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Old Orchard Beach - Part 3
Written by: Stacey Stern
If you're looking for a "family friendly" vacation with fun-filled adventures, shopping and local excursions, then look no farther than Old Orchard Beach, Maine
Saturday
On Saturday morning, we went to breakfast at Joseph's by the Sea Restaurant located at 55 West Grand Avenue. The restaurant is decorated in light pastels with an upscale atmosphere, overlooking the ocean. The kids and I ate the traditional eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, home fries, and toast combos. Sal had a Mexican Frittata Omelet with peppers, onions, and salsa over the eggs. After a hearty breakfast, we headed for the center of town.
The main street is reminiscent of the Jersey Shore with walk-up food stands and souvenir shops filled with beach attire and novelties. Amanda insisted we go straight to Palace Playland, the amusement park by the pier. The park consists of two blocks of rides and arcades. There are Kiddie cars and motorcycles, roller coaster ride, train ride, flying animals, fire engines, and spinning bears. Also, on this block is the Funhouse, Log flume, Tilt-o-Whirl and Galaxy roller coaster. The other side has Bumper cars, the Mattehorn, Ferris wheel, Carousel, Pirate ship, games, shops, and arcades.
After about an hour, we went for a walk on the pier and in town. The pier is about 400 feet long with mostly novelty shops and a bar at the end. The original pier was 1,800 feet long, but fires over the years destroyed many sections of the pier. Next to Bill's Pizza is Pier Fries. We shared two cups of fries, which were as good as Nathan's fries. Condiments include ketchup, salt, and vinegar. Having tried the vinegar and salt, we opted to stick with ketchup.
Up the street, we stopped in Dickson's Candies, where they pull their own taffy and make their own fudge. We were able to sample a few flavors. The coconut fudge was super, and the strawberry cheesecake taffy was a new twist on an old favorite. Sal stuck with Vanilla taffy, and then took the kids to Pirates Cove Adventure Golf. There are two courses, one over the mountain and one through the tunnel. They played the tunnel course, since he had the stroller. Strollers are not recommended for these courses! Amanda shot a 72 on a par 40 and had lots of fun!
I went on a tour of Old Orchard Beach that began at the Old Orchard Beach Inn. This is the oldest inn in Maine. The building was saved from being demolished and renovated by the owner, Steve Cecchetti. Town Hall resides directly across the street in a beautiful stone building. Next door is the Harmon Historical Museum which houses the history of Old Orchard Beach from its heydays as an entertainment center where many famous names performed, to its aviation history including an unscheduled landing of Charles Lindbergh on the beach, to the fires that destroyed part of the pier.
I then boarded a bus for an end-to-end tour of the 7-mile-long beach. At one end lies a quaint fishing village known as Camp Ellis Beach. People come from all over to fish off the jetty and watch the boats sail from the ocean into the Saco River. Next stop was Ocean Park, home to Chautauqua-by-the-Sea, with many cultural events all summer long held mostly in a remarkable building known as The Temple. This is a "must see" for anyone interested in great acoustics and fascinating architecture. There is a state park and plenty of salt marshes for animal and bird watching. The Pier and Palace Playland are the busiest areas of Old Orchard Beach. The other border of the beach is Scarborough, where the ocean meets the Scarborough River. The lobster fishermen use this river as their inlet. Finally, we drove through Bayley's Campground and to see the Bayley family elk farm. The farm is home to over 1,600 elk and is private, except during Christmas time when people purchasing trees can come and feed the elk.
After returning from the tour, I met the rest of my family and went to dinner at Surf 6, a bar/restaurant on the beach. Sal and I enjoyed a wonderful lobster dinner. There is nothing like fresh Maine lobster with hot butter! Amanda ate the traditional cheeseburger, and D.J. would have had a delicious stuffed chicken breast with mashed potatoes and string beans, if he wasn't so interested in the pool table. Dessert was the largest slice of cheesecake we have ever seen topped with strawberry sauce and a cup of coffee, which I had while trying to chase D.J..
Sunday arrived too fast. We packed up the car, took a final walk on the beach, and went for breakfast at Dan's on Old Orchard Street. Amanda was thrilled to see Cheerios and milk! Sal had Eggs Benedict, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and D.J. and I shared eggs, sausage patties, bacon, hash browns and toast. Ready to head home, we passed a fruit stand on the edge of town and stopped to buy some cherries and nectarines for the trip. The nectarines were so sweet that I wish we had bought more.
After 7 hours, thanks to New York traffic, we arrived home safely. Amanda, Sal, and I agreed our trip just wasn't long enough and wished we were still there enjoying Old Orchard Beach. It was a wonderful town with plenty to do, and we look forward to going back again someday soon.
Read part 1 | Read part 2
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