Blogs

Kennebunport is the summer home of former president George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbabar Bush, as the Bush their children, including former president, George W. Bush.

The Bush compound (originally Point Vesuvius, then Walker’s Point), is the summer home of 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush. Located adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean in southern Maine, near the town of Kennebunkport, the property has been a family retreat for more than a century.

Bush Compound, Kennebunkport

The estate was purchased in the late 19th century by St. Louis banker George H. Walker, with a mansion being built in 1903. Later, the estate passed on to his daughter Dorothy Walker Bush and her husband Prescott Bush. The estate has since remained in the Bush family.

President George H. W. Bush spent much of his childhood at the Kennebunkport estate. He inherited the property after the death of his parents. As an adult, Bush, his wife Barbara, and their children George W., Jeb, Marvin, Neil, Dorothy, and Robin spent most summers at the estate. The estate has been a backdrop of family weddings, holidays, and receptions. While at the “Summer White House,” Bush hosted world leaders including Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev for informal and private meetings. As a young man, Bush relocated to Houston, Texas, and today the Bushes maintain a working residence in Tanglewood, where they spend most of their time.

Bush’s son, Former President George W. Bush, visits with family in Kennebunkport several times a year.

St. Anne’s Episcopol Church, Kennebunkport

St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, an historic seaside Chapel that offers the opportunity for summer worship, fellowship, and outreach on the coast of southern Maine.  Located in Kennebunkport, the picturesque chapel was built in 1887 to serve the communities of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Cape Porpoise.  People of all faiths join residents and visitors to the region for Sunday worship, special services and quiet meditation in the park setting overlooking the Kennebunk River and the Atlantic Ocean.  Through their generosity, those who worship at St. Ann’s provide assistance to those in need within our community as well as the Diocese of Maine.  Additionally, the stone chapel, lush gardens and outdoor chapel are open to the public from sunrise to sunset throughout the summer and early autumn months.  St. Ann’s is open from mid-June through September during which time we invite you to join us for worship or simply to reflect on the beauty around us whenever you visit the area.

Welcome to Kennebunkport

Kennebunkport Maine is an idyllic seaside resort town just 1.5 hours north of Boston. Kennebunkport and Kennebunk Beach offer a complete coastal vacation resort getaway with a wide variety of accommodations, rentals, restaurants, shops and activities. This web site is a directory and guide to the Kennebunks and features five of Kennebunkport’s and Kennebunk Beach’s finest lodging accommodations, resorts, inns and oceanfront rentals.

There’s far more to do in the Kennebunks than one could possibly enjoy in one visit during the summer. Once in the Kennebunks, you’ll discover why visitors return year round.

The Kennebunks offer dining from lobster bakes and clam shacks to five-star restaurants. You will discover shopping, summer theater, antiques and art galleries. Take to the sea for whale watch tours, lobster boat tours, schooner trips, canoeing, kayaking or explore the coast by land aboard a scenic trolley tour. Both Kennebunk and Kennebunkport have historic districts steeped in local lore, architecture and offer tours of the homes of sea captains and shipbuilders. Shoppers in search of unique gifts and treasures will find them in the shops and galleries of Dock Square and downtown Kennebunk.

Kennebunkport visitors can tour the area on bike, foot, by car or by trolley. Or explore the seas aboard a lobster boat, on a whale watch, a charter boat, a kayak or a canoe. You will not want to miss Cape Porpoise and the view of Goat Island Lighthouse.

Portland Head Lighthouse,  Port Elizabeth

Maine’s oldest lighthouse. Commissioned by George Washington in 1791. Adjacent to Fort Williams Park. Large grounds with picnic facilities and museum on the premises. 1000 Shore Rd. (off Rt. 77) Cape Elizabeth. 799-2661. Directions – Option One: Follow directions to Cape Elizabeth Light continuing beyond Two Lights Road on route 77 to Shore Road/Portland Headlight. Option Two: Take I-95N to I-295N to Port/Waterfront Exit and stay to left. Take Danforth Street thru 3-4 traffic lights. Take right on State Street and cross over Casco Bay bridge onto Broadway Street. Take right at second traffic light (Cottage Road) to Shore Road. Headlight is on left. On a clear day, you can see six area lights.

Portland Head Lighthouse  is Maine’s oldest Lighthouse and has an adjacent museum.

Portland Head lighthouse , Port Elizabeth

L.L.Bean Super Store,  Freeport

Is it possible to travel to Freeport, Maine and not make a stop at the LL Bean Store, or visit the LL Bean Outlet Store. Right in the middle of town. It is difficult to visit Freeport and not stop in the L.L. Bean flagship store and outlet store. You know that you cannot leave Freeport

Red’s Eats,  Wiscasset

Is there a better place worth waiting in line for? Many people believe that Red’s Eats  is the best lobster roll anywhere: Heaps of meat from at least one whole one-pound lobster is extracted in great hunks and piled into a toasted split-top bun that is accompanied by a cup of drawn butter or, if you wish, mayonnaise to garnish it. It is lobster-eater’s nirvana.

