Three miles northeast of Kennebunkport along ME 9, on the shore, is the village of Cape Porpoise.

Not fancy, not crowded, it has only a few craft shops, a half-dozen restaurants, a few guesthouses, and a lot of Maine atmosphere.

Cape Porpoise is good for bicycling: although somewhat hilly, the distances are not long, pretty views of the sea are plentiful, and parking a bike is as simple as parking a car is not.

Bike the mile or so to the pier, a working fishing and lobstering wharf. A brass plaque on a rock atop the sand hill there bears this legend:

August 8, 1782, a British ship of 18 guns attacked a small force of inhabitants gathered on Goat Island and was driven away by severe musket fire, losing 17 men. James Burnham of this town was killed. This tablet erected by the Maine State Council, Daughters of the American Revolution, August 8, 1921.

Parking at the pier is severely restricted, so plan to come for lunch at either the Cape Pier Chowder House, The Ramp Bar & Grill, or the Pier 77 Restaurant. The Ramp and Pier 77, under the same management, have their own private parking lot.

Not an awful lot exciting has happened in Cape Porpoise since that signal victory in 1782, and it's just as well, for the quiet is what makes it nice.

Besides the three restaurants at the pier, Cape Porpoise has several more restaurants in the village center.

East along the coast, a short drive brings you to Goose Rocks Beach and, a bit farther, to the long sand beach at Biddeford Pool.

Atlantic Hall in the village center.

—by Tom Brosnahan

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