Maine, Vermont Trip
 

DH and I are planning a trip up to Maine and Vermont in 2017 with a quick side day trip to Boston. We are looking for more quaint places as we have lived in or near many large cities from east to west coasts. We will go to Acadia National Park, LLBean, Marden's (will be looking for solids/blenders but entertain others) and Vermont Country Store. Any other ideas or input would be greatly appreciated.

Oh my! Wish I were going with you. When I was a kid, my family always went north to camp for a vacation. Acadia was one of our favorite areas and we stopped at LLBean on one occasion. If I remember correctly, they use to be open 24 hours a day so travelers going through the area could stop and buy what they needed. I hope you have a wonderful time and find some great goodies especially at the Vernont Country Store. Sorry that I cannot make any other suggestions. I have not been up that way since the '50s (Yikes!) so I am sure it has changed dramatically.

One place I would suggest is Ogunquit, ME as it is a great sea-side place. The Marginal Way is famous and a beautiful cliff walk over looking the ocean. There are spectacular views there. Somewhat north of Kittery where LLBean is although I'm sure just how far.
Have a wonderful trip.

Also go to Camden and Boothbay Harbor. In Camden Harbor, the Windjammer ships dock at certain times of the year and some offer day cruises. There is a ferry that leaves from Lincolnville Beach (north of Camden) and goes over to Isleboro. There is a dentist's office in Lincolnville Beach just up from the ferry dock that used to be my grandparents home! Beautiful state!

The most wonderful place for a visitor to go in Vermont is the Shelburne Museum. The creator of the museum, Mrs. Webb, collected quilts in pristine condition back in the 1950's when quilts weren't being collected. They are preserved and on display. There's usually a special display by an interesting quilter along with the museum quilts. The museum also features folk art, a village of historic homes, and lots more. Plan on two days.
Other things to see/do in Vermont: take a boat ride on Lake Champlain, ride the gondola in Stowe, visit Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory, hike just about anywhere, stroll through quaint Woodstock, and lots more. Enjoy your visit! (I've lived here over 35 years and used to be an innkeeper)

It depends on what month you are making your travel plans...I would definitely spend a day in the Old Port, Portland Maine. There are a ton of wonderful restaurants and there is a cute quilt shop Z Fabrics.

If you are traveling in the summer months, you should entertain the idea of a clambake in Boothbay Harbor. A family owned business in it's 29th year but we only operate June 17th to September 11th. www.cabbageislandclambakes.com

Camden is also a quaint little town as is Belfast...and both have quilt shops. : )

if you are going to Vermont Country Store- try to plan to go to Chester to Country Treasures and Loudonberry to Waterwheel Quilt shops. You are close to both of them, worth the trip. We day trip to the three a couple times a year. Check the websites for depending on when you are planning..........Vermont has MUD SEASON and Country Treasures closes!

The Shelburne Museum, south of Burlington, has a fantastic quilt display and dozens of wonderful historic buildings (including Adirondack "cottages"), in addition to demonstrations of things like blacksmithing. You can even stay in the wonderful estate house, built by a Vanderbilt heiress over 100 years ago. There is a wonderful store outside the Museum complex that sells a wide variety of the old "penny candies."
If you go as far north as Burlington, the Univ. of Vermont campus has some magnificent historic buildings (1824 Lafayette Bldg., actually dedicated by Lafayette on his return trip to the US) and the Student Center, which was designed by Richardson over 100 years ago. It's also only a few miles from the site of the VT Quilt Show.
In Bath, Maine, there is a wonderful museum for shipbuilding; better yet, just off the highway, is Halcyon Yarn. Its catalog is great, but the contents of the store have to be seen to be believed. If you also knit, crochet, or weave, it would take you as long to go through the shop as it would for your husband to tour the shipbuilding museum, and they are only about 6 blocks apart!

Portland, Maine, also has many historic houses, but the neatest is the birthplace of Longfellow, whose father fought with Washington. Longfellow's sister inherited the house and lived with its early 1800's kitchen until her death almost a century later.
On the way up to LL Beans as you enter Maine there are dozens of factory outlets. In the off-season they are not as crowded as they are in the summer and may offer some great bargains.

Whoah. A quilt shop in old port? I travel from Iowa to Maine every summer to visit my son who lives in south Portland and while we always hit Mardens, Cool As A Moose, Reds, Gilbert's chowder house , Three Dollar Deweys and of course Free Range for seafood I don't recall a quilt shop. What street is that gem on. Headed there in August and don't want to miss it or any other quilt shop in the area. it is a 22hr drive for me so I deserve a quilt shop fest.