Twins are a double blessing, but they also are a lot of work.  Especially during the first year, sleep typically comes in two- or three-hour sessions, when both babies deign to nap simultaneously.  Our twins turned 1 during the summer of 2009.  We wanted to celebrate what had been a very full year for our family.  Mostly, we just really needed a break.

My wife went online and found The Dunes in Ogunquit, Maine.  From the photos, it looked like a beautiful spot, and it offered two-room cottages that would accommodate our family, which included the twins and their 3-year-old brother.  She made a reservation for mid-September.

There is no nicer time or better place to be than Maine in September.  The summer crowds have thinned out, the evenings are cool and the days are clear and glorious.  We arrived at The Dunes in the afternoon after about a three-hour drive from our home in Mystic, Conn.  If anything, it was even more beautiful than the photos.

The staff provided two cribs, which were set up in the adjoining room of our cottage when we arrived.  We did some unpacking, and then my 3-year-old and I took off to explore the estuary at low tide.  We crossed the flats and over the dune and walked onto perfectly level sand that stretched far out to ankle-high waves rippling in from the sea.  It was perhaps the most beautiful beach I had ever seen.

Over the next three days we spent a lot of time on that beach.  We made some short day trips, to York, where we visited the zoo, and to Perkins Cove, where we hiked the Marginal Way and dined on delicious lobster stew.  But always we were happy to return to The Dunes and that wonderful beach. 

As I mentioned, we really needed to get away.  The options are limited for families with very young children.  The Dunes could not have been more ideal.  There we found a quiet and welcoming refuge that might have been a hemisphere removed from our lives in Mystic. Yet, only three hours away.

It was a godsend, a relaxing, restful, thoroughly enjoyable time, the memory of which we will always cherish.

 – Bill Thorndike