I'll be driving up to Acadia from NYC second week of Oct for 7 days counting travel days. I plan to take 2 days to get there and 2 days to get back so I have to find a place to stay midway, there and back. The obvious midway point is Portland. However, I'm looking to save some money so I was thinking of possibly staying overnight in Old Orchard Beach. Any thoughts on that?

Also, I've gone to Acadia in the past and while Acadia is outstanding, the rest of 'beautiful Maine' somehow eluded me. Looking for recommendations for places to see on the way up that are quintessential Maine.

Maine has a lengthy coastline and we generally ignore south of Portland which could be a day trip for us. Mid-coast is our favorite area so we stay on Rt 95 until we get to Brunswick, then get off on Rt 1. On our last trip we camped in Wiscasset which was a great central area for visiting Boothbay (took a day trip to Monhegan and also visited the new Coastal Gardens), Rockland (husband loves Owls Head Transportation Museum) with short, easy hike to Owls Head Light and ALWAYS our favorite lobster shack at Waterman's Beach. Do stop in Camden. It would be a great place for lunch and a little shopping but we generally take a picnic lunch to the top of Mt Battie (take the auto rd) that looks over Camden Harbor. Incredible views - bring binnoculars. We like to explore different points so we can have a lobster lunch someplace. I loved the Farnsworth art Museum in Rockland.
We don't get over to Portsmouth NH as often as I'd like but have you considered that as an overnight place? Mostly because of restaurants and night time activities. A lot of lobster shacks are still open weekends until Columbus Day so if you wanted to stay in the Portland area, how about someplace convenient to a lobster place? We used to family events in York Beach. Second week of Oct will be prime foliage season in NH. Have you thought of driving thru NH and then cutting over to Portland, connecting to Rt 95? It wouldn't be fastest route but might add to the fun. It would be about 5-6 hours to Concord NH from NYC area. I think my BIL actually thought the route that goes near Conway NH over to Portland to be pretty good when my niece went to college there and it would avoid the toll booth on Rt 95 in NH.
Hope you have a great vacation. Right now the weather is glorious!

Old Orchard Beach isn't my idea of beautiful Maine-it's got a boardwalk and it's sorta touristy...

A Portland stay doesn't HAVE to be expensive. We drive from PA to Acadia, and stop overnight at a Motel 6 at the edge of Portland (we travel with a dog, so Motel 6 works great).

~Liz

Having stayed in OOB, I would say go ahead and stay in Portland. It can't be that much more and has to be better. Unless you plan to access the beach there are much better places somewhere.

Thanks for your replies.

Now, I'm thinking of staying closer to Camden so I can take advantage of the free Sunday morning admission to the Farnsworth museum.

I'm looking for recommendations for a place to stay between Portland and Camden for $75 or less.