Maine rocks craggy peninsula
Shelters relaxing inns, charming lighthouse By William G. Scheller
Coastal Living
Thursday, July 20, 2006 Posted: 1524 GMT (2324 HKT)
Maine's "prettiest lighthouse" guards the rock-bound coast at Pemaquid Point.
YOUR E-MAIL ALERT Maine Tourism or Create Your Own Manage Alerts | What Is This? (Coastal Living) --
"With all the lighthouses in Maine," I ask, "why did they put this one on the state quarter?"
"Because it's the prettiest," answers the docent at the adjacent Fishermen's Museum, as if that ought to be plain enough for anyone to see.
When I look again, it seems plain to me. New Harbor's Pemaquid Point Light is a stout pepperbox of a lighthouse -- only 38 feet of whitewashed stone -- but it commands a rugged and austere granite bluff that is all Maine.
A few hundred yards inland from the lighthouse, my wife, Kay, and I find Hotel Pemaquid, opened in 1888 and handsomely restored by current owners Skip and Cindy Atwood. They've spent the past 22 years turning their turreted old hotel into a Victorian confection. "We'd seen the movie Somewhere in Time," Cindy recalls. "It was filmed at a bigger place than this, but we wanted to capture the romance of that era. We felt we could do it with the Pemaquid." The Atwoods' task involved years of antiques hunting and a diligent search for just the right floral wallpapers and Bavarian carpeting. "We even were able to see how the hotel looked nearly 100 years ago," Skip tells us. "When we bought the Pemaquid, a former owner, a woman in her 90s, showed us her collection of photos taken back then."
The framed pictures bring that era back to life -- as do Skip's stories of how the same proprietress slept near a squeaky step on a back stairway, so she could tell if male employees made surreptitious visits to the female workers' dormitory.
After early-morning coffee on the Pemaquid's porch, we enjoy a breakfast of blueberry pancakes at The Sea Gull Shop, just a shell's toss from the lighthouse. Then we meander up to New Harbor, where side streets dead-end at coves sheltering lobster boats. Most of the few businesses are art galleries.
Artist Mark Chesebro built the big, Federal-style house where he exhibits his work. He explored much of Maine's coast before coming to Pemaquid with his wife, Lori. "Muscongus Bay and its islands have been a tremendous resource for me," Mark says of the great arm of the Gulf of Maine east of here.
Kay and I spend the afternoon at Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site, on the opposite side of the peninsula. Excavations reveal foundations dating to the 17th century. A three-story drum of stone dominates the site -- Fort William Henry, a 1908 reconstruction of one of three fortifications built to defend local settlements. A museum displays centuries-old Pemaquid artifacts alongside paintings of colonial life.
One of those paintings, of colonists enjoying tankards of ale, inspires us to duck into the pub at The Bradley Inn, a rambling hotel surrounded by lush lawns and gardens. Then we adjourn to the formal dining room, where we feast on briny Pemaquid oysters, local lobster and fresh fiddlehead greens, all prepared by chef-owner Warren Busteed.
Like the Atwoods and the Chesebros, Warren and his wife, Beth, wandered down to Pemaquid Point and found it hard to leave. The next morning, Kay and I just barely manage to pull ourselves away -- after one last stroll to the prettiest lighthouse in Maine.
Shelters relaxing inns, charming lighthouse By William G. Scheller
Coastal Living
Thursday, July 20, 2006 Posted: 1524 GMT (2324 HKT)
Maine's "prettiest lighthouse" guards the rock-bound coast at Pemaquid Point.
YOUR E-MAIL ALERT Maine Tourism or Create Your Own Manage Alerts | What Is This? (Coastal Living) --
"With all the lighthouses in Maine," I ask, "why did they put this one on the state quarter?"
"Because it's the prettiest," answers the docent at the adjacent Fishermen's Museum, as if that ought to be plain enough for anyone to see.
When I look again, it seems plain to me. New Harbor's Pemaquid Point Light is a stout pepperbox of a lighthouse -- only 38 feet of whitewashed stone -- but it commands a rugged and austere granite bluff that is all Maine.
A few hundred yards inland from the lighthouse, my wife, Kay, and I find Hotel Pemaquid, opened in 1888 and handsomely restored by current owners Skip and Cindy Atwood. They've spent the past 22 years turning their turreted old hotel into a Victorian confection. "We'd seen the movie Somewhere in Time," Cindy recalls. "It was filmed at a bigger place than this, but we wanted to capture the romance of that era. We felt we could do it with the Pemaquid." The Atwoods' task involved years of antiques hunting and a diligent search for just the right floral wallpapers and Bavarian carpeting. "We even were able to see how the hotel looked nearly 100 years ago," Skip tells us. "When we bought the Pemaquid, a former owner, a woman in her 90s, showed us her collection of photos taken back then."
