Maine Course

Whenever Boston traffic snarls have you cursing a blue streak and the city seems too busy to give you the time of day, try heading north for a change of tone and scenery. Take Route 1 past the concrete jungle of body shops, fast food joints, and Kowloon, then keep on going through Portsmouth, New Hampshire, until you emerge in Kittery, Maine. Then stop, park, slow your roll, and stroll the streets of this charming town.

Small-Town Delights

Kittery is ancient by America’s historical timeline, first settled in 1623 and incorporated as a town roughly two decades later. The English named it after Kittery Court, the family home of Alexander Shapleigh, one of the town’s founders, but local Indigenous people called the area Amiciskeag, meaning “fishing point,” and fishing would remain a regional trade for a long time. Shapleigh and others, including the Pepperrell family—a name still much in circulation in these parts—established fisheries along the banks of the Piscataqua River to catch and salt fish to ship home to England.

For decades, the reason out-of-towners came to Kittery was the much-vaunted premium shopping outlets and the kitschy Kittery Trading Post. They’re still there, and worth a stop if you’re in the mood for a bargain, but today there’s much more to see and do. Military buffs and photographers will enjoy the forts. Fort Foster Park is an 88-acre site with a historic waterfront, four beaches, ruins, a playground, and stunning views. Fort McClary, created as Fort William in 1720, served as a lookout in the Spanish-American War and WWII, and offers military history lovers close-up views of 19th-century fortifications. On the New Hampshire side, there’s Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey’s Island, the U.S. Navy’s oldest continuously operating shipyard, employing 6,500 people who are mainly focused on overhauling and repairing submarines.

The Foreside neighborhood in Kittery’s downtown is just a few streets away, but it’s a gem—a vibrant, hipster-ish, food-centered scene that recalls the Jamaica Plain or Somerville of years past. Locals and tourists in the know start the day at Lil’s Café, named after Lilian Mangos, a much-beloved local cashier who worked the order window at Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery. Patrons form lines out the door for the crullers, which they claim are so good they should be under lock and key to keep them safe, but there’s also a decently sized menu featuring fresh breads, bagels, and sandwiches. In a back corner, behind the feet-thick steel door of an old bank vault, you’ll find The Vinyl Vault, a curated selection of vintage records for sale. If you can’t get into Lil’s, you can cross over the bridge into Portsmouth and have a cappuccino and pastry at Elephantine Bakery, a cozy café with lovely indoor and outdoor seating.

Nestled between a few shops are standout restaurants and bars, all local favorites. A converted post office from the 1950s lends the gastropub The Black Birch memorable ambience. Nearby, small but mighty Anju Noodle Bar serves flavorful noodles and other innovative Asian dishes that bring diners from all over. Pork buns that melt in the mouth, fresh ahi tuna, and fragrant duck yakisoba are all reasons to linger until you’re hungry enough to order more. One diner mentioned that she had moved from California and had tried Asian food all over New England, but that Anju was the only one that made the top of her list.

Just around the corner from Anju is their bar, a charming speakeasy called The Wallingford Dram, a gorgeously appointed spot for a craft cocktail or two. If you’d rather cook for yourself, you can buy from Maine Meat, a specialty butcher shop offering whole animals, house-made provisions, and curated wines.

While Kittery can be enjoyed in an afternoon, it makes an ideal base for exploring the larger town of Portsmouth and heading further up the coast to Ogunquit and York. Kittery doesn’t have a wide range of places to stay, but it does have the newly built Foreside Inn, a boutique hotel that’s down the street from Foreside’s café, restaurants, and shops. The inn is self-service, though there is on-site security. Unlike an Airbnb, however, there’s an experienced management group behind the scenes. Real humans are available via text and email 24/7, and the response (we tested it) is instant, friendly, and efficient. The owners have anticipated travelers’ needs, including closets that contain extra pillows, bedding, a corkscrew, coffee and tea K-cups, silverware, plates, glasses, and cookware. The beds are dreamy (soft but firm), and the mid-century style décor—glam but subtle in a bronze and navy palette--features velvet blackout drapes for a perfect sleep, retro light fixtures, and locally inspired coastal scenes created in custom wallpaper.

About two miles away from Foreside, Kittery Point is home to the First Congregational Church of Kittery, completed in 1730. It’s the oldest continuously operating church in Maine. The Old Burying Yard, a one-acre cemetery dating from 1650, is also worth a stop. Further north, there’s coastal Maine charm in Ogunquit. Restaurants and cute shops line Main Street, and the town is so popular that traffic can get congested, even into the fall, but the experience of strolling the streets and browsing the wares in stores like Abacus, which features stunning work from jewelers and craftspeople from all over the country, is not to be missed. The historic fishing village (still a working harbor) of Perkins Cove offers more shopping and dining options and several art galleries. Here you can enter the southern end of Ogunquit Marginal Way, a 1.25-mile paved footpath that winds along the coastal cliffs and offers breathtaking views of the Atlantic, which somehow seems more a saturated shade of blue in Maine than anywhere else. In warmer months, Ogunquit and Main Beach are ideal for families, with their wide arcs of white sand and friendly vibe. Or you can join the locals at Long Sands Beach and Seapoint Beach, quiet, scenic spots with dark gray sand, ideal for a contemplative picnic.

For multiple upscale dining options on the water all in one building, head back to Kittery to Pepperell Cove. On the first floor, Bistro 1828 offers the most formal of the dining experiences, with a terrific menu shared by the third-floor Ski Club, still elegant but slightly more casual, with an outdoor terrace that overlooks the cove below. Executive chef owners Eides and Henry Ares supervise an outstanding menu starring daily catches off local fishermen’s boats, along with plenty of traditional meat options. Dishes are simply and exquisitely prepared, and imaginative cocktails complement the views. Diners can get up even closer to the water at Frisbee’s Wharf, which offers panoramic views of the stunning cove, and an excellent place to have a drink and fish and chips or a lobster roll while you watch yachts glide by under the setting sun.

In any season, Maine delivers beauty and a bounty of fun, one hour from Boston.

MyBoston’s Recommendations:

Sleep

• Foreside Inn
207-405-0191
29 Wentworth Street, Kittery

Eat & Drink

• Wallingford Square
- Lil’s Café
- Anju Noodle Bar and
- The Wallingford Dram:
- The Black Birch

• Elephantine Bakery
10 Commercial Alley #2,
Portsmouth, New Hampshire

• Pepperrell Cove
88 Pepperrell Road, Kittery Point Shop

• Abacus
213 Main Street, Ogunquit

• On the Main
234 Main Street, Ogunquit