A Cottage on the Bay

Life in the Boomer Lane observed her 70th birthday back in May.  She celebrated with various groups of friends and had a blast.  She wrote a blog post about the auspicious event. She then waited until mid-August to give herself a gift. Her gift was to have her husband, kids, spouses, and grandchildren stay at a Maine cottage on Linekin Bay, in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

Linekin Bay Resort started as a girls’ camp back in the 1920s. Sometime later, it became a family resort.  But the original magic of Linekin Bay remained. A renovation within the last two years brought the resort up to today’s standards, while maintaining the look of the original camp.  The “cottages” have central air,  new kitchens.  LBL’s family had a six bedroom, four bath cottage, large enough for eight adults, three children, and three babies. The communal dining room offers great food.

Kids don’t care much about the adult improvements. They want a place where they can run, play games, swim, raft, sail, canoe, kayak, hike, see movies, and roast marshmallows. They want a playground, and a  basketball court and a huge game room. They want a children’s camp where they can tie dye tee shirts, make slime, and build fairy houses in the woods.  Linekin Bay provides that place, where adult sensibilities and kid sensibilities intersect.

It was unclear who was enjoying the sailing/swimming/boating more. It was unclear who had more fun on the big front porch overlooking the bay.  It was a toss-up as to who had more fun in the dining room or on the nature trail or sitting at the floating dock.

Lest anyone think that the adults were forced to limit themselves to lemonade and hot chocolate, LBL wants you to know that her family had their own happy hours on the front porch. And alcohol was served in the dining hall.

The only thing missing anywhere was a TV.  LBL is here to tell you that no one noticed. She noted that there was a minimal use of cell phones and almost no use of laptops. Disconnected from the “real” world meant that LBL and family became more connected to the actual world.

Wherever you live, Linekin Bay is absolutely worth the flight and/or the drive. LBL promises you a family vacation that will relax you, entertain you, excite you and make you remember why there is nothing more important than family.  LBL isn’t getting paid for this endorsement. She won’t even get a free glass of wine, the next time she brings the family there. And she will be back.

And a post script: Because LBL and family had little access to the events unfolding in Texas, she has been playing catch up.  She had been in a place that displayed the best of what nature could provide, while elsewhere, nature was displaying the worst. She now watches families losing everything they had, grateful that they have not lost each other. In both the best of times and in the worst, we are grateful to hold family close.