Midcoast Maine – where you start to leave the hustle and bustle of Portland and the overcrowded beach towns of Southern Maine behind, and into the rustic Maine coast, filled with cozy fishing villages, striking cliffs and where some of the best oysters in the nation come from.

Pemaquid, Maine offers all that and more. Join us as we explore the Pemaquid Coast in the town of Bristol including old colonial forts, a rustic lighthouse, cliffs with powerful tides and of course a lobster pound with an order of oysters fresh from the sea.

Transcription

Pemaquid is an hour and a half from Portland and the Town of Bristol has a population of 2,800. To get there you need to go on a side quest from Route 1 right after you reach Damariscotta. While not the focus of this video, Damariscotta is a cozy small village right on the coast featuring restaurants, local shops, bars and some great waterfront spots for seafood. Oh, did I mention they have TWO Reny’s!?!? Pretty sure if they add one more they’ll have to make Damariscotta the new capital of Maine.

Colonial Pemaquid and Fort William Henry

About 20 minutes South of Damariscotta is Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site and Fort William Henry.

Parking is FREE and admission to the small museum and fort is $4 ($3 if you’re a Maine resident). 

Inside is a museum showcasing historical artifacts from the original Abenaki inhabitants, to British traders and early colonists. The museums goes into the history of the land which was technically part of Acadia in New France, but became the most Northern British trading post in 1625 and in the 1630s saw a rudimentary fort and village built which began a 100 year period of raids by pirates, natives and the French, subsequent newer, better, stronger fortifications with the construction of Fort William Henry and more raids by natives and the French. Ultimately resulting in the destruction of Fort William Henry and the reconstruction as Fort Federick in 1730 before being deconstructed to prevent it from being occupied by British forces during the Revolutionary War.

After watching a video on the history and touring the small museum, we were ready to explore the grounds surrounding the museum and fort.

The grounds contain the ruins of colonial buildings, a cemetery and a recreated historic fishing house. There’s a few employees dressed in colonial attire there to answer any questions or give additional insight into the history.

Pemaquid ultimately grew around the cod industry, producing large quantities of salted cod to ship back to England.

Next was to explore the restored Fort William Henry which was partially rebuilt in 1908. Inside, you’ll find more exhibits showcasing the various conflicts throughout the site’s history and what it was like to be a soldier stationed there.

Everyone is familiar with the famous Plymouth Rock, but Pemaquid had its own larger founding rock fully encased in the Fort. Apparently, claiming rocks in colonial America came with major bragging rights – weird.

Up on the top of the tower you have 360 degree views of Pemaquid Harbor and Pemaquid River. It was a beautiful day so we spent a lot of time up there.

There is also a small beach nearby, but we didn’t have time to explore it and were off to our next destination.

Pemaquid Lighthouse and Cliffs

We drove 10 minutes South to Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. It costs $4 to gain entrance to the seaside park, including the lighthouse, fisherman museum, cliffs and art gallery.

While the lighthouse was pretty and your quintessential Maine lighthouse experience, complete with rocky cliffs, it was the thunderous waves crashing against the rocks that stole the show.

The tide was going in, with some monstrous waves crashing against the coast. I have not seen anything like that in Maine so far. 

We climbed down onto the rocks for a closer look and had to retreat to higher ground after several close calls. There’s several signs posted prohibiting swimming and it’s pretty clear it would be a struggle for survival if you accidently fell in.

We just sat there for a while, being hypnotized by the sheer power of the ocean.

Afterwards we entered the Fishermans Museum which was once where the lighthouse keeper lived. The museum featured the history of the lighthouse, the fishing industry in the area and the life of a fisherman.

The lighthouse was built in 1835 after replacing the original which was built in 1827. There’s an option to climb up into the lighthouse tower, but it costs $1 cash, and we didn’t have any cash on us. Maybe next time.

Muscungus Bay Lobster Pound

By this time, we worked up our appetite and headed 20 minutes to Muscungus Bay Lobster Pound. We passed through New Harbor and roads hugging the coast, offering a stunning drive to our destination.

Once we arrived, we headed over to the window to place our order and then headed to the bar to grab some much deserved drinks. We grabbed a seat overlooking the harbor and it wasn’t long until our food was ready.

I ordered the Pemaquid oysters, which couldn’t be fresher or more refreshing. We also got some Haddock Stew and a Grilled Haddock Sandwich with a side of potato salad – absolutely delicious.

Aekir Brewing

On our way back we stopped by Aekir Brewing’s new taproom in Wiscasset Maine. Wiscassett is another rustic Maine village right on Route 1 that could be an entirely separate video. The brewery has two floors, and you can tell they put in a lot of work to create a cozy welcoming space with a lot of wood trim and other details. Downstairs features some larger picnic tables, while upstairs is more of a lounge area plus the bar area.

We ordered the Summer Stout, Amber Lager, and a taste of the Zinger Beer. Stout season isn’t just for winter anymore, the summer stout was a refreshing take on the malty classic and the Amber was fantastic too. The Zinger beer is a sour with a nice ginger twist.

Highly recommend a stop here, especially if you’re planning on spending half the day in Wiscasset in line at Red’s down the street which has been named Maine’s best (and maybe most expensive) lobster roll. Maybe I should do a lobster roll review video, but I don’t exactly have Jeff Bazos type money here. If you’d like to see a video like that, comment below – donations welcomed. Is Wiscasset actually Maine’s prettiest town? Well the verdict is out on that, but it does make for a great pitstop or overnight if you’re doing the Route 1 road trip up to Acadia.