East Machias, Maine Vacation

by Joe B.
(Lancaster, MA)

In the summer of 2010 my wife and I rented a vacation home in East Machias, Maine. The town of Machias has everything that a small town should have, with restaurants and shops located within easy walking distance to each other.

This is a great place to use as a base camp for day trips. We were primarily looking for fun relaxing things to do, shopping, eating, site seeing. An hour’s ride north brings you to the town of Lubec and the bridge to Campobello Island.

The island itself is a beautiful place with waterfront homes and small fishing fleets scattered along its coast. Other than seeing the villages and possibly stopping for some fresh seafood at Family Fisheries Restaurant, there is not much else to see. The reason to come visit Campobello Island is...

...the Roosevelt CampobelloInternational Park. The site is a beautiful retreat at the former summer home of United States President Franklin Roosevelt.

The grounds are kept in meticulous condition, the picnic shelters are clean and spacious, and the staff courteous and exceptionally knowledgeable. We spent the first day here walking the grounds and taking the house tour with plans to return on another day to picnic and relax in the natural surroundings.

Leaving the customs checkpoint back into the U.S. brings you to Lubec center, a small town with some great artisan shops along Main Street. On the way out of town you might want to stop at Monica’s Chocolates.

Monica greeted us at the door and in her Peruvian accent described all of the wonderful chocolates in her shop. I have to admit that selling me chocolate is like preaching to the choir. While Monica’s is not a destination for a day trip, if you are in the area and need a sweet snack, these are some of the best I’ve had.

We also visited the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse near Lubec. There is a nice park surrounding the lighthouse grounds and the ocean views are spectacular. If you wish to take photos of the famous “Rocky Coast of Maine” this place is about as good as it gets. This whole area of Maine has a very relaxed feel, you won’t see malls, rows of fast food joints or traffic jams.

We enjoyed it so much we are returning in 2011, hope to see you there.