At seven miles in length, the beach in Old Orchard Beach is the perfect place for long walks in the sand. When the tide is out, the beach has a big area of wet but firm sand for easy walking. Side benefit—the sand polishes the skin on your feet like a free spa treatment.

The first day we went south and found some big rocks that were covered with barnacles, black mussels and sea lettuce, and a freshwater creek coming across the sand. The Goosefare Brook water was colder than the Saco Bay water. There were also a group of students from Boston College doing a retreat who were spending time on the beach with a reflective writing assignment.

I wondered about the “creek” vs “brook” terms and found a source that said you can step across a brook, jump across a creek, wade across a stream and swim across a river. Bodies of water don’t always fit this and I wonder if “brook” which I see frequently here in the Northeast really is a holdover from British English when the rest of the country seems to use “creek” in naming shallow running water that may run dry or runs to a river.

The Sun Outdoors Old Orchard Beach Downtown campground has some seasonal campsites where campers put up gazebos, sheds, decks and other semi-permanent structures. It’s also very close to a grocery store where I purchased milk—have never seen “Light Milk 1.5%” before. Tony thought the TV in the restroom blaring a football game was a nice touch; after all, he did install a TV in the master bath at home. The women’s restroom had a place and cable, but no TV which was nice and peaceful. I’m sure this resort town is a very busy place in July and August with crowds of people. It’s good to be here in the off season.

On Sunday, we walked north of the pier. We had a grey squirrel hanging around our campsite. He seemed curious about the cats, and Catnip almost climbed out a window to get him. Tony caught her by a back leg, called for help, and I dragged her back in then fixed the screen back into place. We could hear the acorns falling all over camp, and Tony wondered if the squirrel was stashing them under the van somewhere. If so, we are taking them with us!