Accommodations and Ice Cream in Boothbay Harbor, Maine
One of the quaintest places we found was a happy little accident. "Happy" because we found great accommodations and ice cream in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
​Brown's Wharf Inn
Turn left at the ginormous lobster fisherman.
Because literally EVERYONE decided to travel in June of 2021, it was difficult to find a reasonable hotel, so we opted for the only remaining room in town: Brown's Wharf Inn. It opened in 1967 by, you guessed it, the Brown family (not to be confused with the "Sister Wives" Brown family). The lobster fisherman was constructed a year later to attract would-be customers.
It must have been serendipity that we found this place because it's truly incredible! Think retro-1940's motel: small and charming with a personal touch. The price is comparable to anything else in Boothbay.
Although their dining room had not reopened since Covid, they serve a no frills, complimentary breakfast. What's on the menu? Homemade muffins with wild, Maine blueberries and coffee.
PRO TIP: I'm telling you this place is a gem! And the Bay View Room is worth the price bump.
Downeast Ice Cream Factory
If you love peanut butter and chocolate, this place will make you scream for it.
Let's just say I was under impressed with most of the restaurants in Boothbay, but there was one standout: Downeast Ice Cream Factory.
It's your typical mom and pop kind of place with a fairly diverse selection of homemade ice cream flavors. The decor is minimal (and who cares because it's ice cream), but the large map on the wall that holds push pins form all of their customers' hometowns is quite impressive.
One standout here is the much-coveted chocolate and peanut butter ice cream.
Okay, so, I need to unpack something here:
Listen, I absolutely despise chocolate and peanut combinations of any kind. The very thought of it activates a gag reflex for reasons I've never fully understood. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the absolute favorite flavor of my wife and in-laws. (No one's perfect.)
For them, every ice cream shop is judged by two gold-standard criteria: Do they have chocolate and peanut butter ice cream? And, if so, is it GOOD?
At Downeast, the answers are "yes" and "YES!" At least for my wife and her parents, the 6 scoop boat (yes, 6 scoops) was enough to fill their buckets with one of the best chocolate and peanut butter ice creams they've ever eaten.
And for me, I loved their chocolate and anything-but-peanut butter flavors, too.
PRO TIP: The lines wrap around the building at night, so get there early!