The crowded parking lot at Kittery Point Despondent gulls in the parking lot No one climbing on the rocks Q: Who would go to the beach in Maine in the winter? A: We would. On Tuesday we drove to York to visit "the shore." While we didn't exactly expect it to be hopping, we weren't prepared for the air of total desolation. It was like a town that had had an outbreak of Plague. The steets were empty of both cars and people. Our first stop was Kittery Point, and the lighthouse. I'd been to Kittery Point many times as a child, and once before as an adult, and usually the parking lot is packed. People are climbing on the rocks. There's a restaurant out there that's memorable to Judi and I, because it was where she tried seafood for the first time. We looked forward to eating there. Well, the restaurant was closed. And you can see the state of the parking lot in the first picture. Don't get excited -- that's our car. Actually, we weren't the only vehicle in the parking lot: There was a UPS truck. The driver was eating his lunch, looking out over the cold sea. There were gulls in the parking lot, too, standing, despondent, facing the wind, without a stream of humans to clean up after. The lighthouse, of course, has been empty for a long time. The Coast Guard doesn't man lighthouses anymore. But they still keep it spiffy. It makes tourists happy. The image of a lonely lighthouse keeper is more satisfying than the image of a boater with a handheld GPS. Lonely.... Lonely is the Maine shore in the winter. People just don't know what they're missing.