To celebrate the septuagenarian status of Tootsie (current) and Poppy (pending), Cristin proposed we return to the summer vacation destination of her youth –  Great Pond in Belgrade, ME.   I had heard much about these vacations over the years, mostly about close-quarter sleeping, spiders and boggle, skittle-fits, and fish frys,  trips to Freeport for back to school shopping (and mother’s sanity), and seeing the 4H animals at the Skowhegan fair.   In a quest to recreate these fond memories for the next generation, Cristin forwent an available 12 bathroom, 12,500 square foot lake house and instead chose the much more subdued house on the adjacent lot that had a meager 9 bathrooms and only 7,500 square feet. Also 8 large flat panel TVs and an exercise room.

 

Having only experienced the 2016 version of the vacation, it is difficult for me to say how they compared but I didn’t notice anyone complaining too much about the enhanced comfort (air conditioning!) and space (700 square feet per person).  It was still very much a quintessential Maine “pond” vacation.  The lake is breathtakingly beautiful, dotted with islands and surrounded by evergreen covered hills.  It is also just the right size and depth to be able to get to a comfortable august temperature (75) while being able to maintain an impressive water clarity.

The kids logged a great many hours in the lake, swimming back and forth to the raft where Ellie ran some kind of “store” and being away from the dock she was able to avoid constant pestering from her parents to put her head in the water.  The rental had three kayaks and I went on numerous trips with the kids who became quite competent in paddling by the end of the week despite the fact that their small torsos forced them to improvise the basic mechanics of the stroke.  We rented a Sunfish and took all the kids sailing including Phoebe who was out with me for over an hour.

Apparently neither the lake or the town has changed much in the 60 years since Peter started vacationing there.  There are now BBQ and Greek takeout places in town and the local general store, Day’s, no longer sells mink fur coats.  The Village Inn replaced the wall mounted fish with a local photograph and apparently has adjusted prices a bit faster than inflation but still has a menu focused on various fractions of duck.  Some of the shore houses have turned over to larger places but for the most part the lake houses are quite campy with propane tanks out back, big porches, and moss covered roofs.   The town lies no more than 15 minutes from the Maine Turnpike and three hours from the western burbs of Boston so it is somewhat surprising that the overturn has not been more significant.   It seems that the lure of the Cape is still somehow stronger despite it being at the point of near madness.   Perhaps sea level rise will flush the hedge funders and equity managers north into the lakes.  Hopefully not.