This is a nice place in a quietish location (after Labor Day) and you'd have about 20 mins drive to Portland, 35 to Freeport LL Bean, 25 to Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse, 25 to Cape Porpoise/Kennebunkport, and 35 to Ogunquit. The Sebago Lakes are also nice to visit at that time of year and that's about 30 min away too.

www.billowhouse.com

Oqunquit and Kennebunkport would both quite be quite lively still in September and probably more fun with more dining and nightspot choices, just a further drive up to Portland etc, but not bad at all. If it is your first time, I would choose Ogunquit. The New Hampshire coast would be just a half hour drive from there so I would just do it as a day drive.
Do you have a budget approx for lodging?

The southern coast is not my favorite area of Maine because of the congestion. We spent the third weekend in Sept in the Wells area but we started off with lunch and exploring k'port. Sat in Portland for a foodie tour. Local movie and quiet evening Sat night. Slow drive home to stop at places like Stonewall Kitchen Sunday morning. I think there is more to do in Portland and you want to be further north for day trips. Rockland is about 2 hours. There is such a big difference between mid-coast and southern coast. If you want more scenic drives, stay in Portland or further north. If you want to do a lot of shopping, southern coast is fine. The Marginal Way is a lovely walk. Southern coast beaches are beautiful - sandy vs rocky.
You might consider western MA for an overnight.

Many years ago, we spent the week after Labor Day in Boothbay Harbor, ME. It was perfect September weather for part of it, and rain for the rest. But we certainly got in some sea kayaking, light hiking, plenty of lobster - and when the weather turned bad, candlestick bowling one afternoon! It was a short drive to Freeport, and being north of Portland put us in reach of the mid-coast as dfrostnh mentioned, but not so far north as to make the drive to/from NYC ridiculous.

FWIW, the NH coast is quite short! Not to mention, very close if you end up staying in Portland or Ogunquit. Look at western MA or coastal CT for your overnight.

Lexington, MA is a nice spot for an overnight to break up your driving. It's picturesque, with some historical sites and plenty of restaurants.

I stayed there last year, on the advice of Fodorites, when driving from Bar Harbor back to NYC.

Also depends if you like to walk the beaches and sunbathe (stay south), or want more of the rocky-shore, lobster-boating environment of the mid-coast.

In September though, be sure and visit one of the lake regions. In fact there are some lake rentals just outside of Camden, yet you have the coast just minutes from your hammock.

Lots of good info to ponder - thank you! I live in NJ close to the beach, and go to the beach at least once a week, so I'm not going for the sunbathing aspect, nor the shopping. Mostly going for wonderful N/E atmosphere (and seafood, of course. I've spent so much time looking at where to stay (location and lodging) that I'm going around in circles. I will look into all of your great suggestions, and if you have any more to share, keep'em coming!

I just drove back to NJ from Maine last week and broke the ride up with a stop at the Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, RI. Really lovely gardens and a beautiful place for a picnic lunch (if you're more organized than I was)...

Tracys2cents, I did check out the Billow House and it must be great because there are hardly any rooms left, however, there is one left toward the end of Sept. I saw the distances between it and some of the other areas of interest, but is there any sort of town where it is located, or places to go for dinner without driving a half hour?

MP07950, thanks for the suggestion to sop at Green Animals, that sounds like fun and probably about a halfway stop for us.

I visited Green Animals for the first time last month. It is quite a bit out of the way for your route, and in my opinion not really worth the detour.

If you did want to detour that much, you could spend time (overnight in possible) in Newport RI. If you don't want to add that long a stop, there are other short stop possibilites depending on the route you take, what types of things you like to see, and how much time you'd allow for a stop.

Thanks for the info, Janie. Supposedly, it is about a 6 hour ride from where we are located in NJ to the southern coast area of Maine. I would like to stop half way for lunch, and whatever is worth stopping for. I've been to, and love, Newport, but most likely would just want to get home to the dog, and stop somewhere for an hour or two for lunch, and to break it up.

It is extremely unlikely you will be actually be able to make the trip from anywhere in central/southern NJ to anywhere in Maine with 6 hour driving time. I am aware that is what various mapping programs and GPS will tell you - they lie or have no clue how traffic-y this area is. And if your depature time means you are planning on stopping for lunch, that means you will be hitting NYC-area rush hour in the AM.

