When Kathy & I were planning our journey through New England, we knew we would want to spend plenty of time in Maine, and most of it along the coast.  But we were pretty sure we didn’t want to spend all of our time in Acadia.

Boothbay Harbor is the current home of photographer Bob Krist and his wife Peggy.  Bob frequently writes and posts photos about Boothbay and  the surrounding area on Facebook and Instagram, and his descriptions of the people and places caused us to look seriously at staying there.  One of his posts shared a promotional video he made for Capt. Fish, a cruise operator in Boothbay.  Another profiled a long-time boat builder, another a painter.  It looked like the kind of place – people, pace and atmosphere – that we enjoy visiting.

I corresponded with Bob several times before our visit, and while he was off on assignment during the time we were there, he made a number of recommendations of places to go and even places to stay.  He actually suggested that we stay somewhere more centrally located than Boothbay, but his suggestion was based on the assumption that I was there to photograph all of the “iconic” landmarks such as the lighthouses and coastline.  But Kathy & I enjoy the charm and character of small towns, and the more we looked and researched, the more we thought that Boothbay Harbor would be a good place to spend a few days.

As an added bonus, we arranged to meet up with our friends Joe and Katherine in Boothbay.  Joe & I spent a little time photographing, and we enjoyed a nice seafood dinner at Harborside 1901, a local restaurant.  It was an excellent meal, so good that we went back a second time!

One of the notable features of the harbor in Boothbay is the wooden pedestrian bridge that connects the “downtown” with the quieter side of the water, which is where we stayed, at the Boothbay Harbor Inn.  The bridge is strung with lights that illuminate the way at night, and it made for a nice scene.

Boothbay Harbor turned out to be a good place to call home for a few days.  We had a nice stay at the Boothbay Harbor Inn, with a waterfront room that allowed us to enjoy the harbor, located close enough to everything that we could walk to breakfast and dinner.  One morning we got to see a lobsterman servicing his traps that were scattered around the bay.  We took a coastal tour on Capt. Fish’s “Pink Lady” and it was a delightful way to see some lighthouses and coastal spots you wouldn’t otherwise see.  We drove to a few other lighthouses, visited a few small towns and even happened upon a photo shoot for LL Bean that was happening near the Marshall Point Lighthouse.  They have more assistants that either Bob or I do!  The model we saw is one that we have since seen in catalogs and on the website!

It was nice to enjoy the quieter pace of that part of the Maine coast before heading off to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  It was just a bit busier there!  I’m working on those photos now and hope to have some posted later this week.