Help Me Have a Lovely Southern Maine Experience

I had a great time! I managed to hit the tide coming in one day and going out the next morning, which was fabulous for the disparity of beachy experiences. I almost didn't go up to Nubble, but am so glad I did because those planes of rock are wonderful for bounding around and clambering (within safe limits) and getting slightly splashed and making friends with dogs and sitting and thinking. And the rocks themselves are gorgeous. I had dinner at Two Lights, and it was fantastic with the surf coming in and rain clouds threatening and gulls swooping and everything crisp and gorgeous. (And the lobster roll was great!). I sat and stared at the ocean at the rocky ends of multiple beaches (York, Wells, Ogunquit, one even more north whose name I forget) and at the rocky bases of the lighthouses and thought and it was glorious. GLORIOUS. I also antiqued and found a cheese and wine shop shaped like a giant wheel of cheese with a drunken mouse on top and explored back roads and neighborhoods and just really fell in love with Maine. I'm simply going to have to go back and for a much longer time.

Some parks you might like in the South Portland/ Cape Elizabeth area: http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/doc/parksearch/index.pl?search_radio=1&state_park=28&historic_site=&public_reserved_land=&shared_use_trails=&town=&distance=&submit=Go+%BB- Rocky, beachy, beware of falling into the ocean, two lighthouses, one made famous by Hopper painting. http://www.capeelizabeth.com/visitors/attractions/fort_williams_park/home.html small sandy beach, rocky areas, very good looking lighthouse, cool burned out mansion and old fort you can explore. Probably will not fall into ocean. Has picnic areas. http://springpointlight.org/- walk out the rock jetty to the lighthouse, cool brick wall fort thing, might fall into ocean. Be careful on the jetty, it's not really made for walking on.

I highly recommend two lights and there's a lobster shack near there as well. (as also linked above) A little early for a beach but Crescent Beach is sandy and in the same area.

Oh and in the same area as Spring Point is Bug Light park which has a very cute little lighthouse and a big park where you can watch people fly kites. Also a great view of Casco Bay and Portland.

If you're looking for rocks and tidal pools, you won't be disappointed by Two Lights. For maximum impressive surf crashing against the rocks, go when the tide is coming in. The best lobster roll I've ever had was from http://www.risingtiderestaurant.com/ on Pine Point, which is about 20 minutes further south. If you wind up down that way you might as well check out Old Orchard Beach in all of its honky tonk, touristy glory.

I know the geology dept at Bowdoin used to take students to Ogunquit for them to take a particular trek along the sea that was interest to geologists. Google Ogunquit cliff walk or marginal way.

Nthing Two Lights. One of my favorite places to be on a nice sunny day. I also really like Crescent Beach State Park. The Marginal Way walk in Ogunquit sounds lovely but I've never done it.

...rocky beaches... This is the part of the Maine coast that’s relatively unrocky; http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=old+orchard+beach&go=Submit&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=old+orchard+beach&sc=8-17&sp=-1&sk= in particular is the ‘Jersey Shore’ of the state. This weekend of Earth Day celebrations, it seems more appropriate to mention the salt marshes and migratory bird shoreline of http://www.fws.gov/refuge/rachel_carson/about.html, established two years after Carson died in 1964. p.s. Two Lights is fine, but the classic light in that area is http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/cape-neddick-nubble-light-history.html, a photo of which was included with the Voyager 2 space probe that’s now somewhere out beyond Neptune.

Seconding Nubble Lighthouse. It's my favorite lighthouse of any I've visited.