What? No tourist bees?
Yesterday I visited Popham Beach, south of Bath in Phippsburg. I have to admit I didn’t really know what to expect. I ate lunch at Spinney’s, a great little restaurant/take-out that reminded me a lot of a less-fancy Lobster Pound in Lincolnville. I had a grilled haddock sandwich basket - excellent - and then left to see the beach.
Parking near Fort Popham was full, so I decided to use my day pass and visit the state park there. Even though it was the Fourth of July weekend, the guides I’d read were right; it wasn’t crowded. There was plenty of room to relax and enjoy the waves coming in (I could only imagine what Old Orchard Beach must’ve been like yesterday). Most of the people seemed to be Mainers, which wouldn’t be that surprising. There were some kids wading, people my age playing Frisbee, and people bodyboarding on the few-foot-high waves.
The dunes in back of the beach echo the water. That’s relaxing and everything until you can’t distinguish the sound from thunder. All of a sudden you hear a large clap and you decide to go to the car and wait out the storm. At least I did. About 80% of the other people left the park entirely. Until the storm really got started people were playing Frisbee in the parking lot with the newly freed space. My prediction about the storm’s length was right; 20 minutes later the sun was out again. I went back out to the beach after standing in the downpour for a couple of minutes (water in the ocean, water from the sky, what’s the difference?).
There were probably about 20 people in my view when I got back, and the number didn’t rise much. The beach is about a mile and a half long, and I love it. I’ll definitely be going back… often… I’m buying a Maine Park Pass today.
Pictures from pre- and post-storm are available at Pine Tree Photography.
