Beauport Inn, Ogunquit, ME
Ellen Boloker and Linda Zietz, Owners
Sometimes you need a fresh direction in life. When that happens, if you’re like New York natives Ellen Boloker and Linda Zietz, you consult a psychic.
The couple claims that, some years ago, a clairvoyant predicted their move to Maine. “There’s a house waiting for you,” she told Boloker and Zietz. “Maybe a bed and breakfast in a tourist town near the water. It’s like an old farmhouse, but new.” Perhaps not coincidentally, they soon found themselves vacationing in Ogunquit, Maine, a gay-friendly beach town not far from their Connecticut home.
Over the past century, Ogunquit has become a destination for LGBTQ tourists, drawn by its white sandy beaches, musical theater scene, shops, art galleries and restaurants—the atmosphere is like a more laid-back Provincetown without Cape Cod’s traffic bottlenecks. You won’t leave town without sampling a Maine lobster roll, and most of the businesses in town are gay-owned, Zietz says. The fun and frolics bring travelers from nearby New Hampshire, Boston and even New York City. The latter is just a four-and-a-half-hour drive away.
Boloker and Zietz fell for the charming town and the Beauport Inn. In 2013, they turned it into the only lesbian-owned and-operated B&B in the area, with an upscale look, but a down-to-earth and friendly atmosphere. Nine acres of quiet and secluded land contain amenities like a 40-foot solar-heated lap pool, hot tub and sauna.
The couple loves cooking for their guests: breakfasts include Maine blueberry pancakes and other baked treats. They hope to change the perception of Maine being “backwoods, cold and a long distance away.” In reality, the Beauport Inn is “the perfect combination of tranquility for those who want to get away from it all, while being just a mile to town and the beach,” Zietz says. “The only thing you hear when you go to sleep at night is silence.”
And there’s a bonus for those who love birds. Boloker has been involved in parrot rescue for many years, and some of the rescued birds who stuck around now live in a separate part of the inn. Guests are amazed at how intelligent they are, Zietz said. Kramer, an umbrella cockatoo, appeared on “America’s Funniest Videos” a few years ago, and another parrot named Snowy has a vocabulary of more than 200 words. “Everything about the Beauport Inn is really special,” Zietz says. “Honestly, there’s no other place quite like it.”
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