York Beach, Maine with Kids

On Monday of Memorial Day weekend, we decided to use our bonus day off for an inaugural beach day trip to York Beach Maine.

The drive north to York is easy from Boston- less than 1.5 hours.  We arrived around 11 and since it was close to lunch, we decided to make our first stop the Nubble Light House, so the kids could spend a bit of time exploring the rocks before we had lunch at Fox's Lobster House next door. 

Within minutes of exiting the car and scrambling down the rocks toward the ocean, the kids found a friend- another first-grader girl who was collecting buckets full of snails.  We retrieved our beach pails from the car and our kids joined in, spending the better part of an hour exploring tidal pools to find snails, baby crabs, mussels and even tiny sea anemones. 

Around noon we released all the creatures back to their habitats and put in our names for a table at Fox's.  We sat upstairs with a great view out over the water.  Both kids tried some of the steamers that we ordered, and Mohit and I enjoyed the crab cakes and lobster roll.  We topped off our lunch with some Maine blueberry pie, always a must for Mohit when we visit Maine. 

After lunch we headed over to Short Sands beach.  The public parking lot next to the beach is always packed, but we found a spot after circling for a few minutes.  The beach is convenient with kids: there's a big public restroom, outdoor showers for rinsing off, and a playground at the edge of the beach.  The beach is also within easy walking distance of various fried clam/ hot dog places and ice cream shops, in case anyone gets hungry. 

It was warm in the sun but chilly in the breeze.  Big kid tried going in the water with his boogie board, but decided it was too cold.  We spent some time building sand castles and then exploring more tidal pools along the rocky edge of the sand. 

Mid-afternoon we packed up our beach gear, brushed off the sand, and brought the kids over to check out the aptly named FUN-O-RAMA on the boardwalk just behind the beach.  I was shocked that big kid hadn't read the sign and begged to go earlier, but he was definitely all smiles after I pointed it out. 

Inside, there's an assortment of video games, pinball machines, skee ball, ride on toys, and various other games to earn tickets.  The kids spent about an hour, then were excited to cash in their tickets for penny candy and small crap...ahem...toys. 

We topped off our day with some ice cream cones at Wicked Good Ice Cream.  Both kids declared it wicked good.  We hit the road and were back home in Boston in time for dinner. 

If you're looking to spend more time in this area of Maine, also check out nearby Ogunquit, where we spent a weekend last year (blog post here!).