Top 5 moments: Midcoast Maine 2024
Fave moments from a memorable solo getaway. PLUS: What I read, listened to and bought at LL Bean.
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Hi Midlifers!
It was a bit of a journey yesterday getting home from Maine (eight hours), where I spent a week alone in a cabin overlooking the ocean, so this week I’m just sharing some top moments from the trip.
My intention for the getaway was to reconnect with my memoir manuscript, take a break from my actual job and do a lot of reading and communing with nature. But in the end, I wound up connecting with a bunch of old and new friends and, kinda sorta, myself as well. It’s really been a journey getting to know who I am and what I want to be in this life and this week really told me I was moving in the right direction.
5. The location: Small Point Beach
This is me attempting geography: Picture the state of Maine in your head and then imagine in the middle of its coast, a series of peninsulas dripping off the bottom. My cabin was at the bottom of one of those peninsulas in a pretty remote location that’s about a 30-minute drive north to find supermarkets, shopping and iced lattes in Bath (where I stayed last year). The video above was taken standing at the bottom of the dirt path leading from my cabin at the top of a bluff to the beach. Spectacular does not begin to do it justice.
4. The setup: Nest del Mar
Last year, I found a tiny cottage (The Nest) along the Kennebac River in Bath on Airbnb, which I really liked, and discovered the owner had a number of Midcoast rental properties. I read the description of the one-room cabin overlooking the ocean waking to the lull of the surf coming through its windows and I was hooked.
It did not disappoint. Super rustic, with a bare-bones kitchen and bathroom but a very clean, modern aesthetic. Crisp white sheets and pinstriped duvet covers. A copy of Mary Oliver’s Devotion tucked into the back of a wooden chair. Lying in bed you can look out the screened door directly in front of view and see the light at night from a lighthouse on an island in the distance (Seguin). There’s a fresh picnic table outside on the wooden deck with a string of cafe lights to plug in at night and all of it sitting atop a bluff overlooking the spectacular coast below.
3. The Food: Lobster roll, whoopie pie, soft serve
Despite begin told that Red’s — the iconic lobster shack in Wiscasset where folks sometimes wait over two hours for their famous lobster rolls — wasn’t worth the hype, I got on a very small line and was wowed by what I got. Pretty much it’s a big pile of fresh lobster meat loaded on top of a toasted hot dog bun with tons of butter for pouring and dipping. Worth the hype. Apparently whoopie pies are a Maine thing, so I got one of them to cleanse my palate after the giant lobster roll. And finally, I went to the Dolphin Mini Golf in Boothbay for the third year in a row for peanut butter soft serve (with sprinkles).
2. The connections: Friends old + new
If I had a word of the year for 2024, it would be “connection.” That is really something I am trying to do more of. Uncovering layers. Trying to dig deeper. That’s really hard for someone who tends to flit about between friends and passions. Keeping everything surface level. Anyhoo, on this trip I got to spend time with one of my dearest college friends in Boston, where I stayed overnight on the way to Maine. Then I reconnected with the loveliest of gals who I hadn’t seen in almost 25 years and we spent the day with her charming husband and toodled around Boothbay Harbor in their boat. GAH. Finally, I got to spend time with two new friends who I’ve met on recent travels to Maine and really connected with and wanted to know better. Tremendous. My only regret is not taking pictures of half of them (hi Nancy + Kika!).
1. The signs: Rainbows, a full moon + sand dollars
Not to brag, but this trip really reminded me that The Universe has got my back. To wit, look at all the signs she dropped over the last week. Like, I would have been happy with just one of them. But FOUR?
After I found the first sand dollar, something I had never before found intact, I went back to my beach chair and was assaulted by killer green flies. Brutal. They swarmed and bit and in my frenzy to clear off the beach, I threw the sand dollar in my beach bag. Ten minutes later I went to grab my book out of the bag and was like, “Wait, did I bring a cookie to the beach?” when I saw the brown crumbs at the bottom of the bag. Yup. The magical sand dollar. In my mind I decided I would just find another and all week long during my walks, I paid attention. And then, I shit you not, on the last day — on a walk I MADE myself go on as I was feeling kind of crumby that day — there was a GIANT sand dollar all by itself in the surf. Not to be dramatic, but The Universe hooked this sister up. But really, I see them all as signs that I am moving in the right direction. That if I just pay attention, The Universe is offering just what I need.
Or maybe I’m just lucky. Or both.
I’ll be posting more pics on Instagram so make sure you’re following me there, too!
sunday shares: read + watch + cook + buy
What I read. I started and finished The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane. I got to see the author recently at an event sponsored by River Road Books and Project Write Now/
talk a little bit about the novel and her writing process. It’s all about marriage and family. Relationships. What happens when life doesn’t work out the way we expected it to. Which is, um, always? She’s a great writer and also the author of Ask Again, Yes, which was on the best seller list a few years ago.
What I listened to. I adore the writer Taffy Brodesser Akner. Her profiles of famous folks are legendery (Gwyneth Paltrow and Bradley Cooper in particular) and her debut novel, Fleishman is in Trouble, was turned into a HULU series. The audio version of her newest effort, Long Island Compromise, is fantastic. The narrator is SO good and I LOLd a bunch. It tells the tale of a few generations of a Jewish family from Long Island (duh) and I also started on the drive up and finished RIGHT BEFORE I found that second sand dollar.
What I watched. Honestly, I tried not to watch anything and instead, listen to the sound of the surf below. However toward the end of the trip, I did quickly binge season one of The Bear. I’m rewatching the first two seasons before starting the newest one that dropped a few weeks ago. SO GOOD.
Who you should follow. I met
on a boat tour out of Boothbay Harbor a few years ago where she was there to take new photos for the boat company. I looked her up and down and was like, “I love her aesthetic.” Then we got to talking and I really loved her energy as well. Megan is a photographer/writer/all-around-creative with an aesthetic I’d like to eat with a spoon. You can check out more about her on her website. She and her husband relocated to Maine from California five years ago and she’s been documenting the journey on Instagram, which I highly recommend you follow.
What I bought at LL Bean. Guys, I can’t resist a trip to the flagship store in Freeport. In my mind it’s so much cooler to say, “Oh, I picked it up on my trip last summer to Maine.” I’d been eyeing a few things online and wanted to see in person on a quick pitstop to the store on my way home.
As always, thanks for reading and see you next Sunday. xoAmy
I'm jealous! This trip sounds ah-mazing!
Love the sound of the surf but most of all, that you honoured your self, drove 8 hours (I moan about driving more than an hour!) and spent a week just with yourself 🩵