Old Fashion NE Beach towns
 

We are driving from DC to Bar Harbour, Maine over a period of several days. We'd like to see one or two old fashion beach towns like we've seen in old movies. They may not exist anymore but I'm guess some have been preserved for tourists. We won't even step foot on the beach so that isn't important. We'd just like a smallish, quaint town that would be fun to walk around in for a few hours. Any suggestions please. Thanks!

In CT you can explore Mystic. The movie "Mystic Pizza" was inspired by this little town, but you won't be seeing any beach 'vistas' here. If you have more than just a few hours, you can go to Mystic Village and Seaport, a recreation of a whaling village.

Nearly any town on the Maine coast will afford you the opportunity to experience 'quaintness', Bar Harbor being one of them.

If you're on Cape Cod, the genesis of All quaint beach towns, you can visit Sandwich or Falmouth close to the bridges, or drive up route 6A to have views of the sea captain's homes. However, one of the prettiest towns on the Cape and part of an Historic Trust, is Chatham. There's plenty there for tourists, but this is a working fishing village. Make sure you take a ride down Shore Road to the Fish Pier to meet the fleet with their catch and to see the seals. They filmed that baseball movie, 'Summer Catch' with Freddie Prinz here (sort of) and more recently, one of the worst movies ever made was filmed in Chatham, 'The Golden Boys' with David Carradine.

Wellfleet is another little Cape town with a cute, walkable downtown area, but it's a bit of a drive from the bridges, about an hour or so.

For an old fashioned beach town, look at Ocean Park, Maine. Beautiful beach, no fast food, family cottages with some short term rental opportunities. Movies in the "Temple" one night a week.

Not sure exactly what you mean by "old fashioned beach towns," but you might check out Old Orchard Beach, Maine. They have a cute little arcade, shops, etc.

Madison, CT
Madison Beach Hotel

I'm not sure what you have in mind. I don't think of York Beach, Maine as quaint but it hasn't changed much in years. It's a very popular family vacation area jammed with small cottages, a few big hotels, beautiful stretches of sandy beach, the famous Nubble Light. I'm not sure how many generations have watched the saltwater taffy pulling machine at the Goldenrod. Not sure if the York's Wild Animal Kingdom is popular with kids anymore (it's practically attached to the downtown area) but we used to visit about 50 years ago with my grandparents. There's arcades, places that sell a slice of pizza or a clam roll. Hampton Beach in NH is similar.

What do you mean by old fashioned? Boardwalk? Old arcade? Cute little houses right on beach? (forget about that one in almost every place with price of beach front property) A downtown with little shops?

I can't think of any place that has all 4 - but if you say which aspect is most important, then we can head you in the right direction.

Also, what time of year. Some places have that quaint feel off-season but become a giant fried dough stand in the summer.

Not quite sure what you're looking for...here in New Jersey when we think of old-fashioned beach town, the honky boardwalks come to mind. For that, Pt. Pleasant Beach is perfect and lots of fun. If you mean old houses, interesting town but quiet, then Spring Lake would be it.

I’d like to have an idea of the movies you are referring to, as most of the old beach movies I can think of were filmed in California rather than East Coast beaches, except maybe something filmed at Coney Island (on Long Island, New York) which would be a bit inconvenient to get to on a trip from DC to Maine. But the places mentioned so far are good ones for sightseeing, I am just not sure they are what you are looking for.

I would certainly add the town of Lewes, Delaware to the list. The downtown is on the river rather than the beach, but is very quaint, there are even some colonial-era buildings. There is a bike/walking path for six miles between Lewes and Rehoboth beach (not as charming a town as Lewes, but the trip is nice). From Lewes you can take the car ferry to Cape May New Jersey, which has many Victorian homes and may also be the sort of town you have in mind. For ferry schedules, see http://www.capemaylewesferry.com/. From Cape May you can drive up the Garden State Parkway (far more pleasant than that Interstate 95 corridor IMO), stopping at Spring Lake (mentioned above), which has some lovely homes indeed, and nice downtown areas. In Spring Lake, be sure to see the lovely church on the lake and the old Essex and Sussex hotel on the beachfront, now condos. Also as mentioned above, if you want more of the Bruce Springsteen experience, head over a few towns south from there to Pt Pleasant Beach and the boardwalk where, weather permitting, you can get cotton candy, take a ride on a rollercoaster and see all the big hair you can handle (and I say that as a proud Jersey Girl myself).

You might also consider at stop at Annapolis Maryland, which also has an interesting preserved down town area and also the Naval Academy which you can visit. While perhaps out of your way on a trip to Maine, the Chesapeake Bay area has some lovely towns like St Michaels on the Eastern Shore (not far from Annapolis or Lewes for that matter).

As mentioned, most movies aren't actually filmed where they purportedly take place.

You can hardly go wrong with any of the seaport villages/towns along the coasts of CT, RI, MA, NH, and Maine.

I, personally, wouldn't bother with Bar Harbor. There are many nicer places less of a drive (and less pricey) than that far north.

One of the best things about Bar Harbor, and there are many nice things, is its proxomity to Acadia National Park. If you do decide to make that trip, visit Cranberry and Little Cranberry Islands, two of the most authentic island communities in the Northeast.

and should be 'proximity' not proxomity!

Guilford, CT has the largest and best preserved town green in New England. It is lined on all four sides with quaint shops and restaurants. Nearby Madison also has a quaint downtown. You could get off of I-95 in Guilford and travel down Route 1 through Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook and then hop back onto the highway. (If you do choose this route, be careful because Guilford town green is just off of Route 1.) Guilford also boasts the Henry Whitfield Museum - the oldest stone house in New England.

Don't forget Stonington which is next to Mystic.
You can eat outside at Skippers Dock or stay at the Inn at Stonington.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

As I'm sure you have ideas of what to expect in Texas where I'm from (usually from old westerns and not very accurate) we have ideas of what the NE coastal towns might look like. I think I had in mind boardwalks, old timey shops and restaurants, quaint old homes, etc.

I'm we will get a good sampling as drive up to Arcadia N.P.

Check out the Jersey Shore towns of Belmar for the beach, Point Pleasant and Wildwood for the boardwalks and Ocean Grove for history. Asbury Park is right next store if you are a Springsteen fan. Here is some info and pictures on my blog about Belmar http://bit.ly/aGQrZ8, Wildwood http://bit.ly/b1WMmv and Point Pleasant http://bit.ly/9GFTRB

As a non-native New Englander (who also spent some time in Texas), I think York Beach and Old Orchard Beach have much more of the "old-fashioned beach town" feel I'd guess you are looking for than Hampton Beach does.

Also, although the area around Mystic is a great place to visit, I do not think it is what you are looking for, either.

Thanks everyone!

Boothbay Harbor and Camden, Maine are both very quaint and pretty, with beautiful water views and nice shops. Boothbay Harbor is where the musical "Carousel" is set, and some of the original 1956 film was shot there. Camden is where a lot of the windjammers sail out of, and there are often some at dock in the very picturesque harbor. You can drive to the top of Mount Batty (a small mountain) for a wonderful view of Camden, the harbor, and beautiful Penobscot Bay - there's a nice observation tower at the top.