Maine's Southern Coast: Kennebunkport's Most Famous Family

Throughout the southern coastal region of Maine, many restaurants and businesses proudly display photos of the Bush family visiting their establishment.  Kennebunkport, summer home of President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush, is especially proud of their most famous family. Proud and willing to share tidbits of information about the Bushes, Kennebunkport residents also seem respectful of the family's privacy. During our stay, Kennebunkport was busy preparing for Barbara Bush's 90th birthday celebration.

Walker's Point, the Bush family home, in Kennebunkport

Walker's Point

Because it offers a good vantage point on Walker's Point, the Goat Island Lighthouse in nearby Cape Porpoise
 was home to secret service agents for a time during the presidency of George H. W. Bush.*

First Lady Barbara Bush leaving Gooch's Beach after a walk with her dogs

This birthday banner for Mrs. Bush was proudly displayed in downtown Kennebunkport--
just across the street from the town's democratic headquarters.

* From The Lighthouse Handbook:  New England by Jeremy D'Entremont 

Maine's Southern Coast: Dogs on the Beach

If you're a dog lover, as I am, you will enjoy visiting Gooch's Beach just to dog watch.  Dogs are allowed on the beach before 9 am and after 5 pm in the summer and at all times during the rest of the year.  The best part about dog watching on Gooch's Beach?  Every dog I saw was happy! 

For more photos of dogs enjoying Gooch's Beach, see the book Gooch's Pooches:  The Dogs of Kennebunk Beach by Robert Dennis and Annette Hall Quezada.  Great photos of some adorable dogs!

Maine's Southern Coast: Gooch's Beach

About 100 yards from our rental house is a beautiful little stretch of sand called Gooch's Beach.  On Beach Street just about a mile east of downtown Kennebunkport, Gooch's Beach is a wide crescent-shaped space that is seems to be well-loved by the locals.  Lots of runners, dog walkers, and surfers use this beach, but it never seemed crowded.  The Kennebunk River meets the Atlantic Ocean at one end of the beach while a peninsula of jagged rocks juts out into the ocean at the other end.  The sea wall, Beach Street, and pretty homes wrap around the rest of the beach.  Clean, unspoiled, and completely free of commercialization, Gooch's Beach is simply a beach--and that's what I loved about it. My husband and I made our way to Gooch's every day and enjoyed all it had to offer no matter what the weather was.

Kennebunkport & the river sit at this end of the beach.  The huge white building is the grand Colony Resort.

Homes on the far side of Beach Street and the sea wall

A taste of Maine's dramatic rocky coast

Watch the seagulls

Or watch the ships on the ocean

Enjoy the dogs playing in the surf

Surf--or enjoy watching the surfers

That's former First Lady, Barbara Bush, getting into her car after walking her dogs on Gooch's Beach.
And, yes, that's a local surfer changing at the car right beside her!

See what the sea brings to the shore

Leave your mark

Just enjoy all the moods of Maine