Ogunquit

A long drive across North America ended today with two beaches on its far right edge. The coast of Maine, at least of southern Maine, has a rocky framework with beaches filling in the interstices. In some places, like Ogunquit and Old Orchard, the beaches are long strands and dominate the landscape, while on the midcoast, like at Reid and Popham, the rocky skeleton stands out and the beaches are small and isolated.

Our first view of the Atlantic was through an Independence Day weekend crowd of kites and balloons and sunbathers. The east end of Beach Street crosses to the southern tip of the spit and people covered the sand on both the ocean side and along the river on the inside. Farther south, across the small river, are the rocky headlands that extend south toward Cape Neddick.

The waves were gentle and the beach was flat, with a broad low trough (runnel?) separating the upper beach from an equally subdued bar at the water's edge.