The framed pictures bring that era back to life -- as do Skip's stories of how the same proprietress slept near a squeaky step on a back stairway, so she could tell if male employees made surreptitious visits to the female workers' dormitory.
After early-morning coffee on the Pemaquid's porch, we enjoy a breakfast of blueberry pancakes at The Sea Gull Shop, just a shell's toss from the lighthouse. Then we meander up to New Harbor, where side streets dead-end at coves sheltering lobster boats. Most of the few businesses are art galleries.
Artist Mark Chesebro built the big, Federal-style house where he exhibits his work. He explored much of Maine's coast before coming to Pemaquid with his wife, Lori. "Muscongus Bay and its islands have been a tremendous resource for me," Mark says of the great arm of the Gulf of Maine east of here.
Kay and I spend the afternoon at Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site, on the opposite side of the peninsula. Excavations reveal foundations dating to the 17th century. A three-story drum of stone dominates the site -- Fort William Henry, a 1908 reconstruction of one of three fortifications built to defend local settlements. A museum displays centuries-old Pemaquid artifacts alongside paintings of colonial life.
One of those paintings, of colonists enjoying tankards of ale, inspires us to duck into the pub at The Bradley Inn, a rambling hotel surrounded by lush lawns and gardens. Then we adjourn to the formal dining room, where we feast on briny Pemaquid oysters, local lobster and fresh fiddlehead greens, all prepared by chef-owner Warren Busteed.
Like the Atwoods and the Chesebros, Warren and his wife, Beth, wandered down to Pemaquid Point and found it hard to leave. The next morning, Kay and I just barely manage to pull ourselves away -- after one last stroll to the prettiest lighthouse in Maine.
Harborside Hideaways of Maine 6/4/2005 — By Hilary Nangle
From normal to downright quirky, all at good prices Finding a reasonable room near Maine's waterways is challenging; finding one with more than motel-quality character is nearly impossible. But such gems do exist, although some are only open in the summer. Here are our favorites, south to north. Paths lace the landscaped grounds of St. Anthony's Monastery, in Kennebunk, meandering through woodlands, gardens, and outdoor chapels along the town's river. Visitors to its Franciscan Guest House, founded by monks who fled war-torn Lithuania in 1947, enjoy away-from-it-all serenity, yet are within walking distance of bustling Dock Square and the beach. Rooms, all with private baths, are spread out among five buildings, including Tudor-style homes and a former dorm, and share use of the saltwater pool. Although there's no daily maid service, fresh towels are provided. Family-run since 1932, Maine Idyll Motor Court is actually three miles west of the coast, but it's also three miles north of Freeport (and L.L. Bean's mother ship). That location, and its low prices, make it a good base. These tidy one-to-three-bedroom, white-clapboard cabins have pine interiors accented by a hint of wood smoke, and many have fireplaces and kitchenettes. They're holdovers from the days when such colonies dotted America's highways. Originally built as a lifesaving station in 1883, the beachfront Popham Beach Bed and Breakfast, at the mouth of the Kennebunk River in Phippsburg, later housed the Coast Guard until it was decommissioned in 1971. A bit pricier than its competition, it's worth the splurge to fall asleep to the rhythmic lapping of waves, wake up with a walk on the six-mile-long sands, or climb the inn's tower for views to the Seguin Island beacon. Start the day with a dip at the waterfront Mill Pond Inn, a restored 1780 colonial in sleepy Damariscotta Mills. The village, which also fronts the 14-mile-long Damariscotta Lake, is a good base for towns such as Boothbay Harbor, Rockland, and Camden, or the galleries and antiques shops of the adjacent Pemaquid Peninsula. Innkeeper Bobby Whear is licensed with the state as a professional guide and offers fishing trips and scenic tours in his restored lapstrake boat. Damariscotta sits at the peninsula's northern end, but Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, depicted on the Maine quarter and in countless cal-endars, anchors the southern tip. Although it lacks a view, the Hotel Pemaquid is less than 200 yards away (close enough that the foghorn can lose its romantic appeal). Antiques fill the lobby and small guest rooms in the Victorian main hotel, and they accent the more spacious rentals in the adjacent cottages and motel. Pemaquid Beach, Fort William Henry, and lobster shacks (where a feast of a one-pound lobster and a bag of steamers starts at $12) are nearby. With its white-iron bedsteads, vintage dressers, and gauzy curtains, the Ocean House, in tiny Port Clyde, evokes the essence of a Maine summer hotel. Most rooms have views of the picturesque harbor. Stroll to the early mail boat for Monhegan Island and take a day trip or, with a little more effort, walk over to the Marshall Point Lighthouse. The huge deck of the Inn on the Harbor, in Stonington, juts over the sea, providing a perfect spot to watch lobstermen, the Isle au Haut mail boat, and occasional windjammers. Rooms, some with fireplaces or private decks, are spread among four Victorian buildings that retain facades as unadorned as Stonington itself. Spring for a harbor-facing room; those on the street can be noisy. The jaw-dropping vista down Somes Sound, the only fjord on America's east coast, is the calling card of The Moorings Inn, in yacht-packed Southwest Harbor. This pretty village on the quiet side of Mount Desert Island is about 20 minutes southwest of Bar Harbor and the start of Acadia National Park's famed Park Loop. Inn rooms are comfortably cluttered with antiques; motel rooms have decks; and the cottages, which cost $10 to $45 more, have fireplaces, kitch-ens, and the most privacy. Oceanside Meadows Inn, in Prospect Harbor, includes a former sea captain's home and sits on 200 acres of beach, woods, and marsh. From late June until late September the enthusiastic innkeepers also book concerts (classical to jazz) and environmental lectures in a renovated barn. Their elegant breakfast emphasizes organic ingredients, many from the inn's gardens. Acadia National Park is nearby, as is a passenger ferry to Bar Harbor. Well north of the beaten path in rural Maine is the 110-acre riverfront Pleasant Bay Bed and Breakfast and Llama Keep, in Addison. Light-filled rooms flow from one into another at the Cape-style inn. From your window, you can watch the river ebb and flow with the tide. The owners raise llamas and red deer--so you might help feed the herds or even stroll the two miles of paths by Pleasant Bay with only a llama for company. Maine hotels Lodging
Franciscan Guest House 28 Beach Ave., Kennebunk, 207/967-4865, from $80
Maine Idyll Motor Court 1411 U.S. Route 1, Freeport, 207/865-4201, freeportusa.com, from $55
Popham Beach Bed and Breakfast 4 Riverview Ave., Popham Beach, Phipps-burg, 207/389-2409, pophambeachbandb.com, from $105
Mill Pond Inn 50 Main St., Damariscotta Mills, 207/563-8014, millpondinn.com, $120
Hotel Pemaquid 3098 Bristol Rd., New Harbor, 207/677-2312, hotelpemaquid.com, from $65
Ocean House Rte. 131, Port Clyde, 800/269-6691, oceanhousehotel.com/, from $75
Inn on the Harbor Main St., Stonington, 800/942-2420, innontheharbor.com, from $115
The Moorings Inn Southwest Harbor, Mount Desert Island, 800/596-5523, mooringsinn.com, from $80
Oceanside Meadows Inn Rte. 195, Prospect Harbor, 207/963-5557, oceaninn.com, from $128
Pleasant Bay Bed and Breakfast 386 West Side Rd., Addison, 207/483-4490, pleasantbay.com, from $50
Road-Tripping Through Edward Hopper’s Maine
The state’s moody coast looks little-changed since the artist spent nine summers painting there.
Here’s how to see it through his eyes
Before Mr. Hopper painted stark urban tableaus, he developed his skill for depicting the beauty of solitude on the coast of Maine. The rocky shoreline by Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Bristol, Maine.
GRETA RYBUS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
1 of 12
By
Chaney Kwak
Aug. 27, 2015 2:39 pm ET
FROM MY PERCH behind the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, the granite cove below looked identical to the rock formations jutting above the surface of the sea in Edward Hopper’s 1914 oil painting “The Dories, Ogunquit.” Instead of Hopper’s dories, though, a lone sloop glided by.
Before Mr. Hopper painted stark urban tableaus such as “Nighthawks” and “New York Movie,” he developed his skill for depicting the beauty of solitude on the coast of Maine. During the nine summers he spent there between 1914 and 1929, the American Realist produced dozens of watercolors and oil paintings of the state’s whitewashed lighthouses, rocky shores and ubiquitous fishing boats. Inspired by these, I took a summer trip along the Maine coast, curious to find out if I could see a connection between his early landscapes and his later works.
RELATED Less than an hour north of Maine’s border with New Hampshire, Ogunquit was a just sleepy fishing village when New York artists began arriving in droves in the early 1900s, drawn to its soft, clear light and abundance of attractive land- and seascapes. Today its long beach and paved shoreline footpath, called Marginal Way, is a top draw for tourists. Still struggling in obscurity and without much money, Mr. Hopper moved on when Ogunquit became too popular among well-to-do artists in the early 20th century.
