Recompence Shores

On Sunday afternoon, Joanne and Mark invited the family to their campsite at Recompence Shores in Freeport, Maine. The campgropund was set aside by the Smith Family in 1958 so that others could share the natural beauty of the woods, fields and ocean. Today, Recompence, which means repayment, is operated by the non-profit Wolfe's Neck Farm Foundation. "Recompence is a low impact campground which supports a wide variety of plant life including pink lady's slippers, Indian pipes, and touch me nots. Deer, wild turkey, fox and an occasional moose call Wolfe's Neck home." Joanne and Mark had parked their t@b on a beautiful site overlooking Casco Bay and...the sun finally came out! We celebrated Mark's sister, Nancy's, 50th birthday and Nancy's 4th anniversary of beating cancer. Nancy had baked her famous "Captain's" chocolate cake in the shape of a cancer awareness ribbon to mark the date.

Andi and Joanne showed everyone how to dig clams and, true to form for any Smith family gathering, there was a crisis of sorts. Two girls ran up to Hank and yelled that there was a man stuck in the mud and the tide was coming in. They said he was yelling for help and asked if we had some rope. The girls headed off down the beach to look for him and Kit and his brother-in-law Adam, a big, burly policeman, grabbed a rope. Kit and Adam finally found the man, walking down the road covered in mud from head to toe and drunk as a skunk...crisis averted.
Later in the day, we were joined by Jim DeGrandpre, an old friend of ours who is now managing the campground for the Wolfe's Neck Farm Foundation. It was great to see Jim and to once again hear his famous "pony story" and relive old memories.
Thanks to Joanne and Mark for their - as always - bountiful food and hospitality.