By Laurie the Campcierge™

As I sit lakeside in Maine enjoying the peaceful calm of a perfect Maine day, I’m drinking a blueberry iced coffee and reflecting on the past few days in “Vacationland.”  The “main” attraction during Visiting weekend is, of course, the reunion of parents and their campers, but the “Maine” attraction provides much more, too.  Visiting Day is always a time to explore the great state of Maine, have fun adventures with new friends and old, and eat great food.

Visiting Day at Maine camps is one of – if not the – best days of the year.  The anticipation of parents and children reconnecting after a few weeks is a feeling of pure exhilaration.  From that first run and hug, it’s a magical day spent at the camp’s beautiful lake, walking the grounds, seeing your camper in action at their favorite activities, meeting their friends and counselors, and thanking the directors.  Our children are thriving and it’s exciting to see them learning and growing at their summer home away from home.  It’s always bittersweet for campers who know that after Visiting Day they have just a few more precious weeks to enjoy their Maine camp summer fun, friends, and traditions.

Getting to and from Visiting Day, and throughout the time exploring Maine, there are scenic drives full of incredible natural beauty.  At almost every turn, it’s tempting to stop and capture a picture or just soak in the lush green pine trees and crystal clear lakes. Maine is full of great sights and experiences, and I always try to explore new places.  This year I visited Boothbay Harbor, a really pretty coastal town, which my daughter had written to us about from a camp trip she took.  We had lobster and steamers, walked across a footbridge from 1901, and enjoyed seeing the boats, kayaks, paddle boards and much more.  On my daughter’s recommendation, we also tried a new favorite – Wicked Whoopies, which had many incredible flavors and sizes of Maine’s famous Whoopie pies.  I highly recommend trying Maple.  We also didn’t resist a stop in an existing favorite, Coastal Maine Popcorn Co., for flavors like Blueberries & Cream, and Chocolate Caramel & Sea Salt.

Equally as captivating as the natural beauty of Maine’s landscape, and the charm of small coastal towns, is the pulse of Portland.  Year after year we enjoy Portland on our own, with existing and new camp parent friends, and with old college friends.  One of the benefits of camp in Maine is the community of families that exists at both at your kid’s camp PLUS the many surrounding Maine camps.  We enjoy great meals and good hang time.  We try to figure out how to fit in as many of the great restaurants as possible (but of course, we can’t hit them all, which only gets us psyched to come back the next year).  This year, we enjoyed an existing favorite, beautiful Scales Restaurant for a delicious seafood dinner, and got to enjoy some greats we hadn’t been to before including artful sushi at Miyake, and incredible halibut crudo and spicy lobster noodle soup at Honey Paw, which is connected to delectable Eventide.  We also spent some good time one afternoon in the tasting room of Shipyard Brewing Company where we sampled many tasty beers, and had great cocktails one night at the recently opened Blyth & Burrows.

We LOVED seeing our kids on Visiting Day, and enjoying all the fun and delicious adventures that bookended the visit.  We can’t wait to do it all again next summer!

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Maine Camp Experience Resources & Tools

You can share your own Maine camps memories & expressions of gratitudeon our Memories of Camp section of our website.

Looking for the perfect Maine camp for your child?  Try out our helpful tool where you can select a camp by choosing: type of camp (girls, boys or coed) and session length (1-8 weeks).  It helps to narrow down a few camps to a manageable list that includes rates.  Then you can research these camps in more depth.  

Next, be sure to contact our Maine Camp Guide, Laurie to discuss these camps as well as for free, year-round advice and assistance on choosing a great Maine summer camp for your child.

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