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, originally built in 1827. PHOTO: GRETA RYBUS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNALI followed his path north on rolling country roads along fields splashed with wild asters and black-eyed-susans, past white-steepled Episcopal churches, red farmhouses and cottages hidden in tall pines. On winding two-lane roads, I traveled through tony harbor towns including Kennebunkport and one-stoplight villages where star-spangled bunting hung from homes and light posts. My mobile phone rarely had reception.
In the 250-year-old town of Bristol, I stopped at the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, so beloved by Mainers that they voted to put it on their state quarter. Originally commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1827 and rebuilt in 1835, the granite-and-plaster tower was faithfully captured by Mr. Hopper in a watercolor. Where he once stood painting the squat structure and its clapboard station, families and couples posed for selfies.
At times on this trip, it seemed that Maine’s most common summer activity was waiting, whether for a table at a lobster restaurant or for the chance to climb to the top of a lighthouse. While waiting my turn to ascend the spiral stairs, I asked the gregarious volunteer why Pemaquid Lighthouse was so important to the people of Maine: “Because it’s popular,” she said curtly, dismissing me with a wave of her hand.
Edward Hopper’s ‘Pemaquid Light’ watercolor, which he painted in 1929 PHOTO: EDWARD HOPPER, PEMAQUID LIGHT, 1929, WATERCOLOR ON PAPER, 14 X 20 INCHES. PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART, MAINEMy next stop was Rockland, some 90 miles north of Portland, where Mr. Hopper spent seven weeks producing works such as the murky watercolor “Haunted House,” a bleak image that might have presaged the fate of this once-prosperous shipbuilding hub. In 1926, he called Rockland “a very fine old place with lots of good looking houses.” But it fell on hard times, and even its lime quarries were closed by 1950. While its wealthier neighbor became known as “Camden-by-the-Sea,” Rockland’s sardine-packing plant, one of the few remaining industries, earned it the moniker “Rockland-by-the-Smell.”
“It used to be a rough place,” said George Parks in his cozy, cluttered shop, Dooryard Books, on Main Street. “Kids would just push you off the sidewalk. Most stores on this street were pawn shops or empty.”
But in the 19 years that Mr. Parks has had his shop, Rockland has staged a comeback, thanks largely to new galleries and the tourists who come to visit them.
“The art scene is moving here from Portland,” said Yvette Torres, who opened a contemporary gallery on Main Street this summer. In addition to the Farnsworth Art Museum, whose collection includes works by Andrew Wyeth among other noted American artists, the town’s main thoroughfare is lined with restored brick buildings that house small shops such as Main Street Markets, which opened just this summer and offers local produce, specialty foods and fresh juice. Rockland looks like it’s returning to the sort of place it was when Mr. Hopper knew it.
Judging from the number of times that he returned to Monhegan Island, some 13 miles off the coast, it’s safe to say that Mr. Hopper was more taken with it than any other place in Maine. The wooden ferryboat I caught from Port Clyde carried a dozen tourists huddled against the wind, looking not unlike the figures in his 1918 etching “The Monhegan Boat”—except that there were no bonnets or billowy overcoats. We passed fishermen in yellow overalls dropping lobster pots as we chugged out to the open sea, where the water took on more swagger.
A little over an hour later we pulled into the one-dock port of Monhegan, which looks like it has changed little since the influential American painter and art teacher Robert Henri brought his disciples here at the turn of the 20th century. It remains delightfully car-free, save for a few corroded trucks used to carry cargo. Gray-shingle cottages, brined in the salty air, look just like those Mr. Hopper painted in 1916.
Though smaller than a square mile, the island held his interest for four consecutive summers. Its 2 miles of hiking trails weave through spruce and fir trees toward jagged cliffs, below which the Atlantic pummels the rocky coast. Although I carried a trail map, I managed to get lost several times as the unmarked paths splintered, meandered into waist-deep grasses or simply stopped in front of boulders, leaving me no choice but to scale the rocks on all fours. In my sneakers and shorts I was blistered and sweaty. How on earth did Mr. Hopper navigate this terrain with an easel, I wondered?
As I explored the eastern shore, from the 150-foot-high bluff named Blackhead down to the sea-level shore of Gull Rock, I found several spots that looked like subjects of Mr. Hopper’s Monhegan paintings. But no matter how I fussed with my camera, I could never quite capture the same angles. It didn’t matter.
I saw on Monhegan how Mr. Hopper’s time here could have helped him master his ability to re-create light on canvas: The abundant sunlight, doubled by the reflective sea, made every surface appear illuminated from within. Even painting a New York diner, he might have been remembering the quality of the light he saw here.
Edward Hopper developed his skill for capturing the beauty of solitude by painting the coast of Maine.
