What to Eat and Where to Stay | Travel + Leisure
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What to Eat and Where to Stay

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GETTING THERE AND AROUND

All of the places mentioned in this story are within a three-hour drive north or south of Portland, Maine's largest city. Portland International Jetport is served by USAirways, Continental, Northwest, Delta Connection, United Express, and, as of this spring, JetBlue. There's also a decent airport in Bangor that's more convenient to Camden, Rockport, and Blue Hill.

WHERE TO EAT

Barnacle Billy's
50 & 70 Perkins Cove Rd., Ogunquit; 207/646-5575; www.barnbilly.com; lobster rolls and clam chowder for two $40.

Bayview Market & Takeout
Bayview Rd. (Rte. 175), Penobscot; 207/326-4882; crab rolls for two $14.

Browne Trading Co.
New England's finest seafood market sells incredible smoked salmon, Iranian caviar, and a dizzying range of delicacies for picnics. 260 Commercial St., Portland; 207/775-7560; www.browne-trading.com.

Chase's Daily
96 Main St., Belfast; 207/338-0555; lunch for two $35.

Clam Shack
2 Western Ave. (Rte. 9), Kennebunkport; 207/967-2560; lobster rolls for two $27.

Duckfat
43 Middle St., Portland; 207/774-8080; www.duckfat.com; lunch for two $26.

555
Open just three years, 555 has quietly become one of Portland's most assured restaurants, hewing to the greenmarket school of fresh, clear-flavored food, such as a mint- and lemon-tinged pea soup laced with baby fiddleheads. 555 Congress St., Portland; 207/761-0555; www.fivefifty-five.com; dinner for two $75.

Five Islands Farm
Fantastic selection of Maine farmstead cheeses. 1375 Five Islands Rd., Georgetown; 207/371-9383; www.fiveislandsfarm.com.

Fore Street
288 Fore St., Portland; 207/775-2717; www.forestreet.biz; dinner for two $72.

Francine Bistro
55 Chestnut St., Camden; 207/230-0083; dinner for two $80.

Hugo's
88 Middle St., Portland; 207/774-8538; www.hugos.net; dinner for two $120.

Joshua's
This south-coast newcomer occupies a beautifully restored 1774 clapboard house on Route 1. Chef Joshua Mather grew up on his family's farm up the road; mom Barbara is the hostess, and father Mort harvests most of the produce—and what produce it is. The kitchen showed great promise last summer, especially in a well-balanced potage of leek and potato spiked with Parma ham and drizzled with neon-green chive oil. Keep an eye on this guy. 1637 Post Rd., Wells; 207/646-3355; www.joshuas.biz; dinner for two $40.

K. Horton Specialty Foods
Portland's top cheesemonger returns to a new address this fall. 28 Monument Sq., Portland; www.khortonfoods.com.

MC Perkins Cove
111 Perkins Cove Rd., Ogunquit; 207/646-6263; www.mcperkinscove.com; dinner for two $85.

Morse's Sauerkraut
3856 Washington Rd. (Rte. 220), N. Waldoboro; 866/832-5569 or 207/832-5569; www.morsessauerkraut.com.

Primo
2 S. Main St. (Rte. 73), Rockland; 207/596-0770; www.primorestaurant.com; dinner for two $100.

Red's Eats
41 Main St. (Rte. 1), Wiscasset; 207/882-6128; lobster rolls for two $28.

Sewall's Orchard
Pick your own wild blueberries from mid- to late summer. Masalin Rd., Lincolnville; 207/763-3956; www.sewallsorchard.com.

Silvery Moon Creamery & Smiling Hill Farm
781 County Rd. (Rte. 22), Westbrook; 207/775-4818; www.smilinghill.com.

Standard Baking Co.
Maine's best bakery is housed in an atmospheric old brick warehouse, where there's always a queue for baguettes, sourdough boules, and plush brioche. Secret weapon: the heavenly gingerbread. 75 Commercial St., Portland; 207/773-2112.

White Barn Inn
37 Beach Ave., Kennebunk; 207/967-2321; www.whitebarninn.com; dinner for two $178.

WHERE TO STAY

Inn at Sunrise Point
The most stylish and best-situated of the Camden area's inns—a porch-rimmed 1920's manse overlooking a broad sloping lawn and glittering Penobscot Bay. The best rooms are in the four outlying cottages, each with a fireplace and spacious deck (the Winslow Homer suite was our favorite). 55 Sunrise Point Rd. (Rte. 1), Lincolnville; 207/236-7716; www.sunrisepoint.com; doubles from $305.

Portland Harbor Hotel
In a town with surprisingly few worthy hotels, this 2003 arrival is the top choice for both location (right in the Old Port) and comfort (spacious rooms are done up in butter yellow with dark-wood furnishings; granite bathrooms have outsize soaking tubs). 468 Fore St., Portland; 888/795-9090; www.portlandharborhotel.com; doubles from $289.

Yachtsman Lodge & Marina
Our favorite of the three delightful properties run by the owners of the White Barn Inn (a roster that also includes the oceanfront Beach House). The Yachtsman, on the banks of the Kennebunk River, is the most informal of the lot: a chic, converted motel whose 30 airy rooms have cathedral ceilings, bead-board paneling, and French doors opening to semiprivate patios. 57 Ocean Ave., Kennebunkport; 207/967-2511; www.yachtsmanlodge.com; doubles from $319.

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