Our Maine Ocean Retreat

Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher) and I have been having a wonderful time on our Ocean Retreat in Maine. Our days start with beautiful sunrises and end with spectacular sunsets.

Lorraine has been making us delicious meals so that I can have a real relaxing vacation. I feel like I am being so spoiled. I did make one meal (Asian Eggplant) at home and we brought it along. She heated it and served it with sauteed cauliflower rice. She also made a broccoli salad. The meal was so delicious. It will be in the next cookbook. There is a full kitchen which allows us the opportunity to enjoy our meals in. Lorraine and I enjoy going to restaurants but we can't pull ourselves away from our perfect location that offers a front row seat to the ocean.

Asian eggplant with riced cauliflower and broccoli salad. Ready for the next book

It was so delicious.

The Maine Ocean Retreat condo has a great kitchen

Egg bites for lunch with salasa, jalapeno cremosa, guacamole and chimichurri

We start each morning sitting on the balcony and enjoy our coffee and cookies or banana bread that Lorraine made and brought along. They will both be in the next cookbook. Both are made without sugar (She uses almond flour and sweetens with maple syrup) and are delicious. We sit for hours on the deck and are have been gifted with beautiful weather. It feels like summer as the cool night air is replaced by the morning’s warm sun. We love watching the people from our balcony as they walk on the beach often a dog on their side. Some dogs racing into the water after a ball or stick. We were touched to see a group of people pulling a wagon with an aging senior dog. It made us smile

Coffee tastes extra good at our Ocean Maine Retreat. Lorraine’s banana bread pictured here will be in the next book. We brought these beautiful oversized coffee cups from home.

The love of an aging pet.

I love the beach but I am not a hot weather person so my ideal beach vacation is in Wells Beach Maine in the off seasons. I am actually writing to you this morning  all bundled up sitting on the deck listening to the waves roll in and start to fall back, Today's high tide scheduled for 12h47. This beach has so much to offer, besides the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. There are the birds to listen to and to watch. I especially like the little birds that run along the edge of the waves, their little legs running so quickly I can't help but laugh as I watch them run, run,run, stop, repeat. Watching the birds offers hours of entertainment. I love to walk on the beach. However, I think walking on the beach is one of those things that is an activity that sometimes doesn't meet my expectations. I have walked on many beaches over the years in Greece, Florida, Spain, Mexico,, Hawaii, East coast, West coast but like Goldilocks, some were too hot, some the sand was  too soft and difficult to walk on, some were too rocky, and some were too slanted but the Wells Beach, in my Goldilocks opinion... is just right. It is beyond perfect. It's the perfect temperature. I love the sand dunes that give a natural uninhabited feel. The wide open expanse of beach during low tide, and the crashing of the waves .  Because we travel in the off seasons, there is often not a person insight.

I love to watch these little birds. I can’t help but laugh when I see there little legs run as they quickly try to get away from the approaching wave.

The clouds being reflected on the wet sand was amazing.

It is so much fun to watch the birds

It is the most amazing place to be. At low tide, the ocean reveals a perfectly smooth hard surface to walk on with a scattering of shells and rocks that tempt you to pick one special one up, and put it in your pocket. (If you were to look in my closet at my home, you could reach into any jacket pocket or vest that I own and find a stone or shell that I picked up on the beach.) I cannot think of a more perfect place to be and this is where we are spending 10 days. I wake each morning thinking how lucky am I. 

Lorraine jumping over the little rivulet of tide water

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We plan our days around the tide and usually walk from our condo to the town of Ogunquit. It is a 5km round trip and is especially nice when we make the return walk during the setting sun. We like to do a little exploring by car each day and usually have a little souvenir piece of clothing that we purchased that will bring back fond memories of our time here when we wear it. A few times during our stay we will make the extra walk which includes the Marginal way. It is hilly and rocky and usually the waves are crashing against the rocks. It is fun to walk along the narrow, sometimes eerily close to the rocky-edge pathway. There are benches all along the way which offer spectacular views. The walk along the Marginal way ends at Perkins Cove where we take a walk through the stores or visit our favorite Lobster Shack. When we walk through the door of the rustic shack we are always greeted like long lost friends by the owner, Jason. We always get his delicious fish chowder when we are there too.

Ogunquit on our way to the Marginal way

The Marginal Way offers spectacular views of rocks and crashing waves. The waters were unusually calm when we made our walk.

It was fun to see the bride and groom out on the rocks to capture the perfect wedding photos. I have to thank my pixel 7 pro phone for suggesting that I remove the photographer and the photographers helper. The phone highlighted them and with a quick click, the bride and groom stood there alone.

After reaching our Perkins Cove destination, we sat for a moment, commenting how calm the water was. Usually regardless tide in or tide out, the waves are crashing. It was a very peaceful moment.

We always make sure to make the walk back to our condo before the tide comes back in. If it is a full moon or a particularly wavy day some parts of the beach are impassable during high tide and you have to climb over the Dunes.  I always make sure to start the walk while the tide is still out and the sand is easy and firm to walk on. On some of these walks after going to Ogunquit we can sometimes be found to be carrying a little bag from the Harbor Candy Store and in this bag you will be more than likely to find Mint Chocolate Malt Balls. No trip to our Ocean Retreat is complete without them. We spend our evenings in and watch TV or play a game of cards. Lorraine brought Skip-bo which is a fun game. Neither of us is really competitive when we play cards and sometimes hesitate when we have the chance to block the other player. If we do make the move to block a move, we will lay down the card and say “Karen would be proud of us” Our friend Karen is our amazing artist friend who first introduced us to this area almost 20 years ago. She has travelled to Florida with us when our parents had the home there for 20 years. Sometimes we would all gather around the dining room table after dinner to play a game of cards. Karen was quick to make the observation that we were polite card players and never wanted to squash the other players move. I am laughing when I write this because my mom was quite competitive and would laugh if she made an extra aggressive move. I love to play cards or board games and should make more time to play more often.

No Maine Ocean Retreat is complete without a trip to Harbor Candy for some of our favorite Mint Chocolate Malt Balls.

I was not peeking at Lorraine’s card when I took this photo

We always make sure to make the walk back to our condo on Wells beach before the tide comes in.

When we turn out the lights after a fun filled day, and relaxing evening, we make sure to leave the sliding door cracked open so we can hear the ocean and crashing waves all night.

I hope you are enjoying your virtual vacation in Maine with us. We will continue to explore the area and share the photos with you.  We will have two more book signings in October and look forward to seeing you there. The first is at the Little Bookstore in Clayton, New York October 21st and the second will be at RiverWest Co in Brockville, Ontario October 22nd. There will be a surprise guest author with me at RiverWest, He has an incredible knowledge of ships and has drawn a coloring book with his favorite ships . I look forward to sharing the table with him. It is going to be fun. We look forward to seeing you at these events. Have a wonderful day. By the time I finished writing this story the sun has warmed the air and I am sitting in short sleeves, it feels like summer.   Writing about walking on the beach made me think about walking on the ship, so I put together a little video on my Youtube channel @shiptoshorechef. Just click on the following link to take a walk with me on the decks of a few cargo ships. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVilduvgyBU