Sand Under My Toes

Welcome to day 27 of 31 Days of Heterotopias: Motels and Hotels, a month of posts about how motels, hotels, and inns function as heterotopias and liminal spaces in society.  (More about heterotopias and liminal spaces.)  Each post will look at these ideas from its own vantage point, which may not obviously connect with the others, and which may mention motels and hotels only peripherally or may focus on them without referencing heterotopia or liminality. I won’t attempt to tie the posts together. They’ll all be listed here, as they are posted.

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“I used to dream of a week-long beach vacation with white sand under my toes… right now, I’d settle for 48 hours at a Motel 6 with some Lysol and a UV lamp.” — Ingrid Weir

I was lucky enough to spend several days at a motel almost on the beach, with almost white sand  ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶e̶s̶  under my shoes.

The Sand Dollar Inn on Pine Point Beach in Scarborough, Maine, is one of those motels with an impermanent and insignificant name, or at least part of the name (sand). Even sand dollars don’t last long on the beach: they’re either washed back to sea, picked up after dying on the beach, or picked up and killed by someone who doesn’t know how to tell a live sand dollar from a dead one. (I tried to explain this once to a woman who was picking up live sand dollar after live sand dollar off a beach; she didn’t give a damn. Yes, I’m bitter.)

Alive:

livingsanddollarbeachJI15July2016
Jekyll Island, GA, July 2016

Dead:

sanddollarOceanBeachSanfranciscoCAJan2004
Ocean Beach, San Francisco, Jan. 2004

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Anyhoo …. The Sand Dollar Inn is sweet. I mean, look at this kitchenette, with its painted pink cabinet and drawer pulls, two-burner stovetop, King mini-fridge, plastic drying rack, Country Living dishtowel:

kitchenetteSandDollarmotelPinePoint22June2013stovesinkfridgeallinoneSandDollarmotelPinePoint22June2013

It’s a block from the beach, with a porch you can eat on. (Well, on a table on the porch.)

SnowberryParkPinePointScarboroME18June2017
The Sand Dollar is that white roof on the right, just a block from Pine Point beach on this cute path. (June 2017)
SandDollarMotelbackporchPinePoint24June2013
porch with table and chairs (June 2013)
snackatPinePoint24June2013
Negra Modelo and peanuts on motel porch, 24 June 2013

Pretty comfy inside, too.

bedroomSandDollarmotelPinePoint22June2013

And it attracts rainbows (view from parking lot adjoining back porch).

rainbowoverSandDollarmotelPinePoint24June2013

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We stayed in mid-June, when it was a little more than $100 per night. A block from the beach!

And the beach is 4 miles long!

beachwithjoggerandstormysky530pmPinePoint23June2013
Pine Point beach looking toward Old Orchard Beach, stormy evening sky, 23 June 2013
beachlateafternoonbPinePoint22June2013
Pine Point beach, late afternoon, 22 June 2013
beachfogOldOrchardcondosPinePointScarboroME18June2017
Old Orchard beach in fog, 18 June 2017
beachdensefogPinePointScarboroME18June2017
Pine Point Beach, dense fog, 18 June 2017
Pinepointbeach1145amPinePoint29Aug2014
Pine Point Beach, Aug. 2014
sandandsnowPP27Feb2015
snow on Pine Point Beach, Feb. 2015

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You can walk all the way to Old Orchard Beach, which we did.

viewofMystdeckferriswheeloceanOOB24June2013
we had a cocktail and shrimp outside at Myst, with a view of the ferris wheel and carousel, 24 June 2013
ThePierandtheoceanfromMystOOB23June2013
The Pier and ocean from Myst, 23 June 2013
oobboardwalkmidjuly2009
the Old Orchard boardwalk, mid-July 2009

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If you’re inclined, you can walk on the Eastern Trail, or kayak in the marsh:

EasternTrailwithwalkerskayakersPinePoint23June2013
Eastern Trail, 23 June 2013
marshpatternsScarbroughmarshoffEasternTrailPinePoint23June2013
Scarborough Marsh, off Eastern Trail, 23 June 2013
redwingedblackbirdonbranchScarboroughMarshoffEasternTrailPinePoint23June2013
red-winged blackbird, Scarborough Marsh off Eastern Trail, 23 June 2013
phoebesEasternTrailatScarboroughMarshPinePoint23June2013
phoebes, Scarborough Marsh off Eastern Trail, 23 June 2013
sparrowwithbugScarboroughMarshoffEasternTrailPinePoint25June2013
sparrow with caterpillars, Scarborough Marsh off Eastern Trail, 25 June 2013
snowyegretcloseinmarshoffEasternTrailPinePoint25June2013
snowy egret, Scarborough Marsh off Eastern Trail, 25 June 2013

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Or just hang out on the beach.

myfeetbeachoceanPinePoint24June2013
I did manage to air out the toes. 24 June 2013
pipingploverPinePoint6June2014
piping plover, June 2014
manyclamshellsbeachPinePoint31March2016
many clam shells, March 2016
pinepointbeachseagullskirmishmidjuly2009
gull skirmish, July 2009

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We used to live 2 blocks from this beach, way back in the winter of 1994. I love a winter beach walk.

This is what it looks like in December on the beach:

MollyslegsshoessandPP11Dec2015
my legs and shoes on the beach, 11 Dec. 2015
purplemolluskshelloakleavestableauPP11Dec2015
beach tableau, 11 Dec. 2015
pinepointsquawkingseagullse9Dec2011
gulls squawking, 9 Dec. 2011
pinepointlookingtowardOOB9Dec2011
beach and sky, 9 Dec. 2011
pinepointsandollarinn9Dec2011
The Sand Dollar Inn, boarded up, 9 Dec. 2011

It really is impermanent, ephemeral.

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