When Wiscasset's David Wallace and girlfriend Lisa Gatti have been looking to beat the heat this summer, they have gone to the town he grew up in, Alna.

The two, plus David's sons Kolt and Kody of Nobleboro and Kolt's friend Jacob Ingraham of Jefferson visited the swimming hole at the town-owned Head Tide Dam on the Sheepscot River July 4. It's a good place to cool off because the water is moving, David said. "You can get a massage."

The rest of the group said the spot is also good for sitting on the rocks and dipping feet in, or jumping into the water. "You're outside. It's relaxing," Gatti added about the setting.

Ingraham said it sounded like a great idea earlier, when the hot day felt to him like it was going to get even hotter.

Mid-afternoon July 4, the Wiscasset town office sign read 91F.

Also stopping by the dam for a look around and independence from the heat July 4 was a new Alna family, Tim and Jen Lee and daughters Lilly, 7, and Penny, who is 3, Lilly said. In sun hats except for Tim in a Boston Red Sox cap, they walked from home to the railed platform overlooking the dam.

They moved to town two weeks ago from west of Boston. Waldon Pond is a good place for a hot day there, Jen said. "But it would be crazy crowded."

Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Director Lisa Thompson said July 5, she has noticed more people are moving their workouts inside to Wiscasset Community Center's fitness room, air conditioned like much of the building. The gym is not. But it has ceiling fans and instructors can bring fans, she said. It can still get a little sticky in there, but pickleball players have been undeterred, she added.

July 5, Edgecomb's Tim Cingire was getting in a run in the pool, to both beat the heat and keep to his routine of a no-impact water run after a string of days running outdoors. He called WCC a great facility and said he likes the pool's view to the outdoors. He has run in 50 marathons and won nothing but a lot of satisfaction.

On recent hot days, WCC has had a rise in calls asking about open swim times, Thompson said. And she said the department has switched up its summer camp activities as needed to keep the children cool: A planned trip to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay was changed to snow cones and water games at WCC including play on a rented water slide.