metropolitan areas like Boston and Portland, ME.  Forget the miserable congestion at the bridges to Cape Cod and instead fly up 95 straight to Southern Maine.  And, for our car-less or environmentally conscious visitors, the Amtrak makes a trip to Maine a breeze!  Then they forgot to mention the incredible dining options.  What’s a vacation without great eats?

Kennebunkport just wouldn’t be the same without its unique focus on the arts, and as a result is home to many craft fairs, art exhibits, and phenomenal galleries.  The area’s historic homes are works of art in themselves, so a walking tour or pedestrian adventure is a definite must.  In fact, the walkability of town from your Kennebunkport Maine Inn, the Maine Stay, is one of the things that makes vacationing here a real treat.

But best of all, and hardest to articulate, is that time in Kennebunkport seems slow down, as though you stepped back in time a hundred years.  Contentment and relaxation come naturally here, aided by the soundtrack of children playing happily, surf crashing against sand and rock, and horses clip-clopping down the street.  Do you hear it?  That is Kennebunkport.