We woke up to another day of blue skies and perfect summer temperatures and decided it was a good day to be on a lobster boat. We reserved spots on Kylie's Chance at 11, and spent the morning bopping in and out of shops and collecting a few souvenirs. Dock Square in Kennebunkport is simply one of the most charming downtowns I have ever visited. We got coffees and truffles for breakfast, let the kids touch everything (after being instructed to not touch anything) in the cutest little toy store, and I had trouble narrowing down all the treasures I wanted to bring home with me. Good thing I had my non-shopping husband breathing down my neck or we may have needed to rent a trailer to bring home with us!
By the time we were ready to hop on our boat, the sky had turned cloudy and there was a noticeably stronger wind blowing in from the coast. We heard the crew explain to some other ticket holders that the water had gotten pretty rough and that they were cancelling the rest of the rides for the day, and offering money back for those on our ride who didn't want to brave it. Since we had plans for Portland the next day, we didn't want to lose out on our only chance to get on a lobster boat, so we put on our sweatshirts, said some prayers, and made our way down the dock to the back of the boat. Ahoy, here we go!
Boy are we glad we didn't miss this! Sure the waves were a little high and I only thought we were going to capsize once, this hour and a half trip was full of beautiful scenery and lots of education about Maine, namely, the Kennebunks. We learned about some of the owners of the mansions, including the owner of Fruit of the Loom brand, match.com, and the guy who invented the magnetic strip on the back of credit cards. We sailed past Walker's Point and got as close to the Bush Compound as the secret service would allow us to, saw a large family of seals sunbathing on a little island, also owned by the Bush family, and finally, waited in anticipation as our lively sea captain pulled up some lobster cages, and showed off the catch of the day.
The Bush Compound. And the flag was flying, signaling that someone was home!
The kids wanted nothing to do with these things. Mila's face says it all!
The kids did, however, love getting the chance to be captain and drive that big boat in the middle of the ocean. Mila threw a fit when it was someone else's turn and our captain was quite fond of Cruz's name. We had a lot smoother ride back to land, passed a secret service boat, and had some of the best neopolitan pizza al fresco at Ports of Italy as the sun greeted us back to shore.
After a nap for Mila and a game of chess for Cruz and Beau, we freshened up and hit the road north to Old Orchard Beach, another little coastal town about 20 minutes from Kennebunkport. Besides being situated right on the Atlantic Ocean, this little sea town had a much different feel than fancy Kennebunkport. Dotted with cheap souvenir shops, chain restaurants, and lots of half dressed beach goers on skateboards, we laughed and said, "we're not in Kennebunkport anymore!" And just when we started to second guess whether this was the right place to spend one of our last nights here, our eyes caught a glimpse of this amusement park on the beach and there was just no turning back...
I know I sound like a broken record, but this was one of my favorite nights of our vacation. I think we arrived right in between the afternoon and after dinner crowd and had so much fun letting the kids take the lead and watching their faces light up on ride after ride after ride. The carnival lights, the colors, and the gorgeous ocean backdrop made me feel like we were in a movie set. I kept looking for that Zoltar fortune machine from the movie, Big! The kids went from one ride to another, and Beau and I took turns accompanying Cruz on the roller coaster, once again soaking in the view from the top.
When a storm started blowing in from the coast, we took a break and found ourselves in a little seafood restaurant on the beach. It was here I discovered Sea Dog Wild Blueberry beer, Mila housed a huge plate of spaghetti, Cruz had his eighth hot dog of the trip, and Beau and I shared yet another bowl of clam chowder. We stayed cozy inside while it rained outside, and soon enough the sky cleared again for one last chance to ride under a starry sky.
We had a blast. Laughed and laughed as Cruz took Mila on the ride of her life on the teacups, her head flailed back and a dizzy smile on her face as she spun round and round and round. Caught quite the view of the big sea from the very top of the ferris wheel, where we took selfies and held on tight to our fearless little girl. Shared a cup of french fries as the kids sat side by side, and used up our last tickets on one last roller coaster ride, where we ended just in time for the fireworks show. Oh how I loved this night and this Old Orchard Beach.
Just one more day to go!
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