In Maine this weekend: Summer’s Last Hurrah

 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.  

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.   

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.  

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?   

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!

Summer is here! A visit to Old Orchard Beach

I love Old Orchard Beach, Maine.  Always a signal of summer’s arrival, a few hours at Old Orchard just spins you right into summer mode.  The vinegary pier fries, the fried dough dusted (very liberally) with powdered sugar and cinnamon, the classic Lisa’s Pizza, it all brings me back. 

Growing up in southern Maine, Old Orchard Beach wasn’t as much a regular thing as you’d think, living only a few miles away.  For my family, with four kids, the cost of the rides and the food made this a twice a summer – maybe – kind of thing.  As I got older and could drive or had friends that could drive, it was where everyone went to “cruise” in the summer.  For many of us, as teens, it was where we had summer jobs and summer friends.  For me, it was the place I had my first record store job and because of that, the place I met my first husband.  

Like everything else, things change.  The town has had some rough times.  But if this past Memorial Day weekend was any indication, this summer won’t be remembered as such.  It will be a good year for Old Orchard Beach.

My daughter and I had a few hours to spare on Sunday of that weekend.  The weather was beautiful – warm, sunny – kind of a surprise at the end of May.  We decided to go “down the beach.”  I wanted to get some photographs from the top of the ferris wheel and my daughter just wanted to ride it.  One of the great things about the amusement park at Old Orchard Beach, called Palace Playland, is that you can buy just enough tickets to ride one ride, or in our case, three.  You don’t have to pay the big money for the whole day.  You don’t have to pay to get in.  You don’t have to pay if you don’t ride.  Easy.  Good for parents with kids.  If your kids are little and you’re not sure if they’re going to even want to ride, you get just enough tickets to find out.  If your kids are old enough and can ride by themselves, but still need some supervision, you can go and not pay for the privilege of that experience. 

So we rode the ferris wheel . . . 

from the top of the ferris wheel

looking west towards Saco

looking east toward Scarborough

Old Orchard Beach's main drag:  Old Orchard Ave.

And the “Superstar” – the scrambler ride you see at every fair.  And the little roller coaster, the Galaxi – not sure why, since we’ve ridden the big ones at Busch Gardens, Six Flags, and Cedar Point – but it’s been a while since we’ve had a roller coaster ride, so why not?  I’m not trying to compare Palace Playland to any of those parks.  It’s a totally different thing.  It just felt good to be flung and lifted and dipped and spun after a long winter. 

We walked around a bit then up the street.  Now I’ve seen the fried food options at some of the big fairs – fried twinkies, friend snickers bars, heck, I even saw fried butter and fried kool aid (don’t ask) last year.  Interesting as they might be, I’m usually watching what I eat and don’t want to part with six bucks for a fried twinkie when that could buy me two boxes of them (not that I would).  

But . . . we found fried oreos.  And they were only $1.00 each.  So we got three.  Powdered them up and then took them to the beach to eat.  They looked like squashed donut holes and when you bit into them, the cookie was warm and the creamy center, melted.  

fried, well, everything

deep fried oreo cookies with powdered sugar

creamy and melted on the inside . . this could be a new tradition

Old Orchard is a nice little community.  There are plenty of hotels, condos, shops and restaurants to support the large influx of tourists that come during the summer.  Visitors come from Quebec and New England and from all over Maine. 

Beyond the fried food, pizza, ice cream, and caramel corn . .beyond the lights and the rides and the games is . . The Beach. 

Go for the beach!

At low tide, the beach is flat and wide, great for running or playing games.  It’s clean and the sand is soft and powdery east of the pier.  Music is playing from the beachfront bars.  Seagulls and terns dip in and out of the tide.  Kids play in the sand.  Groups of teen girls lay on their towels.  Families and couples set up for the day with coolers and umbrellas. 

A short walk away is a carousel ride and a slushie drink.  What could be better?

For travel information about Old Orchard Beach and the Maine Beaches check out these websites:

The Maine Beaches 

Old Orchard Beach

Hotel Review: Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel

the view from our room

In my recent blog post, Seas The Day, I wrote about the trip I recently took with my daughter to Fort Lauderdale.  Today’s post is about our digs while we were there. 

the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel; walkway to Marina Tower

We stayed at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel.  The event I was there for, our Maine tourism promotional luncheon and reception was being held at the hotel.  A Starwood member, it was easy for me to go along with the others in my group when they said they were booked at this hotel. 

ships on the horizon

When I saw its location on the map, I thought it would be great.  I booked the two days of work there and while I did look at other hotels for the two days I had to pay for myself ($250+ per night) I did end up staying there for the remainder of my trip, using our Starwood points. 

