Call The Craignair Inn by the Sea your home base in MidCoast Maine—there’s no better one if you ask us!—to put a plethora of summer attractions at your fingertips. Those include a number of charming MidCoast villages, among them the lovely and historic village of Rockport, only a half-hour or so from our Spruce Head bed and breakfast.
A jaunt to Rockport from your Craignair Inn guest room or suite is fabulous any time of year, but no question the long days, friendly warmth, and ample sunshine this time of year provides the perfect opportunity for a day trip. Read on to learn more about what to do in Rockport, Maine on your Craignair Inn getaway this summer!
Established back in 1769 and long called Goose River Village, Rockport gained its current name in 1891, when it split off from nearby Camden.
Home to 3,000-odd souls, the town occupies a beautiful harbor set along West Penobscot Bay and backdropped by the noble heights of the Camden Hills. While fishing, farming, and (historically, anyway) shipbuilding and lime manufacturing have been among its formative industries, Rockport also lays claim to a deep-rooted heritage as an artists’ colony and lays claim to an impressive and vibrant arts-and-culture scene.
We don’t have nearly the room to detail all there is to see and do on a summer’s day in Rockport, but we can offer up a few highlights.
Swing by postcard-perfect Rockport Harbor, host to the longstanding Rockport Boat Club, which offers youth and adult sailing classes as well as cruises to its members. While you're down there, be sure to track down the statue honoring the harbor’s best-known past resident: Andre the harbor seal, who befriended tree surgeon, diver, and harbormaster Harry Goodridge as a pup and ended up summering here for more than 20 years. (He spent numerous winters in pseudo-captivity at Boston’s New England Aquarium and the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.) Andre, whose story inspired a 1994 feature film, died in 1986, but his memory sure lives on strong.
And you’ll find some of the numerous beaches in Rockport, Maine right along the harborfront, including sandy Goodies Beach and cobbly Walker Park Beach.
Registered guests who are accompanied by a member can also check out the Megunticook Golf Club, established back in 1899 and on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to maintaining the oldest operating private golf course in Maine, the club hosts facilities for tennis and pickleball (which everybody seems to play now, right?).
Among the great architectural landmarks of MidCoast Maine, the Rockport Opera House dates back to 1891, when it opened as Rockport Town Hall. Perched in view of Rockport Harbor and adjacent to the lovely Mary Lea Park, the Opera House—which has worn many hats, if you will, over the years—was richly restored in the 1990s, and today functions as a multi-use theater, events, and meeting space. (Rockport’s yearly Town Meeting, for example, is convened at the Opera House, nodding to its earliest history.)
Taking in one of the Rockport Opera House’s regular roster of live performances, including the Bay Chamber Concerts, you can admire one of its most glorious features: the century-plus-old Colonial Revival-style canvas theater curtain.
Feel like amping up the pressure—in an all-in-good-fun sort of way—while kicking back in luxurious style here at The Craignair Inn? If so, we might recommend weaving in a visit to TRAPT in Maine Escape Rooms during your explorations of Rockport.
Here you and your teammates—your main squeeze, maybe, or a group of friends, or some friendly strangers—can put your heads together to try and crack the code and get yourselves out of a themed escape room in an hour’s time. The facility’s rooms include Castle Crypt, Eleven, The Upside Down, The Butcher, Gone Missing, and High Noon Saloon—each one of them is pretty much an honest-to-goodness blast!
Beyond the main attraction, TRAPT in Maine also offers a pool, ping-pong, and various eats and drinks (including adult beverages).
The Aldermere Farm Preserve, managed by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, is best known for its gorgeous Belted Galloway cattle, a heritage breed from Scotland. Black with a white band around their middle, these hardy bovines are sometimes affectionately called “Oreo cookie cattle,” and the Aldermere herd—established in 1953—is the oldest continually maintained one in the U.S.
But besides those beloved Belties—and besides the farm tours, agricultural-education experiences, and other events and programs on regular offer—the Aldermere Farm Preserve is a fine place for a short stroll in the summer sunshine. A quarter-mile trail leads to an overlook of the serene Lily Pond, while a 0.4-mile path drops down from Calderwood Lane to the briny shores of Penobscot Bay.
Rockport’s just a stone’s throw from Camden, Maine; heck, as we already established, the two towns were once one. And Camden’s well worth a visit as well: from the Camden Opera House and the Curtis Island Lighthouse to the cliff-and-summit trails of Camden Hills State Park, it’s another MidCoast treasure just a hop, skip, and a jump from The Craignair Inn.
For taking in everything from downtown Rockport, Maine to the offshore islands and farther-afield destinations such as Acadia National Park, you simply can’t beat The Craignair Inn, tucked serenely at the doorstep of Clark Island and offering refined bed-and-breakfast hospitality with some of the MidCoast’s finest accommodations—and some of its finest on-site dining!
Now’s the time to reserve your guest room or suite with us here at The Craignair Inn: Treat yourself to some rejuvenating summertime bliss along the Gulf of Maine, and include a day trip to Rockport on your itinerary!