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The Art of Doing Less A Note From Rachel I planned the perfect Maine vacation. Then I stopped following the plan. I have a confession to make: I am very good at planning other people’s vacations. I know when you should make the dinner reservation, which boat you should book before it sells out, where to stop along the way and what time you should leave for Acadia. It’s quite...

A Note From Rachel Director of Community Development, Tides to Pines The lighthouse has closed. The shops have emptied. Dinner is over. Now what? I think evenings are my favorite part of a Maine vacation. Not because they’re exciting—but because they aren’t. By the time the sun begins to slip behind the trees, you’ve probably already done the things you came here to do. You’ve climbed the mountain, wandered through...

Joy of Wandering Alone A Note From Rachel By Rachel Loomis Lee, Director of Community Development, Tides to Pines One of my favorite parts of traveling might surprise you. Even when I travel with my husband, we almost always split up for a little while. Not because we don’t love spending time together—we do. But because we’ve learned that some of the best adventures happen when nobody else gets a...

Meet the Maine You’ve Been Looking For There are plenty of places to vacation. Places where every minute is scheduled, every restaurant requires a reservation weeks in advance, and every “must-see” attraction comes with a line. Maine isn’t one of those places. Or at least, not the Maine we know. The Maine we love isn’t about checking things off a list. It’s about slowing down enough to notice the things...

The Day a Midcoast Girl Fell a Little Bit in Love with the Mountains I’ll admit it. I am a coastal person. Give me salt air, working harbors, the sound of halyards tapping against sailboat masts, and a lobster roll eaten at a slightly crooked picnic table and I’m perfectly content. The ocean has always felt like home to me — wide, steady, familiar. So when I recently headed north...

  Midweek Maine Escape 15% Off Sunday–Thursday Stays There’s something magical about Maine on a Tuesday. The coffee shops are quieter. The hiking trails feel like they’re yours alone. You don’t have to wait for a table overlooking the harbor, and the sunsets are just as beautiful on a Wednesday as they are on a Saturday. If your schedule has a little flexibility, now is the perfect time to escape....

The Tides to Pines Journal – July 2026 ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌...

There’s a version of a Maine vacation where you stand in line for dinner in Camden, wait for your table in Rockland, circle for parking in Boothbay Harbor, and fall into bed thinking, “Well… we covered a lot.” And then there’s the other version.bbThe one where the dock becomes your dining room. Where someone else steams the lobster. Where the boat pulls up just for you. Where the only schedule...

There are two types of Maine vacationers. The ones who arrive layered, reserved, and tide-aware. And the ones who say, “Wait… it gets cold at night?” Maine summer is beautiful. It’s also unpredictable in the most charming way possible. Sunny at noon. Fog rolling in by five. Wind off the harbor after dinner that makes you grateful you packed one real sweater. If you want your week here to feel...

Arrival Day: Settle + Exhale Welcome home. Windows open. Shoes off. Deep breath.  Evening suggestion: A relaxed dinner at Primo Or a casual waterfront meal at Nina June Keep it easy. Maine mornings are worth waking up for. Day 2: Harbor + Wind Morning coffee, then head to Camden. We can reserve a sail aboard Schooner Olad — two hours on the water changes everything. Afternoon wandering through shops and...