Camping at Searsport Shores Campground in Searsport, Maine

For a family of four, camping in a tent, for a week, even with two grown children, can be the stuff of which vacation horror stories are made. Still, this year we had a limited budget for vacation. With the passage of time our vow of "Never again" from the last time we went camping for a week had faded somewhat, so we decided to give it a try. My personal love of the ocean drew us to look for oceanfront campgrounds. There are surprisingly few that are suitable for tent campers in this part of the country, but we eventually settled on Searsport Shores Campground in Searsport, Maine.

Searsport is located conveniently near the junction of routes 1 and 3, in mid-coast Maine just above Belfast.

Searsport Shores offers sites for both RVs and tents. The tenting area does not offer the ability to park at your site. There is a parking area specifically for the tent campers, and carts are available to move your gear to and from your site. The distance isn't that far and this proved to be less of an inconvenience than I thought it was going to be, but it's still something of which prospective campers should be aware.

We might as well get the negative stuff out of the way first. The sites at this campground are small. If you're the type of camper who doesn't want to be able to see your neighbors, forget it. Most of the week the tent area was not filled to capacity and that was nice, but on the weekend we had neighbors close enough to hear me snoring.

We had a double site, which was larger, but for which we paid, well, double. It was worth it. We pretty much lived on one site with our dome tent and screen house, and the other site we used as buffer from our neighbors on one side. Having the double site also afforded us an extra little picnic table, which was nice.

Having gotten the negativity out of the way, let me tell you that I loved our tent site. We placed our camp chairs around our fire ring and from there we looked out every day over Penobscot Bay. The water at high tide was a few feet down from our site, and sunrise and moonrise were nothing short of spectacular. The picture at the top of this lens is the view from our tent, and every morning we awoke to the sun reflecting off the ocean and into our tent. The mostly black photo is the rising moon reflected in the water.

But what really makes Searsport Shores a great place, what makes up for any of the negatives, is the people who run it. Astrig, Steven, and Astrig's Dad were just wonderful. Need to find a place to have breakfast, they'll tell you the pros and cons of all the local eateries. Got a day trip in mind? Astrig will not only tell you if it's worth the ride, and how to get there, but give you a list of places to visit in route, and maybe where to score some fresh raspberries along the way. This friendly, helpful attitude carries through to the rest of the staff as well.

The care that the owners take with the property is evident. Look around carefully and you'll see that the whole place is one big garden. From appropriate natural plantings between sites to small oases of flowers, the amount of work and thought that has gone into the campground is evident. The campground is clean. The restrooms and showers are the cleanest I've ever seen at a campground. (I will note the small negative that the layout of the bathroom limits privacy, and sitting on the toilet listening to the ladies gossiping around the washing machines is a little disconcerting.)

I don't know about you, but by about day four of a week long camping trip I've about had it with campfire food. We determined ahead of time that when we felt like it on this trip, we'd go out to eat. Consequently we found a couple of really great places to dine.

If it's breakfast you're in the mood for, don't pass up Chase's Daily in Belfast. The menu is vegetarian, and the food is out of this world. The Chase family operates a local farm, and incorporates whatever is fresh off the farm in to the menu. I had an omelet with fresh swiss chard that was indescribably good. Get there early though if you want to avoid a wait. Chase's isn't very big.

About Thursday of our trip we discovered Abbracci Bakery, Trattoria, & Espresso Bar. This place is almost directly across from the entrance to the campground, and had we eaten there on Monday we probably would have eaten there every day. In the morning there's the combination of great hot coffee and wonderful fresh baked goods. Lunchtime brings delicious sandwiches, pizza, and more on their varied menu. (I can highly recommend the New Jersey Italian sandwich and the canoli. Mmmmmm.) We were never there for dinner, but I'm sure it's equally good. If you're staying at Searsport Shores you just have to visit this place.

Last on our list of good eats is the campground itself. Every Saturday evening the camp throws a lobster bake on the shore with all the fixings. Freshly steamed lobsters, steamed clams, all the steamed mussels you'd care to eat, together with corn on the cob, fresh baked bread, potatoes, and a dessert incorporating whatever fresh produce is ripe that day. This meal was a tad pricey, but worth it. It made a great last dinner at the campground. For those not keen on lobster, there are really good steaks hand-picked by Astrig's Dad.

No campground is perfect, but Searsport
Shores comes close. A beautiful setting and friendly staff lead to many fond vacation memories. We had a wonderful relaxing time, and got to know some great people. We may go back. Maybe we'll see you there!