Madumok

We looked at the swim and we jumped right in part two                                                                     Lincolnville, Maine While we were camping at Camden Hills State Park I read an article in the Bangor Daily News about a blog called swimmaine.com.  This useful new blog is dedicated to recommending and documenting great swims in the great state of Maine.  It motivated me to get some more swim in during our New England expedition.  Luckily, towards the end of our trip one of our co-campers discovered a great little beach for swimming about 5 miles north of the park on U.S. Route 1. Our group decided to head to Lincolnville Beach for our last a...

We looked at the swim and we jumped right in part three Echo Lake Beach, Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is a gift that keeps on giving. Just when you think you have the place wired you discover something new and exciting.  While perusing my handy National Park Service map one night around the campfire I noticed that there were two officially sanctioned swim spots in the park.  The first one is, of course, the glorious and always chilly Sand Beach.  But if you take a look at the eastern half of your map of M.D.I you will see a cozy little lake to the left of Somes Sound.  If you listen closely you will hear Echo Lake inviting you in for a swim. Echo lake is not situated off of the highly visited Park Loop Road so it is not nearly as famous as Sand Beach.  Dont get me wrong here.  I am not trying to say we discovered some hidden gem.  The place was definitely jamming. The swim at Echo Lake was fundamentally restorative (coming as it did on th...

We Looked At The Swim And We Jumped Right In West Dummerston Covered Bridge Southern Vermont We went to Vermont in search of family friendly hiking and swimming, and we found them both.  On our last morning at the  Brattleboro North KOA   I walked into the cozy camp store and asked Beverly to recommend a good swim. She pulled out a list culled from swimming holes.org/vt and highlighted two of them.  Then she grabbed a photocopied map and highlighted the exact route to both locations.  If you ever find yourself in the Brattleboro area on a warm summer day and you want to go for a swim, go see Beverly.  She will get you there.  I promise. We decided to spend our morning at the West Dummerston Covered Bridge, which was just a short drive from the campground.  This classic New England bridge crosses the West River and, according to swimming holes.org, has "deep swimming places" and "a pretty strong current" but is "apparently safe as families swim the...

We looked at the swim and we jumped right in part one  For me, summer and swimming have always gone hand in hand.  Summer begins with the first ocean swim and ends with the last ocean swim.  I have always marked my summers this way and have often stretched the end of the season into late October. When I lived two blocks from the beach I tried to swim after work every evening until I couldnt bear the cold anymore.  Since the campers were born I try to get as much swim in as possible--but my nightly ritual has been replaced by stories and songs.  Not a bad deal at all!  Luckily for me, our boys love the water and are pretty fearless about swimming.  We get them in the water as much as we can. On the Camden leg of our recent summer expedition we found two lovely places for family swimming.  The first is called Laite Memorial Beach Park.  The name says it all.  There is grassy park with swings that slopes down towards an ever changing sand b...