This State Is One Giant Summer Camp for Kids and Adults — Here's How to Plan the Perfect Family Trip

I first met Maine in the L.L. Bean catalogue that was delivered to my Laguna Beach childhood home. I had never seen a rubber-bottomed boot, a Victorian home, a technicolor lobster buoy, nor a proper winter jacket — and the pages of plaids in woods and fleeces on pebbled beaches birthed a yearning to travel to the North Atlantic. When it came time to choose a college, the allure of the Northeast was irresistible, and so I chose a small town in Vermont to spend four years, bundled up in a proper winter jacket.

A good crisis is a great focusing mechanism, and as there have been a few the last couple years, I’ve been forced to focus on my own mental health. I’ve added meditation to my inner tool box - and it is no surprise that one of my calming visualizations is me, wandering through the New England forests, picking up pebbles to skip on lakes, and breathing in the super fresh air — feeling simultaneously connected and detached from the world. While we still spend time with family in London and Europe, and are based on the West Coast, I long for the East Coast. I have been craving the Atlantic sunset light, the general stores, fireflies in the grass, and oysters to start every meal — a ritual I grew to love during my college years. So, I thought, what better way to ensure the East Coast plays a forever role in our family’s life than to enroll our Angeleno children in a Maine summer camp? And for the parents, camp drop off and pickup offer the perfect opportunities to soak up all that is Maine.

Maine is the panacea for feeling frantic and disconnected. Here, the passage of time is welcomed, not mourned. It is where Thoreau went to "shake off the village" amongst the trees. Trees know about slowing down. Trees don’t hurry growing, they just do. Maine is where we went to create a parenthesis in time, bookending summer camp. In the summer, people in Maine are barefooted, light-footed, and surefooted. The dailiness of life is honored here — its no surprise E.B. White wrote most of his pieces while living in Maine, slowing it all down to notice even a small barn spider and her web.

Where to Stay

Hidden Pond Resort

If Maine is called "Vacationland," then Kennebunkport's Hidden Pond Resort is "Dreamland." From the moment we drove up the wooded entrance, we found ourselves in a bucolic Xanadu. Cottages, bungalows, and treetop lodges dot the 60 acres of birch tree wilderness. Hidden Pond Resort feels like a family summer camp — it was the perfect warmup before the boys went off to their own summer camp. New York designer Todd Snyder has refreshed the bungalows, marrying rustic charm with country chic. Our cabin, replete with a kids' bunk room, an outdoor shower, a screened in porch, and the cutest technicolor kitchen, invited us to hunker down and get in sync before we were separated for a few weeks. The team is incredible with young children — immediately ours were given scavenger hunt assignments, so they set off through the forrest nature trails to hunt down the treasures. We awoke to coffee, hot cocoa, and pastries delivered to our door, and spent our days picking blueberries in the kitchen garden, playing bocce, learning how to make rope bracelets, watercoloring, tie-dying T-shirts, and roasting evening s’mores — all activities offered to guests of this enchanted enclave.

Goose Rocks Beach House at The Tides Beach Club

Located on Goose Rocks Beach, The Tides Beach Club feels like the set for an Elin Hilderbrand screenplay. The Tides Beach Club Inn and Restaurant is the social hub of Goose Rocks Beach, a swimmer-friendly beach tucked away from rough swells. We stayed at the Goose Rocks Beach House, which has been added to the Tides Beach Club and is perfect for our family as we had an oceanfront apartment, with plenty of room for our gang and also steps from the beach. After our morning walk along the long swath of beach, we headed to the covered porch of The Tides Beach to settle into the Adirondack chairs. There is something unexplainable but equally palpable in a sunny covered porch and the angle of an Adirondack chair that incites relaxation.

The White Barn Inn

The White Barn Inn is close enough to town to walk but far away enough to have a pause from the Kennebunkport tourist traffic. Perhaps it was the Chelsea Textiles furniture and the Fermoie lampshades for that English charm — or the throw blankets to snuggle up with and the traditional Whoopie Pies on our bedside tables — but from the moment we walked into this cozy cabin, we felt like we were home. Oak Trees dot the property (perfect for acorn collecting en route to dinner) and there is, of course, a piano in the bar. The Little Barn bistro is the White Barn Inn Restaurant’s little sister, offering the fine-dining cuisine and service in a casual setting (perfect for our kidlets).

Where to Eat

Earth

Earth at Hidden Pond brings significant culinary cred to Kennebunkport. Everything on the menu is thoughtfully sourced from local farmers, fishermen, and foragers, and yet, in the dinner dim of candlelight, it all just feels like home. We started our days with the fluffiest breakfast pancakes and ended them with fresh-fried donuts with sarsaparilla glaze and vanilla ice cream.