I had read some Trip Advisor reviews of the hotel.  Some had written that it was “tired” or “dated” and described the mix of confusing buildings and passageways.  After deciding that we’d go for it despite the reviews, I am very happy we did. 

cool art on the walls in the lobby

Upon arrival, I was immediately thrilled with the look and feeling of the lobby.  It was painted in such a great aquamarine color, with coral accent colors and lots of cool rattan furniture.  The aquamarine was set off by white accent walls.  The whole scheme was SO Florida!  Yep, folks down here might tire of the tropical colors, but baby that’s why I was there.  I don’t want to go to Florida and be surrounded by New England conservative décor.  No! I want it bright and crisp and Floridian. 

great wall color in the rooms; loved that!

The color palette continued in our room.  I had requested an ocean view room if it was available and indeed it was.  The ocean view rooms are not beach front rooms although they are true to their promise of viewing the ocean.  The building we were in was the Marina tower, attached to the parking garage but across the street from the main building. 

 

And our view:

sunrise view from our room

Awesome huh?  How can you not enjoy waking up to that?  Port Everglades was not far away so we saw ships cross the ocean and onward out to sea.  Wake up, there’s a cargo ship.  Come back to change for dinner and Royal Caribbean has set sail.

The hotel is sort of shaped like a ship, the main building is in a triangular configuration with one end open to the sky.  In the center, accessed from the 2nd floor, is one of two pools on the property.  Bright and sunny, the area was energized with people enjoying the day.  My daughter spent some time one afternoon alternating between texting her friend in Maine and swimming in the pool.  We both enjoyed this pool each evening after dinners out.  It was really nice from the surface.

one of the two pools

I had read somewhere that there used to me or there was a mermaid show at this hotel.  A strange concept, but okay.  As we walked through the hotel lobby and cafe one morning something from inside the darkened bar caught my eye.  It was closed but we went in for a moment and realized that from that level of the hotel, the windows of the bar looked into . . . wait for it . . THE POOL.

the view from the bar's windows into the pool.

Kind of cool.  Kind of creepy.  We imagined guys slumped over at the bar, staring at girl's legs kicking underwater, oblivious to the spectacle that they were involved in.  One day, we saw the lower half of a girl wearing light, flowing green, kind of like . . . a mermaid.  It was a little much. 

Directly across the street was the entrance to South Beach Park, a public beach area.  Each morning there were runners and walkers and bikers and folks just strolling with coffee. 

the walkway at South Beach Park

ahh . . the beach.

We had breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant, Dos Caminos, a Mexican place with a patio café outside.  It was so great to be able to sit outside for breakfast.  The coffee was good and strong and the menu was varied.  The first morning I had Huevos Rancheros.  The second morning we had the continental breakfast included with our room.  Sounds kind of boring but the pastries were so good and fresh.  It came with yogurt and fruit and cereal with milk.  Our last morning before leaving, my daughter had the spinach and cheese omelet, which was so good she wouldn’t share.  I had the blueberry pancakes which were so good I hesitated giving her a bite, but I did (that’s what Moms do, right?). 

wall decor in Dos Caminos restaurant

One of our evenings ended there at Dos Caminos, too, with a bowl full of warm tortilla chips and their made to order guacamole.  I’m kind of a guac snob, having perfected my own recipe over the past year and I must say the guacamole at Dos Caminos was fabulous.  But the chips were the star of that show, thin and crisp, salty and fresh.  To round out the night that night we ordered coffee and dessert.  For me, it was ice cream.  Not much of a variety of flavors so I got the Mexican chocolate.  Now I’m not really a big fan of chocolate ice creams, much more into the vanilla based flavors and caramels, but with the hint of cinnamon in the ice cream, it had me craving it every night after that. 

looking north on Fort Lauderdale Beach

The best best best part of the whole place . . . the beach!  Soft clean sand, waves big enough to body surf but not so rough as to bowl you over if you weren’t paying attention.  The water was warm (well, warmer than it ever gets in Maine) and on our last night, we swam and surfed for hours.

nice plush towels and chairs on the beach for you.

 

The part of the beach in front of the hotel had chairs and umbrellas set up.  Guests get two chairs and as many towels as you might need.  You can get an umbrella for an extra charge but we didn’t.  After some time in the sun, we went to the beachfront pool, which was bathwater warm.  Sitting in the chaise lounge chairs with a lemonade and some cheesy fries, with palm trees waving over head, I felt as if I could stay there for life.  Between the beach and the pool and the food and just being able to read my book in the sun, it was paradise, even for a short time. 

