Bar Harbor Maine or Mystic Connecticut in August.
 

Good evening, For us "southies" this is a different type of trip.
We have never been to the upper east coast further than trips into N.Y.City.

Main or Connecticut seems like a good state to start visiting the east coast.
We are flying into Portland for Maine or somewhere else for Connecticut, getting the car and then we don't have a clue where to go.

This will be a 8 day trip for us.
If we fly into Portland, we would like to end up in Bar Harbor.
If we fly into Connecticut, we do know we would like to visit Mystic Harbor.

This will be a road trip to get a overview trip to see what we would like to return to see.
We want to see the beauty, nature, eat great food, stay in super B&B's and possibly learn a bit of history and beautiful villages.

Two adults, no kids, care nothing for malls or discount shopping.
Any suggestions will be most welcomed. There is so much to see and do in these beautiful states, it would take a year to enjoy it all.
Thanks and appreciation for any suggestions.

I would fly into Portland and stay a night or two. Then drive up to the Camden or Rockland for a couple days. From there on up to Bar Harbor for the remainder of the days. Allow one day to drive back to Portland. It's about a 3-3.5 hour drive if you avoid rte 1 which you should take up on the way up. Lots of towns to visit along the way and some nice scenery.

If you can wait until after Labor Day you'll have a much more enjoyable week.

Great!!!

Yestravel's itinerary would do it for me.

Buy a DeLorme's Maine Atlas from a local bookstore, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon. All the good stuff in Maine is on back roads, and this shows you all of it. Just look for the little coastal villages. They are all worth it.

From Portland, take a morning to do the mailboat through the Casco Bay islands. It is one of the great travel bargains. Because it is a commuter boat, mail boat, and freight boat as well as a tour boat, fares are very reasonable. One trip lays over at Bailey's Island so you can have lobster lunch.

You may want to visit one of the larger islands in Penobscot Bay as well -- Vinalhaven or the more remote
Monhegan or Matinicus.

what Ackislander said
If you don't know if already, Portland is considered one of the foodiest cities in America. The foodie tour is pretty good but not as good as I've done elsewhere. You can wander around the Old Port area on your own. If you just stay on the mail boat and take the earliest cruise, that's when people are "commuting" to their jobs on the islands. You can be back in Portland by lunch time. Don't forget your binoculars.

Plan a break from driving. There are any number of great picnic spots from Portland north. Visit the Bite Into Maine food truck at Fort Williams park in South Portland (also lighthouse there) for a terrific view of Casco Bay.

We carry bag chairs in the trunk. You can buy inexpensive ones here and donate when you leave. Take your own picnic to top of Mt Battie in Camden. It could be a stop on your way to Bar Harbor. Or Pemaquid Point. Or different places in the Harpswells.

We love backroads. Find your favorite lobster shack(s). Google for a list and visit as many as you can. Visit some wineries. Visit some farmers markets.

It would be a very good idea to take your own picnic to Monhegan, hike a trail, sit and eat lunch someplace along the way. Don't forget your binoculars.

See if your visit coincides with a special event weekend at Owl's Head Transportation Museum. We've seen a restored Lombard Log Hauler. Fascinating to see antique airplanes FLY!

Sometimes we just sit in a scenic spot with some iced tea, a snack and read. DH just likes to stare at the ocean for awhile. But if you're on top of Mt. Battie overlooking Camden Harbor sometimes you can see windjammers coming along the coast.

Clark, can go anytime in the fall but were concerned about the weather being colder and not being
able to see any whales.
Will there be a significant weather change if we wait until after Labor Day weekend?
Yestravel, thanks to such a detailed plan. It sounds perfect
Especially since Ackslander and dfrostnh agree.
So, I'm guessing Maine is a better plan than Connecticut and the coast there.
DH wants to stay at The inn at Bay Ledge north of Bar Harbor.
Any thoughts vs. the town itself? Other b&b suggestions. Many thanks.

"So, I'm guessing Maine is a better plan than Connecticut and the coast there."

Much as I enjoy Connecticut and Rhode Island, I'd have to say, yep -- no contest.

Thank Fra_Diavolo! Answered my question, thanks everyone. It's so nice to have a plan.

Ackislander, the DeLorme atlas. Are you referring to the map or the book? Thanks.

I agree with the suggestions by Ackislander & dfrostnh. Great restaurants in Portland. Two nice BnBs are Morrill Mansion B&B http://www.morrillmansion.com and The Danforth http://www.danforthinn.com/#_=_
I esp like exploring Bath and the Harpswells. In Rockland a nice BnB is Berry Manor Inn http://www.berrymanorinn.com.
We prefer to stay in Southwest Harbor when we visit Mt Desert/Acadia natl Park. It's a lot less touristy and crowded than Bar Harbor. We never even go into Bar Harbor.

Thanks. We're thinking of New England this fall as well. This helps.

Fra, etc., we've never stopped in southern Connecticut--just driven straight through to southern New Hampshire where my MOL lived.

We've already seen a good bit of New England and are looking for other things to do. The mail boat idea sounds great. So, aside from Mystic Seaport, what do you enjoy doing in Connecticut? Can we still see whales in Sept or Oct?

Since OP seems to value scenery the most, I have to agree on Coastal Maine over Coastal RI and MA. But I can't resist pointing out, for the benefit of others possibly reading this thread, that for history, MA and RI beat Maine, no contest. I'd argue that in a single day in Newport RI and obviously Boston MA one would see more sites of historical significance than in 3 or 4 days driving around Maine.

Stonington Borough, a few minutes drive from Mystic, has a beautiful collection of well-maintained 18th and 19th century buildings, well worth a few hours. About a half an hour north are the casinos, if you like that sort of thing.

I do not believe there are any whale watching boats sailing from Connecticut. The closest port which has them would be Point Judith in RI. I cannot vouch for the quality and believe you would be better off in Massachusetts for whale watching. (Although last summer we saw a whale while we were fishing a mile or two off the coast of Charlestown, RI.)

In Rhode Island, the pretty resort village of Watch Hill is worth a stop, but the primary attraction in this area is renting a beach house and settling in. Newport is a charming small city with its famous mansions and the Cliff Walk, some good restaurants and small shops.

We loved Bar Harbor.
Tossing out another idea - if you've not been to Cape Cod, August is a wonderful time to go.

So, am I clear in thinking that in early September the weather will be just as warm as the end of August? I truly can't imagine two weeks would possibly make a difference in the whale watching or temperature.

For things to do/see in CT try:

ctvisit.com

As to whales, there are whale watches from RI, but I've never gone on one from there. We have done a couple trips from Provincetown MA on Cape cod, and always have seen whales, both close to shore and out on Stelwagan Bank. We've been as early as late April and as late as mid -October. They do migrate south in the winter.

As an aside, a couple years ago a 20 foot humpback that had died floated into shore about 150 yards from my cottage in Stonington, CT, so they must be out there too. If you go to my flickr page and click on the Lord's Point album you can see the picture. www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009

I think we would love it all. We usually go south to the beaches or beyond. Thanks all!

emalloy, your pictures are stunningly beautiful.

I think the turning point on weather and temperature is mid-September. Here in NH we get a light frost about Sept 18 (near Concord NH, low lying area). Third weekend in September is usually great weather but getting cool at night. Have only gone whale watching in AK. dh thought he had good sea legs but one deep sea fishing trip did him in.

In addition to Mystic, I've enjoyed the Native American Museum at Foxwoods. Also in September there's an interesting wild mushroom festival at a small nature museum near Mystic.