A Maine Getaway

You better be sitting down for this, because Andy and I actually took a vacation! This is a big deal not only because of covid, but also because this was our first week away since before Steph was born (1996)! Yes, really! In fact, when we dropped Julie at Wes at the end of August, that began our first week home alone since then too! In all those years we never had them all away at summer camp, or left them with relatives, or any of that. We never even did an overnight until they were all in school, and even that was a rarity (like, maybe 5 times, total?).

I can't remember if I've mentioned it, but a few years ago Andy's parents swapped their ski house in the White Mountains (New Hampshire) for a beach house in Ogunquit, Maine! No one was doing much skiing anymore, and the 3-hour drive each way was becoming a deterrent for just a night or two away. Ogunquit, just over an hour away, is where Andy spent many childhood summers (and his mother before him, beginning in her teens). I first went in my teens, and it has always been a "happy place" for me. So we've been going up for weekends here and there, in between work and the kids' school, and my in-laws (and Andy's sister) have been going for the whole summer. This year we didn't go at all because we were too scared about covid. We were concerned because Andy's still going to work every day, where he's had a few employees out with the virus; we were also worried because we are still not going to restaurants or stores or anywhere, really, but they all are. So we stayed away. But as soon as they all moved back home after the summer and our own nest emptied out (sob, sob), we went up. Andy's been very stressed out at work and desperately needed a break, and although I had to bring some work with me, I did a whole lot of relaxing too. (One project I was supposed to be working on got delayed at the last minute, which was not great for my income but was perfect timing for this vacation!)

We hired the same cat-sitting couple we used the last time we went away ... which was in 2017 to visit Pete in Spain! They remembered meeting Calvin and Phoebe as wee kittens, and even had a few photos of them from that visit. And as for Luna (aka the Balrog)? This summer Pete and Julie made valiant efforts to orchestrate some sort of peace summit between her and the other two, complete with garden fencing in the living room, but it didn't work. Every time Luna would hiss and charge at them, and they would back off, terrified. So ... we decided to bring Luna with us to Ogunquit! It was the best idea. She absolutely hated riding in the car, but otherwise it was the greatest week she's had in 3 years. She had the whole run of the house up there—including tons of sunlight and breezes, since the weather was spectacular and we had all the windows and doors open to screens—and got to hang out with us and even sleep with us. She was nervous at first and hid under the bed, but once she got brave enough to come downstairs, she was in heaven. 

"Spectacular" might not be effusive enough to describe the weather. Maybe "perfect"? It was in the high 60s or 70s every day, and even got up to 80 one day (I managed to get a bit of a sunburn, which one does not expect at the end of September up north)! Every day Andy said, "There's not a cloud in the sky. Really, not one single cloud." Actually, there was one overcast day that was attributed to the remnants of Hurricane Teddy, but no rain, and that day we drove up to Kennebunkport, ate lobster rolls, and watched about 50 surfers taking advantage of the unusually powerful waves.

All the restaurants were open, mostly with outdoor seating, but we did not go to any of them. We both felt that we could never relax after de-masking, around all these strangers who also had their masks off—6 feet away or no. In fact, while we were up there, one of the most popular restaurants was closed because 3 of their employees had tested positive, and they were advising anyone who'd eaten there the previous week to get tested. So we brought up a bunch of food and then did a lot of takeout. We'd rather eat our lobster rolls outside on the rocks overlooking the ocean at Perkins Cove, as we did on Friday (which was National Lobster day!) than at a table anyhow. Our new favorite lobster roll comes from Footbridge Lobster, which we discovered last summer. One night we took out a more high-end meal and transferred it from its plastic containers to real plates, and ate it out on our porch by candlelight with a bottle of wine, just like fancy restaurant people!

Other than think about what our next meal would be, all we did the whole week was sit on the beach (at low tide and in this slightly off-season, we could easily find a spot 50 feet or more away from anyone else, and we put on our masks only when people were walking by), take walks around town and on the Marginal Way, and read. I also did about 15 hours of work, and caught up on many crossword puzzles, Scrabble and Letterpress games, and nonograms. It was just pure relaxation—greatly needed and appreciated.

Now we are back to real life, with a little spring in our step. And we're planning to go up there again in a couple of weeks, just for a long weekend this time, to celebrate our 32nd anniversary!

Comments

[Margaret]

This sounds wonderful! Your temps are my temps and I won't eat at restaurants yet either. I'm not at all comfortable with the idea. Walking, relaxing and being near the ocean--how perfect!

[Tonya Watkins]

Your break sounds sublime! I'm so happy you were able to get away and truly relax! You've both deserved it.

[Shirley Berk]

So glad you got to go to our “happy place” too. Our poor condo was empty all summer. Can’t wait to get there next year.
We love those lobster rolls from Footbridge too.