darthmacho
08-18-2008, 09:02 AM
Cast:
DM: Me 37
DW: Wife 37
DD1: Daughter 7
DD2: Daughter 4
It was Sunday, August 10, a beautiful morning in Quincy, MA for our departure, and driving up Rte 1, we arrived at Old Orchard Beach before noon at the Chamber of Commerce, which was just a room with a few brochures, but most importantly, a bathroom, which we promptly used.
We then found ourselves a $15 parking spot for the day, just a half block away from Old Orchard Street, and from there it was just another short block to the famous Pier, which we decided to investigate immediately. The street and the beach were crowded, but not mobbed, and it was still a pleasantly sunny day, so the sound of surf and gulls, and the scent of salt water and sand was wonderful.
After a few pictures outside, we entered the Pier and walked as far as the entrance to the restaurant at the end, just to get a feel for what ws there. It was filled with great little shops and eateries, but we weren't ready for shopping just yet, so we stopped in for lunch at a small sit down place and had chicken, pizza, and of course, the famous Pier fries. They were pretty good, but not to die for. Nevertheless, our hunger was more than sated (I wasn't intending to eat so much for lunch) and we decided to leave the shopping for another day and headed over to Palace Playland, (a beachfront amusement park for those not familiar) to get on some rides before having to head to the hotel.
Again, early afternoon and in the high seventies, it was a gorgeous day, though I knew the forecast and I could see already that it was getting darker in the west and foggier over the water, so I suggested that we get on the Sun Wheel so that we could enjoy the view, which was more than spectacular!
We continued use up our ride tickets by going on a variety of rides, including a twirling set of Mexican Sombreros and getting soaked on the log flume ride. DD1 went on the Galaxi roller coaster with me and the yo-yo alone (I hate that one) while DD2 went on some kiddie rides.
When we used up our tickets we decided to poke around a bit and found, to my delight, and Old Time photo shop where they take themed vintage souvenier photos! Now you have to understand that this has become a tradition over the past two years as we got a photo of our kids dressed as pirates in NH in 2006, and last year the whole family took one together dressed in western garb, while we took an extra one of just the kids dressed as Native Americans, a throwback to an almost exact picture my parents ave of me and my sister as a similar age!
In any case, I had no idea that this photo shop was there, even though I had searched the internet for months hoping to find one in OOB to no avail. As I said, I was delighted to stumble upon this one. This year, the four of us took a photo as mobsters. In the photo, I'm driving a bullet riddled car holding a machine gun, my wife is holding some cash and a whiskey bottle, and my kids are in the back holding feather fans. We were very happy with the picture, which was well worth the pricey $40. :gangster:
Rides ridden, picture taken, we decided to poke around the shops, (we had no intention of attempting beach time and didn't even wear our suits that day) and we found some pretty cool store, my favorite being Board Silly, a shop of all games and puzzles at the top of the street.
We decided to head to the hotel to check in, and though I would have liked to have another spin on the Sun Wheel, we decided against it as the entire beach had become enshrouded by fog that had backed in from the Atlantic and gray skies were threatening. We hopped into the car and drove over to Biddeford, (just south of OOB/Saco for those not familiar) where we were staying at the Comfort Suites. We had tried to book several places direcly on OOB, but we got a late start with the vacation plans and everything in our price range on OOB was booked solid.
Comfort Suites was nice, but there were a few things I had misunderstood. For instance, it had advertised room service, but when we got there, there was none (I'll explain that later), what I thought was a restaurant, was merely a breakfast nook, and as we'd find out later, the indoor heated pool was not only small, but it was rather chilly. Nevertheless, we were satisfied with the room, which was large by our standards, clean, and comfortable. The hotel was also a hop away from I-95, a skip away from Rte 1, and a jump away from OOB, so the location, whi,le not centered turned out to be convenient.
Finally to wrap up this first entry (sorry I got inspired and hope you are still with me) we decided to have a late dinner at a nearby Ruby Tuesdays. While eating there was a new experience, I found it ironic that after making it a point to drive "Down East" to a haven of local seafood, we ended up eating at a southern themed chain restaurant that offered no lobster. In any case the food was good, and I got shrimp, so at least I had something from the sea that day.
After that, we went back to the hotel to rest up for the rest of the vacation.
