Maine invites you to slow down and enjoy quality time together as a family.

Here’s where to learn about lobster, eat endless ice cream, and play in the sand.

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I first metMainein the L.L.

Mother with three children on the porch at Hidden Pond Resort

Credit:Marissa Hermer/Travel + Leisure

Bean catalogue that was delivered to my Laguna Beach childhood home.

Maine is the panacea for feeling frantic and disconnected.

Here, the passage of time is welcomed, not mourned.

Kids get breakfast in the kitchen and play in the pool at Hidden Pond Resort

Marissa Hermer/Travel + Leisure

It is where Thoreau went to “shake off the village” amongst the trees.

Trees know about slowing down.

Trees dont hurry growing, they just do.

A table of oysters and seafood dishes from Joysters

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Maine is where we went to create a parenthesis in time, bookending summer camp.

In the summer, people in Maine are barefooted, light-footed, and surefooted.

The dailiness of life is honored here its no surprise E.B.

Kids play at Tides Beach Club and a child tosses a lobster back into the ocean on a boat tour

Marissa Hermer/Travel + Leisure

From the moment we drove up the wooded entrance, we found ourselves in a bucolic Xanadu.

Cottages, bungalows, and treetop lodges dot the 60 acres of birch tree wilderness.

New York designer Todd Snyder has refreshed the bungalows, marrying rustic charm with country chic.

Small child at Five Acre Farm under a shef and a few kids wait for ice cream by the beach

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Where to Eat

Earth

Earthat Hidden Pond brings significant culinary cred to Kennebunkport.

Eleven a.m. did feel early for clam chowder and a lobster roll, but 1.

We were in Maine and 2.

I generally think time is a silly construct for things like clam chowder and lobster rolls.

We waited only a short time at 11 a.m., and yes, it was delicious.

Even if you do have to wait a longer queue, it will still be worth it.

If you start withGoose Rocks Dairy,you wont want to go anywhere else.

Just be wary of the sizes one ice cream scoop is the size of your childs head.

Satellite Doughnuts

Satellite Doughnutsis worth a visit and wins prizes for both creativity and cuteness.

Lobstermen are the cowboys of the Northeast, and lobster harvesting is fascinating, dangerous, and delightful.

Five Acre Farm Stand

In Maine, detours are not only encouraged they are the activity.

A farm stand honor bar!

Tides Beach Club

Tides Beach Cluborganizes kayaking, paddle boarding, and boogie boarding.

We were sandy footed and welcomed all the same.

Maine is escape incarnate and Im already feeling the pull to return.

Thank goodness for summer camp.