Read Online 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die by Patricia Schultz - Free Book Online

businessman D. D. Walker, whose son George Herbert Walker later bought property in the area. George Herbert’s grandson and great-grandson, the two President Bushes, still vacation here from time to time.
    Kennebunkport’s White Barn Inn is one of New England’s greatest, comprised of an 1820s gatehouse, carriage house, May’s Cottage (where the inn’s original owner once lived), and the main building, a classic autumn-gold clapboard with white trim. Twenty-five meticulously appointed European-style guest rooms are done up with four-poster, canopy, and sleigh beds, and modern amenities including Jacuzzis. A swimming pool offers an alternative to sandy Gooch’s Beach, within walking distance but with water that’s almost always too cold for swimming. A highlight of any stay is a meal in the inn’s restaurant, widely considered the best dining north of Boston. Here, rustic and refined blend seamlessly in two lofty barns, with creaky floorboards and locally crafted antiques, all glowing with candlelight.
    As a cozy, romantic alternative the Federal-style Captain Lord Mansion has 16 guest rooms, each named for a ship built by its original owner. Gas fireplaces, Oriental rugs, andoverstuffed furniture lend a period air. A rooftop cupola looks out over the vast lawn toward the Kennebunk River.
    Despite their tony reputation, the Kennebunks aren’t all about moneyed luxury. At the west end of the Kennebunkport Bridge, the Clam Shack is one of America’s great seafood dives. No utensils here, and no seats: You just order your fried clams and lobster rolls through the walk-up window and roll up your sleeves.
    W HERE: 20 miles south of Portland. W HITE B ARN I NN: Tel 207-967-2321; www.whitebarninn.com .
Cost:
from $285 (off-peak), from $390 (peak); dinner $81. C APTAIN L ORD M ANSION: Tel 800-522-3141 or 207-967-3141; www.captainlord.com.
Cost:
from $125 (off-peak), from $275 (peak). T HE C LAM S HACK: Tel 207-967-2560.
Cost:
$8.
When:
May–Oct. B EST TIMES: spring–fall for idyllic weather; 1st weeks of Dec for Christmas Prelude festival ( www.christmasprelude.com ).
    Where the Arts Meet the Atlantic
M ONHEGAN I SLAND
    Maine
    Ten miles out to sea, tiny Monhegan Island is Maine in miniature, a 700-acre artist’s rendering of everything that makes this stretch of coast called Down East great. On its eastern side, towering headland cliffs greet the pounding Atlantic, while from the western (village) side hikers can set out on 17 miles of wooded trails that crisscross the island. Only about 60 people live here year-round. There are no cars, and no paved roads: Until 1984 there wasn’t even electricity. What there is is peace and quiet—and artists, lots of artists.
    First put on the map when Virginia governor John Smith visited in 1614, Monhegan didn’t get any attention from the art world until 1858, when painter Aaron Draper Shattuck paid a visit. Over the years that followed, artists such as Edward Hopper, Robert Henri, and Jamie Wyeth arrived to take advantage of the island’s incredible light and rugged landscapes. Thanks to a preservation movement led by Thomas Edison Jr. in the early 1950s, two-thirds of Monhegan is maintained in its pristine, wild state. Visitors arrive by ferry, stepping off into a tidy coastal village, home to almost every bit of civilization on the island: its galleries, its lobstering fleet, its markets and restaurants, and its hotels. Nothing is more than a few minutes’ walk from anything else, including some 20 artists’ studios open to the public in summer.
    Grab a trail map from anywhere in town and take off into the central forests. Head northeast, past the old ice pond toward Cathedral Woods, where tall stands of fir and spruce create a spiritual space Thoreau would have loved, its aisles carpeted with moss, ferns, and wildflowers. From here, head south along the coast to Burnt Head, whose 160-foot sea cliffs are among the highest in Maine, in summer filled with squawking seabirds.