Quaint New England Beach Town
 

Hi all, We live in CT, along the shoreline and are looking for a quaint New England beach town to visit for our daughter's 13th birthday. We want to rent a cottage for three nights (October 9-12). We would like to be able to walk to town where they would have great restaurants, ice cream shops/bakeries, some cute retail shops and maybe a nice beach/boardwalk area.

I have considered Ogunquit and Martha's Vineyard (not sure what area though). We have been to Nantucket many times and so would not want to go there.

Any ideas? Thanks!

For Maine I'd recommend Ogunquit or Camden. Both are touristy all summer but quiet down in October. Not exactly "quaint" but you really won't find much in the way of dining/bakeries etc in any of the smaller villages as they begin to shut down in October and you'll find restaurants saying "we only have 3 things left...lobster rolls, whoopee pies and chicken fingers, everything else on the menu we're out of"

Pink Blossoms is a nice place to stay but is not directly on the water. Look at Terrace by the Sea, too.

Chatham, Cape Cod? Chatham Bars?
Hob Nob-Edgartown? Martha's Vineyard?
Wentworth by the Sea-Portsmouth, NH?

Alice's Dunscroft-Harwichport, Cape Cod

There is a handful of towns on Cape Cod that would seem to fit the bill, though I don't know the area well. We were just there for the first time last spring and stayed in Chatham and it was great. Provincetown would be good, I think, as well as Wellfleet and Sandwich.

Wellfleet is lovely.

That would be Alyce's not Alice's.

York Beach Maine is fun, with old timey feel - you can watch salt water taffy being made at Goldenrods. York short sands beach is great for kids, and there is a picturesque lighthouse nearby.