Just a FYI - but having driven along this route multiple times each year for past 10 years, there is always something that happens to cause a significant delay - accident, construction or just plain volume. Thought you would want to know, especially if you have a dog curfew.

Google directions says it's six hours from just south of NYC to the start of the Maine coast (York) but that route takes you over the GW and no way are you doing that in six hours except if you leave Jersey by 4am. If you are leaving at any other time of day I would stay west of NY at least till the Tapanzee Bridge. The most direct route takes you through CT and MA on a diagonal, highway all the way, efficient but no place interesting worth stopping. The Pioneer Valley of Western Mass has lots of interesting places to stop, as does RI which was suggested above, but those would take you several hours of detour.

How long is your total trip and do you want to see anything of New England besides the Maine coast? And you didn't mention anything north of Portland. Knowing the total number of days you have we could give much better advice. I would tell you totally different things if you have three days versus if you have five or six.

Susie the main attraction at the Billowhouse is the huge expanse of beach just a few steps away. Which apparently is not what you're looking for this time around. It's set in Ocean Park, which is the quiet, historic, "no motels" south section of Old Orchard Beach. Seafood restaurants are all a few miles away at Pine Point, Camp Ellis and Biddeford/Saco. There are a couple of good restaurants in Old Orchard but still a mile or two away.

I really think you would be more comfy in the Ogunquit area, plus that would cut 1/2 hour off your initial driving time. I don't ever encounter traffic problems in this area in September so they must be weekends only. But do plan your trip from Jersey to try and avoid traffic hours in Boston.

If not Ogunquit, then quieter Kennebunkport, but it's about 20 mins further north.

Southern Maine is a little more beachy than Rocky shore. You'll definiely want to visit Cape Elizbeth for Two Lights Park, maybe even take a day trip up to Boothbay Harbor or Camden. But I think the rocky mid-coast area is probably a little further than you want to drive in one stretch from NJ.

susieQ122, Panecott suggested Lexington Mass as an overnight stop. It's a place I like and have recommended as well. You could make it a shorter stop of just an hour or 2 but if you have a little more time, it's easy to spend a few hours nearby at Walden Pond , historic Minute Man park, the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Garden and the historic sites in Lexington center.

It's not much of a detour from the route I take between the NYC area and southern Maine

Worcester MA is another good stop on your way for eating and strolling, but I haven't been there in a couple of years so I can't recommend and specific places

Is anyone familiar with Morrill Mansion B & B in the West End of Portland?

And, what about staying in Portland as a base, in general?

As people have said, Portland is fine as a base. It just depends if you want your home base to be a city or a smaller beachfront town

We've stayed several times at Morrill Mansion. It's very nice and about a 10-15 minute stroll into the port area. I always enjoy Portland and its fine as a base if you want to stay in a town. lots of great restaurants.
In June we drove from NJ via the Tappan Zee Bridge to Portland. With no traffic issues we took about 5-6 hours for a very boring drive.

Portland is definitely a city. If you're looking for a small-town getaway I don't think you'll get that feeling at all. But as a base, it's an easy drive to Freeport/L.L. Bean, to Cape Eliz Two Lights Park, to Sebago Lake, even down to Kennebunkport and Ogunquit or all the way up to Camden/Rockport. And though "Old Port" is a bit of a walk from Morrill Mansion for evening dining, you'll manage.

My problem is I want it all! haha. So now I'm thinking 5 nights. Lv. NJ Sunday am, go up to Portland for 2/3 nights, see what we can see in the area (Rockport, Camden, Cape Elizabeth, Boothbay Harbor) I realize not all of these, but these sound like some of the reasonable choices. then drive down to Ogunquit for the remaining 2/3 nights to check out what is an easy drive from that area, then head home to NJ. What do you guys/gals think of that plan?

If you want to spend time in Rockport, Camden, Boothbay, you should really stay closer to there. Staying in Portland and going to/from those places will take a few hours of each day.If it's just one daytrip, that's not as bad, but you won't get to all those towna and be able to see much. If you were going to do 2 separate trips north from Portland, it seems like a lot of unnecessary back and forth
You can spend a half day in Portland and see other area sights(lighthouses?) on your way back south to Ogunquit.Or if you don't mind and extra stop, stay overnight in Portland . (2 nights Midcoast, 1 Portland 2 Ogunquit)