Next Entry: Day 2, A Gray Day In Maine.
DM: Me 37
DW: Wife 37
DD1: Daughter 7
DD2: Daughter 4
It was Sunday, August 10, a beautiful morning in Quincy, MA for our departure, and driving up Rte 1, we arrived at Old Orchard Beach before noon at the Chamber of Commerce, which was just a room with a few brochures, but most importantly, a bathroom, which we promptly used.
We then found ourselves a $15 parking spot for the day, just a half block away from Old Orchard Street, and from there it was just another short block to the famous Pier, which we decided to investigate immediately. The street and the beach were crowded, but not mobbed, and it was still a pleasantly sunny day, so the sound of surf and gulls, and the scent of salt water and sand was wonderful.
After a few pictures outside, we entered the Pier and walked as far as the entrance to the restaurant at the end, just to get a feel for what ws there. It was filled with great little shops and eateries, but we weren't ready for shopping just yet, so we stopped in for lunch at a small sit down place and had chicken, pizza, and of course, the famous Pier fries. They were pretty good, but not to die for. Nevertheless, our hunger was more than sated (I wasn't intending to eat so much for lunch) and we decided to leave the shopping for another day and headed over to Palace Playland, (a beachfront amusement park for those not familiar) to get on some rides before having to head to the hotel.
Again, early afternoon and in the high seventies, it was a gorgeous day, though I knew the forecast and I could see already that it was getting darker in the west and foggier over the water, so I suggested that we get on the Sun Wheel so that we could enjoy the view, which was more than spectacular!
We continued use up our ride tickets by going on a variety of rides, including a twirling set of Mexican Sombreros and getting soaked on the log flume ride. DD1 went on the Galaxi roller coaster with me and the yo-yo alone (I hate that one) while DD2 went on some kiddie rides.
When we used up our tickets we decided to poke around a bit and found, to my delight, and Old Time photo shop where they take themed vintage souvenier photos! Now you have to understand that this has become a tradition over the past two years as we got a photo of our kids dressed as pirates in NH in 2006, and last year the whole family took one together dressed in western garb, while we took an extra one of just the kids dressed as Native Americans, a throwback to an almost exact picture my parents ave of me and my sister as a similar age!
In any case, I had no idea that this photo shop was there, even though I had searched the internet for months hoping to find one in OOB to no avail. As I said, I was delighted to stumble upon this one. This year, the four of us took a photo as mobsters. In the photo, I'm driving a bullet riddled car holding a machine gun, my wife is holding some cash and a whiskey bottle, and my kids are in the back holding feather fans. We were very happy with the picture, which was well worth the pricey $40. :gangster:
Rides ridden, picture taken, we decided to poke around the shops, (we had no intention of attempting beach time and didn't even wear our suits that day) and we found some pretty cool store, my favorite being Board Silly, a shop of all games and puzzles at the top of the street.
We decided to head to the hotel to check in, and though I would have liked to have another spin on the Sun Wheel, we decided against it as the entire beach had become enshrouded by fog that had backed in from the Atlantic and gray skies were threatening. We hopped into the car and drove over to Biddeford, (just south of OOB/Saco for those not familiar) where we were staying at the Comfort Suites. We had tried to book several places direcly on OOB, but we got a late start with the vacation plans and everything in our price range on OOB was booked solid.
Comfort Suites was nice, but there were a few things I had misunderstood. For instance, it had advertised room service, but when we got there, there was none (I'll explain that later), what I thought was a restaurant, was merely a breakfast nook, and as we'd find out later, the indoor heated pool was not only small, but it was rather chilly. Nevertheless, we were satisfied with the room, which was large by our standards, clean, and comfortable. The hotel was also a hop away from I-95, a skip away from Rte 1, and a jump away from OOB, so the location, whi,le not centered turned out to be convenient.
Finally to wrap up this first entry (sorry I got inspired and hope you are still with me) we decided to have a late dinner at a nearby Ruby Tuesdays. While eating there was a new experience, I found it ironic that after making it a point to drive "Down East" to a haven of local seafood, we ended up eating at a southern themed chain restaurant that offered no lobster. In any case the food was good, and I got shrimp, so at least I had something from the sea that day.
After that, we went back to the hotel to rest up for the rest of the vacation.
Next Entry: Day 2, A Gray Day In Maine.