A New Look at an Old Favorite

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My family moved to New York in June 1997 when I was 8 years old. That year we spent our family vacation in Pine Point, Maine; a small beach town that my extended family has been visiting for nearly a century. The next 7 or 8 years summers were almost always defined by the family trip to Pine Point. We would spend the hot, sunny days sitting on the beach, hanging out in Old Orchard Beach, going to light houses or riding the log flume at Fun Town U.S.A. Only stopping to enjoy some of the best seafood in the world. Around the time I was 12 or 13 we might go to Maine two or three times a year.

The last few years we have taken a break from Maine, but this year we decided before I (the youngest child) went away to school we should go on another vacation to Maine. Of course a lot has changed in the 10 years since our first family trip to Maine. Most notably my sister, Erin (20) and myself (18) are both now “adult” children. This means that instead of the tradition of piling the whole family into the family large SUV (my father would never drive a Soccer mom van). I took my own car up and we spent some time apart.

We arrived Monday at lunchtime and my sister and I stayed through Thursday afternoon. The weather started off poorly, but improved and we had an excellent time. Going to some of our favorite places like Portland Headlight and the Clambake restaurant without the whole family seemed strange, but oddly right. The trip was a lot of fun and a look back on the way things used to be when the whole family lived together day in and day out.

Erin and I had a lot of fun doing a few things we had never done. We walked around the Fort Williams Park and up to Garland Mansion at Portland Headlight. We also went to Two Lights at Cape Elizabeth. I also convinced Erin to come with me on a lobster boat to see the art of catching Maine lobster. We were able to see seals, lobster, rock crabs, sand crabs, sand eels and starfish. The tour was a blast. Erin got sick over the side, but its certainly not the first time she’s gotten sea sick, motion sick or heat sick. You could say its her signature move. On Thursday we went kayaking in the Scarborough Marsh. Another Erin & Ryan adventure, Erin had never been kayaking. After I stopped yelling at her she got it together and kayaked a while listening to some birds and checking out the marsh while enjoying some morning sun. I’ll probably write a lot about her in the spring because she will be in Florence for the spring semester. That could get very interesting.

We did spend some time as a family. We went out to a restaurant called the Audubon Room for a nice dinner and also spent a day at the beach together relaxing in the sun. Sadly, the place we always stay at may not be there much longer. The owner, who my parents know because my dad has been going there since he was a kid, is having a fight with the town because he wants to turn the building into Condos, but is getting fought tooth and nail to do so. He is now considering selling out to a large motel chain. Change can be good, but I will really miss the place when it's gone.

Well, that’s really it for the Maine trip we had a good time it’s always fun to go back to some place familiar and see it in a new way. I’ll update soon with stuff on the visa process and hopefully some pictures with my new camera. Sixteen days and counting....

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Photos

Sitting On An Old Gun Emplacement
Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Portland Head Light
Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

The Lighthouse Inn
Pine Point, Maine