Monhegan is intimate, with a year-round population of under 50, many of them lobster fisherman. “It’s not for everyone,” said Mandy Metrano, the island’s schoolteacher, who instructs five students from kindergarten to middle school in one classroom. “We’re self-contained and self-reliant. And we really look out for one another.”
It’s also a friendly place, and during my three days there I must have met at least a quarter of the locals, including farmer Ronnie, who was pushing a wheelbarrow past the hotel, and the island’s brewer, whom I met walking past the lupines and hollyhocks that line the village’s dirt paths.
On the boat I took to leave the island, several people stood and tossed bouquets of flowers into the water. According to local lore, the petals will wash up on the island, symbolizing your assured return.
After a few days on Monhegan, Portland, with its 66,000 residents, felt like a teeming metropolis. I’d come to visit the Portland Museum of Art to see Mr. Hopper’s “Monhegan Houses,” which hangs alongside works by artists including Salvador Dalí and Claude Monet. A small work painted on a panel not much bigger than a hardcover book, the piece depicts a peaked-roof house with a dazzling white facade. It is masterful, but I realized that this was Mr. Hopper’s take on Monhegan and that I now had my own in my mind, which was distinct from his.
His wife, Jo, a promising artist in her own right before she disappeared into her husband’s shadow, wrote that his “lighthouses are self-portraits.” It was not the kindest comparison: She was referring to his “impenetrable” ego.
But at the end of my trip, as I stood beside stalwart Portland Head Light on Cape Elizabeth, her analogy seemed at least partly apt: Mr. Hopper’s work—and his name—endure much the way these lighthouses do.
Throughout his life Mr. Hopper insisted that his paintings were not about loneliness. I wasn’t sure I believed him. But my trip to Maine showed me that places can indeed be stark, severe and solitary—yet very far from lonely. And that we don’t need to be painters to make them our own.
The state’s moody coast looks little-changed since the artist spent nine summers painting there.
Here’s how to see it through his eyes
Before Mr. Hopper painted stark urban tableaus, he developed his skill for depicting the beauty of solitude on the coast of Maine. The rocky shoreline by Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Bristol, Maine.
GRETA RYBUS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
1 of 12
By
Chaney Kwak
Aug. 27, 2015 2:39 pm ET
FROM MY PERCH behind the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, the granite cove below looked identical to the rock formations jutting above the surface of the sea in Edward Hopper’s 1914 oil painting “The Dories, Ogunquit.” Instead of Hopper’s dories, though, a lone sloop glided by.
Before Mr. Hopper painted stark urban tableaus such as “Nighthawks” and “New York Movie,” he developed his skill for depicting the beauty of solitude on the coast of Maine. During the nine summers he spent there between 1914 and 1929, the American Realist produced dozens of watercolors and oil paintings of the state’s whitewashed lighthouses, rocky shores and ubiquitous fishing boats. Inspired by these, I took a summer trip along the Maine coast, curious to find out if I could see a connection between his early landscapes and his later works.
RELATED Less than an hour north of Maine’s border with New Hampshire, Ogunquit was a just sleepy fishing village when New York artists began arriving in droves in the early 1900s, drawn to its soft, clear light and abundance of attractive land- and seascapes. Today its long beach and paved shoreline footpath, called Marginal Way, is a top draw for tourists. Still struggling in obscurity and without much money, Mr. Hopper moved on when Ogunquit became too popular among well-to-do artists in the early 20th century.
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, originally built in 1827. PHOTO: GRETA RYBUS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNALI followed his path north on rolling country roads along fields splashed with wild asters and black-eyed-susans, past white-steepled Episcopal churches, red farmhouses and cottages hidden in tall pines. On winding two-lane roads, I traveled through tony harbor towns including Kennebunkport and one-stoplight villages where star-spangled bunting hung from homes and light posts. My mobile phone rarely had reception.
In the 250-year-old town of Bristol, I stopped at the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, so beloved by Mainers that they voted to put it on their state quarter. Originally commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1827 and rebuilt in 1835, the granite-and-plaster tower was faithfully captured by Mr. Hopper in a watercolor. Where he once stood painting the squat structure and its clapboard station, families and couples posed for selfies.
At times on this trip, it seemed that Maine’s most common summer activity was waiting, whether for a table at a lobster restaurant or for the chance to climb to the top of a lighthouse. While waiting my turn to ascend the spiral stairs, I asked the gregarious volunteer why Pemaquid Lighthouse was so important to the people of Maine: “Because it’s popular,” she said curtly, dismissing me with a wave of her hand.
