8 Beautiful Things To Do in Kennebunkport, Maine

One of my favorite things about Kennebunkport, Maine– where my family has vacationed every summer for my entire life– is the gorgeous three miles of rugged coastline that is GooseRock Beach. GooseRocks is a place of sanctuary for both myself and my family, members of whom each enjoy the beach in different ways. Some of us swim, some of us fish, others kayak, and we all love to walk and listen to the waves crash. The Tides Beach Club at GooseRocks is a fabulous place to grab a cocktail or sunset dinner, when the beach (and the flower beds that line Kings Highway) are bathed in golden light. Around 5 PM in the late summer, the flowers lining the oceanfront are absolutely stunning.

GooseRocks Beach is about 10 miles away from the famed Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge, and it has the estuaries to prove it. My dad and I love riding our bikes to this protected Piping Plover sanctuary in a neighborhood adjacent to the beach (a good launch point for kayaks). Piping Plovers are a migratory shorebird that nest on gravel beaches on the North Atlantic Coast. At GooseRocks and the surrounding areas, they are protected by sanctioned wildlife preservation, though humans are also welcome to enjoy their untamed habitat.

Something I always consider as a near-constant traveller is that different regions of the U.S. can have radically different growing cycles even if they are only 100 miles apart. What grows in a garden one hour outside of Los Angeles is radically different than what grows in a garden in Los Angeles– these might as well be two entirely different growing regions altogether. This year in Maine, I noticed the hydrangeas and the carpet roses (above) were hitting peak bloom in late July– two weeks after we saw them in New York. Another beautiful (if sad) poetry: five days after I took this picture, the carpet roses were gone. That’s the beauty of plants: they are gorgeous but ephemeral, much like life itself.

There is a neighborhood around the corner from Gooch’s Beach in Kennebunk that boasts beautiful, grass-filled jetties and rocky, untamed coastline. I love the wild plants in this neighborhood, even though the road is narrow and more than once I have had difficulty backing my car out of the oceanfront esplanade because I tried to get a little too close to these beach chairs.

St. Ann’s Chapel is an old episcopal church located on an insanely-gorgeous cove that’s surrounded by water on three sides. Regardless of its religious affiliation, St. Ann’s is a popular tourist destination located just a few minutes drive from the Bush Compound, which, when I was a kid, used to be filled with insane security when George H.W. Bush would vacation here on the 4th of July. (Regardless of how you feel about the Bushes, they have a beautiful home that is the envy of Ocean Avenue…) My brother actually proposed to his now-wife at St. Ann’s, where a set of open-air pews overlooks the vast Atlantic Ocean. (And the red Dahlias aren’t half bad, either.)

My family always looks forward to eating avocado-stuffed with lobster at The Arundel Wharf and ice cream from GooseRocks Dairy, because it wouldn’t be summer in New England without seafood and ice cream. Clam chowder, mussels, and haddock notwithstanding, our typical Maine restaurant rotation does include one anomaly: there is a small Mexican restaurant called Pedro’s that has one of the best vegetarian burritos I’ve ever had (sorry, California!) They also do a margarita en fuego that is to die for. During our last visit to the eatery (we go here multiple times in a week) I took a walk around the neighborhood and busied myself trying to identify flowers while we waited for our 9-person table to open up.

Bikes on bikes on bikes. I love riding my bike around the estuaries, beaches, and private drives of Kennebunkport and GooseRocks. Herewith, several kids have parked their bikes in front of an entry point to GooseRocks Beach, where their families were making s’mores at a daytime bonfire. I was cruising by the area when I decided to walk on the beach and so added my bike to the pile.

Tree Spa at Hidden Pond is a lovely, meditative oasis nestled in a birch forest just a few minutes from Goose Rocks Beach. Known for their signature Muscle Melt Renew Massage (a focused, tension-relieving massage that uses scented oils, warmed towels and therapeutic gels to concentrate on the stress areas of the upper back, neck, shoulders and scalp), Tree Spa is also beautiful to behold. True to its name, the massage tables are literally situated in tree houses connected by a series of short canopies behind the serenity pool. Guests of Hidden Pond are welcome to enjoy relaxation treatments before dining at Earth, the resort’s delicious farm-to-table restaurant, but passersby are welcome to pop in for a treatment on their way to or from the beach. Just be sure to call ahead and make a booking— Tree Spa is one of the best-kept secrets in Kennebunkport, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t already popular.