Maine 2022 – Part 1
My whole life I wanted to go to Maine. I lived in Vermont for years before I moved to Florida and somehow never made it to the coast.
I used to have this friend back in 3rd/4th grade when I lived in North Dakota and eventually her family moved to Maine. Back in those days we didn’t have social media or even cell phones. Shoot, we didn’t even have the internet! So we wrote letters. Every day I would race to the mailbox to look for that white (or sometimes colorful) envelope with the Maine US Mail stamp on it. I felt so special getting mail all the way from Maine. I would imagine the kind of people that lived there and vacationed there. How amazing and fancy their lives must be!
Last year on a whim we went down to Hampton Beach with friends (we had never been) and because we were so late in the game, there wasn’t any lodging that side of New Hampshire. So we decided to finally venture over to the coast of Maine. We managed to find a last minute hole in the wall hotel right on the border of Maine and we made our way over to the coastline.
I’ve never seen anything quite like the coast of Maine. And I have seen many coasts! It’s comparable to the coasts I’ve seen in Australia, but the coasts I saw there didn’t have lighthouses. And oh boy, does Maine have some beautiful rocky coasts with the most adorable little lighthouses!
So after we had such an enjoyable time in Maine last year, we decided we would like to try to go again this year. I was slightly bummed because I could not seem to find any lodging this year. (Pro-tip: plan your trip and reserve your space at LEAST a year in advance!) By some beautiful stroke of luck (or God’s hand of favor) we found a small little cabin a stone’s throw from the beach! This was one of our hopes this year — that we would be able to find something right on the beach because trying to carry all kinds of stuff and three kids was no small feat last year. Finding this cabin was a dream.
We put all our money into lodging and then bought food to bring to cook, save a few meals to eat out and enjoy some foods we don’t normally get at home. Our little AirBnB cabin was an absolute DREAM!
This was my first experience with an AirBnB and I have always heard the most amazing stories about it, but I was thrilled to have a wonderful experience of my own!
I appreciated every single little nook and cranny full of details and I felt like as the days went on, I was still discovering little nuggets!
I forgot to mention that the kids did really well on the drive over. We were a little nervous about that because the baby has not been liking her car rides lately, but thankfully she mostly slept or laughed with the boys and that helped a lot. Aaron and I split the 3.5 hour drive and it was not bad at all.
It was so wonderful being back at the ocean. Aaron and I lived in Florida most of our adult lives (Aaron most of his life), so being “landlocked” has been pretty hard for both of us. We come alive at the ocean. When we came over the hill and down the stairs I just felt it all hit me and move through me and I suddenly felt this overwhelming feeling of being “home”. It’s hard to explain, but it was so comforting to me. I felt like I instantly reconnected to a major part of myself. I know Aaron did too. And the kids were so excited they took off running and playing in these little wave pools. We really had the best location ever and were so thankful for our own little slice of “Heaven” on Earth. 🙂
We spent some time at the beach and then unloaded the car. Then we went off in search of dinner. Last year we had a major issue trying to find food because there’s no parking, you need reservations, etc etc. Well this year was even more difficult because I have to eat gluten-free right now. So I did my research and found a pizza place with great reviews and gluten-free crust. He said they wouldn’t be busy so no reservation necessary. We hopped in the car (early this time, ha) and drove over only to discover there was not a single parking lot or place to park and it was on the busiest intersection that part of Maine. AND it was packed full! At 4:30 PM! So that was a bust and my worst nightmare came true — we had to drive around trying to find a place to eat. (Gosh I don’t know how we survived without Google Maps back in the day!)
We eventually found a small restaurant that served burgers (which is my go-to when I can’t find anything else because I can always eat a hamburger patty and cheese with a salad). Let’s just say this place did not live up to its potential and we did not have a great experience. I actually left only having eaten a salad because they forgot my meal and then it came out uncooked! We drove out to the same spot we ended up at last year when we couldn’t find food. It’s a little snack shop on the beach in York and it truly does have great food and their ice cream is yummy! It was fun to revisit a familiar place. (And the drive to the shop is gorgeous!)
After dinner and ice cream, we headed back to the cabin to watch the rest of the sunset at the beach. I forgot how much I loved that. And that, my friends, was day 1! Keep your eyes peeled for days 2 and 3! 🙂
Blessings,
~Nikki
