Coastal Gem historic Eastport Water Street walk to shops, restaurants, galleries

Wake up to Passamaquoddy Bay from a bright, newly updated 2-bedroom, 2-bath apartment on Eastport's historic Water Street.

The whole ground floor is yours, with two private entrances and water views from the living room, dining room and both decks. Two queen bedrooms and two full baths sleep up to five—the master bath has an indoor jetted hot tub (it's inside, not an outdoor spa), and the second bath has a walk-in shower. The kitchen is fully equipped—dishwasher, oven, microwave, coffee and tea—and there's a separate dining room for long dinners after a day on the bay.

Outside: two decks to watch the tide run and the fishing boats come in, a gas grill and a backyard. Inside: fast WiFi, cable TV with streaming, Sonos, a work desk, and a washer and dryer. Pets are welcome ($35 pet fee per stay).

Upstairs is the owners' unit, used only occasionally and never rented, so you'll have the place to yourself. On a clear day you can see Old Sow—the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere—from the deck.

It's a five-minute walk to downtown: restaurants, galleries, shops, Horn Run Brewing and the waterfront breakwater. At the bottom of the hill, public access leads to a rocky beach where seals, eagles and the occasional pilot whale pass by.

ABOUT EASTPORT
Eastport is the easternmost city in the United States—about as far Downeast as Maine goes. It sits on Moose Island between Cobscook and Passamaquoddy Bays, directly across the water from Campobello Island, New Brunswick, with tides that run more than 18 feet and the deepest natural seaport on the East Coast.

Water Street's downtown Historic District has more than two dozen 19th-century buildings on the National Register, now filled with galleries, antique and gift shops, cafés, restaurants and a brewery. The Tides Institute & Museum of Art, the Fisherman and Mermaid statues on the breakwater, and Raye's Mustard Mill—the last stone-ground mustard mill in North America, operating since 1900—are all a short walk or drive away.

The water is the show here. Old Sow whirlpool churns between Eastport and Deer Island; the Reversing Falls at Pembroke run twice a day; and whale-watching boats go out May through October for minke, finback and humpback whales, plus porpoises, seals and bald eagles. Summer brings Maine's largest Fourth of July celebration, the Salmon & Seafood Festival on Labour Day weekend, and the Pirate Festival in September; the Great Sardine & Maple Leaf Drop rings in New Year's Eve.

THINGS TO DO
• Walk Water Street: galleries, shops, Tides Institute & Museum of Art, the breakwater, Horn Run Brewing (5 min on foot)
• Shackford Head State Park: 1.5-mile coastal trail with Campobello views, great birding (5 min drive)
• Whale & wildlife boat tours from the Eastport waterfront, May–October
• Raye's Mustard Mill tour and store
• Waponahki Museum at Sipayik (Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation), 10 min
• Reversing Falls, Pembroke (20 min)
• Campobello Island & Roosevelt Campobello International Park via the Lubec bridge (about 1 hr) or seasonal ferry—bring a passport
• West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, Lubec—easternmost point in the U.S. (about 1 hr)
• Guided sea kayaking, fishing charters, cycling the island
• Puffin tours to Machias Seal Island from Cutler (summer; book early)
• Day trips: Cobscook Bay State Park, Calais & St. Stephen NB, Acadia National Park (about 2.5 hrs)