Welcome to our Off the Beaten Path: My Favorite Places blog series, where UNH students walk you through some of the coolest and most unexpected locations where they spend time on and around our Durham campus! Read on to discover amazing, fun and scenic things to do in Seacoast New Hampshire and Maine, as told by Ocean Engineering major Kelsea '25.
Kelsea Carmichael at Hilton Park
As a student who came to UNH from South Carolina, I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I had never even been to New Hampshire. Over the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring New Hampshire, going on what my family calls “John Boyington Adventures.” My late grandfather, John Boyington, was known for just getting in the car and driving until he saw a lighthouse to paint, a yard sale to explore or anything that seemed weird.
This is the best way to get to know an area, so when classes are done or I have a free Saturday, I get in the car, choose a direction and start driving. As an ocean engineering major, I am very passionate about marine life, so I usually drive east, to the ocean.
To see the local seacoast, the key is to drive on U.S. Route 1, either north to Maine or south towards Hampton Beach. I’m going to share with you my favorite spots I’ve discovered as I’ve explored over the last three years.
Beaver swimming under the pier at Fort Foster
1. Fort Foster
My all-time favorite spot is Fort Foster, a local park owned by the town of Kittery, Maine. As it was the site of an active military fort built in 1873 and used until 1948, there is some interesting history to be discovered in the park. However, I go for the sandy beach and beautiful views. The water is so clear compared to South Carolina water—you can see hermit crabs scuttling around your feet and striped bass energetically swimming after bait fish.
I like to do “photo shoots” with the stone crabs, who are very friendly compared to the feisty blue crabs I have at home. The best moment here, though, was when I looked down from the pier and saw a beaver swimming underneath me. I am obsessed with beavers since they are “nature’s engineers,” so to see one show up for a beach day was very exciting. He swam to a section of the beach without people, gnawed on some driftwood and then swam back toward fresh water.
Nubble Lighthouse
2. Nubble Lighthouse
If you keep driving north through Maine, you will get to Nubble Lighthouse, just two miles off U.S. 1 in York, Maine. This was my grandfather’s favorite lighthouse, so I had seen his paintings of it and had a distant memory of visiting when I was little. I also remembered having delicious donuts from a local donut shop. When I visited a few weeks ago, my best friend and I obviously had to find the donut shop, which turned out to be Congdon’s Donuts.
Then we drove to the lighthouse, took in the view and started hunting for critters in the rocks. We hoped to find crabs and shrimp in the tide pools, but instead just found slippery, algae-covered rocks. Despite the lack of crustaceans that day, I had a great time because I got to see something my grandfather loved. I even saw an artist painting the view, which let me imagine what my grandfather must have looked like sitting there 50 years ago.
A polaroid my roommate took of me with the vintage deer I got in Arundel
3. Arundel, ME
The final stop in Maine is on U.S. 1 in Arundel, just north of Kennebunk. Here you will find another great donut shop, The Holy Donut, a local chain. You will also find a plethora of antique stores and on Saturdays when it's warm, a flea market full of treasures. I met some true New England characters at the flea market in Arundel’s Antique Village, so if you want to meet real Mainers, this is the place to go. Adjacent is Antiques USA, where I could’ve spent five hours exploring. I found many cool items for my dorm, including fish-shaped plates from the '80s which I use every day, and decorations like vintage ads and postcards from the '50s to hang on my wall. Also, if you're someone who collects license plates, there must’ve been a thousand.
One of the horseshoe crabs I found at Hilton Park
4. Hilton State Park
Just 15 minutes from campus is Hilton State Park in Dover, NH, though my friends and I call it Seal Point because we once saw a seal playing in the water. There are picnic tables to eat at, grills, a large playground and spots to fish, so there is something for everyone at this tiny park. When the weather is nice, my best friend and I come here almost weekly to eat burgers from Hop and Grind, a restaurant in Durham, and go critter huntin’. Critter huntin’ is our favorite activity and is just what we call it when we’re looking for wildlife like crabs, horseshoe crabs or shrimp. To us, this park is known for its horseshoe crabs because we have seen so many and we even found my most prized possession, a full molt from a horseshoe crab.
My roommate, Noelle, holding wild hermit crabs for the first time
5. New Hampshire Beaches
In New Hampshire, Route 1A will take you on a drive full of stunning views from Hampton Beach to Rye. The best spots include North Hampton State Beach, Rye Harbor State Park, Odiorne Point State Park and the Seacoast Science Center. My favorite spot on this drive, though, is the very first pull-off next to Odiorne Point State Park, which I call Hermit Crab Beach. Despite driving by it dozens of times, I had never stopped here until a few weeks ago.
My roommate and I found more hermit crabs than we could count and even watched a hermit crab change its shell, which is very rare to see in the wild. In the smallest tide pools, if you stop and stare, you will see tiny almost transparent shrimp. Put your hand in very slowly and wait for them to come over to feel you with their tiny claws—it will tickle. On my first visit here, I also ran into a UNH marine biology class on a field trip and got to see the baby lobsters they had caught. The only downside of this spot is that at high tide, all of this life is covered in water, so plan your day to be here around low tide.
learn more about ocean engineering at UNH
take a day trip to Kittery, ME
learn more about CEPS at an Admitted Student Event
related posts:
What is Ocean Engineering?
For Kelsea Carmichael ‘25, majoring in ocean engineering helped her combine her dual passions for marine biology and engineering – and play a major role in combatting the impacts of climate change on coastal communities.
