Popham Vacation 2011

We just returned from a very nice week at Popham Beach.  This is our third year of renting a little one room cottage overlooking Popham Beach.  We decided that next year we will bring our camper and use the campground like the rest of the NitPickers.  We only had the truck camper when we started going there and that's just not someplace we wanted to spend a week.  However, with our new 18 footer I think  we'll be pretty comfortable.  What I'll miss the most is the great view (which we won't have from the campground) and the nice deck.  However, the campground is about a third of the cost of the cottage so there's a lot to be said for that.

It was a little overcast and foggy on Sunday and Monday but it didn't rain and it kept the heat down a little.  Robert and Ame came down to visit on Monday, July 4th, and stayed for the fireworks.

Crystal and Rick - July 4, 2011

Robert, Ame, and Rick - 7-4-11

Robert - the Buddha

Sexy man coming out of the sea.

It was a pretty laid back week - spending days on the beach or the deck, reading, sleeping, a little swimming, walks, hanging with friends, and then most evenings spent with the NitPickers playing music.  We had dinner one night at Spinney's - not the greatest food or service but the only restaurant in the area.

Vacation - Week #1

Just got back this morning from a week at Popham Beach.  It's the second year we've spent the week of July 4th there.  We rent a little one room cottage with a deck that overlooks the ocean.  I love hearing the constant lapping of the waves all night long.  If we leave the curtain open we can see the ocean right from bed.

I took an early morning walk down the beach and sat in the lifeguard station and drank my coffee.  That island you can see in the distance is accessible via a sandbar at low tide.

On Friday Rick and I did the short hike up to Fort Baldwin and climbed the tower hoping for some fantastic views.  Unfortunately, the trees have grown up so much in that area that the views are just of foliage.

We probably wouldn't have seen much anyway as it was a fairly foggy day.

The first five days the weather was sunny with temps into the 80s and 90s.  The fog didn't move in until Thursday and Friday though it gave us a brief break on both days.  I read two books:  The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson and Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer.  The latter takes place on an island off Stonington, Maine so it seemed particularly apropros.

Lots of music around the campfire at night with the NitPickers and others who happened by.  And a great fireworks display for the 4th.  We thought we put on a pretty good show but was matched by one other group on the beach and actually outdone by another.  I think between the many parties shooting off (illegal) fireworks we got as good a show as any I've seen in recent years.

This part of the coast is not great for kayaking.  I tried it there last year and found it very difficult to  maneuver due to the shallow water and breaking waves.  It's been a couple of years since I really had a good ocean paddle.  We talked about whether to look for a different location for our oceanside vacation for next year - perhaps around Stonington where the kayaking is good - but decided to go ahead and book the cottage for another year.  Maybe we can go to Stonington for a day or two and do a guided kayak tour around the islands.  Rick has never ocean kayaked and doesn't have an ocean kayak so he'd need to rent one.  And I'd feel better if I wasn't the most experienced person in the group.

Overall a nice week but it will also feel great to sleep in our own bed tonight.

Popham Beach Vacation - Post 2 - July 11th

The week at Popham was the best weather we've had all summer, with only two days of rain out of seven. We spent time at the beach playing Bocce (Rick and I are the official champions having beat the Bernier boys and even skunked them one game), swimming, frisbee, playing with Babbs and Shay Shay, and a little kayaking. My sea kayak is not really a surf kayak. Rick and I watched someone in a great surf kayak later in the week that looked like a blast for use along the shore. But I paddled out to one of the islands and Richard gave it a try later, flipping it as he was getting in but climbing right back in and paddling out a few hundred feet and back. It was pretty rough seas for one's first time in a kayak.
The NitPickers played every night but one, with various campers stopping by to listen for a while and we'd head to bed fairly early and rise fairly early each morning. Friday night the band was asked to go up on the deck and play to the whole campground.
The two days it rained were spent reading some good books within view of the ocean and listening to the sound of the waves as well as a trip into Brunswick to do a little shopping and dinner at an Irish Pub in downtown Bath.
Overall it was a lovely week with mostly great weather and we went ahead and reserved the cottage for the same week next year.

Popham Beach Cottage vacation

We arrived Saturday afternoon to a blue sky, beautiful sunshine and Annie's margaritas. We quickly brought our things into the cottage and headed out to enjoy the beautiful day. We were able to grab a few rays of sun before the first rainstorm hit. A heavy downpour for about a half hour – just long enough to put our cottage in order – and then back out to more sunshine.



Here's a pic of the cottage. We were located just off the dunes, well within sight and earshot of the surf.

Enjoying my margarita.

It had been so long since we'd seen clear skies I had no idea we were in for a full moon till it rose in all its glory Saturday night, shimmering over the breaking waves.

Sunday morning I rose shortly after the sun and took a solo walk on the deserted beach.

I love walking along and being the first footprints of the day

It was still chilly - maybe around 55 degrees - so I dressed warm. By the time I arrived back at the cottage around eight, it had warmed up considerably and we were ready for shorts.

I love all the interesting markings and shapes you find on the beach early in the morning.

Whatever event of nature that created this marking seemed to be questioning . . . or is it asking, lend me your ear?