For those of us who have been visiting Ogunquit for many years, we recognize that this home is situated in one of the most sought after locations in Ogunquit. We have the best of both worlds…we are quietly tucked away from the main road (Shore Road) yet just steps from Perkins Cove (just 0.15 miles to be precise) and the hustle and bustle of Ogunquit. And you can avoid that bottleneck of traffic on Rt. 1 by taking the Pine Hill Road route directly from Rt. 1 to the house. That’s priceless for me!

In general, Ogunquit has been ranked as one of the best “walking towns” in America. You really can go just about anywhere by foot or via the trolley system. We’ve been going there for the 10 years that we’ve owned our house and still are managing to find new things to do each year. I’ve outlined some of our favorites below.

We love to walk over the footbridge in the mornings and watch the local fishermen go out for the day, then we get our coffee and breakfast at either Breaking New Grounds or the Cove Café’, followed by a picturesque walk down the Marginal Way.

At lunch, you’ll usually find us at the Lobster Shack for the best chowder in Ogunquit or Barnacle Billy’s where you may run into the former Bush Presidents. If you want to get a quick and small beach fix, there are 2 wonderful beaches right off of the Marginal Way…and our kids loved to go down and play in the sand there when they were younger…check the tide charts for sure! These beaches make a great late day beach excursion…they are small but very quaint with rocks that our kids loved to climb.

We love the many dinner options in the Cove…MC Perkins Cove (one of the best Cosmo’s I’ve ever had), Oarweed, Jackie’s Too…all of these restaurants have fantastic views of the ocean. And then of course we finish the evening with ice cream.

When we have guests in town, we always take them out on the Finest Kind Lobster Tour…it leaves from Perkins Cove next to Barnacle Billy’s. It’s a great quick 50 minute trip with lots of great coastal scenery…you may want to take a sweater as it does get chilly on the ocean. Last summer we did a Finest Kind Breakfast Cruise that went north and gave us a view of the seals off of Wells Beach.

There are also some great art galleries as well as the Ogunquit Museum within walking distance from the house. If you are up for a longer trek, the center of town is about a 1 mile walk from Perkins Cove. We frequently take the scenic route via the Marginal Way and come out by the Sparhawk Hotel and then continue on to the center of town. Or you can catch the trolley from the Perkins Cove stop…it will take you into town if you don’t feel like walking. It runs all day until 11 pm during season. This comes in handy if you want to frequent the other restaurants closer to the center of town, but don’t want to walk the mile in your nice dress shoes. We love The Front Porch, Five-O Shore Road and That Place in Ogunquit. Joshua’s, further north on Rt. 1 is also great, but I’d definitely recommend driving.

We seldom drive in Ogunquit but when we do, it’s to a few different places. 1. If we are planning to do a long day at the Ogunquit Beach with all the boogie boards, beach umbrellas and coolers, we drive. It’s just too much to try to lug. 2. I love to shop at the outlets in Kittery! 3. We usually stay for 3-4 weeks at a time so we need to load up on groceries at Hannaford’s. 5. Antiquing on Route 1 is so much fun and you can’t really do it without a car .

If you are driving into town instead of flying…you may want to consider bringing your bikes if you have them. We love to take bike rides through the neighborhoods with our kids. It never seems to get old!

Some other activities that we have enjoyed over the years…

• Portsmouth, NH is a really charming town. It’s just 15 minutes away by car and it makes for a nice daytrip to wonder through the town and browse the shops. We like to eat lunch in one of the many cool restaurants along the river. Last summer we did a horse and buggy ride that was awesome!

• We love to paddle board! We’ve gone from one of the hotels on Rt. 1 on the river as well as have rented our own boards from Liquid Dreams Surf Shop to go out on the beach and around to the Cove.

• We enjoy buying and steaming our own lobsters, clams and mussels at the house as I tend to make a mess of myself!

• We like to take drives south on Rt. A1A past York’s beaches, stopping to mill around the York beach town…home of the Golden Rod Kisses. Lunch at this place is really cool and we love to watch them make the taffy. It’s the original equipment from many years ago and it is mesmerizing!

• The famous and frequently photographed Nubble Lighthouse is around the corner from York too.

• York’s Wild Animal Kingdom is fun...there is a zoo side and a vintage carnival side. Kids really like it.

As I mentioned, there is lots to do…you’ll need to keep coming back to fit it all in!