Wednesday, July 24, 2013

A perfect day: Popham Beach and Spinney's


My daughter, just back from a month backpacking in Wyoming, said she missed the sea. On Sunday we drove a half an hour from our home to our favorite beach, Popham State Park. My daughter, her friend and my intrepid husband bodysurfed until their lips turned blue.

I swam in a wetsuit top and read The End of the Point. It's getting harder to save this beautiful novel for beach days only. Sometimes I think Elizabeth Graver is writing just to me: "Still, I want to think and talk about things that matter, to have conversations I return from changed."


At dinner time, we walked/waded two miles down the beach to Spinney's for good local seafood. My British husband ordered fish and chips, of course. I had my usual lobster roll and Vidalia onion rings (theirs are the best) with Lobster Ale (a red ale) on tap from Belfast, Maine. Despite living her entire life in Maine, our daughter doesn't like seafood. For a month of backpacking she had to live off dehydrated beans and cornmeal so she dug into a steak and cheese sub. Her friend had a shrimp roll, also locally fished. Ah, the taste of summer!


At Spinney's the service is slow and there is no air conditioning, but the view is well worth it. The building with the red roof is the Life Saving Station (1883). The lighthouse marks Pond Island offshore.


Later we pulled on fleeces to watch the moonrise from the beach. The heat wave has finally passed, and we are back to low 80's days and cool nights. Why go away for vacation if you live in Maine? Well, at least in summer...

18 comments:

walk2write said...

It's funny but I've been to Maine in the spring and in the fall but never in summer. You've convinced me that it is necessary to make a study of it in that season as well. I'm glad you're able to enjoy the weather once again.

Unknown said...

Thank you for the nice pictures. Maine is very beautiful and yes, why leave if you live in such beauty.

JJB

A Cuban In London said...

Thanks for the photos. They are ever so beautiful. I love it when you post about the sea. That'll always be my eternal friend, the sea.

Greetings from London.

PS: Your post title reads "prefect". I think it should be "perfect". It certainly sounded like that. :-)

Sarah Laurence said...

W2W, fall is probably my favorite for the foliage and the clear light. Late spring can be nice but early spring is mud season.

Jim, thanks and welcome to my blog!

ACIL, thanks so much for catching that typo. Next time I'll have my tea before going online!

Margie said...

Maine is so beautiful!
I used to live in N. Conway, NH and visited the Maine beaches often.
Your photos are beautiful!

Nice to meet you.
Very nice blog!

Cat said...

Your photos and descriptions always make me want to jump on the first plane out. Especially during our summers!

Sarah Laurence said...

Margie, welcome to my blog and thank you!

Cat, I could do with some Texas sunshine in winter.

Kelly H-Y said...

Sounds like an absolutely perfect day! Such gorgeous photos too. (As always!)

Les said...

I tried twice to swim when we visited Maine many summers ago, both attempts led to near hypothermia. Fortunately I recovered and my wife and I were able to conceive a child.

Sarah Laurence said...

Kelly, thanks!

Les, ha!

Skeeter said...

Oh my, What a beautiful place to call home! The Saint and I have yet to take a trek to Maine but it is on our Bucket List. Your photos really entice me today...

Carol said...

What a lovely day you had and how fun to see it all this way. I would join you in a lobster roll and even the ale . . . the swim with the wetsuit and the walk and wait for the moonrise. Perfection . . . you never need to leave your world in summer I would agree. The quote from Elizabeth's book stirs my curiosity and desire to learn more about it. Indeed, such conversations are essential and most enviable. As always, Sarah, a delight and privilege to visit your mind and world. Happy nearly August!

khaki said...

Sounds delish!! I still want to vacation up there- we have talked about it but not made a plan thus far- every time I read your blog it makes me want to go more and more- looks so peaceful and relaxing. Your photos are beautiful. So I take it the water is pretty cold.....Beautiful photos!

Sarah Laurence said...

Skeeter, I assumed given your link to Tina that you'd been to Maine. You'd love it.

Carol, The End of the Point is your kind of book. There's gardening and nature in it too. The grandmother is a botanist. I'll be reading more today on the beach.

kacky, by mid summer it's safe to swim without a wetsuit.

Rose said...

Why indeed would you leave Maine during the summer with these beautiful vistas? That steak and cheese sandwich must have tasted like ambrosia to your daughter after a month of beans and cormeal:)

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

Your photos are very fine. They seem to hold the light. You have made me long to go down to the sea!

troutbirder said...

Plain your vivid descriptions of live near the coast leave slightly dissatisfied with what I've been missing. I would never trade Bluff Country, ten thousand lakes and our North Woods for anyplace else But fresh seafood and hiking on an ocean beach have a lot to say for themselves. I think Maine and Oregon would definitely be my 2nd and 3rd choices....:)

Sarah Laurence said...

Rose and Elizabeth, thanks! I love the photos on your blogs too. The light is good at this time of year.

Troutbirder, 10,000 lakes? Wow! I’m also interested in your healthy wolf population in the North Woods. Years ago I worked on reintroducing wolves to Wyoming and the populations have recovered there. Minnesota is on my to visit list. I have seen Oregon (home of the other Portland) and it is gorgeous too.