We're huge fans of Kitty Bean Yancey's "Hotel Hotsheet" blog in USA Today, not least of all because it so often illuminates travel trends—both happy and sad—that make us take stock of the choices we make when we travel. And readers of WeJustGotBack.com know that we're also huge fans of family camps. So this morning's post in the Hotsheet made us both sad and hopeful. Sad because it shines a spotlight on the plight of Linekin Bay Resort in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, an old-style, no-frills, all-inclusive family camp-style resort that's in danger of closing down in the next year or two, a seeming victim of developers who prefer newness, frills, and perhaps a more generic or corporate sheen. Yancey's post includes excerpts from a letter written by the resort's manager, who sums up the collective loss to Maine tourism quite eloquently:

"...something important with great emotional value will be lost forever.  ...  What is 'new' about Linekin Bay is really that it's so vintage; it aspires to serve middle-class families --  in the tradition of yesteryear lodges that served three meals a day and provided child care while parents went sailing..."

"Brann goes on to talk about the increasingly rare 'lodges and rustic cabins (sans TV and telephone), together with all the old-fashioned amenities of tennis, shuffleboard, saltwater pool and a fleet of sail boats and canoes.' He talks of kids lining up to be allowed to ring the dining room bell and of one guest in her 90s who returns every year."

Sigh. History, tradition, unplugged character in spades. It sounds like just the kind of place we love to love.

Now here comes the hopeful part: Linekin Bay Resort is doing what it can to attract enough new bookings so that it won't, in fact, have to close after all. The resort is offering a deal where you can book now for 2009 at 2008 rates, which start at about $100 a person daily (three-night stay required) and include all meals, sailing and instruction, and more. There's a free kids' day camp. Children 3 and under stay free and kids 10 and under get a discount.

If anyone has visited the Linekin Bay Resort, please chime in and tell us about your experience.