Kennebunkport, Me.

THERE'S more to Kennebunkport than pricey shops and hordes of George and Barbara Bush watchers gawking through binoculars at their Walker's Point compound. Exploring by foot, bike and boat reveals this old coastal town's enduring charms. It has been a seasonal destination since the end of the last Ice Age, when Indians fished there and hunted on coastal plains. Europeans later fished the region's rich waters, and the area was incorporated by Massachusetts as Cape Porpus in 1653. In the early 1800's, shipbuilding boomed on the Kennebunk River, and by the late 1800's, well-heeled summer people were building grand cottages along Ocean Avenue. Their descendants tend to keep to themselves, but you can occasionally glimpse them as they dismount large S.U.V.'s for an early morning tennis match or a round of golf.

Friday

4 p.m.
1) Drinks, Roses and Sea Spray

What better way to get into the Kennebunkport mood than by having a late-afternoon gin and tonic? You can order one at the venerable Colony Hotel (140 Ocean Avenue, 207-967-3331), a sprawling, white early 20th-century affair, and stake out a table on the poolside terrace to savor the breeze, the perennial beds and the sweeping views of ocean. Afterward, skip stones on Colony Beach and watch fishermen on the jetty. Then wander down Ocean Avenue, which follows the Kennebunk River and winds around the rocky shore, where wild rugosa roses bloom in profusion above crashing surf. If wind and tide are right, look for spectacular plumes of sea spray at Blowing Cave and Spouting Rock.

 

The Colony Hotel is a sprawling, white early 20th-century affair.

7 p.m.
2) A Fancy Fish Shack

Stripers Waterside Restaurant - at the Breakwater Inn & Hotel (131-133 Ocean Avenue, 207-967-5333) and formerly called Stripers Fish Shack - serves seafood so fresh it doesn't need to be sauced to death. Start with a Pimm's Cup No. 1 ($6.50) and a half-dozen oysters (market price) and proceed to a grilled halibut steak ($22.50) served with "mushy peas" (fresh peas lightly mashed with cream and mint) and Stripers fries. With windows that overlook the Atlantic and the Kennebunk River, and a well-groomed crowd in khakis, it feels more like a nice sun porch than a shack.

Saturday

9:30 a.m.
3) Bike to the Beach

You need a sticker to park at local beaches but not if you're riding a bike. Rent one at Cape-Able Bike Shop (83 Arundel Road, 207-967-4382) and pedal the back roads northeast to Goose Rocks Beach, about 11 miles round trip. Rentals are $20 for a day or $15 for a half-day. Goose Rocks, a two-and-a-half-mile stretch of sugary sand, is worth the effort because it is much less crowded than the Kennebunk beaches. Plop down on your blanket and watch seals lounging on the ledges and terns dive-bombing the waves for little fish.

1:30 p.m.
4) Down-Home Down East

Pedal back toward central Kennebunkport via Mills Road-Route 9 into Cape Porpoise, a classic fishing village with lobster boats and yachts moored off long piers and jumbles of wooden fish houses, some of which have been converted into cottages. Stop for lunch at the Wayfarer (2 Pier Road, Cape Porpoise; 207-967-8961), a down-home place where patrons can still be heard dropping their R's. The buttery fish chowder ($3.95 a cup) is lush with fresh haddock and red potatoes. Also good is the fish sandwich ($8.25) slathered with lemon dill mayonnaise.

3 p.m.
5) Time Travel

The History Center of Kennebunkport (125-135 North Street, 207-967-2751) offers a self-guided walking-tour map ($4) of historic homes, which includes fine specimens of Colonial, Greek Revival, Federal and Victorian architecture. The highlight: the Nott House (8 Maine Street), an 1853 Greek Revival mansion with massive Doric columns and original finishes right down to the hand-painted French wallpaper in the front hallway, which still holds its arresting greens thanks to the arsenic used to make it in the mid-19th century. Don't miss the meticulously restored Victorian garden that wraps around the house with its allée bordered by lilacs that runs down to a mill pond.

