A second sign got more specific: "Welcome to Maine — the way life should be." If that meant Kittery, we were in trouble. We had not come to shop, and the stores seemed to stretch for miles: Dexter's, Dockers, Dansk, ad infinitum. Eyes glued to the road, we pressed on.
Nearing York, the countryside took over. We continued through Ogunquit, passing rows of motels and gift shops still closed for the season. A cartoonlike mouse posed before a gigantic wheel of cheese, and banners hawked moccasins and souvenirs. For a split second we glimpsed blue, but it was deceptive. We were moving inland, away from the shore, and we would stay there until Portland.
Route 1 was a charm bracelet, blending old and new, frivolous and practical. Hardware stores linked with New Age bookshops, farmhouses with snack bars. Yet this was only one layer. In the distance, new mega-homes spanned the waterfront like yachts in port, separated from us by a wide salt marsh.
Wells was antique central. Along the roadside, shops overflowed with the historical reminders of the state's English roots.
We took Route 9 into Kennebunkport, weaving past a Franciscan monastery, a wildlife refuge, and secluded mansions. You could feel the financial temperature climb in the wording on the signs, such as "The Literary Bean: a coffeehouse."
And yes, Kennebunkport had class. Dock Square was rich in art galleries. Just beyond, we discovered a perfectly preserved neighborhood of exquisite Federal-style homesteads dating from the early 1800s. The centerpiece was the Captain Lord Mansion, where we stayed in a sumptuous three-story home with an octagonal cupola. Like its neighbors, it has been converted to a bed-and-breakfast. We spent hours soaking up the aura of patrician well-being: chandeliers, oil paintings, flowers, and a fire in the old brick hearth.
We awoke to the caw of seagulls. After breakfast, we made for Ocean Avenue, the splendid seaside drive that winds gracefully past shingled residences, gracious resorts, and Walker Point, the surf-beaten summer residence of one George Herbert Walker Bush, the former president.
