Rainy day, sunny days in Kennebunkport Maine

Parson's Beach, Kennebunk, Maine

at the Old House Parts Co.

What do you do in a seaside town on a rainy day, particularly in a seaside town that you have extensively explored for more than 25 years?  Yes, of course there's fresh seafood, and yes, there's shopping and art galleries, and in neighboring Wells there are antique stores galore, but we wanted something a little different, and the innkeeper at the B&B where we were staying suggested this place, the Old House Parts Co. (an architectural salvage business) where we ended up spending more than two hours! 

 This is just a small sampling of what we saw there.

 There were hundreds of glass bricks like I used to make bookshelves in my very first apartment.  There were dozens of claw-foot bathtubs, chandeliers, doors, stained glass windows, shutters, and more; hundreds of doorknobs and hinges; there was even a church steeple, and oh, an airplane hanging from the ceiling!  And of course the huge peacock being investigated by hubs in the photo above.  My hubby, by the way, is a retired architect with a special fondness for historic architecture, and he was having the best time at this place!  Afterward, we made a couple of antique store stops, and before we knew it, it was time to pick up our son at the train station and get a dose of fresh seafood.  

 

Napoleon sleeping

 The weather for the rest of our visit to Kennebunkport was sunny and magnificent.  I already showed you pics from our day building a dragon in the sand of our favorite beach, Goose Rocks Beach.   We also spent part of a sunny day sailing on the schooner Eleanor.  Hubs and son both enjoy sailing small sailboats, so this was a big treat for the two of them.  Not much of a sailor myself, I was along for the ride.  The day was so breezy that not all the sails were up!  But the ocean was calm and lovely.

my son, basking

  Then, after son returned to Boston we spent a fabulous day at magnificent secluded Parson's Beach, a hidden treasure.

tidal pool, low tide

Before we set out on our 5 hour drive home, we explored a secreted little 1.5m hike through the woods behind a graveyard, called the Secret Garden Preserve.  So of course there were mushrooms!

 So... I know this is primarily intended as an art education blog, and I've been busy showing you all my vacation photos, but I promise, more artsy stuff will be coming soon!  (Well, photos ARE artsy, aren't they?)  But soon, when it's complete, I will show you my renovation project start to finish (son's bedroom turned into art studio), I will update you on my DragonWing Arts business venture, tell you about a new jewelry technique I learned, and share some art ed classroom ideas in prep for workshops I'll be teaching.  So please don't give up on me, readers! 

And for those of you who have started back to school, welcome back, and for my friends here in NY who don't start until after Labor Day, enjoy the remainder of this lovely summer!