When I first got my trailer last year, my plan had been to begin my travels with a slow trip up the coast of Maine, visiting all the little harbors. But once I got myself together to actually travel, it was already too cold and I had to head south. This summer, I would have loved to head to Maine, but they have a requirement that people with Mass plates traveling to Maine must either quarantine for 2 weeks (can't go to any public places, like the beach) or have paperwork demonstrating a negative COVID swab test taken within 3 days of arriving in Maine. You have to show your paperwork when you check into a park, campground or lodging - making those places responsible for ensuring compliance.*
Another thought I had for this summer was going to visit cousins in Canada, but they require the 2 week quarantine, too. When you cross the border, you have to tell them where you will quarantine, as well as who is going to get your groceries, so they can inform the local health department.
All this seemed too much to manage. And I did want to go to the ocean. So I booked 3 nights at Salisbury Beach State Park in early September.
At the beach! YAY!
They were only allowing camping at every other campsite, to avoid overcrowding at the beach and the bathrooms, which made for a very quiet campground.
The first day, there was just the right amount of surf to be able to ride my boogie board. When I was little, I learned to swim in lakes and pools, but never had much chance to play in the surf. A couple years ago I got myself the boogie board, and finally the surf was just right to be able to play with it! After about 45 minutes, though, my fingers and toes got too cold and I had to get out.
That evening, I walked down to the boat launch, which is on the Merrimac River estuary side of the park. Just as it was getting dark, a young man launched his boat. I asked him if he was going to go fishing and he said yes, he is a commercial fisherman. He told me he had caught 350 pounds of striped bass the week before. To protect this wonderful fish, there is a strict length limit on striped bass - you can only keep them if they are between 26" and 35" long. The rest have to be put back. The young man hadn't had any luck the week I was there, though. Not one fish.
As he was heading out to fish, on the opposite side of the sky, the full moon was just rising.
The moon came up orange. The cellphone wouldn't take the true deep orange color.
I decided to make a fire (in the metal fire box at my campsite) and stay up to watch the full moon rise.
The full Corn Moon.
The next day was rainy and overcast. Perfect for walking on the beach, and along the Merrimac.
Low tide rocks.
The sand had veins of purple and pink.
Then I found this painted rock on a post along the road back to my campsite.
The other side of the rock explained it. So I re-hid the rock in a low tree.
The view across the salt marsh towards the river.
Altogether it was a magical three days.
*Maine no longer has this requirement if you have Mass plates, but by the time they relaxed the COVID requirement, it was too cold to go up there.
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