Oh, friends. Last weekend we found the coolest freaking nature preserve, and it’s just down the road from our house!
One of the negatives of moving last fall was losing easy access to walking. City-ish living is great because there are miles of sidewalk. Rural-ish living is not so great because…our road is a one-lane, 3 block offshoot of US Highway 1, also known as a poor walking sitch. The guy loves to walk. He loves to walk in the forest behind our house, which is buggy as shit and exactly not where I want to spend my time after a week of fieldwork. Last weekend we found the perfect compromise.
The Damariscotta River Association’s Great Salt Bay Farm and Heritage Center includes a wildlife preserve that just throws all kinds of ecosystems at you. Mixed coastal forest, aspen groves, freshwater wetland, salt marsh, and grassland all dot this roughly 100 acre lot. It is fucking breathtaking. It’s literally everything!
We walked the exterior loop of the preserve, about a 3 mile walk along easy mowed grass or cleared forest trails. We couldn’t believe it. We were a 3 minute drive from our house. This was unreal! We hit the Great Salt Bay, and the guy had come prepared with swim trunks under his jeans. Lucky.
After the swim, we found a giant field just begging to be run through. We saw oystermen (is that what they’re called?) flipping oyster beds. We saw nesting ospreys and foraging bumblebees. We saw it all.
It’s pretty clear that this is our new favorite place. I can’t wait to go back for a swim!
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