Rarely do I heed my own advice. I put great effort into the research of fun things to do in the state of Maine. Three months ago, I wrote a blog post about some of the great ideas I had for things that I wanted to do here in Maine this summer. Technically, we’re just about halfway between the first day of summer and the first day of autumn, but in the minds of most of us, summer runs between Memorial Day and Labor Day, or if you’re on kid time, as I am, the last day of school through to the first. This is when it really FEELS like summer. The stores stock summer stuff like barbeque tools, beach chairs, flip flops and bug spray. There’s that antsy sense that something is going to happen. We open the windows. We seed the garden. It’s a beautiful thing. Part of what I like to do is to make a list of all the things I want to do in the summer, given that it’s my favorite time of year. Here is a streamlined version of the list I made on May 5th and the status of each item.
1. Bike the carriage trails at Acadia National Park. – didn’t do this yet, but it’s still on the radar. I’m quickly running out of weekends.
2. Go to Sandy Stream Pond in Baxter State Park. – this is still on the agenda, too, perhaps for the early fall?
3. Spend a day (and night) at Old Orchard Beach. – spent an evening, but not the day at the beach, yet. This weekend might be the opportunity to do that.
4. Fairs and Festivals a plenty. – Bangor Fair is going on right now, and I haven’t been so far this week. Haven’t been to a single other fair this summer. This is really bumming me out since I really do enjoy them so much.
5. Maine has some beautiful lakes and ponds. – okay, here’s some success – spent the 4th of July at Swan Lake, just picnicked at China Lake, and am planning a family gathering at Long Pond next weekend.
6. Organized fun – theme park style: Funtown in Saco with its sister water park, Splashtown. – well, we did a BIG theme park, Busch Gardens, but that doesn’t qualify as a Maine thing to do. We did spend a day at the Funtown/Splashtown parks which was a lot of fun.
7. The beaches of York and Wells – went to Wells on a few occasions, went through both Wells and York on the way to Virginia. Haven’t made it to the beaches of either so far. (like how optimistic that sounds? So far . . )
8. Nature walks and hikes – okay, did the Rachel Carson nature walk and hiked at Camden Hills state park.
9. Shopping: well, I didn’t really do much for shopping. Went to the Grasshopper Shop a few times, but no other funky shops or boutiques. My bank account has been stretched too thin to spend unnecessarily.
10. Art galleries: not a one. This is really sad. I love to visit them, but hey, this one can be done in the winter, right?
So, okay. I haven’t done everything on my list, but I did hit a few, and though I am running out of weekend, the next few are busy ones, and there’s still a chance that I can do some of the other things I set out to do.
What have I done? Let’s see here. A quick little cruise through my photo archives tells me a few things:
1. Spent time in the garden, not only starting my veggies and flowers and nurturing them to the thriving greenery they are now, but also visited other gardens, like the Ornamental Garden at the University of Maine.
2. Planned and executed a great 11th birthday party for my daughter with a camping theme, fun games, good food, and fun had by all. Definitely one she and her friends will remember.
3. Spent a day with our good friends, Dean & Karen at Swan Lake. Picnicked, sunbathed, gave my daughter’s surf board a test run, and laughed our butts off.
4. Had quite a few campfires in the fire pit we got, some with friends around, some just the three of us. Lots of s’mores.
5. Ate quite a bit of seafood, from the fried variety to the steamed and dipped in butter, we enjoyed the area’s bounty. I’m expecting more will be consumed in the coming weeks.
6. Did a road trip to Machias, through the blueberry barons, to the UMaine campus there where my husband spent formative years, and to Fort O’Brien for a picnic. I’ve been wanting to go out there for years.
7. Sold old car, bought new car.
8. Had a great vacation – yes, outside of vacationland – but a wonderful time nonetheless. A day in New York City, Broadway, The Lion King, The American Girl Store. Virginia Beach. Roller Coasters, water parks . . .I could go on, and will, in upcoming posts.
9. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Jimmie’s in Brewer, Dairy Queen, Garsides in Saco (best ginger ice cream I know)
10. Created some good memories with my kid, whether it was the two of us singing out loud in the car to the Zac Brown Band’s “Toes” or seeing her face after she rode Apollo’s Chariot for the first time or laughing hysterically in the theatre during intermission.
Summer might be coming to the end as far as the hot weather, no homework, free and easy part of it may be concerned, but what we’ve done so far is enough to carry me on through for some time. I vow to try my hardest to live in the moment and enjoy the good things about summer in Maine, or about summer in general. I will appreciate these little things:
1. summer dresses and the ease of summer dressing
2. the smell of basil, rosemary, and tomatoes on my hands after stroking them in the garden.
3. sitting at a picnic table with my favorite people on earth eating an egg salad salad sandwich, a bag of salt & vinegar chips, and a whoopee pie for dessert.
4. ice cream dripping over the cone on a steamy night
5. those snappy red hot dogs
6. flip flops, open windows, the smell of sunscreen, the sound of crickets
7. running in my neighborhood in the morning before work
8. staying outside late, the smell of barbeque, the lack of seriousness
9. the quiet of the University campus during summer break, no traffic, plenty of parking
10. no shivering, no shoveling, no scraping, no scarves, mittens, or long johns, no early sunsets, no portable heaters, no slipping or sliding just to get into the house, and no frozen anything except freeze pops and ice cream.
This morning I actually heard some one say “hey, four more months and we’ll be snowmobiling!”
Enjoy your summer!!!
