Boothbay Harbor Vacation

May 2015

All Pages of This Report

In early May, we took a vacation to Boothbay Harbor. We have driven by this area before, but never stopped in it. And it turns out that it is worth stopping in.

We stayed at Topside Inn, a fairly large Bed & Breakfast. It is the largest B&B we have stayed at, with over 20 rooms. That that does not prevent them from being a true B&B. The breakfasts here were also the most gourmet of any B&B we have stayed at: they were unusual, tasty, and well presented. (Next time we stay at a B&B, I will have to take pictures of our breakfasts!) We won't hesitate to stay here again.

Front porch and sign at Topside Inn in warm late-day light

Main building of Topside Inn with Adirondack chairs on the lawn in front

This is the main building; there are also two other buildings that have additional rooms. The room we had was on the 2nd floor, the two windows on the left in the previous photo. You can see we had one open. And here is the view from the inn (click on the panoramic picture for a larger view of it):

View from the inn lawn across Boothbay Harbor toward houses, boats, and small islands

Our room was their largest room in the main house, although all the rooms seem fairly spacious. We had a king size bed with space around it, and an airy bathroom.

Large bedroom at Topside Inn with a king bed and airy bathroom

The view from the front deck of the inn:

View from the front deck of the inn with six white Adirondack chairs overlooking the harbor

There were a couple cute sculptures that are made from recovered metal. Here is the inn puppy, tucked under the steps.

Metal dog sculpture made from recovered metal tucked under the inn steps

And a moose that hung out on the entryway.

Metal moose sculpture made from recovered metal standing on the inn entry deck

I am really regretting that I did not take pictures of our breakfasts. They were delicious, and nicely presented. Every day there were some 'staples' placed out for us. These included either a fruit cup or half an orange or grapefruit, bread for toasting plus home-made jam or spiced butter, yogurt with very tasty home-made granola, cheese slices, juices, coffee and tea. Then each day also included an additional buffet item plus a served main course.

Deviled eggs or hardboiled eggs, plus chocolate-chip pancakes and vegan sausage. (The sausage did not have the texture of sausage, but used the traditional spices.)
Green Eggs and Ham: scrambled eggs with a basil pesto sauce, over a cheddar waffle accompanied by pressed tofu (or ham for the meat eaters), plus biscuits.
Grits with mushrooms (shrimp, I think, for meat-eaters). Baked item was little muffins.
Sour-cream waffles with a sour cherry bourbon syrup, and vegan sausage.
Gnocchi with poached egg cooked to order, plus banana bread.

All the meals were very tasty. Breakfast started at 8 AM, which is a little on the late side. It did allow us to walk to Boothbay Harbor downtown some mornings, though. This was early in the season for the area, so many of the shops were not open yet ... which suits us just fine, since we don't do much shopping.

Some store fronts in Boothbay Harbor. Smiling Cow, The Loft, Country Store

A wooden scultpure with 3 gulls looking upwards

It did mean a slightly limited selection of restaurants, but luckily for us Ports of Italy had just opened for the season. Mom M had sent us a review of this restaurant from Downeast Magazine. Everyone must have been waiting for them to open, because it was PACKED. We sat at the bar and ate there. This was enjoyable. We were able to talk to the bartender Melissa; her hands were in the article, holding their signature drink. We passed on that, though, and went with wine.

Glass of red wine and bottle of Chateau de Bechaud on the bar at Ports of Italy

We were able to see Boothbay Harbor rush hour.

Boats heading through Boothbay Harbor, both filled with people

Across the inner bay is a walking bridge, which was a nice way to get form one side of the water to the other.

Wooden footbridge crossing the inner bay in Boothbay Harbor, with Anne and her tripod on it

And in the middle of the bridge is a house! It is for sale, in case anyone is interested. It actually looks like a very nice place, and surprisingly includes city sewer and water (according to the article).

House built in the middle of the footbridge across the inner bay in Boothbay Harbor

Boothbay was definitely getting ready for the summer season. We saw a help wanted sign on an ice-cream shop, and some signs stating some stores would be opening the coming weekend. The area will be hopping soon.

Lobster Dock sign standing over the quiet harbor water

Brightly colored kayaks stacked above a sign reading Tidal Transit Kayak

The library in town has an extremely creative statue in front. It is a wonderful expression of the magic that reading can create. It depicts a young boy, surrounded by books, on a flying carpet being taken off on an adventure of the imagination. Around the base (which I am not showing here) are depicted a lantern and creatures that would be part of his adventures.

Metal flying-boy reading statue in front of the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library

For the most part, Boothbay Harbor was quiet in early May.

View across the inner harbor toward downtown Boothbay Harbor with reflections at low tide

This view of downtown shows the water, the town, and - most importantly for this story - the Topside Inn. It is the upper building on the right of this next photo.

View of downtown Boothbay Harbor across the water with floating work platforms in the foreground