Edward Hopper’s ‘Pemaquid Light’ watercolor, which he painted in 1929 PHOTO: EDWARD HOPPER, PEMAQUID LIGHT, 1929, WATERCOLOR ON PAPER, 14 X 20 INCHES. PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART, MAINEMy next stop was Rockland, some 90 miles north of Portland, where Mr. Hopper spent seven weeks producing works such as the murky watercolor “Haunted House,” a bleak image that might have presaged the fate of this once-prosperous shipbuilding hub. In 1926, he called Rockland “a very fine old place with lots of good looking houses.” But it fell on hard times, and even its lime quarries were closed by 1950. While its wealthier neighbor became known as “Camden-by-the-Sea,” Rockland’s sardine-packing plant, one of the few remaining industries, earned it the moniker “Rockland-by-the-Smell.”
“It used to be a rough place,” said George Parks in his cozy, cluttered shop, Dooryard Books, on Main Street. “Kids would just push you off the sidewalk. Most stores on this street were pawn shops or empty.”
But in the 19 years that Mr. Parks has had his shop, Rockland has staged a comeback, thanks largely to new galleries and the tourists who come to visit them.
“The art scene is moving here from Portland,” said Yvette Torres, who opened a contemporary gallery on Main Street this summer. In addition to the Farnsworth Art Museum, whose collection includes works by Andrew Wyeth among other noted American artists, the town’s main thoroughfare is lined with restored brick buildings that house small shops such as Main Street Markets, which opened just this summer and offers local produce, specialty foods and fresh juice. Rockland looks like it’s returning to the sort of place it was when Mr. Hopper knew it.
Judging from the number of times that he returned to Monhegan Island, some 13 miles off the coast, it’s safe to say that Mr. Hopper was more taken with it than any other place in Maine. The wooden ferryboat I caught from Port Clyde carried a dozen tourists huddled against the wind, looking not unlike the figures in his 1918 etching “The Monhegan Boat”—except that there were no bonnets or billowy overcoats. We passed fishermen in yellow overalls dropping lobster pots as we chugged out to the open sea, where the water took on more swagger.
A little over an hour later we pulled into the one-dock port of Monhegan, which looks like it has changed little since the influential American painter and art teacher Robert Henri brought his disciples here at the turn of the 20th century. It remains delightfully car-free, save for a few corroded trucks used to carry cargo. Gray-shingle cottages, brined in the salty air, look just like those Mr. Hopper painted in 1916.
Though smaller than a square mile, the island held his interest for four consecutive summers. Its 2 miles of hiking trails weave through spruce and fir trees toward jagged cliffs, below which the Atlantic pummels the rocky coast. Although I carried a trail map, I managed to get lost several times as the unmarked paths splintered, meandered into waist-deep grasses or simply stopped in front of boulders, leaving me no choice but to scale the rocks on all fours. In my sneakers and shorts I was blistered and sweaty. How on earth did Mr. Hopper navigate this terrain with an easel, I wondered?
As I explored the eastern shore, from the 150-foot-high bluff named Blackhead down to the sea-level shore of Gull Rock, I found several spots that looked like subjects of Mr. Hopper’s Monhegan paintings. But no matter how I fussed with my camera, I could never quite capture the same angles. It didn’t matter.
I saw on Monhegan how Mr. Hopper’s time here could have helped him master his ability to re-create light on canvas: The abundant sunlight, doubled by the reflective sea, made every surface appear illuminated from within. Even painting a New York diner, he might have been remembering the quality of the light he saw here.
Edward Hopper developed his skill for capturing the beauty of solitude by painting the coast of Maine.
Monhegan is intimate, with a year-round population of under 50, many of them lobster fisherman. “It’s not for everyone,” said Mandy Metrano, the island’s schoolteacher, who instructs five students from kindergarten to middle school in one classroom. “We’re self-contained and self-reliant. And we really look out for one another.”
It’s also a friendly place, and during my three days there I must have met at least a quarter of the locals, including farmer Ronnie, who was pushing a wheelbarrow past the hotel, and the island’s brewer, whom I met walking past the lupines and hollyhocks that line the village’s dirt paths.
On the boat I took to leave the island, several people stood and tossed bouquets of flowers into the water. According to local lore, the petals will wash up on the island, symbolizing your assured return.
After a few days on Monhegan, Portland, with its 66,000 residents, felt like a teeming metropolis. I’d come to visit the Portland Museum of Art to see Mr. Hopper’s “Monhegan Houses,” which hangs alongside works by artists including Salvador Dalí and Claude Monet. A small work painted on a panel not much bigger than a hardcover book, the piece depicts a peaked-roof house with a dazzling white facade. It is masterful, but I realized that this was Mr. Hopper’s take on Monhegan and that I now had my own in my mind, which was distinct from his.
His wife, Jo, a promising artist in her own right before she disappeared into her husband’s shadow, wrote that his “lighthouses are self-portraits.” It was not the kindest comparison: She was referring to his “impenetrable” ego.
