If you live on the Maine coast, there’s a good chance you get more than your share of visitors during the summer months. They can include family members, to be sure, but often friends from out of town, friends suggest they’d like to stop by for a couple of days and see you.

Your attraction has to do in part with the fact that you’re located in a beautiful waterfront community with lots to see and do, not to suggest that you’re not the major draw, of course. But you do have strong competition by virtue of your location.

When we first got married, we had several friends who loved spending time in the Boothbay region. They inquired, on a regular basis, if we’d mind if they joined us for the weekend. On occasion when my mother would inquire what we planned to serve our guests for lunch or dinner and we answered “nothing,’’ she’d be aghast.

We simply explained that our guests came and went as they pleased, that when we were all together we made plans but other than that, they were on their own while enjoying our accommodations.

We love seeing family members from away enjoying the recreational opportunities here in the summer.

It’s heartwarming to drive past a waterfront home and see children and grandchildren jumping off the float or launching a couple of kayaks. There’s so much to do: Hop aboard one of our passenger vessels to go whale or seal watching, fish off a dock or aboard a boat for mackerel, take in a movie, go for a walk, enjoy breakfast together at an area restaurant, shop for one-of-a-kind treasures.

Summer is meant for fun, and what better backdrop could you possibly have than here on our very special peninsula?

Whenever we see families renting waterfront cottages, we try to imagine what it must be like to be in their shoes. We wonder what part of the country they’re from, and how different it is here from “back home." We’ve observed one family in our neighborhood this month appearing to thoroughly enjoy a waterfront rental.

The father spent nearly every day fishing while the mother and children swam, lounged around on the dock, or explored the shoreline with their faithful canines. A family of ospreys currently shares the same property; here for just the summer, too.

The boat launching ramp nearby is a busy place, with boaters taking advantage of the warm days and blue skies to get in a little sightseeing from the water. It's a special way to truly see the area, to try your luck at hooking a mackerel, bluefish or striper, to hoist the sails and capture a breeze, or bravely grab a tow line and water ski.

Our homes may be a little chaotic in the summer months as we welcome our visitors, but before we know it, they’ll be gone with only our memories to sustain us through the cold months ahead.

Squeeze every ounce of fun out of summer that you can. They call Maine "Vacationland," and the Boothbay region the boating capital of New England for good reason.