From landmarks to lobster rolls, 6 ways to play tourist in your own state (2024)

There’s no shame in being a tourist.

A tourist, after all, is someone who seeks out popular fun spots or acclaimed natural wonders. And they usually do it in a very limited amount of time, maybe a week’s vacation or a long weekend. And yes, they can make all those places quite a bit more crowded.

But there is a distinct advantage to being a tourist in your own state, especially in a state that’s called Vacationland. We who live here are not limited by the length of our vacations in our travels. We can see a popular whale watch cruise filling up on the weekends and plan to go on a Tuesday after work instead. We can make note of the five dozen people lined up for a lobster roll and decide to try the place the next time we see only two dozen in the queue.

So with just a few weeks of summer left, this might be a good time to start mapping out strategies about how to be a Maine tourist while living here. You can search out activities and places you have publicly decried as “too touristy” while secretly thinking they might be fun.

Here are some ideas for your in-state tourist adventures.

NATIONAL TREASURE

Acadia National Park is an incredibly beautiful natural area on the Maine coast and one of the 10 most visited National Parks in the U.S. There are 27 miles of roads you can drive along the coast of Mount Dessert Island, through wooded areas and around ponds and lakes. There are also some 45 miles of carriage roads for biking and walking. There are majestic views from the top of Cadillac Mountain and at Thunder Hole and the Otter Cliffs, as well as throughout the park.

Yes, it can get very crowded. But if you go on a weekday – because you live here – the crowds will be thinner. About three hours from Portland, it really is a place you need to see if you call yourself a Mainer. For more information, go to nps.gov/acad/index.htm.

THE BEACH WITH THE MOST

In Maine, we have so many beaches that we often become infatuated with small, hidden ones, where rocks maul your feet on the way to the ocean. But Old Orchard Beach has one of the best-known beaches in the world for a reason – for many reasons, actually. It’s part of a 7-mile stretch of fine, soft sand that hugs Saco Bay. It has a historic pier that juts out into the ocean, is home to the Palace Playland amusem*nt park, and is crammed with stands selling fried dough, french fries, cotton candy, surfboards and more. It basically has everything land-locked French Canadians or Midwesterners picture when they dream about someday coming to a beach. You can even take a bus to the beach from Saco, Biddeford or Portland via Biddeford/Saco/Old Orchard Beach Transit or the Amtrak Downeaster from any of its stops between Brunswick and Boston. For more information, go to oldorchardbeach.com.

YOUR OWN PARADE

Every New England sports fans knows about duck boats. Those are the amphibious boat/buses that carry Red Sox/Patriots/Celtics/Bruins players around Boston after winning a championship. Well, Portland has its own version, Maine Duck Tours. The narrated, hourlong land and sea tours of Portland and Casco Bay range in price from $15 for small children to $44.99 for adults. There’s just something about being in a bus or car that all of a sudden drives right into the ocean that has to be experienced, at least once. And if you already live here, you can do it on your own time. Maine Duck Tours leave from the Blue Lobster on Commercial Street. For more info, go to maineducktours.com.

WORTH THE WAIT

Some restaurants or food stands that are crowded are really worth the wait. But how will you ever know if you never try them? The Lobster Shack at Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth is such a place. The restaurant and its picnic tables are on one of the most scenic spots on the whole Maine coast, atop rocky coastline with crashing surf. There is a parking lot, which fills up fast. But as a local, you can go on off hours or off season, or just drive by the place four or five times until you find a spot. It looks like it’s on Mount Desert Island, but it’s 10 minutes from downtown Portland. The extensive menu has every kind of fresh seafood Maine is famous for, from lobster rolls and lobster dinners to clams, haddock and shrimp.

Red’s Eats in Wiscasset, famous the world over, is another place that as a Mainer you need to try. The location on a busy tourist thoroughfare – Route 1 – helps, but the place has maintained its reputation for the best lobster rolls, operating at its current location since 1954. Part of the appeal is standing on the sidewalk with people from all over, anticipating the classic Maine lunch, on a quaint main street and overlooking the water.

BEEN THROUGH THE DESERT

It sounds like a typical made-up tourist thing: the Desert of Maine. But it’s real, 20 acres of rolling sand dunes surrounded by forest in Freeport. And it’s been attracting tourists and curious locals for nearly 100 years. The creation of the “desert” can be traced to the farming and soil erosion that left exposed a larger glacial deposit of fine sand. The attraction was taken over by new owners a few years ago, who added a mini golf course and other updates, and offer self-guided tours, educational programs and activities. For more information, go to desertofmaine.com.

TOWER POWER

People seem to be more inclined to visit a historic site when they are out of town on vacation then one they pass by every day. The Portland Observatory is a one-of-a-kind historic building in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood that helps tell the story of Portland’s development, thanks to shipping and the people who worked on the docks.

The 86-foot-high wooden tower was built in 1807, on the orders of Captain Lemuel Moody. Moody could spot ships 30 miles away from the tower, with his telescope. Then he’d fly flags from the tower to notify ship owners – the ones who paid him – that their ships were coming and would be ready to unload. Tours, including summer evening ones, are $10. For more information, go to portlandlandmarks.org.