But at the end of my trip, as I stood beside stalwart Portland Head Light on Cape Elizabeth, her analogy seemed at least partly apt: Mr. Hopper’s work—and his name—endure much the way these lighthouses do.
Throughout his life Mr. Hopper insisted that his paintings were not about loneliness. I wasn’t sure I believed him. But my trip to Maine showed me that places can indeed be stark, severe and solitary—yet very far from lonely. And that we don’t need to be painters to make them our own.
Toddler-Friendly Maine Vacations
TRAVEL TIPS
Nicole Harms, Leaf GroupMaine's rocky coastline provides ample room for curious toddlers to explore. (Photo: Maine Cove image by Ocean_Blues from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a> )
Related Articles
Finding a place to vacation with your toddler often proves daunting, as little ones need sufficient room to run without all of the lights and sounds of some of the more popular family vacation destinations. Maine has several locations with a quieter pace and sufficient space for little ones to roam. Both the woodlands and coastal areas of the state have vacation destinations for toddlers and their families.
Acadia National Park
A trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, provides the opportunity to explore Acadia National Park. While parents can appreciate the park’s rocky peaks, evergreen trees and deep blue ocean waters, Acadia also offers plenty of room for toddlers to roam and explore. Its flat trails along the coastline have solid terrain for wobbly little feet. The park rents bikes with trailers or toddler seats, so the entire family can ride through some of the 45 miles of groomed bike paths. It also has a sand beach, where your little ones can dig in the sand and splash in the surf in warmer months. Plan your visit from May until October, when the park’s services run in full swing and the weather is relatively warm. Pack plenty of bug spray, as black flies and mosquitoes both run rampant, particularly in June. July and August draw the most crowds, so consider a spring or fall trip to give your toddler more freedom. The park has no accommodations inside its boundaries, so book a hotel in Bar Harbor for your stay.
Acadia National Park
PO Box 177
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
207-288-3338
nps.gov
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Only In Your State
Pemaquid Peninsula
The Pemaquid Peninsula to the north of Boothbay Harbor provides families with both historic and natural attractions. While touring the peninsula you can visit the town of Christmas Cove, which was the spot where John Smith anchored on Christmas Day in 1614. While you enjoy a meal on the marina from one of the local restaurants, your toddler will stay entertained by watching the boats sailing by. After a visit to Colonial Pemaquid, a living history museum that recreates life in the 1625 settlement, you can take your toddler to the nearby Pemaquid Beach to dip your toes in the water and enjoy a picnic on the shore. During low tide at the Rachel Carson Salt Pond Preserve, your child can easily spot the starfish and green crabs that live among the rocks. Consider staying in Hotel Pemaquid as you explore the peninsula. This hotel offers two- and three-bedroom suites and small outbuilding homes just a couple of minutes from Pemaquid Point and the beach.
Hotel Pemaquid
3098 Bristol Road
New Harbor, ME 04554
207-677-2312
hotelpemaquid.com
Point Sebago Resort
At the Point Sebago Lake Resort, young children can play on one of the resort’s playgrounds, dig in the sand at Sebago Lake or stroll through the trees on the wooded property. Point Sebago offers family-friendly amenities that include a general store, kids’ camps for the older children, restaurants, planned activities and entertainment, and seasonal festivals. Accommodation options include park homes, campsites, cottages and vacation homes. Each day the resort has a Character Show, which entertains children through song and dance routines performed by the resort’s animal mascots. Family sing-alongs and s’mores by the fire also allow toddlers to get in on the fun of a family vacation to Point Sebago Resort.
Point Sebago Resort
261 Point Sebago Road
Route 302
Casco, Maine 04015
800-530-1555
pointsebago.com
https://traveltips.usatoday.com/toddler-friendly-maine-vacations-14701.html
TRAVEL TIPS
Nicole Harms, Leaf GroupMaine's rocky coastline provides ample room for curious toddlers to explore. (Photo: Maine Cove image by Ocean_Blues from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a> )
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Finding a place to vacation with your toddler often proves daunting, as little ones need sufficient room to run without all of the lights and sounds of some of the more popular family vacation destinations. Maine has several locations with a quieter pace and sufficient space for little ones to roam. Both the woodlands and coastal areas of the state have vacation destinations for toddlers and their families.
