Todd and I went adventuring this morning and wound up at Old Orchard Beach--the classic seaside town, complete with boardwalk, amusement park, arcade, and pizza that you have to dab with your napkin to soak up the grease.
It is always a joy to take photos at amusement parks and carnivals, but I find it especially so when the park has closed down for the season. Instant ambiance, melancholy, nostalgia, and longing.
My family didn't really visit amusement parks when I was a kid. I think I only went to Old Orchard once or twice, but even so, its images have remained etched in my brain all these years. While it's more built up now, the essential things remain pretty much the same.
As you know, I'm a girl who likes a bit of melancholy, so a beach resort town on a cloudy day in September is right up my alley. To get a little of this same feeling for yourself, simply watch this Morrissey video of "Every Day Is Like Sunday." Oh, and just for your knowledge and amusement, I should add that back around 1990, I basically thought I was the girl in the video.
Hope you're having a lovely Sunday, my friends. xo
Gigi ~
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love learning this fun 'tidbits' about you! They make me adore you even more (if that is possible!!!).
Beautiful images of the amusement park...so perfect for a lazy Sunday stroll down memory lane.
I'm going to make your risotto for dinner tonight. The crumb is a bit under the weather, and I believe some delicious comfort food is just what the doctor ordered to bring her spirits back again!
Have a wonderful week!
Bisous,
Melissa
Thanks, Melissa! I'm so sorry to hear that the crumb isn't feeling well. Hope the risotto helps! Hope you have a wonderful week, too. xoxo
ReplyDeleteI think going to amusement parks used to be a treat...now it tends to be an expectation for the younger ones. The pictures are great.
ReplyDeleteHello Gigi,
ReplyDeleteI missed you and your wonderful posts! If you took the photographs then please add photographer to your resume along with fabulous writer. You always make it so it feels we are there with your words and photos. That is not small talent. Much love and talk soon. XO
These photos are spectacular.
Dear Gigi,
ReplyDeleteOh, the memories that you have bought back. Our Mum and Dad used to take us to the fun fair and amusement park a lot and we loved it. I used to go on EVEYTHING and, I loved the penny slot machines.(I'm showing my age now !!)I still love it now and I got as much from Disney World as our children did !!
Beautiful photographs, Gigi. XXXX
I know what you mean, Sue, and yet I still love the feeling of an amusement park!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Sande. I did take these photos, but I feel like I am only beginning to learn about photography and processing! I love learning it, though, and I'm glad you liked these.
Jackie, I am so not surprised that you love amusement parks, too. They are the perfect place for all of us who are kids at heart.
GiGi, Both my Husbands were from that area . I have heard some fun stories about the 1940s there. Do they still have the Gypspy's
ReplyDeletethat tell fortunes? Love the weather now.
yvonne
Good question, Yvonne! And you just brought back a memory for me! The very first time I ever had my fortune told was at Old Orchard Beach in a little booth by a woman who read my palm. I had completely forgotten about it until you mentioned the Gypsies at the boardwalk. I wonder if they are still there!! The town was mostly shut down today since it's past the season, but I will have to go back next summer to find out. Thanks so much for reminding me of this.
ReplyDeletei haven't been tehre since i was in high school -- and it was also on a gray day at the close of the season. it does have a wonderful vintage charm. lovely!
ReplyDeleteDear Gigi, How wonderfully nostalgic and slightly melancholic all of this is. I too love the seaside when it is out of season and especially enjoy meeting up with my Brighton friends, T and G, and walking out on the pier on a cold, winter's day.
ReplyDeleteGreat title, great song, Gigi! But what FUN you had this weekend! Nothing like time for extra yum during the weekend. :o) I love me a sloooow, tasty, fun weekend. This weekend though I was laid low with a cold and not feeling well. But there were bright spots--hubby making me tea, extra time read, rest is a lovely thing when we allow ourselves that... So not too bad. ;o) Happy Days ((HUGS))
ReplyDeleteOh Gigi, I was that girl too!! Just this morning on the way to school This Charming Man was on the radio and I just had to turn it up LOUD. After, I was trying to explain to Finn just how obsessed I was with The Smiths, and what they meant to me. Oh!my!heart!!
