Kennebunkport Weekend with The Zipkins!

Phil's parents decided to fly out to the East Coast to see some family and get out of Vegas for a spell. They flew up to Boston and drove north to Kennebunkport, ME where Phil's cousin Lucy and her daughter Charlotte live. We decided to join them for an extended weekend since Phil doesn't get the chance to see his family as often as I do. Phil's parents were very kind and generous, and put us up in the Kennebunkport Inn for Friday and Saturday nights, but we decided to get an early start and leave Thursday after work to try and maximize the time up there. We didn't make any formal hotel plans for that night, and simply figured we would drive until we got tired, and just pull off and see what we could find. This proved to be a poor decision on our part though! By about 1am, we started to get a little burned out, so we started looking for a place to stay. Unfortunately, for a 50 mile stretch there we found NO availability... what are the odds? It wasn't like some of the towns we were driving through were hot beds of tourism! Delirium and frustration began to build and as we got closer and closer to the New Hampshire border... and then it happened... both of us began to feel like some higher power might be guiding us back to the "Bate's Motel" in Portsmouth. (insert psycho shower screeching here) You may or may not remember our mentioning this little gem from one of our first weekend getaways to Ogunquit a year earlier. Suffice it to say that the nickname was well earned. We double-locked the door that first stay, slept with one eye open, and figured our checkout that morning was a good-bye forever. WRONG!! We found ourselves coasting into the familiar registration desk... with the same creepy man working as the last time... what is worse, we were put in a room in the back 4-story section that made our first stay look almost first class! I can promise you this, after this particular late night emergency stop... we will NEVER be back!

We got up early the next morning and met Phil's parents at the Kennebunkport Inn. If you have never been, Kennebunkport is a quintessential New England town and one we recommend you at least drive through at some point if you can. Don't let the high profile Republican residents scare you away. The Kennebunkport Inn itself is a gorgeous classic old Inn. It comes with everything you'd expect: the big porch complete with rocking chairs, charming dining rooms decorated in classic old world styles, with a fully equipped restaurant that does a great breakfast and tasty dinner. When the weather is nice, they have an outdoor seating section overlooking the town center. Our room was cozy and very well appointed with a large comfortable bed and a big bathroom. They even have a cute little pool overlooking the Kennebunk River, and a cozy little bar/lounge with live piano music nightly. The only downside is that it closes at 11pm, which we found out the hard way on our last night in town! Oops.

After a warm welcome from Phil's parents, we set out for a big country breakfast before taking on the day. Since our weather for the weekend was going to be somewhat unpredictable, we decided to take advantage of the good weather we knew we would have on the first day to take his parents to Ogunquit, one of our favorite Maine destinations. You heard all about it before in an old blog, so I will spare you the details of the town. We started by walking them down to the beach front, and then strolled back up through town wandering in and out of random shops along the way. After a little shopping time, we took them to the scenic rocky coastal walk, the"Marginal Way", where we enjoyed the beautiful views and weather as we continued down to Perkins Cove. At the cove, we treated ourselves to a well-earned beer and several pounds of steamers! Thank you Pa Zipkin! After a little more shopping, we hopped on the trolley back up to the center of town, and hit the road back to Kennebunk to meet up with cousin Lucy.

We met Lucy back at the Inn and she took us on tour of the area through Kennebunk, Kennebunkport past the Bush Residence, and out to Cape Porpoise, another coastal section of Kennebunkport. There we stopped to take in the sunset and had ourselves a nice casual seafood dinner outside at the Pier Chowder House with great views of the harbor and Goat Island Light house. We enjoyed fun conversation, some cold beers, and a LOT of seafood goodness!

That night we wandered around the town center at Kennebunk before setting up camp in the lounge at the Inn. There we enjoyed a relaxing glass of wine and the song stylings of a local pianist / singer. It was a nice way to finish the day. After a nightcap Phil's parents head off to their room, and Phil and I hung around for a few more songs and a little quiet time of our own! It was a fun first day!

