The Maine Event
I got back from Maine late Thursday night, and I think it is one of my favorite places in the world. I had a fantastic time and I’ve been obsessed with thoughts of moving there since. Maine is all ocean air, blue skies, pine trees, wild flowers, seashells, butterflies, and lighthouses. There are countless quiet bays and peninsulas to explore. Wild blueberries grow everywhere, so the small back roads are lined with families selling just picked berries. I had one of the best scones of my life (blueberry) from a little coffee shop in town. The seafood, of course, is spectacular as well, and everyone I met was nice. Though I was traveling alone I never once felt lonely. Everywhere I went I met someone who wanted to chat about where I was from, where I was going, and what I had seen. I found the neighborhood I want my parents to retire to, and I found an island I’d like to live on.
Monhegan Island is a 90 minute boat-ride out to sea. It is a small fishing island/art colony with 200 summer and 60 year-round residents. There are no roads on the island and they’re very strict about bringing in things to modernize it. In the little port city, every home is also an artist studio, where paintings and photography and all kinds of crafts are displayed.
I took a hike through a forest out to the eastern-facing cliffs. At 160 feet high they are the highest anywhere on the coast of Maine. It was stunning. I ate lunch while sitting on these cliffs, then wandered my way down to a beach that was covered in seashells. I collected some then accidentally wandered into a field of wild flowers where huge butterflies were floating around on the ocean breezes. Then I hiked up to the lighthouse which had gorgeous views of the island, its port, and a small island across a little bay. Then I walked back into the city, bought some fresh pink lemonade and sat on an Adirondack chair overlooking it all. See? It was all kind of like heaven.
My hotel was a cute, small inn up the road from the harbor. Since I was traveling alone and didn’t have much money to spend on one of the countless gorgeous B&B’s, I stayed in something more modest. It was great though. My room was actually a little cottage with a private deck in back. The deck faced West onto a meadow. At night I sat outside while the sun set and read my book. When the sun went down there were fireflies all over the place. When I went to bed all I heard were crickets.
On my drive out of Maine, I bought some fresh blueberries, had some homemade blueberry ice cream from a little road-side stand run by a kind older woman. I drove through some of Maine’s southern beaches hitting up a few more lighthouses. When it was time to go, it was very hard to cross back in to Massachusetts.
I am itching to go through my photos and post some here. I hope to do so soon, maybe tonight or tomorrow.
Monhegan Island is a 90 minute boat-ride out to sea. It is a small fishing island/art colony with 200 summer and 60 year-round residents. There are no roads on the island and they’re very strict about bringing in things to modernize it. In the little port city, every home is also an artist studio, where paintings and photography and all kinds of crafts are displayed.
I took a hike through a forest out to the eastern-facing cliffs. At 160 feet high they are the highest anywhere on the coast of Maine. It was stunning. I ate lunch while sitting on these cliffs, then wandered my way down to a beach that was covered in seashells. I collected some then accidentally wandered into a field of wild flowers where huge butterflies were floating around on the ocean breezes. Then I hiked up to the lighthouse which had gorgeous views of the island, its port, and a small island across a little bay. Then I walked back into the city, bought some fresh pink lemonade and sat on an Adirondack chair overlooking it all. See? It was all kind of like heaven.
My hotel was a cute, small inn up the road from the harbor. Since I was traveling alone and didn’t have much money to spend on one of the countless gorgeous B&B’s, I stayed in something more modest. It was great though. My room was actually a little cottage with a private deck in back. The deck faced West onto a meadow. At night I sat outside while the sun set and read my book. When the sun went down there were fireflies all over the place. When I went to bed all I heard were crickets.
On my drive out of Maine, I bought some fresh blueberries, had some homemade blueberry ice cream from a little road-side stand run by a kind older woman. I drove through some of Maine’s southern beaches hitting up a few more lighthouses. When it was time to go, it was very hard to cross back in to Massachusetts.
I am itching to go through my photos and post some here. I hope to do so soon, maybe tonight or tomorrow.
Labels: Endless Summer, Travel
posted by Follow the Frog at 8:14 AM
2 Comments:
Sounds like it was absolutely magical! Glad you had a great time.
I think the last time I visited your blog was when you were hatching your plot to visit Maine... so glad to see that you went yourself and had such a good experience. You're an amazing, independent girl! Some of my best memories also happened when I was wandering around by myself, like that year we were all in the UK.
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