ReplyDeleteAs always, your post speaks directly to my very essence!
I think the funfair is always a treat, even if I no longer have any desire to actually go on any of the rides! Living by the sea means our summers begin when the funfair comes to the big town nearby. Some things never change.
And I agree, the imagery one finds at a deserted out-of-season funfair is enough to bring on the most exquisitely delicious case of melancholic nostalgia. My favourite.
GORGEOUS photos. C x
Gigi ~
ReplyDeleteJust dropping in to say your risotto was a hit (and the crumb ate every. single. bite)!!! Thank you for sharing your comfort food recipe with us!
Bisous,
Melissa
Oh, Melissa, I'm so glad it was a hit! Thanks for letting me know. xoxo
ReplyDeleteThis post brings back many memories for me, as my family visited the boardwalk every summer and spring several times.(it was only 30 mins away)We had so much fun and your photos are fabulous!! Have a gorgeous week! xxoo :)
ReplyDeleteI love your vintagey photos Gigi...they fit right in with the feel of the closed amusement park...
ReplyDeleteMy one memory of Old Orchard Beach is of a weekend trip in 1972 up the coast from RI to Acadia driving my Econoline Ford van...the transmission blew just around Old Orchard Beach...it actually ended up as a pleasant memory, meeting a kind mechanic, getting money transfered up from RI (not that easy in the days before ATMs), spending an unplanned day of discovering a new town...
I like a bit of melancholy, as well. Missed you! Hope your writing is going well.
ReplyDeleteI love Maine, I haven't been to old orchard beach since I was a kid but we frequent Kennebunkport & Ogunquit often! What a great blog you have! I am now your newest follower! ~ Debby
ReplyDeletep.s. I am having an Ann Taylor Loft giveaway if it interests you!
Gigi, I'm with you. I love a little cloudy to my day as well. This park looks magical! I love your photos, especially the first one. So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day.
Lovely nostalgic pictures. Vaguely sad. I like it.
ReplyDeleteHI Gigi, what a wonderful post. It reminded me of my time in London UK. Every so often we would take the train or drove down to Brighton in the off season. We used to love walking on the pier where many of the attractions were and walking the empty cobbled streets enjoying the quiet but also imagining the hustle bustle of a summer's day at Brighton pier. it was romantic and haunting at the same time. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid my dad was a meatcuttuer and my mother did not work - stayed home to raise five of us. So, we went to a lot of places on day-cations. My father had Mondays off in the summer and we frequented a number of places in New Hampshire on trips from Beverly, MA. Benson's Wild Animal Farm, Canobie Lake Park, and as winter came Santa's Village and the occassional trip up to The Old Man in the Mountain during foliage time. Five kids packed into the car, always lunch made at home to save some coin - but I recall these trips as a grand old time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great comments. I love that so many of you share my love of these old seaside towns and childhood parks. I've always wanted to spend a weekend in Brighton. Maybe on my next trip to the U.K., especially if it's in the off-season.
ReplyDeleteBob, your NH childhood memories parallel many of my own Maine memories. My dad was a supermarket manager and my mother taught at the junior high. We rarely took vacations, but as with your family, day trips were common in the summer, and almost always there was a packed picnic lunch. We kids rode in the "way back" of the station wagon in those days before seatbelt laws. My favorite trips were simple ones like going apple picking or exploring an old fort. Actually, those are still my favorite trips!
what a great post! and these photos are glorious!
ReplyDeletexo
Wonderful photos...I am planning a beach trip in November, might be melancholy too but warm inside...
ReplyDeleteI like a bit of melancholy too...it enriches the soul, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteMaybe that is why I am so deeply connected to these beautiful autumn months.