4 p.m.
6) Shop Crawl

Head for Dock Square, where former homes and 18th-century warehouses are now packed with shops, galleries and antiques dealers. Stop at Beneath the Willow (10 Ocean Avenue, Second Floor; 207-967-2423) to stock up on handmade guest soaps scented with essential oils and wrapped in handmade paper. A few doors down, the Kennebunk Book Port (10 Dock Square, 207-967-3815) occupies the loft of a 1775 rum warehouse and offers a solid collection of books about Maine.

 

Beneath the Willow stocks handmade guest soaps scented with essential oils and wrapped in handmade paper.

8 p.m.
7) Moonlight on the Water

The Cape Arundel Inn (208 Ocean Avenue, 207-967-2125) occupies a grand Shingle Style cottage built in 1895 with views of the wide open Atlantic right across the road. The old Kennebunkport crowd, sporting blue blazers, big jewelry and vintage Chanel, hangs here, and you're likely to overhear phrases like "I almost sailed off without my purse!" Flickering candle lamps and a piano player who obliges your requests for jazz ballads add to the aura of moonlight sparkling on the water. The menu offers subtle twists on regional fare like grilled fillet of salmon crowned with a brunoise of vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh basil and sea salt served with roasted fingerling potatoes ($27.50). Keep your eyes open for a couple of empty wicker chairs on the porch after dinner.

Sunday

10 a.m.
8) The Lily of the Mohawks

In the late 1940's, Lithuanian Franciscans bought an estate on the Kennebunk River and established St. Anthony's Franciscan Monastery (28 Beach Avenue, Kennebunk; 207-967-2011), about 60 acres of serene grounds, a guesthouse and a short, lovely trail that winds through the woods across the river from Dock Square. Follow the trail to the end, where St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680), "The Lily of the Mohawks," presides over a peaceful grove of oaks. Wilted bouquets of wildflowers adorn the white painted concrete statue of the saint, who wears a fringed dress and clutches a cross over her chest.

11 a.m.
9) A Two-Hour Tour

Sailing on the Schooner Eleanor (Arundel Wharf Restaurant docks, Ocean Avenue; 207-967-8809) makes you almost pity the people in Hinckley Picnic Boats zipping frenetically over the waves. Captain Rich Woodman, who built the 55-foot gaff-rigged schooner with a crew of local boat builders, takes passengers out for a blissful two-hour sail for $38 a person. From Eleanor's spacious decks, you can watch lobstermen haul their traps and scan the water for scoters, gannets and other seabirds as you sail along Cape Arundel and Cape Porpoise.

1:30 p.m.
10) A Perfect Lobster Roll

The Clam Shack (on the Kennebunk River Bridge at 2 Western Avenue, 207-967-2560) serves the most unadulterated lobster roll around ($13.50): the meat of a one-pound lobster topped with a bit of mayonnaise or doused in drawn butter (or both!) and tucked into a toasted bun. Order at the take-out window of this teeny shack perched at the river's edge and use the bridge railing for a table. Keep an eye on the gulls, which watch hungrily from the rocks.

Visiting Kennebunkport

You need a car to get to Kennebunkport, a 40-minute drive from Portland International Jetport and a 90-minute drive from Boston.

Built in the early 1900's, the Green Heron Inn (126 Ocean Avenue, 207-967-3315) retains the charm of a small, simple guesthouse. It has 10 rooms and a guest cottage from $149 to $260 in season.

Phebe's Fantasy (35 Maine Street, 800-967-7748), which occupies an 1807 Federal-style home, is an intimate bed-and-breakfast with antiques, fresh flowers and fine linens. Its four rooms are $224 to $299 in season.

The White Barn Inn (37 Beach Avenue, 207-967-2321) is the ultimate splurge (for dinner, too), with every amenity and indulgence. The elegant décor combines period antiques, art and whimsical contemporary furnishings. Its 28 rooms, suites and cottages start at $345 in season.