I’m embarrassed to admit visiting York wasn’t part of the original plan for this vacation. I did a ridiculous amount of (Pinterest) research for months before I actually left and I think the only thing I remembered about York was a wobbly bridge.
Fail.
One morning we had a free day of sorts. It was overcast and rainy so the plans we’d originally made had to be cancelled. We started naming places that were on our back-up list and it dwindled down to Big Chicken Antiques and Books Barn in Ellsworth, ME and York.
York won out and I am so glad because it turned out to be one of my favorite places visited in the entire state and by far one of my top two favorite accidental finds. If you are planning a trip to Maine at some point, York is a must do! Make it happen!
(Big Chicken – I’ll get to you next time!)
York has a little bit of everything. Beach, shopping, and a (gorgeous) lighthouse.
We spent a little time on the beach area along the main road into York. Do or don’t visit this one, because there’s another beach area around in the little downtown shopping area.
Both are lovely. This one doesn’t have bathroom facilities (at the moment. It looked like they were building some when we were there).
We ate at the restaurant pictured above with the green awning – Sun & Surf. It was almost empty because we were there before summer rush for a late lunch. Food was pretty good. I ordered the fish and chips. A little too much breading for my like, but the flavor was good.
Next we wandered over to the Nubble Lighthouse. To get there you drive through a neighborhood and feel like you are certainly doing all wrong, but stick with it. You will get there!
A little scaffolding work was being done while we were there, but it’s still gorgeous all the same!
The public isn’t allowed near the lighthouse since it’s on a tiny island with fairly treacherous waters separating it from the parking lot.
If you’re wondering how the workers get back and forth, they would put their tools in the little white basket/box right next to the power pole and send them across to the mainland. In the meantime they would jump in a little dinghy and paddle themselves across.
Check out this guy who was fishing nearby. Brave!
We spent a good while here just admiring the views and watching the workers navigate the waters back and forth.
Once we finally pulled ourselves away from the lighthouse we decided to explore the area. This is where we came across the other public beach and a little downtown shopping area.
We were here too early as most of the stores were still closed for the winter, but we did get to explore a few of the early birds!
At the end of this road is a small zoo that was closed when we were there. It was mostly deserted for our visit, but I have a feeling it gets pretty packed during their summer season.
When we were leaving the Nubble lighthouse earlier we’d noticed a little ice cream shop nearby. Since the ones downtown weren’t open, we headed back the way we came.
I couldn’t get the list in the picture, but they offer about 50 different ice cream flavor options.
I opted for a simple hot fudge sundae and ended the day with a nice view, a sweet treat, and a big smile.
One side note, as we were leaving we drove down one of the side streets where a sign was posted – “Blind Person”. It was the second of such a sign I saw posted while in Maine. If you haven’t read my post about how Maine rocks my socks off, this is something to add to the list.
York for the win.
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