CNN || 3 Northeastern weekend escapes

Enjoy the seaside charms of southern Maine, antiquing in the Hudson River Valley and Virginia's emerging wine country.

Maine's Southern Coast (260 miles round-trip from Boston)

This is Maine at its most alluring: a rich landscape where sunrise on a sandy beach can be followed by a hike through a mist-shrouded wildlife preserve, where a lobster-roll lunch can precede an afternoon of blueberry picking, where Skee-Ball by the boardwalk can segue into a candlelit dinner at a country inn.

Our list of favorites for a weekend away is as much about the land as the sea -- pine forests and Colonial-era villages meet lighthouses, harbors, and the spray of the surf.

Lay of the Land: Right over the New Hampshire border, about an hour from Boston, Kittery is best known for outlet shopping, but its tranquil residential enclaves are a world apart: woodsy Kittery Point has a top-notch lobster shack and a virtually undiscovered state park, Fort Foster.

Next up the coast are the Yorks: Rockwellian York Village, blue-blooded York Harbor, and honky-tonk York Beach, where old-time motels, ice cream parlors, and arcades face the sand.

Off nearby Cape Neddick stands whitewashed Nubble Light, the state's most celebrated lighthouse.

A low-key version of Provincetown, gay-friendly Ogunquit is a long-standing artists' haven (several galleries line Shore Road).

It has the loveliest beach on the coast, framed by grassy dunes and a tidal river. Walk the oceanfront Marginal Way foot-path to Perkins Cove, a minuscule marina traversed by a pedestrian-only wooden drawbridge.

The Bush family may have put Kennebunkport (and its sister village, Kennebunk) on the national map, but old money has been ensconced here for ages -- only now those elegant captain's mansions and Federalist houses have luxury sedans parked out front.

For all the patrician polish, there remains a salty authenticity to the "K'bunks," especially beside the marina, along the beaches, and in the many lobster pounds lining the shore.