Back in the 1980’s, as a part time resident of a sleepy Maine town much further “downeast”, i wasn't able to find summer employment in my own back yard, where there were barely enough jobs for full time residents. A dear friend had a family connection to the Goldenrod Restaurant and candy shop on York Beach along the southern coast of Maine where we could find employment and rent a room with a peek -a-boo view of the beach at the Lynwood Rooming House for $110 a week. As college students we jumped at the chance to live at the beach and work with hundreds of other young people in a fun place like York Beach. In hopes to visit that same friend on the NH Seacoast and adhere to Maine’s Covid 19 rules, we booked 2 nights at the Lynwood Inn, which is what my old “rooming house” had become and headed south to see how things had changed! I was curious about the changes in the past 30 years, but also the more recent changes due to the Covid 19 Pandemic.
1983 and 2020; The Lynwood Inn has changed! I think the Inn may have held up better than I have!
Lodging:
Lynwood Inn
Today, that rooming house is a lovely, well managed inn, open to the public, and nothing like the rowdy rooming house that existed in the ‘80s. We called Todd, who, along with his wife, are he current innkeepers to learn how things would be handled during the Covid 19 pandemic. Todd fondly remembered his own fun days on York Beach as a young teen in the ‘80’s, and he was happy to set Jeff and I up in a comfortable and clean room with a kitchenette and private balcony.
Although we did have to ascend an interior stair well and the inn was full, we never once met anyone passing in the hall, and everyone remained masked around the property. Some rooms can be accessed with no interior hallways at all, and we felt very safe during our visit.
Visitors from out of state need to check the most current travel restrictions, which can be found by clicking here.
Todd really is a host with a passion for hospitality, sharing his cell phone number so we never had to go searching for the inn keeper when we needed anything. Of course, with our fully stocked kitchen wares and carefully cleaned suite containing individually wrapped soaps and shampoos, we really didn’t need anything but dinner recommendations. We felt very welcome and safe during our visit to the Lynwood.
Dining
Maine’s current rules do allow for indoor dining with capacity restrictions, however we chose to dine outside and nearly every establishment we visited offered a version of outdoor dining, with establishments like the Goldenrod, accessing adjacent sidewalks for socially distant outdoor tables, where we enjoyed a famous Lime Rickey. I felt nostalgic watching all the young servers “hustling” at the Goldenrod, just as we had been instructed to do more than 30 years earlier, only today, they were masked and served everything as mandated by the rules dictated by the governor of Maine
Guac and Roll Restaurant on Railroad Ave in York
We enjoyed a burrito at the Guac and Roll one night and watched the traffic go by on Railroad Ave, with the beach just across the park.
We took a ride up Shore Road to enjoy the beautiful sunset views through Cape Neddick and the York Cliffs. We noticed there was a crowd at the Cape Neddick Lobster Pound and we saw groups of young people watching the sunset and jumping off the bridge who didn’t seem very concerned with social distancing. We found things just starting to quiet down in Ogunquit. The normal stopped bumper to bumper traffic didn’t exist, and we sailed right into Ogunquit .
The restaurants at Perkins Cove appeared very busy when we visited, with people circling for parking in the cove, and people standing outside establishments waiting for tables.
Further along in Ogunquit, we heard show tunes and piano emanating from the Front Porch, and all the restaurants appeared busy and had adapted their properties to include outdoor dining, if they hadn’t had it already. We chose an outdoor table at Northern Union, which had a late reservation, and enjoyed everything that came out of the kitchen!
Socially distant tables on the lawn at Northern Union in Ogunquit
Shops:
Most of the shops in York and Ogunquit were open, and as per state rules, they enforced masking and capacity limits. We didn’t shop, but tourists did appear to be visiting the merchants.
Attractions:
Aside from the beaches, attractions all have different rules for being open safely. Msny attractions are “free” and can be enjoyed with social distancing, such as watching saltwater taffy being made in the window at the Goldenrod. The Nubble Light, located in Sohier Park is “open” for viewing. We noticed the Fun O Rama Beach arcade was open for business, but be sure to check the websites of the attractions you hope to visit to learn their rules and hours.
Beaches:
A Friday morning view from Short Sands over Ellis Park into town.
York Short Sands
Pay for parking, we had no trouble finding a spot on a weekday, although, I’m sure weekends might be busier. Be prepared to pay at the town lot at any time of day, including evenings.
Bathhouses were open, with one way pedestrian traffic
New rules prevent “cabana” cities erected by a member of large families at dawn and and then occupied by big crowds later. Most people were careful to social distance on the beach and wore their masks when walking on the sidewalks or into town. (scroll to see photos of signs of the current rules)
York Long Sands
Pay for parallel parking along the beach, we had no trouble finding a spot on a weekday, although, I’m sure weekends might be busier.
Bathhouses were open, with one way pedestrian traffic
There was more room to social distance on this large beach especially at low tide.
Ogunquit at sunset
Ogunquit
We took a late walk along the beach, the beach parking lot was open and free late, but expect to pay during the day, and rest rooms were open
The Adirondack chairs were open but socially distanced
This large beach has plenty of room to social distance, and many people strolling the beach at sunset were masked.
Ogunquit Beach
We enjoyed our walk down “memory lane” on the South Coast of Maine, and i was surprised to see that the big things hadn’t changed much in 30 years; the Goldenrod is still there, families are still renting (or own) homes and head to the beaches everyday, there was music coming from the Front Porch and fine dining to be found in Ogunquit. Thankfully, the recent changes kept everyone safe; sanitation and generally good compliance with masking when indoors or closer than 6 feet. All of the people involved in the tourist industry there are seeing business tick upwards after a very slow start due to closures and restrictions. But by following the rules, we were able to have a safe enjoyable trip, relatively free of the usual crowds.