David S. Read

My family just returned from a week in York Beach, Maine.  We love the area and typically head up there each year at some point.  A few highlights included unexpected treasure while hunting for sand dollars, a great musical in Ogunquit and comfortable swimming conditions.

Sarah and I walked the beach most days and typically kept our eyes open for interesting shells and sand dollars.  Low tide is best for such finds and we adjusted our schedule to match the tides.  On one of the days were were walking along Long Sands beach and encountered an area thick with seaweed. 

Sarah was not enamored with the slimy sludge as it wrapped around her legs with each wave.  She complained about how “gross” the stuff was and wanted to move out of the water to avoid further encounters.  However, she spotted something green trapped in the plants and realized it was money.

Suddenly she was willing to walk through, reach into and touch the seaweed!  Her reward was a ten dollar bill.  For the remainder of the week she stopped complaining when we wandered through seaweed.

Late in the week we headed up to the Ogunquit Playhouse.  We always enjoy the live musicals that are produced there.  The talent is always top notch, often with national and even international stars.  The Playhouse produces their own shows so these are not touring companies.  On this occasion we saw “My Fair Lady”.  Both leads were outstanding.  The next production is “Les Miserables” and we will likely head up to see that.  If you find yourself near Ogunquit during the Playhouse season (Spring through Fall) you should take the opportunity to see one of their shows.

Of course we went to York Beach to spend time on the beach and in the ocean.  Michael and I always enjoy the cool ocean water.  Some years the water is a bit chilly for Lisa to venture in.  This year, however, we all found the water temperature comfortable and enjoyed swimming and boogie-boarding!  In between the water-based activities we also built some of our more impressive sand castles and moat systems.

Finally we spent time on our last day and headed into town to visit several shops, including the long-time staples of Whispering Sands and The Goldenrod.  A stop by the Fun-O-Rama for a few games of candle pin bowling showed that no matter what type of bowling we do all members of my family will out-score me.

Of course no visit to York Beach would be complete without enjoying the offerings at Brown’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream out by Nubble Point.  We headed out there most evenings for ice cream and sherbet.  We even brought several pints of Grape Nut Ice Cream home with us to enjoy as the kids return to school and structure returns to the household.

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