A Couple of Lovebirds on a Vegan Trip to Maine

A break from your regularly scheduled programming – I’m Josey, a writer for For Goodness Seyks, here to share with you a special vegan trip I took to Maine.

My boyfriend and I planned a cozy vegan trip to Maine to cool down after too much summer quarantining with family and to kick off his final year of undergrad with rosé and vegan comfort food.

Fresh, crisp air. Open waters rough against rocky shores. A comfy cabin with an expansive view of the woods. Exactly what I needed.

I know we’re not your favorite vegan couple, Seyka and Brian, but I’m fine with accepting second place. We can be your second favorite vegan couple, Josey and Mike, young twenty-somethings hoping to create a more sustainable future and exploring the world and eating all the plant-based food on the way. So we’re not that different from what you’re used to. 

I planned a whole day for me and Mike before we even arrived at our Airbnb in Liberty, Maine. I ordered donuts from Lovebird Donuts two days before to make sure we would get all the flavors we wanted. Planned the scenic route we would take that added a few extra hours to the trip. Imagined what it would be like to be with him in one of my favorite places. 

We’d take the scenic route along Route 1, the road that goes all the way up the coast, through the seaside towns and coastal villages, down all the main streets, elegant homes on your left and rocky cliffs on the right  – sunroof open, windows down – like a scene from an early 2000s rom-com. 

Lovebirds Donuts

Lovebirds Donuts, in Kittery, Maine, is about an hour north of Boston just across from the Maine border. They have a new menu of craft vegan donuts and drinks each month with a few donut types: “swanky” donuts (experimental), signature, classics, and gluten-free. 

Here is the menu from when we went in August. 

We took the fastest route possible to Kittery from Boston – excited about the delicious vegan donuts waiting for us and, well, Lovebirds closed at noon on Mondays. 

Since I had been in super planning mode before the trip, very off-brand for me, picking up the donuts was a breeze. Due to the pandemic, their register sits outside their storefront. Even though I only got a peek into the shop from the windows, I could tell it was lovely inside, pale pink walls, cozy seating, and some t-shirts I definitely would have purchased if I were inside. We ordered iced coffee that, by default, comes with Oatly (:O) –  how it should be everywhere. Mike ordered it with a pump of salted caramel, and I ordered it with a pump of lavender. They grabbed the donuts for Josey inside and brought them out to our car. We were on our way. 

It just so happened that it’s only twenty minutes from one place I wanted to show Mike in Maine – Nubble Light. 

Nubble Light 

Twenty minutes from Lovebirds Donuts is what my mom calls the loveliest lighthouse, Nubble Light. This lighthouse sits across a strip of water on a little island. It’s the type of place where I dream of being a lighthouse keeper. The parking lot sits at the edge of the mainland and tourists scatter across the rocks and boulders of the shore like seagulls gawking at the sight of the lighthouse. Mike and I took our big pink box of Lovebirds donuts down to an open, flat boulder, carefully jumping along the rocks with the precious donuts and dreamy iced coffee with oat milk. 

Juicy Donut Details  

From left to right, that’s strawberry shortcake, peach jam, monkey muffin, gob, blackberry, and Boston cream.

I know you’ll appreciate the juicy donut details.  

Strawberry Shortcake: Brioche donut cut in half-filled with a layer of buttercream and fresh strawberries.

Peach Jam: Sweet peach jam in a brioche shell. Initially crafted for a wedding, this flavor was brought to the public this year, using peaches grown at Union Lake Peach Orchard (family-owned and operated).

Monkey Muffin: Cinnamon sugar pull-apart bread topped with vanilla icing. 

Gob: Chocolate cake donut sliced in half, filled with buttercream just like a gob, but better. 

Blackberry: Maine fresh blackberry glaze on a vanilla cake donut.

Boston Cream: Custard-filled brioche topped with chocolate ganache.

It’s worth a trip to Maine just to get these vegan donuts.

We tried all of them right away. 

Mike and I decided that we had to try every donut while sitting at Nubble Light. We savored each bite and watched each other’s reactions to sinking our teeth into the donut. These moments were indescribably sweet. Sitting with one another in the cool breeze and warm sunshine, filling ourselves with buttercream and fluffy brioche. 

I have a selfie of us with Nubble Light in the background but I realized I have chocolate on my face in the picture, probably from the ganache on the Boston Cream. Chocolate on my face is a common occurrence for me, so I’m not surprised.

We saved the Strawberry Shortcake donut for last. Without talking about it, we each thought about how this one was probably going to be the best. And we were right. This donut was our favorite! Fresh strawberries and buttercream in between the layers of sweet brioche – it was perfect. 

Home-Cooked Vegan Meals

The rest of the trip consisted of slow days in the cabin embracing the chill air on the porch and nourishing ourselves with vegan comfort food. For breakfast, hearty bagels loaded with vegan cream cheese, avocado, and arugula. Snacks included crackers and a block of Violife cheese. We made dinner up as we cooked, and we came up with delicious creations involving Beyond Meat, a variety of veggies cooked a variety of ways, all put together into either a sandwich or toast piled high. 

Acadia 

On Wednesday, we took a day trip to Acadia and drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the North Atlantic seaboard. The top of the mountain offers a spectacular view of the national park. And the drive up and down is a thrill in itself, winding roads that made me want to throw my hands up like I was on a rollercoaster. 

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor is the town closest to Acadia. Tourists packed the sidewalks. A day in a classic seaside vacation town satisfied everyone’s itch for a taste of usual summer vacations. Although we couldn’t eat in any restaurants and didn’t want to risk being in close quarters with others in small shops, we enjoyed the day in the most perfect way. 

My family took a trip to Acadia last summer with our Airstream. It was a crazy trip with no hot water and very few modern amenities, but we saw Maine’s beautiful landscape in an up-close way. On a day when we escaped from nature, we ended up in Bar Harbor and happened upon two spots that I wanted to take Mike on this trip to Maine. 

In the middle of the day, Mike and I sipped wine at a small table in the front garden of a lovely little inn, Ivy Harbor Inn. Green ivy covers the face of the English Tudor style house. Last summer, my family sat in front of this inn and had a drink, too. I imagined bringing Mike there and dreamed of us staying there someday. Sitting across from him in a place I had imagined us in made me hopeful of dreams coming true and reminded me of how my life can become magical in a moment. We’ll stay there someday. I know we will. 

And, of course, ice cream to finish off this vegan trip to Maine. 

The last spot I needed to go to was CJ’s Big Dipper – a traditional ice cream shop that you would expect in any seaside town, but they have vegan options! Insane I know! I had been thinking about the almond milk twist soft-serve since when I had it last summer.  

Mike ran to CJ’s to grab the ice cream while I stayed at our table. I already knew I wanted a twist in a cone, so I let him go to see the options. He came back with a scoop of Nutter Butter with some vanilla soft serve for him and my gorgeous cone. It was just as I remembered, but given the company and the circumstance of imagined moments becoming real, it was sweeter.  

Hope you enjoyed our little vegan trip to Maine!

If you’d to see the vegan hot spots of other places, check out our Vegan Voyage YouTube channel where you can see over 21 countries of vegan goodness!

And check out some other blogs with tips on how to travel while vegan!

Travel Wellness Guide

For other vegan spots in the US:

Vegan Voyage USA

For other romantic trips:

Honeymoon Secrets: Resort Review

For more vegan donuts around the world:

Vegan Voyage Czech Republic

Thanks for letting me share this trip with all of you!
Let me know if you have any favorite vegan spots in Maine, and I’ll be sure to get there on my next trip.

Love,
Josey