Our trip to Maine was WONDERFUL!! We wish we could have stayed longer! It was hard to get back to things here, as always after a great vacation. The slogan in Maine is, "Maine -- the way life should be!" And I have to say, I agree. It is wonderful up there!
We drove up there on Friday around 3:00pm. There was a little traffic at first because alot of people head up to Maine for the weekend, we've heard. We made it to Ogunquit by about 5:00pm. We chose a hotel right on the beach (reasonably priced, too!) so that we could lie on the beach and still be close to our hotel room so we wouldn't have to spend alot of time going back and forth or parking, etc. It was great!
We checked in and brought our bag and beach blanket to our room. Our room was small but clean and nice, and had a sliding door onto a deck overlooking an inlet from the ocean. It was funny because at that time of day, it looked like an area of sand, with some grass, and a few spots of water. Not such a view, though a bit off to the right, we could see the ocean waves. But, the next day, I returned to our room around 2:00pm, and it was a legitmate lake with motorboats and kayaks and people fishing! so the ocean fills it up when the tide comes in, and it becomes a beautiful view for half the day! We thought this was funny and really cool.
After checking in, we changed into shorts, got our blanket and headed down to the beach to sit by the water. We walked barefoot in the sand for a while and got our feet wet. The water was cold, but so clear and the sand so clean and soft. We put our blanket down and were watching the waves. It was beautiful. It always takes me about 20 minutes before I start to relax and get into the relaxation mode. It was funny because I think I started to relax so much, that I didn't even notice the tide was coming in. A. said maybe we should move our blanket back, but I really thought that the tide would come in little by little,so we didn't.....well! turns out it does come in fast and sort of unexpectedly. We were sitting there and I saw a cigarette butt rolling towards us on the water. Mind you this is a pristinely clean beach, but I just happened to see one butt rolling in from the water. I sat there thinking, "aw man, that cigarette butt is going to roll right onto our blanket," not even thinking about the fact that the water was coming with it!! So, I guess I was feeling pretty relaxed!! Well, we realized it and picked up our blanket just in the nick of time not to get soaked! We and our blanket still got a little wet, but we laughed! The water was cold! It was neat, but I felt silly for not knowing the tide would come in that fast. After that, we moved our blanket wayyy back farther from the ocean, and sat and watched it a bit longer. The beach had a few people on it, sitting watching the water, and not crowded AT ALL, and some young boys on skim boards -- they throw them down like skateboards on the edge of the water, where the sand is wet, and slide along on them. We thought those were body boards, and thought they were just using them differently, but realized the next day they are skim boards and that's what they are for.
It started getting chilly, some clouds were rolling in, and we began thinking about dinner, so we went back to our room and changed for dinner.
We first went to a place connected to the hotel, called Splash, and were hoping to sit outside, but it was starting to rain. We wanted to have lobster. The inside of Splash has a bright diner atmosphere and wasn't what we were in the mood for, so we decided to leave there and head somewhere else. The person at the hotel desk told us that there was a little shopping and dining area "set up like a fishing village" called Perkins Cove about a mile away, so we decided to drive over there (since it was raining) to see what it was like.
When we got there, we found parking about two "blocks" from the strip of restaurants and shops. We looked at the menu outside a restaurant called Barnacle Billy's overlooking a port of fishing boats, but decided to go across the street to another place called The Oarweed. Wow, were we glad we did!! (We heard later that Barnacle Billy's is really good, too, but the view at the Oarweed was spectacular!!) By now, it had stopped raining, and we were able to sit outside. I felt like we were the rich & famous. It is so wonderful that places like this exist that "regular" people can still afford to visit and enjoy. I mean, it was specatular! The view was wonderful, and it wasn't very expensive and still "down-to-earth." We took photos and will be sending soon. It's faster to write than to upload and name all the photos, so I figured I'd write first. Plus, I really want to remember our vacation, so reminiscing by writing it down feels really good.
Our view was of the Atlantic Ocean, waves coming in and splashing on a rocky coast, and the beginning of Marginal Way (a 1 & 1/4 mile footpath that winds along the coast, with gorgeous views, from Perkins Cove to Ogunquit Beach, where we were staying). There were flowers and bushes sculpting the path, and since it had just stopped raining, there was a rainbow over the ocean!!
BEAUTIFUL!!
We each ordered a lobster, which was THE BEST lobster we ever tasted. We didn't even need to use our "nutcrackers" to open the shell, as (we learned) this time of year, the lobsters are "soft shell" because they are just starting to grow their new shells and they haven't hardened yet. The ease of getting into the shell for the meat, and the tender sweetness of the meat, were wonderful! Our waitress was very nice, and we started off with a rum punch drink, each. We shared a cup of clam chowder and some steamed clams with drawn butter. Each of our meals included a dessert. I chose the carmel apple pie, and Aisha chose a hot fudge sundae (which had the best fudge I'd ever tasted, too!). It was all so good.
It was cool because on the way in, I saw a "phantom gourmet" review on the wall. He's the secret restaurant reviewer in this area (A.B. - remember from Mystic Pizza?), and has a tv show on out here. And I wondered if Rachel Ray had been here, or if I should have had a place in mind that I knew was recommended before we came. I decided that I just wanted us to relax and play it by ear, so I didn't have a plan beyond where we were staying and being on the beach. Well, it was so neat, because then I saw a picture of the host (who we had just given our name to) with Rachel Ray, on the wall! We asked about it and found out she'd been there about a year ago. Neat :) And he said she gave them very high marks. Apparently the president and his daughters eat at this restaurant, too.
We'll definitely send you photos of the view!
Well, I have to get ready for work, now. I have my internship from 12-5 today, so I'll conclude part 1 of our trip diary here :) I hope you enjoyed! And I'll write more later! Thanks for your well wishes and for caring about how our trip was. We had a wonderful time!! I re-read this and feel like I am still there! Thank you :)
We love you!
It was raining when we arrived, and there were lots of clouds, but the sun began to come out, as we were having dinner.
Here is a photo of the restaurant, The Oarweed, where we ate:
We sat outside, right under that canopy to the right, and we were just a few feet from the ocean!