The next day, we had a very tasty buffet-style breakfast at the Inn and then head south through Kittery (for a little outlet shopping!) and then to Portsmouth, a charming coastal city over the border in New Hampshire. Portsmouth is another town that I recommend visiting if you get the chance. It is a beautiful New England Seaport with a little of everything that a tourist might want! There is a beautiful historic riverfront section known as Strawberry Banke, with colonial and federal style houses. The main city is more built up with brick row houses lining the streets with a wonderful array of eclectic shops, galleries, restaurants, and bars. There is even a thriving theater and music scene.

We didn't get to experience much of this on our quick tour, and simply settled for a nice walk through the main streets to the city center and then back down to the Piscataqua river for a little waterfront lunch. It is a good thing we stopped when we did, because the sunny skies darkened quickly, and within 5 minutes of sitting down the city was drowned with a soaking torrential rain! Thankfully, the rain subsided by the time we were finishing lunch. Little did we know, we were being led into a false sense of security, because a few minutes after starting out towards another section of shops, it started all over again! Thankfully, the shop owner had a collection of umbrellas at the ready, and we made an emergency purchase to get us back to the car only moderately wet! The drive back to Kennebunk was SLOW and scary... with visibility reduced to 10-20 feet at best! Ma Zipkin was none-too-amused! We did make it back to Kennebunk in one piece, and decided to stop for ice cream before getting back to town... Lucy recommended the place highly, and since we were all stressed, it seemed a good way to unwind!

Later that evening, we walked down over the Kennebunk River to meet Lucy and her daughter Charlotte at Federal Jack's Brew House and Restaurant. Lucy is a wonderful woman. She is funny, out-going, and really quick-witted, so she had no problem keeping things light and fun over dinner! It was a great time. After too much food and few tasty local brews, we said our good-byes and head back to Kennebunkport.

We did another walk through town after dinner, stopping for Ben and Jerry's and another look at some of the local wares we had eyed the day before. I'm not saying that we ended up leaving with a goofy cute ceramic seagull from a higher end gallery, or even three for that matter, I'm just saying that we kind of fell in love with them a little bit... just a little bit. As the night wound down, Phil and I said goodnight to his parents and head back to the Inn, where we cracked open a bottle of wine and set up camp by the pool. We enjoyed a nice quiet night chatting under the stars with the soft sound of the piano music floating in from the bar. After finishing our wine, we packed up our glasses, and decided to see if we could catch the end of the show and maybe have Phil sing a song. That is when we found out that 11 is, yet again, the magic number! We showed up just after the hour to find the bar lights up and the tables being wiped down. D'oh!

The last day we were there, we ended up driving over to Lucy's house before heading home. Our plan was to see Lucy's house and then go home via Boston, to stop and say hello to my good friend Matt. Lucy lives just outside of the historic section of town in a cute little house set back from the road. We got to meet her 2 cats Roxy, "the cranky", Angel "the social", and her sweetheart of a dog, LuLu a gregarious loving golden retriever. Before we left, Lucy jumped in my car and directed us to her veterinarian's office to show me how life could be one day! It was just about the cutest place I've ever seen! The gravel drive up to the property is lined with trees on one side and a beautiful pond on the other. As the road bends to the right you see some comfortable Adirondack chairs set up near the pond under a big old tree and the main house further along the road. The hospital itself is a charming small 2 room little shack-like structure with all of the New England charm you can imagine! It might be a little too small town for me, but I could definitely see the appeal! Maybe one day! She took us back to her house where we said our big thank yous and goodbyes to everyone! It was sad to leave, but it was great that we had the chance to see them.

We stopped one more time on the drive to Boston for some steamers just because it's what you do up he-ya. And oh, they are delicioso! Although I have to say, steamers are not exactly the easy road trip food! Thank you Phil for keep my shirt butter-free on the drive! We got to Boston by early afternoon, and enjoyed a great afternoon of fun conversation with my friend Matt. We took advantage of the weather and walked from the South End to the Boston downtown area, throughFaneuil Hall, and out to the harbor where we stopped for lunch at the Chart House near the aquarium (and yes, we had to stop and see the harbor seals!). After a nice light meal and a glass of wine, we head back through the Commons, on to the Public Gardens, through Copley Square, and finally back to Matt's. It was wonderful. Don't hate me New Yorkers, but Boston is such a great town. For any of you purists who haven't tried it yet... put the sports rivalries behind you and head up for a weekend. It's great time!