Kennebunkport

For Hannah’s mom’s birthday and her parents’ anniversary, we wanted to give a surprise trip. Since we assumed she would prefer to go away with all of us (think: children and grandchildren), we needed to find a place everyone could agree to.

Hannah’s original idea was to visit Kauneonga, a lake Robbie visited as a child with her mother and grandmother. Unfortunately, the places to stay were limited, and the clean places to stay even more so. The drive was also substantial, so this idea was abandoned.

Then we thought about Nantucket. Having been before, Hannah knew it could be a great destination but there was concern regarding the length of the trip.

Finally, we found the right fit: Kennebunkport! Just a 2.5 hour drive away with a beautiful town and lots of activities. We stayed at the Inn at English Meadows, which was perfect. They had a small cottage in the back where they allowed 5 year old Elijah to stay with his parents and grandparents. We stayed in the main house. The breakfasts were delicious and the walk to town was reasonable. We do recommend staying near the back of the inn; it sits on a somewhat busy street so there might be noise at the front. We did not hear anything, though!

When we arrived we went straight to the beach where Elijah had a marvelous time running. It was just before the official “season” so parking was free and it was relatively deserted!

That night we had dinner at On the Marsh Bistro, which was excellent.

The next day we started at the Seashore Trolley Museum. I don’t know if I’d go without a child whose into trains but it was great fun with Elijah. In the afternoon we drove to Wells Reserve, where we did a lovely hike that ended at the beach. That night we had dinner at 50 Local, which was more casual and the food was fine. I’d probably explore other options if we went again.

On Sunday we had a lovely sailboat ride on the Schooner Eleanor. Captain Rich was wonderful and they were great with Elijah, who was a bit hard to handle for the 2 hour trip. Highly recommended!

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in town before heading home. Don’t miss the candy store. A truly wonderful weekend!