This place is a must for nature lovers. Trail maps guide you through a 200-acre preserve dotted with woods, streams, salt marshes, and ponds. Inspired by the moose, eagles, and other wildlife that thrive here, the innkeepers created the Oceanside Meadows Innstitute for the Arts & Sciences, which holds lectures, musical performances, art exhibits, and other events in the restored barn. Furnished with antiques, country pieces, and family treasures, and scented with flowers from the gardens, the inn has sunny, inviting living rooms with fireplaces and a separate guest kitchen. Guest rooms are spread between two white clapboard buildings fronting a private beach shaded by granite ledges. Breakfast is an extravagant multicourse affair that includes chilled fruit soup. Pros: One of the region's few sand beaches, many spacious rooms, handicapped-accessible room with water view. Con: Need to cross road to beach.
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