We bought our plane tickets, reserved our hotel and car, and then DH had a conflict.

As of today, the trip is back on! I had cancelled our hotel for fear of a stiff penalty but waited on the car and airline tickets. Glad I didn't cancel, but.... Now I have to piece together a trip starting this Friday!

I've tried almost everywhere in Ogunquit for Friday & Saturday night. As we speak, I'm waiting for a confirmation from Gorges Grant Hotel for the weekend. Any recent experience with this hotel? It's difficult to fathom the number of totally booked hotels in mid-September.

Sunday and Monday night in Boothbay look more promising.

Any last minute suggestions for this time of year? Any packing suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your help!
H

Monday here in NH was sweater weather. Nights are down in the 40s. Some of us are still wearing sandals, others have switched to fall clothing. We had predicted rain on Sunday for the last weekend in Aug and Labor Day weekend. I imagine some people rescheduled in hopes of better weather. This past weekend was gorgeous. Sunday southbound traffic was very heavy Sunday afternoon. Some lobster shacks are only open weekends so keep that in mind when you go exploring. Near Boothbay, Maine Coastal Gardens is new with nice walking trails. Watch for the signs to Barters Island as you get close to Boothbay, it will be a right hand turn. Not sure if the education center is open yet. Maybe stay all 4 nights in Boothbay so you'll have time for a drive up to Camden. Don't forget binnoculars. We usually do at least one picnic so take along an insulated bag etc. The southern Maine coast is very popular weekend destination and people are trying to do one more weekend before cold weather sets in.

Gorges Grant is in a great location within walking distance of many resturants, downtown, the beach and the cliffwalk. I've had relatives stay there and like it.
MC Perkins Cove and the Cliffhouse are great restuarants with great ocean veiws and very good food. Bring a wind breaker if you plan on walking the expansive beach. This is the best time of year up there - less people (if you can imagine) fewer kids and everything open.
Good luck!

dfrost - thanks for the input. I'm watching the weather closely, so far it looks like it will be fairly warm.

Thanks also for the Maine Coastal Gardens suggestion. That sounds like a nice walk. I thought about going straight up to Boothbay, but we are getting in late Friday night (into MHT) so we'll go straight to Ogunquit for two nights and then head up to Boothbay for two nights.

Cybor - thanks for the comments on Gorges Grant. It looks lovely, but I just couldn't get over the fact that it's on the main highway so I cancelled today in favor of the Colonial Inn. I realize that the quality of the accomodations will not be the same, but the location of the Colonial seems to be preferrable.

What's killing me is we had an oceanfront room at the Achorage reserved prior to DH's conflict. Oh well, at least we get to go.

I just watched Rachel Ray's show where she makes her way down Highway 1 from Portland, ME to Gloucester, MA. She had some great footage of Perkins Cove and the Marginal Way!

I can't wait for my first trip to Maine!
H

I'm not sure how the Colonial is, as we like to stay at the Anchorage, but I agree with you that the location makes it a better choice.A great place for breakfast is Amore that Rachael Ray featured on her show. It's close to your hotel. You'll love walking the marginal way.Have a great trip.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the Colonial, although I'm not familiar.
For those of you interested, rte. 1 going thru Ogunquit is not like a highway in my estimation, but more like a main street going thru the center of town. Parts of rte. 1 heading north can be more highway like.

jd - thanks for confirming my thoughts on the location of the Colonial. I actually taped (or tivo-ed) that Rachel Ray show. I had forgotten about it and watched it last night. It made me so anxious for the trip!

cybor - thanks - it's so hard to get a feel for what a place is like from photos and maps. I am sure that either place would be fine. I guess I wanted to be more in the center of things. I'll be sure to post a trip report when I get back. We're leaving friday afternoon!

So far, I haven't made any reservations for Sunday and Monday night. I am thinking we can decide whether or not to head to Boothbay after we get to Ogunquit. Lots of places seemed to be booked for the weekend but have availability for Sun. & Mon. night. I'm generally not one to travel without everything planned out, so we'll see how it goes!

Thanks again for all your comments. Feel free to add any other advice!
H

You'll be disappointed with the Colonial Inn if you were expecting the quality/service of The Anchorage. Have you tried Beachmere, Sparhawk, or the Rockmere B&B--they're on or close to the water?
Good food is available at Jonathan's, Five-O, Gypsy Sweetheart, Poor Richard's Tavern!
Hope your trip works out after all the pre-trip disasters.....enjoy!

Forgot to mention the Sea Castle, across the road from the Marginal Way along the coast....sevice could be better, but it's convenient and the rooms are nice. They are part of the Gorges Grant/Juniper Hill group.