Attractions - New York Times

The village center is good for an hour or 2 of browsing among the boutiques, or sipping a cappuccino at one of the several coffee emporia.

From the village, you can walk to scenic Perkins Cove along Marginal Way, a mile-long oceanside pathway once used to herd cattle to pasture. Early in the last century, a local developer bought the land and deeded the right-of-way to the town. The wide and well-maintained pathway departs across from the Seacastles Resort on Shore Road. It passes tide pools, pocket beaches, and rocky, fissured bluffs, all worth exploring. The seascape can be spectacular (especially after a storm), but Marginal Way can also be extremely crowded during fair-weather weekends. To elude the crowds, head out in the very early morning.

Perkins Cove, accessible either from Marginal Way or by driving south on Shore Road and veering left at the Y intersection, is a small, well-protected harbor that seems custom-designed for a photo opportunity. As such, it attracts visitors by the bus-, car-, and boatload, and is often heavily congested. A handful of galleries, restaurants, and T-shirt shops cater to the tourist trade from a cluster of quaint buildings between harbor and sea. An intriguing pedestrian drawbridge is operated by whoever happens to be handy, allowing sailboats to come and go.

Excursions Coastal Maine Outfitting Co., Route 1, Cape Neddick (tel. 207/363-0181; www.excursionsinmaine.com), runs 2-hour ($45) and half-day ($70) sea-kayaking tours on rivers and along the coast three times daily in summer. Ask about sunrise, sunset, and full-moon kayaking trips.

Perkins Cove is also home to a handful of deep-sea fishing and tour boat operators, who offer trips of varying duration. Try the Deborah Ann (tel. 207/361-9501) for whale-watching (two tours daily) or the Ugly Anne (tel. 207/646-7202) for deep-sea fishing.

Warning: If teeming crowds and tourist enterprises are not the reason you came to Maine, steer clear of Perkins Cove.

Not far from the cove is the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, 543 Shore Road (tel. 207/646-4909), one of the best small art museums in the nation. The engaging modern building is set back from the road in a glen overlooking the shore. The curators have a track record for staging superb shows and attracting national attention. Open July through October, Monday to Saturday from 10:30am to 5pm and Sunday from 2 to 5pm. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and students, and free for children under 12.

For evening entertainment, head to the Ogunquit Playhouse, Route 1 (tel. 207/646-5511; www.ogunquitplayhouse.org), a 750-seat summer stock theater with a solid reputation. The theater has entertained Ogunquit since 1933, attracting actors such as Bette Davis, Tallulah Bankhead, and Gary Merrill. Stars of recent seasons have included Charles Busch (who will be playing "Auntie Mame" in the summer of 2004) and Sally Struthers. Tickets are $28.

Another evening alternative is the Booth Theatre, at the Betty Doon Motor Hotel, Village Square (tel. 207/646-8142), which bills itself, somewhat peckishly, as "Ogunquit's true repertory summer theater." Summer season runs for 11 weeks; each Sunday night features a magic show. Recent shows have included favorites such as "Snoopy" and "Kiss Me Kate." Tickets are $10 to $15.

A Road Trip To Laudholm Farm -- A short drive north of Ogunquit, above the beach town of Wells, is Laudholm Farm (tel. 207/646-1555), a historic saltwater farm owned by the nonprofit Laudholm Trust since 1986. The 1,600-acre property, originally a summer home of 19th-century railroad baron George Lord, has been used for estuarine research since taken over by the trust. The farm has 7 miles of trails through diverse ecosystems, ranging from salt marsh to forest to dunes. A visitor center in a regal Victorian farmhouse will get you oriented. Tours are available, or explore the grounds on your own. Parking costs $5 in summer, free the rest of the year. Admission is free for the grounds and visitor center. The farm is open daily from 8am to 8pm; the visitor center is open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday, and from noon to 4pm Sunday.

To reach the farm, turn east on Laudholm Farm Road at the blinking light just north of Harding's Books (which, incidentally, is located in Lord's former private railroad station). Bear left at the fork, then turn right into the farm's entrance.

Doing Doughnuts in Wells -- While cruising the Wells-Ogunquit axis, you must experience Congdon's Doughnuts Family Restaurant & Bakery, 1090 Post Rd. (Rte. 1), tel. 207/646-4219. Clint and Dot "Nana" Congdon of New Hampshire moved to the Maine coast and opened a family-style restaurant in 1945. Nana's sinkers proved so popular she relocated the operation to Wells ten years later and went into the doughnut business full-time. These are some of New England's best. Chocolate-chocolate is ever popular, but you can't go wrong with almost anything else among three dozen choices -- a pillowy raised doughnut, a filled blueberry, a buttercrunch, a honey-dip, a sugar twist, a chocolate honey, or one of the seasonal specials, such as maple, apple, or pumpkin. You can also get diner-style meals here, mostly fried food and breakfast fare. The shop recently added a drive-through window, but retains its original character (and that includes the characters dining inside). Yes, they use lard. You have been warned. Open daily except Tuesday, from 6am to 2pm.

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