Our cottage at Long Sands Beach

To most people, this is simply an older beach cottage overlooking Long Sands Beach. To me, it was one of the defining places of my childhood.

Beginning in the late 1950s, my parents owned this cottage, and for decades part of every summer was spent here. The Atlantic Ocean was just across the street, and nearly every day revolved around the beach. As a young child, I spent countless hours building sandcastles, collecting shells, chasing waves, and renting the floats that carried us through endless afternoons in the surf. The simple routines of summer became traditions that I looked forward to every year.

As I grew older, so did my experiences. My parents loved antiquing, and many afternoons were spent exploring the shops “up to the line” along route one, searching for treasures that often found their way back to their antique shop.  Later came the teenage years, when the beach became a place of greater independence. Friends gathered here, lifelong memories were made, and like so many young people, we cautiously experimented with the freedoms that come with growing up.

Looking at this cottage today, it is impossible to capture everything it represents. It witnessed childhood adventures, family vacations, laughter, friendships, milestones, and the gradual transition from a carefree child into a young adult. Every room, every window, and every walk across the street to the beach holds a memory

Years later, this same cottage became the setting for another generation of family memories. My daughters spent part of their summers here with their cousins, enjoying many of the same simple pleasures that had filled my childhood. Together they built sandcastles on Long Sands Beach, splashed in the Atlantic, played endless games of Skee-ball at York’s arcades, and eagerly stopped at the Golden Rod for its famous salt water taffy. Watching them laugh together and experience the magic of York Beach reminded me that some traditions are too precious to be left behind. The cottage had become more than a place filled with my memories—it had become part of theirs as well.

When I think about York Beach, this is where my story begins. More than any landmark or historic building, this modest cottage is what made York feel like home. It reminds me that the places we remember most are often not the grandest or most impressive, but the ones where the people we love gathered year after year to create a lifetime of memories. Today, those memories span three generations of our family, making this little cottage on Long Sands far more than a summer house, it was part of our family’s history.