It’s Friday afternoon and you’ve got the whole long holiday
weekend ahead of you. Got any
plans? It IS kind of the end of
summer. Kids have or are soon going back
to school. The weather forecast actually
used the word “crisp” to describe the weather a couple of days earlier in the
week. And there’s absolutely no chance
of being able to shop for cargo shorts or air conditioners, even if it’s supposed
to reach ninety degrees tomorrow. Nope. The “seasonal” aisle at the supermarket is
chock full of Halloween candy. I know, I
was there yesterday looking for a bag of freeze pops (not yet frozen) and had
to traverse multiple aisles with a laden shopping cart, only to find one bag –
ONE bag sitting alone on a sad low shelf near the juices and baby formula.
But I digress.
What I’m getting at it that with so many obvious signals,
it’s clear that we’re at summer’s end.
So what are you going to do about it?
I say cling to the last vestiges of summer while you can!
Baseball games.
Campfires. Watermelon. It’s your last chance to do it all!
So with this post – my first after a few weeks vacation that
will lead to many, many more posts – I’m going to tell you about a few places
to go if you’re in or near Maine and want to do what my daughter claims is the
BEST of all summertime activities: SWIM!
For her it’s about the swimming – for hours – for me its
about the leisure and relaxation of having my toes in the sand, a good book in
my lap, some Coppertone sunscreen wafting through the air, and a cooler packed
with a selection of goodies to last the whole day.
Here are some of my favorite spots for all of that:
1.
I’ve told you about Old Orchard Beach in the past but want to
remind you that the ocean water has finally warmed up and you can actually swim
in it and despite its carnival atmosphere really is a beautiful beach. I recommend going to the left or east of the
downtown area. The sand is powdery soft
and the beach is wide. The crowds of the
pier area are disbursed and you can find some space. Plus, when you need a walk, you can walk
downtown and get you and your kids some idea cream or deep fried
something.
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| East of the pier in Old Orchard Beach |
2.
Here’s a place that I’m really hesitating to expose to
the world. I’m not sure how many Long
Ponds there are in Maine. It seems to be a common descriptive name for
a pond. The one I’m talking about is in
Parsonsfield, which is in the western part of Maine,
near the New Hampshire
border. Find Route 5 that goes through Dayton, Waterboro, and
heads into Cornish. Tell your GPS to
search for “The Road between the Ponds” (really is the name) in
Parsonsfield/North Parsonsfield. There’s
West Pond and there’s Long Pond. I grew
up going to Long Pond. Somewhere back in
my family history there was a camp there, on the eastern shore, but that’s long
gone. We had family reunions there and
lots of great times. What you’re looking
for is a section of the pine enshrouded road where there’s a stone wall, a
blocked entryway, and lots of cars parked for no good reason. Go through the entryway and follow the path
that leads to the water. Note the signs
that tell you you’re on the property of the West End Camp. They’re cool with visitors.
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| It's about the water at Long Pond. |
The beach there maxes out at about 5 feet at
its widest. You’re not there for the
beach. What you’re there for is the
water. They say it’s a spring fed pond
which would account for the clarity but the best part is that it’s so shallow
and for a lonnngggg way out it remains so.
You can plunk your chairs in the ankle deep water and watch the kids
play ball or Frisbee in the knee deep water.
You can wade out – out – out and still only be up to your waist. Being so shallow allows for it to warm up
relatively fast in the summer sun. It’s
like bathwater sometimes. So now that
I’ve let you in on this one, do me one favor:
don’t trash the place. Don’t make
the property owners have to close access to the beach. Go and spend the day and make great memories
with your family and enjoy it, but let’s keep it our little secret.
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| Clear, shallow water at Long Pond Parsonsfield, ME |
3.
Ok, one last one before I wrap it up for today. This is a new thing in Brewer. A while back, a place opened in Bangor called The Maine
Jump, filled with bounce houses and other bouncy things for little kids to go
and jump their little buns off. Seeing
its success, Playland Adventures opened in Brewer on Wilson Street. It’s across from Dairy Queen (which comes in
handy) and is housed in a former soda distributor’s warehouse space. This is a bounce and activity place that can
handle the older kids and adults. If
you’ve got tweens or teens just itchin to get out of the house and play rough,
this is the place for you. The cost for
the Bounce Zone is $15.00 for the day or whatever amount of hours you
choose. Giant inflated boxing ring and
boxing gloves so the kids and bop each other around, human bowling, some air
filled knock each other over with a wrecking ball kind of thing, it’s great fun
for everyone. They also have teen night. Ages 12 – 18
can go from 8 – midnight every Saturday night for $10.00. Why am I telling you this in a post about
summer water fun?
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| In Brewer, Playland Adventure's Splash Zone |
Because outside
Playland Adventures they’ve set up other inflated things for kids to play on
that are either spraying with water, plunk you in water, or slide you through
water. It’s called the Splash Zone and
is an extra $4.00 on the day pass and is a ton of fun on a hot day. Slide, slips, splashes. Here’s their website for more photos and
details: Playland Adventures
So enough out of me for today. All this writing about summer fun, I’ve got
to get outside! Enjoy your summer folks!
