The Harbor View Inn is a restored New England Cape providing bed and breakfast lodging and overlooking the twin villages of Newcastle and Damariscotta, Maine.

Original art and antique furnishings create an atmosphere of casual elegance in a relaxed and gracious living space. Guests enjoy the large-beamed living room and adjoining deck. Both venues provide spectacular harbor views day and night.

The three guest accommodations are large and airy with private tiled baths, sitting areas, and satellite television. The two upstairs rooms also have fireplaces and private decks. High speed WiFi Internet access is available for free.

Comfortable chairs and a huge tree on the terraced lawn create the ideal setting for relaxation, providing guests a bird's eye perspective of life in Newcastle and Damariscotta. Other common areas include the dining room with its old brick fireplace and the second-floor reading room. Both rooms overlook the river.

Innkeeper Joe McEntee, a former chef and manager at several of Philadelphia's premier restaurants, directly oversees the Harbor View Chef's Breakfast. This early-morning feast includes a variety of juices, fresh fruits, cereals, homemade breads and muffins, and various egg dishes and breakfast meats.

Shops, art galleries, restaurants and antique dealers in Newcastle or across the bridge in Damariscotta are just a three-minute walk away. Guests also enjoy concerts and arts and crafts exhibits at the Round Top Center for the Arts. Harbor View's ideal location affords easy day trips to countless points of interest and activities. The magnificent harbor at Boothbay with whale-watching, island clambakes and fishing excursions lies less than 20 miles away down the River Road. A short drive down the other side of the river takes guests to Pemaquid with its beach, fort and lighthouse and to the quaint village of New Harbor for lobsters, cruises to Monhegan Island and Puffin Watches.

Venturing northeast along the coast, guests visit the picturesque coastal town of Camden and Rockport and spend time at Rockland's Farnsworth Museum, whose fine collection of Maine art includes three generations of Wyeths.

Also within an easy drive, but to the south, are such attractions as the Bowdoin College Museums and the Maine State Music Theater in Brunswick, the Maine Maritime Museum and Chocolate Church in Bath, and Freeport (famous for its outlet shops) and L.L. Bean.

Some guests spend their time hiking to a nearby nature trail or strolling down the sandy stretches of Reid State Park or the always popular Popham Beach.