Acadia National Park
A trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, provides the opportunity to explore Acadia National Park. While parents can appreciate the park’s rocky peaks, evergreen trees and deep blue ocean waters, Acadia also offers plenty of room for toddlers to roam and explore. Its flat trails along the coastline have solid terrain for wobbly little feet. The park rents bikes with trailers or toddler seats, so the entire family can ride through some of the 45 miles of groomed bike paths. It also has a sand beach, where your little ones can dig in the sand and splash in the surf in warmer months. Plan your visit from May until October, when the park’s services run in full swing and the weather is relatively warm. Pack plenty of bug spray, as black flies and mosquitoes both run rampant, particularly in June. July and August draw the most crowds, so consider a spring or fall trip to give your toddler more freedom. The park has no accommodations inside its boundaries, so book a hotel in Bar Harbor for your stay.
Acadia National Park
PO Box 177
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
207-288-3338
nps.gov
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Only In Your State
Pemaquid Peninsula
The Pemaquid Peninsula to the north of Boothbay Harbor provides families with both historic and natural attractions. While touring the peninsula you can visit the town of Christmas Cove, which was the spot where John Smith anchored on Christmas Day in 1614. While you enjoy a meal on the marina from one of the local restaurants, your toddler will stay entertained by watching the boats sailing by. After a visit to Colonial Pemaquid, a living history museum that recreates life in the 1625 settlement, you can take your toddler to the nearby Pemaquid Beach to dip your toes in the water and enjoy a picnic on the shore. During low tide at the Rachel Carson Salt Pond Preserve, your child can easily spot the starfish and green crabs that live among the rocks. Consider staying in Hotel Pemaquid as you explore the peninsula. This hotel offers two- and three-bedroom suites and small outbuilding homes just a couple of minutes from Pemaquid Point and the beach.
Hotel Pemaquid
3098 Bristol Road
New Harbor, ME 04554
207-677-2312
hotelpemaquid.com
Point Sebago Resort
At the Point Sebago Lake Resort, young children can play on one of the resort’s playgrounds, dig in the sand at Sebago Lake or stroll through the trees on the wooded property. Point Sebago offers family-friendly amenities that include a general store, kids’ camps for the older children, restaurants, planned activities and entertainment, and seasonal festivals. Accommodation options include park homes, campsites, cottages and vacation homes. Each day the resort has a Character Show, which entertains children through song and dance routines performed by the resort’s animal mascots. Family sing-alongs and s’mores by the fire also allow toddlers to get in on the fun of a family vacation to Point Sebago Resort.
Point Sebago Resort
261 Point Sebago Road
Route 302
Casco, Maine 04015
800-530-1555
pointsebago.com
https://traveltips.usatoday.com/toddler-friendly-maine-vacations-14701.html
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse – 3115 Bristol Rd, New Harbor, ME 04558
To start, out of all of the lighthouses on this list, this one is the only one that you can actually go up in. If you zoom in you can see Lindsey waving inside the top of the lighthouse. This is a “park” and they do charge for you to park so have some cash on hand to enter but its only a couple bucks. The other awesome reason to check this one out is that a block up the road is Hotel Pemaquid and behind it is the famous lobster buoy wall for great photo session.
https://lyonswithluggage.com/top-four-lighthouses-in-maine/
To start, out of all of the lighthouses on this list, this one is the only one that you can actually go up in. If you zoom in you can see Lindsey waving inside the top of the lighthouse. This is a “park” and they do charge for you to park so have some cash on hand to enter but its only a couple bucks. The other awesome reason to check this one out is that a block up the road is Hotel Pemaquid and behind it is the famous lobster buoy wall for great photo session.
https://lyonswithluggage.com/top-four-lighthouses-in-maine/
4 Fabulous Fall Getaway Ideas for Telecommuters in the Northeast
October 16, 2012 Alexia Chianis The Break Room 0Edited: November 8, 2013
The Northeast offers amazing weekend getaway destinations for the hardworking telecommuter.
Visit the Northeast during fall and you’re in for a special treat – fabulous foliage. If you’re ready for a well deserved fall pick-me-up, we encourage you to read on. Start planning your Northeast weekend escape right now.
New Harbor, MaineNew Harbor, Maine is a charming seaport village that is quintessential coastal Maine. It’s also located near a number of lighthouses, and you simply can’t visit Maine without taking in a few of these historic structures. Stroll through eclectic owner operated shops, fill your tummy with scrumptious seafood restaurants and enjoy a relaxed vibe that will refresh the hardworking telecommuter in you.
Where to Stay. Have we got some treats for you! New Harbor, Maine has some excellent lodging options. Try these.
• Hotel Pemaquid. Gentle breezes, relaxing rockers, a cozy fireplace, and spacious wrap-around porch. That’s just a bit of what you can expect from Hotel Pemaquid. This lovely hotel offers simple, clean rooms that start at about $70.00 per night. Wow! Best yet, it is situated only a mere 150 yards from the rugged Pemaquid coast and the famous Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.