Skating the Marginal Way

Lee and I have joined a couple of Meetup Groups. The one we really seem to like is in the Seacoast area near Portsmouth. They are called The Striders and they like to go on walks and they like to eat. Right up our alley!

We were supposed to walk a path along the ocean in Ogunquit, Maine called the Marginal Way. It was about a 3 mile walk, followed by brunch at a local restaurant. It was a brilliant, sunny, windy, cold day, 25F with a strong wind along the ocean. The Marginal Way makes its way along the cliffs overlooking the coast. The water was blue and green and clear, with whitecaps on the cresting waves. This group enjoys their walks, and everyone was bundled up appropriately. However, there was one little problem.

The weather has been very unsettled lately. It is cold, it is warm. The snow melts, and freezes, and melts, and freezes. It rains a bit, it snows a bit. This was a cold day, after a warmer afternoon the previous day. The Marginal Way was as slick as a skating rink. But this is a gung ho group. We all strapped on our big boy shoes and did our walk. Two ladies fell; most of us stayed upright, but walked slowly, took small steps, and walked a bit like penguins. I had my camera so I was doubly careful. I told myself that if I had to fall, I should fall on my butt and protect the camera at all costs.

When it came time to turn around most of us elected to return by the road. It wasn't as scenic but it was a whole heck of a lot easier to traverse. A few brave souls, including Lee, penguin-walked all the way back to our starting point.

Ogunquit was a really cute town, just starting to wake up from winter. The restaurant where we ate, Five-O Shore Road, had just reopened for the season. I like Maine, but its just cold up there. I had on long underwear, and lots of warm layers, but I didn't feel overdressed until I stepped inside. Then I had to peel off my layers as quickly as I could before I started sweating.

This was a fun day and I got some nice pictures of the sunny Maine coast.  There will be more Strider walks and restaurant adventures in the future, and I plan to join them as often as I can.