Wake up early and ride a rental bike down to the seaport, past the stark white church spires and old "lawbstahmen," for breakfast at Andrews' Harborside Restaurant. The wait is sometimes 45 minutes, but the half-inch thick blueberry pancakes and softball-sized hot cinnamon rolls are well worth it.

The 45-mile drive up the state's Mid-Coast region from Boothbay Harbor to Rockland rolls by well-stocked farmers' markets, historic inns, and old hillside cemeteries. Two miles south of Rockland is the Owls Head Transportation Museum. You'd never expect that this remote place would house the world's first Ford Mustang or the largest motorcycle ever made. The museum's summertime Model T rides and antique airplane demonstrations wow kids of all ages.

Around Rockland on Knox County's rocky shores (Maine's "Lighthouse Coast") are 14 of the state's 63 lighthouses; many were built in the 1800s and have been preserved as museums. After checking out a few, head north to Camden, a town of charming storefronts, and stop for a roadside stretch on the Camden Public Library's beautifully manicured grounds. Across the street and behind a row of stores a waterfall spills over tiers of rock and flows out to the harbor. For panoramic views of the harbor, drive just outside of town to Mt. Battie's 800-foot summit in Camden Hills State Park.

Get lunch at the casual-dining Lobster Pound restaurant in Lincolnville, on one of Maine's few sandy beaches. This 40-year mainstay prepares some of the best new-shell lobster (and butter!) on Route 1. Servers automatically tie on your bib before presenting you with a tasty lobster that's sweet, tender, and easy to coax from the shell. Along Maine's coast, lobster restaurants are plentiful, but the main dish still isn't cheap. At the Lobster Pound, expect to pay about $20 for a 1-lb., $40 for a 2-lb., lobster dinner.

If you're looking for a hideaway, Belfast is the spot. There's not much going on after 9 p.m., so catch up on sleep here. Go for an early-morning stroll along the waterfront by Main Street's shops (Colburn Shoe claims it's the nation's oldest shoe store) or by the historic homes on Church Street. Celebrity watchers should visit nearby Islesboro, an island where both John Travolta and Kirstie Alley own estates.

The practical (nuts, fudge, wooden toys) sit side-by-side with the wild and weird (a skull with a steam engine on it!) at Perry's Nut House on the outskirts of Belfast. Every souvenir, gag gift, and tchotchke imaginable is packed wall-to-wall here – whoopee cushions, salt and pepper shakers, pirate flags, and the endless variety of mindless gimmicks that entertain kids on long road trips.

Drive a half-hour west of town toward Thorndike, and you're in the middle of nowhere. Beware of moose and grouse crossings, and porcupine roadkill. The countryside's dirt roads wind into secluded places in the woods. Paint peels off weathered houses, and wooden barn shingles are tattered like straw.

Bryant Stove and Music sits unassumingly at the end of a residential driveway, yet filmmaker Steven Spielberg found his way there to select several stoves for his productions. Bryant's is an undiscovered wonderland; a collection so odd it's almost dreamlike. Nowhere will you find such a kitschy yet historically important accumulation of antique stoves, early jukeboxes, classic cars, and a homemade doll circus. Ask the owner to show you his favorite pieces, and you'll get an earful of interesting stories. Maybe even a little ditty at the player piano.