Boats – Boothbay Harbor

For over a century the Boothbay Harbor region has been a favorite destination of travelers longing to relax and enjoy the “rock bound coast of Maine” from land and sea. With its “snug as a booth” harbor, long peninsula, and numerous islands, the region is renowned for its natural beauty and boating pleasures. A bustling place, Boothbay Harbor retains all the charm and rich heritage of a maritime New England village – white clapboard homes, numerous specialty shops, galleries, boat yards and marinas dot the Harbor’s rocky shoreline.

Charming  Boothbay Harbor

Boothbay Harbor boasts the largest fleet of excursion boats on the coast for viewing lighthouses, seals, islands, whales, puffins, and the spectacular foliage in fall. Deep-sea fishing cruises for cod, mackerel, tuna, haddock, and striped bass leave daily for full and half-day trips. Boothbay Harbor’s fine marinas and fishing facilities are well known to yachtsmen cruising the Maine coast. Seafood is the dining specialty – clams, scallops, shrimp and the king of them all LOBSTER.

Lobster Sign, Jonesborough

Camden typifies Maine’s coast

A quintessential coastal Maine town at the foot of wooded Camden Hills, the affluent village of Camden sits on a picturesque harbor that no Hollywood movie set could improve on. It has been attracting the gentry of the Eastern Seaboard for more than a century. The mansions of the moneyed set still dominate the town’s…

Coastal Maine , is a Boaters Paradise

Sunrise, Mount Cadillac, Acadia National Park

At 1,532 feet, Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and is the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6. It is one of over 20 mountains on Mount Desert Island, Maine, that were pushed up by earth’s tectonic and volcanic forces millions of years ago. Were it not for the once huge glaciers that sheared off their tops, they would be even higher than what we see today.  I thought that my hands were frozen. It was cold. Bring gloves.

First Sunrise in America, Mount Cadillac, Acadia National Park

Cadillac Mountain is largely composed of pink granite with forests of spruce and pitch pine. Views of Acadia National Park from the top of the mountain are spectacular. And, when combined with tiny subalpine plants (such as cinquefoil), squat, gnarled trees, wild blueberries, and various sized boulders, it is unsurpassed. Bar Harbor, Maine, the most well known town on Mount Desert Island, is to the northeast. The Cranberry Islands are to the southwest. During certain times of the year, visitors to the summit are the first to see the rising sun in the United States.

Acadia National Park is also a hikers paradise and full of  lakes and waterways

Thunder Hole, Rugged , Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park – Thunder Hole

Acadia National Park on the rocks

Acadia – Fjords and Boats

Local Favorite , Geddi’s in Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor is the gateway to Acadia National Park

Bar Harbor, Maine – One of the Best Places to Visit in Maine & New England

The magic of Bar Harbor… romance, adventure, the rock-bound coast and soaring granite cliffs…

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Is located at the  southern tip of Mount Desert Island, east side of southern entrance to Blue Hill Bay. Nearest town: Bass Harbor. Light all lighthouses in Maine, the grounds are open to the public.

Inside Bear Island Lighthouse

Once a year, Maine opens it’s Lighthouses to the public for entrance. As good fortune would have Sept. 17, 2011, my day in Acadia turned out to be the once a year day and there we were inside Bear Island Lighthouse. A once in a lifetime experience.

Moody’s Diner, Waldoboro

The blueberry muffins have garnered a gold medal from the Culinary Hall of Fame, Gourmet magazine has requested the recipe for the world-famous walnut pie, and Saveur magazine named the whoopie pie one of the 100 top food finds of the year in 1999. For 80 years, Moody’s Diner has been a national icon, serving great food to more than a million satisfied customers.

Those who have been to Moody’s Diner know that Moody’s is not a ‘quaint-on-purpose’ tourist attraction. It is a diner on US Route 1 in Waldoboro, Maine, plain and simple. It has survived, prospered and grown these 80 years because of good food, reasonable prices and quick, pleasant service. There are people who eat at Moody’s every day, and those who come in every time they travel to Maine. All are made welcome. Locals aren’t expected to go elsewhere during tourist season and tourists aren’t gouged for their vacation cash – it’s never going to be that kind of place.

Nubble Lighthouse, York

Nubble Lighthouse
York, Maine. The Nubble Lighthouse is located on a peninsula between Short and Long Sands Beachs in York Maine. This beautiful landmark is an active light and is located on a small rocky island at the end of the point. This is one of the most scenic and photographed lighthouses in the world. The Nubble is about a half hour south of Kennebunkport.

Tour Buses flock to Nubbel Lighthouse and makes for a wonderful day trip from Kennebunkport

http://trip.worldtravellist.com/after-traveling-to-over-80-countries-nick-finds-his-maine-squeeze/

A week is not a long time to visit any destination. However, in today’s fast paced world many times we find ourselves traveling on shorter sojourns. One can spend a month in Maine, or a week. Short sojourns also can be rewarding. The fact that one  cannot see everything actually make a trip easier. Yes, it is possible to travel for 4 – 7 days and to come back with a lifetime of memories.

A “taste of Maine” is indeed very sweet.

About Nick: At any early age Nick Kontis took a back pack and went around the world. Upon his return he founded the first travel agency specializing is discount around the world airfares.  Having sent over 10,000 travelers around the world, Mr. Kontis also continues to travel the world.