Tags
beach, Maine, Old Orchard Beach, photography, photos, travel, USA
Old Orchard a longtemps été un lieu de villégiature prisé des Québécois et des Montréalais. Regardez sur une carte et vous verrez qu’au départ de Montréal, cette grande plage du Maine est la plus proche. D’autant plus qu’à partir de la fin du 19e siècle jusqu’en 1967, un train reliait Montréal à Portland. Seul petit bémol : l’eau n’est pas plus chaude qu’il faut!
Au cours des ans, les Montréalais ont adopté d’autres plages de la côte Atlantique, toujours plus au sud, et Old Orchard devint une destination oubliée, considérée comme étant un peu “cheap“. En allant à Old Orchard, nous étions donc à la recherche du “tacky” et des vieux motels abandonnés. Malheureusement(!), il ne reste plus grand chose de tout cela. En revanche, la nouvelle jetée rebâtie il y a quelques années présentait de belles occasions de photos, et la magnifique plage nous a permis de marcher longuement sur le sable fin. Et tout cela avant la horde des touristes!
Old Orchard has long been a popular holiday resort of Quebecers and Montrealers. Look on a map and you will see that from Montreal, this great Maine beach is the closest. Especially that from the late 19th century until 1967, a train linked Montreal to Portland. Only one small problem: the water isn’t very warm!
Over the years, Montrealers have adopted other beaches of the Atlantic coast, always further south and Old Orchard became a forgotten destination, considered a little “cheap”. Going to Old Orchard, we were looking for the “tacky” and old abandoned motels. Unfortunately (!), not much is left of it. However, the new pier rebuilt a few years ago had beautiful photo opportunities, and the beautiful beach allowed us to take a long walk on the sand. And all this before the horde of tourists!
Old Orchard Beach
[Auteur/Author: Pierre & Suzanne]
Les voyages de Suzanne & Pierre 
I went to Old Orchard as a child. Tacky would be my memory there was a famous place there called Perry’s Nut House. It was a restaurant and held a display of a variety of nuts from exitic to bizarre and then the requisite gift shop. You picture of the pier brought back the memory
Thanks Jacqui. Glad it brought back some nice memories. Neither Pierre or I had ever been. My parents didn’t speak English so they favored vacations in Quebec and Old Orchard was quite far for us. As for Pierre, his parents had a country house by Lake Champlain so that is where they spend their holidays…It was fun to visit though we were quite disappointed that it had been pretty much cleaned up. It is good for the place but not for us who like to take pictures of the tacky and derelict…
That pier is quite bizarre! I understand your attraction to this place.
Thanks Anabel. This version of the pier dates back to the 1980s but there has been a pier at the same place with restaurants & shops since the mid-1800. It was quite an interesting one. The small town behind the beach used to be very tacky but it has been very much cleaned-up so not so many photo opportunities as we had hoped…
Une très jolie découverte. Les joies de la baignade passent au second plan face au charme des lieux !
Merci pour cette jolie balade nostalgique.
Merci Marion. Bien contente que vous ayez aimé cette balade…
Fabulous pier. There’s something about piers – somehow they’re always a bit ‘tacky’ but also irresistible!
Thanks Noeline. I agree with you that piers are very interesting…Glad you enjoyed this series.