Interesting question.

I’m always looking at real estate – there’s something about a home for sale sign that just tingles my nerve endings.

Why are the selling, is the furniture nice, what does the other side of the house look like? How long has it been on the market? Are there more houses for sale this year or last year?

In Maine – on the beach – most signs are ‘for sale’ – they are ‘for rent’. People buy homes, use them for 2 or 3 or 4 weeks – then rent them out. Or – people buy multiple properties and run the rentals like a business. Or – there are companies that list rentals – and do all the work – you just collect what they send you at the end of the summer.

We are staying in the middle category. Frank Sr. was the original owner, Frank Jr. and his sister now ‘run’ the business – we rented just one of his several homes – a 4 bedroom tiny shack across the street from the entrance to one of my favorite sections of Wells Beach. There’s a life guard stand that is manned (well this year – womanned) most days – and at high tide – there’s so little beach left that most people use that time as ‘break’.

But there are trade-offs. Yes the house has less than 1000 square feet – yes the bedrooms are so small that they have no closets (which I think means they can’t be called bedrooms), and yes there is just one tiny bathroom. But – there’s a washer and dryer – a full kitchen – both a front and a back porch (you need both to track the sun) – and as mentioned earlier – we’re right across from the entrance to the beach. Easy to nip back for bathroom and lunch breaks.

For this glamor – we pay $1400 a week. By Maine Beach standards – it’s about average – maybe low average since the house is so tiny. We could get a smaller place for less – and a larger place for more – but this one suits our needs, and our holiday schedule.

That said – I toured someone else’s digs – and now I’m seriously jealous.

I’ve been in other places of course – but never one that appealed to me the way this one did.

It’s called WinkinPaw – why – I don’t know. It’s located on the ‘wrong’ side of the road (ie: not on the beach side) – further south than us – on Moody Beach. Moody in that section is just beach. No tide pools, no rocks, no stones, no shells – and no lifeguard. Just miles of Maine sand in both directions. This makes it easy to walk and swim of course – but cuts down on the play and castle building opportunities that a more rocky – Maine-like – beach offers.

On the other hand – it has real sand at the very top where the high tide doesn’t quite reach – soft and fluffy even. Nice.

The house is a bit further from the entrance than our shack – and is clearly not a beach shack. There are 4 bedrooms (well – 3 bedrooms and a curtained off kids area) on the first floor – and upstairs is the living space. A huge open area of living, dining and giant kitchen. There’s a full bathroom on the first floor – and a 1/2 bath on the 2nd floor. There’s even a hot and cold shower outside for rinsing off beach sand – But this isn’t the reason for my envy.

Nope – I’m about the view. And the view is amazing. There’s a porch that wraps around 3/4 of the house – so full front porch with views thru the houses in front to the ocean, a side porch, and a back porch with 180 degree views of the marsh. And the marsh is a wonderful sight. Full of birds, and kayakers, and waving cat tails and meandering water ways that curve and twist in a relentless search for the open ocean. I couldn’t believe the view. Stunning. I want that.

Good think that the Pink Lady doesn’t care about views! She’s about how close are we to the beach – and in that regard – our shack wins.

What does a palace cost? One that is not on the ocean? $3400 a week. Makes you wonder what 4 bedrooms ON THE BEACH might run, eh? Serious dent in pocketbook money I’m guessing.

Oh well – better 2 weeks than one – but I’d still love that view….

Signing off – The Soup Lady and her companion – the Pink Terrier