Birch Point Beach State Park
Tiny house = big memories. Our dogs didn’t make this trip because we spent the night in a cabin smaller than our family tent. For $80 and change we stayed in this little incredible Airbnb getaway in the mid-coast on one of the coldest nights of the year so far.
The temps dipped into the teens but the little electric heaters we had were more than enough in this bite-size space. Eloise knew we were doing something special because she was in rare form, even for her, just super wound up but also hilarious to watch. It’s not like she was distracting us from something because she was the only entertainment here. We had needed a stopover in between visiting Fort Point State Park and now Birch Point Beach State Park. This hideaway was right in between both but also near some other special spots.
We were 10 minutes from Cellardoor Winery, not the Thompson’s Point location in Portland, but the actual winery. Boy is this place right out of a Martha Stewart Mag. We snagged a bottle of red to-go for the cabin that night, but not before watching 17 turkeys cross the property.
The next hot spot and MVP of the weekend was the Lincolnville General Store. This was located less than 2 miles from our humble abode and it was something straight out Hallmark movie. On a snowy, cold night with a full moon, we fully expected a handsome widower to be running the place when we walked in. We like to give advice on places we’ve visited but we also like to take advice on where we’re going, so when two separate people said that we needed to check this place out it became a priority.
We brought back a stellar brick oven pizza from here and sat back to witness Eloise eat almost 2 full large slices (new record). It was also where we scored coffee, fresh cider, muffins and breakfast sandwiches first thing in the morning. Everything in this place was first class, like absolutely amazing. Almost forgot to mention that it’s owned by a husband/wife team and he is a musician in a band you might have heard of…click here.
After first taking in a pretty sunset while sledding around the property and then waking up to an equally beautiful sunrise, it was time to head to the state park.
Sunset 
Sunrise
Our drive from casa-mini me to Birch Point Beach State Park was around 40 minutes but we made the mistake of following the GPS instead of just staying on RT 1. It wasn’t worth shaving off 5 minutes to avoid some of Maine’s most gorgeous and popular coastal towns. We love Camden and Rockland (in the offseason) but skipped them no thanks to technology. We even read the Andre the seal for a book the previous night and we could have visited his statue in Rockport. In a rookie move, we plugged in our destination and didn’t think about the journey there.
Birch Point Beach State Park is located just 5 miles from where this mission all started, Owls Head State Park. This visit brought our family total up to 20 Maine state parks! It was also almost exactly one year (by a week) from Eloise’s 1st birthday when we celebrated at Reid State Park and that was #10. Without doing any major fact checking and just from our own knowledge at this point, Owls Head (population 1,609) might be the only town in Maine to house two state parks. Two very different ones may we add.
Birch Point Beach State Park is lovely, especially covered in a white blanket. We opted to sled in from the gate with the sun shining bright on what felt like a snow packed runway. Our old refurbished L.L.Bean sled has gotten some miles on it already since it was adopted into the Ruby family. It would have been easier and probably cost the same to buy a brand new one but this guy had some gas left in the tank and more stories to tell.
This park has its own carved out half-moon of cove. The beach is cute and small and it’s easy to keep eyes on your kid at all times here. It just had the feel of being the locals summer spot. Our blog has unexpectedly started to get gain some traction but we don’t think this post will spoil anything for these folks, so their semi-private beach should be still be safe.
As we walked along and looked for the usual treasures in the sand, we found the remains of a toy dinosaur who now has a new home in Portland. There are some wonderful picnic tables perfectly spaced out along the rocky edges of the park. You would have to be a little more careful around here with children but its vantage points are worth exploring.
For a park that might lack in size or history compared to others, it certainly makes up for it in its simplicity and beauty. There is a wonderful line that goes, “beautiful things don’t ask for attention.” On what felt like a winter day in November it was quietly stunning. Of course there would be more to do here and the stay would have been longer in the summer months but definitely worth at least 7 Rubies. It would more likely bump up to an 8, come July and August.
On our way home, we stopped at the Maine State Prison Showroom in Thomaston (4 miles from the big slamma). You have to see this place for yourself to believe the craftsmanship and quality inside. The prices are really reasonable (enter tax joke here) and the customer service was nothing but good behavior. We scored a new cutting board for the kitchen at home and Eloise got a wooden toy car that kept her busy for the final 90 minutes in the back seat. We spent Black Friday in the woods but this was our contribution to Small Business Saturday.
