Maine Monday 3: My favorite beaches

Happy Monday, everyone! It's the last week of the month, so that means it's time for another installment of Maine Monday. Since summer is fully upon us, I thought I'd share a few photos of my

              ...favorite beaches

I can't pick my top favorite out of the three -- I like them each for different reasons, so, in no particular order...

Popham Beach

Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg is, according to some, the most popular state park in Maine. It's got miles and miles of sand, making it a great place to walk along the water.

At one end is Fort Popham, built in the mid-1800s to defend the coast and now on the National Register of Historic Places. It's a fun place to poke around and collect rocks and shells.

On nice Saturdays, the beach gets full fast, so we always make sure to go early (before 9:30) to get a prime spot. At low tide, you used to be able to walk across a sand bar to an island, but a river running along the coast has caused some erosion and made the passage risky.

Since it's so popular, it's a great place to people watch, run into friends and hang out with a crowd. During the spring and fall (and even winter, if it's sunny!), it's a great place to walk along the sand, looking for sand dollars.

Small Point Beach
Also known as Head Beach, this is the beach we went to a lot as kids. It's also in Phippsburg, on Hermit Island, but lesser known and less crowded, so if you try to get into Popham and can't, this is the place to go.

It's in a little cove, so the water is a little warmer and calmer, making it great for kids. It's not a state park, so you can bring your dogs and your alcohol too. :) And you can stay past dark, so we love to come here in the late afternoons, grill up some hot dogs and s'mores on our cookstove and watch the sunset.

There's a campground on the island and a great food shack too.

Reid State Park
This giant state park in Georgetown has tons and tons of beach, and lots of parking, so no worries about not getting in even on a hot Saturday. I have a soft spot for it because this is where my mom used to come as a kid with her parents and siblings every Sunday.

It's got quite an undertow and big waves, so make sure you're a strong swimmer if you decide to go out far. If you're not, there's a lagoon that fills up during high tide, where we loved to swim when we were little. As kids, we spent lots of time walking along the rocks looking for tide pools, and I still love walking on the rocks and watching the piping plovers run along.

It's a great place to fly kites too! We go every Labor Day with the hubs' family, and it's lots of fun.

We have a big appreciation for beaches here in Maine, because it's only really warm enough to enjoy them for three months out of the year (though I do love going in the spring and fall, when there's no one there and plenty of space to enjoy). And yes, I do swim in the ocean, and yes, it's very cold! Sometimes it takes your breath away it's so cold, but there's nothing like it.

I haven't been to the beach yet this summer, and I'm crossing my fingers for a hot and sunny Saturday very soon!

What are your favotire beaches?

See the first two Maine Mondays here and here!