So if you’re looking for a great beachfront place to stay in Fort Lauderdale, this is it.  If you’re in need of somewhere to stay before you depart on your cruise, the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach would be a great choice.  At the south end of the beach, it’s far enough away from the spring breakers to stay sane and close enough to the marina to be able to hop onto a water taxi for an afternoon’s tour of yachts and mansions.  If I had known how close it was to so many restaurants, I would not have rented a car.  We only took it out one time, to go get souvenirs at Walgreens (you read that right).  We were able to walk to dinner each night at a different place and afterwards go and enjoy the pool and work off our meals. 

This trip was a wonderful experience for me and my girl.  Can I go back yet?  It’s still not all that warm here in Maine.  The flowers and lush green leaves, wearing shorts and sundresses and sandals, ahhh . . . please? 

LIFE on Life’s terms: Living in the moment or “Seas the Day”

Like many people, I struggle with the bucolic concept of living in the moment.  My daily planner is planned out months in advance.  Each week I plot out my goals for the week, my appointments, and my dinner menu.  There are very few moments that I’m not at least partly considering the next moment rather than the one I’m in.  Perhaps I’m the oddball, but I suspect that this is pretty common amongst people today.  Everything is about what’s next. 

Living in the moment . . . what does it mean?  Is it akin to so many other phrases that denote the need for appreciation for what you have or what you are or who you are at any given time? 

Is it a reminder that “life is short” so “seize the day” but don’t forget to “stop and smell the roses?” 

Those expressions wouldn’t have gained overuse prominence if there weren’t truth to them. 

This is what has prompted my little life appreciation lesson.  I was fortunate enough to “have” to go to Fort Lauderdale for my work.  Leaving Maine in March to go somewhere warm and sunny is something I dream of every January. 

This trip came up fast and took a lot of work to pull together.  With a little help from some hotel points and a supportive spouse, I was able to extend the trip two extra days and bring my daughter with me.  We had a wonderful, sunshine filled, causal couple of days. 

The evening before our 8:00 am flight home, after touring around on a water taxi and seeing the yachts and mansions of the rich and famous, we took a walk on the beach before dinner.  Always prepared, we both were wearing our bathing suits and decided to take a swim.  The water was warm, easy to get into and the waves were just raucous enough to be fun.  We have beautiful beaches in Maine but the water rarely reaches above sixty degrees and swimming in it is, well, numbingly uncomfortable for me at this age. 

We splashed and bobbed and floated for two hours.  It was getting dark and we hadn’t had dinner yet.  The guys who worked for the hotel were clearing the beach, stacking lounge chairs and picking up towels.  I felt that pull of responsibility and got out of the water to dry off.  My daughter protested and made a case for staying in, claiming she’d only rinse off in the pool rather than swim for another hour once we left the beach (she lied). 

So I gathered up our things and sat in the sand with my camera.  Watching her jump and flip around in the waves made me curiously sentimental for days when I had nothing to worry about, nothing to plan or prepare for.  Truthfully, I can’t even remember feeling like that although I must have as a child.  We had seen a boat earlier in the day that was named “Seas the Day” and I loved the play on words with one of my favorite sayings.  It was a struggle for me to just sit in the warm sand, digging my feet in, shooting the beach and waves and my sweet little daughter just playing in the ocean. 

I have returned home.  I’ve thought about those moments quite a few times, that churning in my stomach, a gnawing feeling that I should be doing something else (like packing for our early departure).  For me, recently diagnosed with ADD, I wonder if it is that “driven” feeling that is a symptom of the disorder.  Or is it’s a byproduct of a busy life?  Perhaps my Catholic school guilt which says that I shouldn’t stop and enjoy myself, that I must always be productive.  I don’t know for sure why I feel the way I do about it but I know I’m on a quest to practice more mindful behavior.  Allow myself to take pleasure in the small, wonderful things about my life, like being able to type this post with one of my cats just over my shoulder and the other nestled on the desk in front of me. 

And I will sit in the sand and watch my daughter play in the sea.  I will live in the moment, even if it’s just for a moment.  This moment. 

