When playwright Monica Flory asked me for permission to have her campers at Ghostlight Theater Camp in Maine perform The Wanting Forest, I immediately said yes. Silk Moth Stage would still have the official world premiere, but it didn’t cause us any harm to have these teens play it first.
And then I started thinking about Maine. I’d never been there, but Acadia has been on my bucket list since I found a coffee table book of photos of the park, during my last year of high school, when I was putzing around in the balcony at the West Virginia Choral Arts Center. JC happened to have a bit more vacation time than we had planned on, and so we decided to spend it in New England. We flew one-way to Maine, rented a car, and after five days in Acadia, spent over a week driving home. It was the best of both worlds—we could visit people and places along the way, but didn’t have to drive the full loop.
We started our trip at a cabin next to my friend’s parents, very close to Acadia. We kayaked, hiked, and played with their dog.
Acadia did not disappoint. The coast reminded me in some ways of northern Michigan, with forests and rock formations coming right down to the water. It was exactly like I imagined it…and so much more.
My favorite spot probably was Thunder Hole, where at certain tides, the rocks make a noise that sounds like thunder! We took the free park bus to get there, and it was more than just transportation. The driver told us a lot about the spots we passed, so it was more like a tour.
I had been warned that Acadia would be crowded, but one upside to the Trump of it all is that international tourism was way down—so, while there were many people there, it was not nearly as intense as I was expecting.
In addition to the ocean beach, we spent significant time at Echo Lake, a freshwater swimming spot. Petra particularly loved swimming there. We spotted a mama loon with a nest, caught some salamanders, and generally had a great time. One memorable morning, I went by myself super early and sat in quiet as the mist rose off the lake, before the crowds showed up.
We also took the kids to play goofy golf for the first time. I don’t think they had ever done it before (they’ve done mini golf, but not the kind with waterfalls and moving obstacles and over-the-top design). They got really into the pirate theme.
After several days of nature and bliss, we headed to camp, where we saw Pride and Prejudice as well as The Wanting Forest. I was so thrilled that I got to experience the play with Monica’s direction. Seeing teens handle this script, when my own experience with it is from such a different perspective, was enlightening. And, of course, seeing Monica is always a joy.
And then we began the long trip home.
We stayed over in Amherst, MA, where we went to the Eric Carle Museum. It’s a gorgeous museum, and we particularly enjoyed the Grace Lin exhibit that was going on at the time. It was sort of a retrospective of her work, but designed to be engaging to people of all ages. Seeing how her work developed over time was fascinating, especially since there were many images from my favorite of her books, the novel trilogy that starts with Starry River of the Sky.
My older kid had their first-ever college visit, at Amherst College. We don’t expect that they will want to go there (too expensive, for one thing), but we happened to be in town and felt like it would be a good, low-stakes introduction to the college visit experience.
One thing we did not do in Amherst was visit the Emily Dickinson house. We didn’t know you need to book tickets weeks in advance for that! Same with the Mark Twain house that not too far from there. #theMoreYouKnow
We did visit the Springfield Museums, which includes a Dr. Seuss museum. A long-time fan, this was a very fun stop for me.
And then a visit with my aunt, uncle, and their menagerie of pets. This was probably Petra’s favorite part of the whole adventure.
And on the way home, we stopped in Baltimore, where we visited the aquarium. We met up with friends there, and one of them, who is my age, used to visit the Aquarium with her parents when she was small, so she had all the insider info. Did you know that most of the scuba divers who clean the tanks are retired folks? There’s a long wait list to get approved.
I hadn’t been to Baltimore since the kids were very small, and I forgot how much I enjoy that city. We all agreed that we want to go back and spend a longer time there.
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