The Clam Shack

As soon as you drive into Kennebunkport, you will see the queue for The Clam Shack. It sort of snakes down Main Street and over the bridge — and as we saw it when we first drove into town, we decided we would be there when it opens. Eleven a.m. did feel early for clam chowder and a lobster roll, but 1. We were in Maine and 2. I generally think time is a silly construct for things like clam chowder and lobster rolls. We waited only a short time at 11 a.m., and yes, it was delicious. Even if you do have to wait a longer queue, it will still be worth it.

Mabel's Lobster Claw

Because you are in Maine, and because you are likely going to be eating lobster rolls at every meal (it would be rude not to at least order one for the table), you will need to head to Mabel’s Lobster Claw, where Annie, my high school roommate, goes for her lobster rolls in the summer. And Annie knows. She also ordered the fried clams for us — which are surprisingly moreish — and because I’m a big proponent of lying to your children, you can tell them they are Maine chicken tenders and they will try them.

Nunan’s Lobster Hut

Surely Nunan’s Lobster Hut has been the set for a TV drama a la The Affair, but if it hasn’t yet, it should be. Nunan's has been around for 70 years, and thank goodness for that, because I don’t want it to go anywhere. The menu is simple, the service is friendly, and the kids were invited into the kitchen to choose their lobsters. Ask for a Nunan’s root beer and a side of ice cream to make your own Noonan’s root beer float.

Goose Rocks Dairy

If your family is anything like ours, it is likely that you will also find yourself on an ice cream eating tour (running parallel to your lobster eating tour). If you start with Goose Rocks Dairy, you won’t want to go anywhere else. The menu is the Everlasting Gobstopper of options, so really, it requires a daily visit to attempt to work your way through the menu anyway. Just be wary of the sizes — one ice cream scoop is the size of your child’s head.

Satellite Doughnuts

Satellite Doughnuts is worth a visit and wins prizes for both creativity and cuteness. It was started by a local college student; go to support this budding young entrepreneur and stay for the cereal and milk doughnuts.

J's Oysters

En route to camp drop off, we swung off at Portland, because we were hungry, and I heard that Portland has more restaurants per capita than San Francisco, which ranks it pretty high on the food city lists. The locals led us to J’s Oysters, which is where Anthony Bourdain and all the foodie cognoscente go, and which looks like it probably looked 30 years ago. And even through the, “Ewww, oysters smell like fish” — yes, darlings, that’s right, they live in the sea — I managed to get all the kids to try the creamy, briny delights. Also, just to boast, because I’m becoming that mother who is proud of her adventurous eating children, they all tried the steamer clams, giving the guys a little bath in the cooking juice and soaking it in butter. 

Things to Do

Rugosa Lobster Tour

To be in Maine is to eat lobsters, so we decided to really lean in and learn about lobstering. Lobstermen are the cowboys of the Northeast, and lobster harvesting is fascinating, dangerous, and delightful. Take the Rugosa Lobster Tour, hosted on a traditional wooden lobster boat, to marvel about these creatures that can have 100,000 babies — and can snap a finger with their claws. 

Five Acre Farm Stand

In Maine, detours are not only encouraged — they are the activity. On one such random drive, we stumbled upon the Five Acre Farm Stand, a farm stand with perfect pies, jams, mason jars of wild flowers, and seasonal produce, all sold on the honor system. A farm stand honor bar! It was just so picturesque and sweet and reminded us all about the goodness in humanity and the magic of community.

Tides Beach Club

Tides Beach Club organizes kayaking, paddle boarding, and boogie boarding. The beach boys set us up with our chairs, lounges, and umbrellas, and the days just sort of unfolded as they did with no real structure or direction or reason. The Tides Beach Club restaurant is the heartbeat of the beach, with lemonade in mason jars, perfectly cooked burgers, and a buzzy hum at all hours of the day. We were sandy footed and welcomed all the same. The restaurant caters on the beach as well, serving all the expected lunchtime fare plus to-go bottled cocktails from the bar if you fancy a mid-afternoon tipple.

Fortune’s Rocks Beach

Beaches line the coast of Maine, but our favorite was Fortune’s Rocks Beach, mostly because Annie has a home there, but also because an ice cream truck still visits every afternoon, selling frozen treats and beach read books, natch. Bring towels and beach chairs, plan for some tidepooling and rock climbing, and say hi to Annie if you see her.

Maine is escape incarnate and I’m already feeling the pull to return. Thank goodness for summer camp.