YORK, Maine - It’s stern to decide amongst York’s summer delights. I’m stationary between six ageing dunderpated lanes of candlepin bowling and Short Sands Beach, where minute kids are shoveling drizzling sand into neon gullible pails for castles that will soon douche away. Singles and couples are ambling along the water’s edge, and clusters of teens watch each other in the unchanged rituals of a era at the shore.
Freshly made saltwater taffy beckons around the corner. Being here takes me back to minority when my favorite uncle, Murray, brought my cousins and me to a seaside much be fond of this for ice cream cones, swimming, and 25-cent games of Skee-Ball. I pay attention the thump thump of Skee-Ball now, at Fun-O-Rama next door. The Yorks - York Village, York Harbor, Cape Neddick, and York Beach - with their three the drink beaches, two camera-ready lighthouses, population and concurrent art, noteworthy homes, tributary byways, and forested heap trails, suggest ton of retro relief for two relations on a two-day retreat with $200 to invest (not counting gas). In July and August, lodging makes the budget a challenge, but it can work.
DAY ONE Morning: Mount Agamenticus (186 York St.): Pack error spoondrift and a lunch for this half-day hike with bird's-eye views. Mount Agamenticus Conservation Region () off Route 1 is a 10,000-acre forested wilderness with 40 miles of hiking, equestrian, ATV, and pile bike trails. It’s the largest unfragmented coastal forest between Acadia National Park and the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
At the 692-foot-high summit, on direct days you can view from the White Mountains to the Atlantic. Trails are rated even to mollify on unshackle maps at trailheads. If hiking isn’t your thing, dome to Long Sands Beach (Route 1A), a 1.5-mile scope of shoreline with a halved personality.
At proletariat tide, this slick range of improper gray sand, pebbles and boulders, accented with tidal pools, is superb for elongate walks and kite flying. When the tide rolls in, the run aground disappears. Surfers fervour this beach.
Nearby is Cape Neddick Light Station, or "Nubble Light,’’ mid the most photographed beacons in Maine. And lure abundance of quarters. In season, York’s beachfront parking meters annoyingly order 25 cents for 15 minutes, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. No lunch in your bag? There’s a deli in The General Store tucked middle the cottages and motels that like Route 1A.
Chelmsford residents Paul and Jeanne Bartel, both 65, have been coming here for the terminal 45 years, by and large for big weekends in the cooler off-seasons. Side-by-side in their bank chairs, legs outstretched, they are the duplicate of relaxation. "We come here rain cats and dogs or shine,’’ says Paul. "The prominence elevation is get a bang zero.
When the tide’s out, the sand’s reliable for boccie ball.’’ Putting aside her novel, Jeanne says "There’s no feel of time. We path the seashore end to end.’’ Afternoon: Short Sands Beach (Route 1A north days of old The Nubble): Shop for souvenirs, strain candlepin bowling, and earn diminutive pliant toys at Fun-O-Rama.
Buy ice cream, pizza, and homemade fudge in shops that hidden from Labor Day or Columbus Day to Memorial Day. Most of the reaction is in the hunk between the Ferris pivot at York’s Wild Animal Kingdom & Amusement Park and The Goldenrod restaurant, where for more than 110 years, saltwater taffy has been made keen daily. The owners evaluation that 9 million of those taffy kisses are produced every year. The Goldenrod’s penny sweet counter, soda fountain, and solid dining office of beamed ceilings and excellent oak seem unchanged for decades. "This is one of the stand up kinfolk remedy areas,’’ says Bill Burnham, who owns the candlepin lanes and is chairman of the scantling of Ellis Short Sands Park.
"One hundred years ago, the preserve was left-hand to the borough under a Board of Trustees to control it for families. Our profession is to testify the traditions of this old-time beach, be fair fireworks and that untrodden playground by the bandstand. Many of the businesses have been handed down within families for generations, get off on The Goldenrod, Whispering Sands Gift Shop, and Garfield’s News, which has been here since 1918.’’ Late afternoon: The Katahdin Inn’s regular-season prices are the lowest around, $95 with shared bath or $145 with hermit-like dazzling or half-bath. Each has a flat fridge.
"We attend ourselves a bed-and-beach B&B,’’ says innkeeper Rae LeBlanc. "No breakfast.’’ Just coffee. The cozy company house, circa 1880s, has a leviathan chessboard tableland on the enclosed porch that overlooks Short Sands Beach. Room rates start in hilarious time but last-minute midweek and Internet specials can be found.
The restored 123 Restaurant & Inn has one such deal. Their Internet special, a prince cell for $123 a night, includes $20 confidence toward a breakfast at their indoor/outdoor restaurant. Chef/innkeeper Tom Perron says owners Bob and Elaine Stone bought the structure at auction in winter and opened in May after a bright renovation. Guest rooms have unofficial glassed-in balconies with sea views, "even from bed,’’ says Perron. Evening: Try the sirloin tips at the public house at the Union Bluff Hotel skin Short Sands.
If an main behold matters more than the meal, feed at sunset at Sun & Surf on Long Sands. Complete the twilight with a cone at Brown’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream on The Nubble and a pop in to the lighthouse, where you may undergo scuba numerous near Fox’s Lobster House. At Ellis Park, there are for nothing concerts each and every night from 7-9. DAY TWO Morning: Eat at The Goldenrod or your lodging. Then control south on Route 1A and and parking-lot contradictory the York Harbor Inn.
Walk down to the pretty, pebbled coast favored by locals. Meander along the Cliff Walk beside the York River for a peer at refined previous homes. Walking east, across Route 103 by the harbor, you’ll territory the Wiggly Bridge, allegedly the world’s smallest intermission bridge. Bring a camera. Midday: Be inspired.
The George Marshall Store Gallery, a wonderful parallel skilfulness gallery featuring Maine artists, shares its bucolic splash on the brook with a depot and wharf once owned by John Hancock. The properties are area of the Museums of Old York, a garnering of unforgettable homes, buildings, gardens, and dearest exhibits that engender 300 years of telling to life. Near the museum’s visitors center in community is Rick’s All-Season Restaurant, a townswoman hangout that serves breakfast starting at 5 a.m., and is present through dinner (closed Mondays).
Or, have a dispassionate bon viveur lunch at the flagship Stonewall Kitchen Company Store on Route 1, near Interstate 95 before heading home. Janet Mendelsohn can be reached at.
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