DAY 7: Breathtaking Monhegan Island & A Lasting Friendship

Observation of the day

True friends are friends forever.

 

Quote of the day

“The ocean is interesting, but it is scary.” – spoken by a 9-year-old to his mom (who was sitting next to me) as he was observing the waters on our return journey to Boothbay Harbor from Monhegan Island.

 

VM: To take a respite from all the driving, today I booked a roundtrip tour to Monhegan Island, an artist’s colony approximately 11 miles from the Maine mainland. As you can imagine, it’s a quirky spot, only reachable by boat. It has about 70 year-round inhabitants, who are mostly artists or fisherman. There is also an inn, a B&B and some vacation rentals. Between all of these locals, overnight guests and day-trippers (like me) they make the island work. The attraction? The island’s beauty.

 

Balmy Days travels to Monhegan Island daily.

Best cup of Joe!

Supposedly the island is pretty much as it has been for more than a century. It is 1.5 miles long and .5 mile wide, and incredibly stunning. And the best part for me was it was just a boatride from Boothbay Harbor, my home away from home. Thus, at 8:15am I headed out to procure coffee at Red Cup https://www.redcupcoffeehouse.com, a local coffee joint which can kick Starbuck’s butt any day. Fortified with a latte and a homemade muffin made with Maine’s wild blueberries, I boarded my Balmy Days boat (https://www.balmydayscruises.com) at 9:00am to head to Monhegan. By 9:30am, the boat was filled and we departed.

Boothbay Harbor

 

Lobster fisherman getting ready for his day...

The journey is about 1.5 hours. Blessedly, while it was overcast and chilly, we had NO RAIN!!! On the way there, we were treated to porpoises playing in the ocean and beautiful scenery.

 

At 11am, we arrived. Monhegan Island, while small, is crisscrossed with many trails. A map of these are available online, but the captain encouraged us to pick up a print version which is $1 (on the honor system) & helps the island. 

Upon reviewing the map & trying to use my time wisely, I made the decision to go to the public restroom first and then head to one of the trails recommended for “short-term visitors” (a.k.a. ME) which led you to the breathtaking cliffs. While not as tall, they reminded me of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. Afterwards, I carefully made my way to one of the inland trails I had read about called the Cathedral Room, which was under a canopy of trees, more manageable and a bit magical.

Monhegan Island

Monhegan Island

 

Again, Tropical Storm/Hurricane Elsa came back to haunt me as we had no rain, but much of the trails were a muddy mess. Ultimately, it was GORGEOUS, but I was really careful as it was really treacherous at times & I didn’t want to mess up my knee further and need to be medi-vac’ed out of Monhegan. The best part & worst part of the island is you essentially can be totally solo on these trails. It was simultaneously peaceful and nerve-wracking.

 

Most of the trails where a muddy mess.

At 1:45pm I returned to our boat for what they call Balmy Days' “island cruise” for which they charge $5 cash. In my opinion, it is a brilliant way to earn revenue & provide a great guest service. Folks who were staying on Monhegan wanted to take the $5 excursion as it gave them an overview of their island from a different perspective, and day-trippers like me get to experience the entire island in one day.

 

Luckily, the inland trails looked more like this.

The best part? The seals! While I was hiking, an experienced trekker from New Hampshire told me he had seen seals, but it required climbing on rocks, which I was not prepared to tackle. BUT, on the boat, I just got to ride by these friendly mammals. And they were super cute, popping their heads up as if to say “hi!” Unfortunately, I took pics of them & of the island with my digital camera, but I forgot the doo-hickey which allows me to download these pics while on this trip, so you’ll just have to take my word for it --- they were REALLY CUTE!!!

Monhegan Island inspires many artists, you might be able to see why by the pictures below:

 

There are fairies in the Cathedral Room :-).

Monhegan Island Harbor

Monhegan Island Harbor

Monhegan Island Harbor

To top off the trip, we were thrilled to see a whale on the ride home (again, on the digital camera, so you’ll have to indulge me!) Needless to say, coupled with the afternoon’s blue skies, it was a perfect end to a lovely day.

 

Even the shops are quaint in
Boothbay Harbor!

The boat returned to Boothbay Harbor around 4pm. As I was waiting for my friend, Lisa, to arrive I decided to check out the waterfront shops. At 5:30, she arrived from New Hampshire. 

Boothbay Harbor

Love our harbor footbridge including the "bridge house" which was built in 1902 by the bridge tender but is now a private home.

Boothbay Harbor

The flowers keep taking my breath away! 

Tugboat Inn is super cute.

Lisa & I go way back to Turner days (nearly 30 years now!) The last time we saw each other in person was 11 years ago. But as it goes with true friends, we picked up right where we left off. We began the night having drinks overlooking the harbor at The Tugboat Inn Bar (https://www.tugboatinn.com) and then had dinner at Harborside 1901 (https://harborside1901.com). It was a wonderful night of reconnecting.

Friends pick up right where we left off.

Boothbay Harbor view from the Tugboat Inn.
The middle island houses three private homes.

                                            

                                            Random Pics of the Day

                Can't make it through the day without making new canine friends.

Rosie was heading out on the boat to Squirrel Island with her mistress.
Squirrel Island is a summer colony of about 100 homes handed down by generations. 

I didn't personally meet this foxy fellow while on Monhegan Island, but loved
how he kept an eye out to make sure nothing happened on his watch!

Sam was a Wheaton Terrier who took a boat ride around the island with me.
His mistress kept trying to show me his "tricks," Sam wasn't too
interested in indulging her.