We had a good day out on Great Diamond Island with my in-laws. It is a strange place: one half is a delightful ramshackle ode to 1910s-era shingle-style cottages; the other half (known as Diamond Cove) is a 19th-century red-brick military installation that's been transformed into a prissy condo community. The difference is startling. But I do love the ramshackle half. On the last Saturday of summer, it had a quiet beach, a few kids on bikes, shady gravel roads, and lovely water views, all easily accessible from the ferry landing. Peaks and Long Islands are packed with day trippers, but this side of Great Diamond remains peaceful. Meanwhile, the Diamond Cove side sports restaurants, a wedding venue, day trippers galore . . . It's like the island has schizophrenia.

Back in Portland we stopped at the fish market and bought oysters and toro for dinner; we played cards, made a salad, drank a little wine, and entertained Chuck. It was a delightful Maine-coast day, and I am eager to go back to the charming side of the island with a picnic, a cribbage board, and a book.

It is fun, every once in a while, to treat Vacationland like vacationland. We live here, so it's easy to forget to play here. But Maine is a pretty fabulous place to loaf around in.