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Kennebunkport warms Maine-lovers year round
By The Boston Globe - Karen Hammond, Travel Arts Synd
January 9, 2005

Kennebunkport Maine - Seagulls circle the deserted beach. A biting wind blows over Walker's Point, the Bush family's compound and retreat. But leave it to innovative Mainers to turn the coldest month of the year into the most romantic. In Kennebunkport, ''February Is for Lovers." Next month, inns and other businesses in the historic seaside town will offer attractions for lovers of all ages and at all stages of romance.

Vince Thelin, owner of the Rockin' Horse Stables, has been at the reins of his sleighs and carriages during countless marriage proposals, giving blanket-bundled visitors a postcard-perfect ride. Weather permitting, on Valentine's Day weekend, Rockin' Horse Stables offers horse-drawn carriage rides through downtown Kennebunkport. Visitors to Thelin's farm and stables on Arundel Road also can opt for an old-fashioned sleigh ride that ends with hot chocolate and a tour of the 100-year-old barn.

Those who prefer to stroll with their sweetie will find Kennebunkport a perfect place for walking. The Kennebunkport Historical Society publishes a brochure of walking tours, but many visitors prefer simply to wander through downtown, a national Historic District. Examples of Greek Revival, Colonial, Federal, and gingerbready Victorian architecture show the evolution of the village. In neighboring Kennebunk, the Wedding Cake House at 104 Summer St. is an unusual, maybe even unique, example of late Federal architecture, thickly frosted with Gothic embellishments. Legend has it the original, straightforward hipped-roof brick home, constructed by shipbuilder George W. Bourne in 1826, was soon thereafter garnished with pinnacles, crenellated battlements, elaborate fretwork, and other fripperies. Bourne himself did all the carvings, says the legend, while he was away at sea and pining for the bride he had left before he had a chance to eat his wedding cake.

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