Away From It All

Tonight I am blogging from our vacation cottage on the seashore. I can hear the waves through our open window. Tonight the boys both told me they couldn't believe our trip was already at an end. Needless to say, it's been a good week. I need to get to bed soon because we have a long drive home tomorrow. Here's a quick look at our week in Maine.

Yes, that is a real atlas.

It took us about 9 hours to get from Central PA to Ogunquit, Maine. Connecticut felt like an endless state, mostly because we had to travel around a few major cities that all seemed to have a healthy dose of road construction.

Hooray!

Thankfully, our cottage was only 20 minutes from the state line. I don't know if we could have made it much further up the coast. We were definitely reaching the end of our endurance.

cottage by the sea

But, oh, was it ever worth it! We stayed at the Dunes on the Waterfront. We beat the regular season by a few weeks, so we got a great deal on our stay. Of course, that means not all the attractions are open, but we found plenty to keep us busy.

Marginal Way

We took a walk on the Marginal Way on our first full day in Maine. I can understand now why the name Ogunquit means beautiful place by the sea.

exploring

The boys really enjoyed getting a chance to explore a rocky shore line. We have always visited sand beaches, so this was something totally new for them... and me!

Ogunquit Beach

The great thing about Ogunquit is they have both kinds of beaches. We spent a few hours on the sand. It was chilly, but that didn't stop the boys from playing in the water.

lots of seaweed

This beach was interesting because the difference in the high tide and low tide was crazy. My first picture was from low tide. Today we returned a few hours after high tide and you can see how much smaller the beach is. I have never seen a beach that changed that much from one tide to the next. Plus, this beach was absolutely covered with seaweed as the tide went out.

Stop the car!

We were driving through town and spotted this sign. I knew we needed to check it out. And then I saw something even more exciting...

Be still my beating heart.

Stepping inside this library was like taking a trip in a time machine. The library was built in the late 1800s. It was beautiful inside. We were thrilled to see they still have a card catalog, so I took the opportunity to show the boys how to use it. Of course we also bought a bag of books.

Since our school year officially ended before the trip, we didn't include any educational activities in our plans. We considered a few museums, but most were closed until Memorial Day. It was nice to have a trip that didn't feel like it had to be all about schooling. It was good to just relax and enjoy our time together.

tidal river outside our door