Travel Tales

Little we see in Nature that is ours, except at Linekin Bay

It's your last chance to experience "real New England" with your family

Linekin Bay Resort is a 20 acre ocean-front gem which is the last of it's kind in New England. Click to see larger.

Linekin Bay Resort is the last of it's kind in the six-state region, snobs need not apply

By Walter Brooks

If you need jacuzzis and satin stitch 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, you had best stop reading this right now.

If, however, you want to experience the wonders of a previous era in New England which has been destroyed by five star resorts, and spend less than half as much for your next holiday, read on.

         The world is too much with us;
          Late and soon

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
                             Henry Wordsworth, 1806.

Linekin Bay Resort has been around for a hundred years, and somewhere along the decades the owners forgot to "go modern" and raise prices.

Thinking about writing this article brought to mind the Wordsworth poem in the sidebar, especially the first three line, "The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"

Families who have been searching for that true, New England spirit, will find respite.

But I wish they had never added the term "resort" to the title, because it's more like a comfortable camping experience for families. The term probably raises false expectations for the jet-setters who stumble in and quickly stumble out.

Linekin Bay is on the ocean in Boothbay Harbor and has 35 cabins and 5 lodges located on 20 acres. This kind of spectacular ocean views and tranquil location are no longer available anywhere in the northeast. It was purchased by the same family which still runs it in 1909 and became a summer camp for girls a decade later.

The night before we left, nature put on a show.

The Lobster Bake is wonderful, even for 3-year-old Pip.

Rhodes 19s battle for position behind Cabbage Island in the weekly regatta amongst guests.

After World War II it morphed into a family resort much as it is today, and thankfully has remained that way for your visit.

Why we return every year

This is a traditional New England setting that will take you back in time. It is truly the way life used to be, and every other similar property has been torn down and rebuilt as a posh, high-priced resort charging many times the tariff here.

My wife and two grandchildren and I have spent a week in August here for the past four years.

We will return as long as we are able, and it's not just because a week in our own two bedroom cabin hanging over the bay with three sumptuous daily meals and the use of Rhodes 19s, kayaks and all the rest costs a little over $100 a day each.

Our two-bedroom cottage has a deck overlooking the bay and the Rhodes fleet moored there. The cost for two adults and two children aged 8 and 11 comes to $3,000 for the week and includes three really impressive meals daily.

There is even a lobster bake with all the fixings overlooking the ocean which is included.

On our first visit four years ago we met Bob and Lanese Heubner and their then four-year old daughter Elizabeth of Washington DC.

Our grand daughter Marina and Eliabeth bonded, and we all return the same week every year to return the relationships.

We return because we've "had it up to here" with the phony, tony glitz of the modern resort scene with it's posturing Poo Bahs.

Maybe you and your family deserve something as classy as Linekin Bay. If so, call or email Ron Brann today. He may be the best and most family-friendly resort manager in America. His number is (207) 633-2494 or (866) 847-2103. Click here to see a short Chronicle video.

The property from the air. The cabins hang over the salt water bay.

The pool is huge, and the West Lodge serves as a lobby area and meeting room with nightly movies.

The Main Lodge is also the dining room where you will have wonderful food at a fraction of what you'd expect. Click here to see a short Chronicle video.