Sidewalk Arts in the Rain

Fortune's Rocks Beach Biddeford, Maine - the day after

I’m new to the arts and crafts show circuit. That doesn’t mean I’m new to art or craft for that matter, just to the concept of setting up a temporary shop for a day, weekend, or even just a few hours to sell your work. In the past year, I’ve been assigned a space between a gourmet fudge maker and a Christmas wreath crafter, a handcrafted unique bird house designer and a whoopee pie baker, and a marshmallow gun carver and my friend Judy, who makes jewelry, and who is “not in this for the money. It’s just fun . . ” but outsold me by 300%.

I have learned a thing or two from these people, though, and from these events. By making mistakes and finding myself wishing I had brought X, I thought I was totally prepared for the show I did this past weekend in Southern Maine.

My table display

The one thing I needed the most and forgot to pack: my thick skin.

The one thing I wasn’t prepared for: disappointment.

The one thing I hoped wouldn’t happen and did: rain.

The one thing I had, but didn’t get much use out of: inventory.

No, I’m not especially spleeny (a good Maine word for frail, sensitive or easily hurt). And no, I’m not generally a person who looks at life with a glass-half-empty attitude.



But it rained. It poured. The brave ones came out to the show anyway and expected to see some serious art. My first sale of the day was my largest: $100 for one of my bigger, display pieces. The rest of my sales were smaller, but were certainly sales nonetheless. It’s just that there were so few of them. I guess I’m lamenting the fact that there were points in the day that I thought I’d cry from the frustration. Rain poured down the gully on the edge of the sidewalk. It dripped in from the metal poles supporting my just-bought-for-this-occasion beige canopy (without the side walls, because I couldn’t find matching ones, which turned out to be a valuable asset to those around me to keep their work dry when the rain came in sideways). Cars drove by and splashed the back of my table, the tablecloth, the gear I had stowed beneath the skirt.



And not that I can blame them, hardly anyone came. And of those who did, many said “ah, the Saco Sidewalk Art Festival . . it always rains . . “ and they’d shake their heads and give me a small grin, like I should have known or like I did know yet chose to come anyway.

my canopy covered show space

Reality is that you sign up for these events long before the extended forecast comes out. You pay the entry fee. You try to consider everything, every what if, or if not. You – or maybe it’s just me – research display ideas and find something that’ll work for your art. You think about how to pack the car for easy unloading and set up. You consider the phrasing of your signs. You dream about making a bunch of money and being able to call your husband and tell him how great it was and that you’re taking your parents out for dinner on your big earnings and how everyone ranted and raved about your work and you have orders for more work that’ll keep you busy until Christmas and you convince yourself this will be worth having given up your day job.

And then it rains.

And only the brave few come to the show.


And thankfully you make enough to just cover the entry fee and your gas.


And . . . you learn.



And you meet a few people and chat with them and bathe in the compliments.



You listen to their stories of this place or that one and how they shot this amazing sunset and oh here it is in my digital camera do you want to see it?



And your face hurts from smiling because despite all of that, you do like doing this.



And you’re happy about giving up your day job and spending the last four nights gluing mattes together and making signs.

And there’s a certain satisfaction when you back up and take a look at all you’ve created and think about the trail of an image to this point. How it goes from something you see through the viewfinder to your computer to the printer to the table with the glue and mat board to a finished product with your name on it that goes up on someone’s wall that they see every day and it makes them smile.

Ocean Park Beach Path Saco Maine

It takes a lot to put your work out there. Not only do you have to have confidence and pride in what you do or create, you have to have a marketing concept of some sort. You have to know no only what you sell, but how you sell. What kind of image do you intend to project? What psychological nerve do you want to touch in the people who walk by your booth? How are you going to get noticed, in a sea of white canopies and colorful signs? I don’t know the statistics on the amount of money spent by the typical consumer visiting an art or craft show. I understand that for someone to earmark some of their time and energy to going to one of these shows, they have to have an interest of some sort. Sometimes they drive long distances. Sometimes there’s an admission fee. Sometimes it takes the coordination of several friends or family members who enjoy this sort of event to decide to go together and make a day of it. I get it. These people have an investment into this before they even get to the gate. This earns them the right to some sort of expectation. Arts and craft show attendees want to see and buy things that are on a different level from the things on the shelf at Walmart. They want to meet the artists and talk to them about their art. They want a story to tell when someone asks them about the photograph of the sunflower they’ve hung in their living room.



My Dad asked me the next morning if I would do it again. I was sore from moving everything and standing on my wet feet all day. I was struggling to repack the car with items I didn’t sell. My patience was thinning. I had a long drive ahead of me and unpacking at the other end.




I said yes.

Tangled lobster buoy ropes on the beach