Travel Back in Time to Maine’s
Monhegan Island: by Judy Silberstein
( August 26, 2002) A century ago, the nascent Village
of Larchmont drew summer visitors to its summer resorts,
cottages, woods and shoreline. Today, you can get a
sense of what a Larchmont summer may have been like
by traveling up the Eastern seaboard to tiny Monhegan
Island off the coast of rural Maine.
Your ride back in time requires at least eight hours
from Larchmont and covers around 400 miles, 390 by road
to Port Clyde, Maine and another five by ferry. Port
Clyde offers little more than a charming old general
store, ice cream shop and parking lot for the “people
only” ferry. (Reservations recommended: http://www.monheganboat.com/
.) However, the ferry is a trip in itself, taking
you past Marshall Point lighthouse and Seal Rock and
providing a view of sea birds, seals, porpoises, and
whales. On our ride over this summer, the jovial, white-bearded
captain warned us off the port side. “You’re
going to get wet,” he announced as the speed of
the ferry and a stiff wind combined to send waves over
the railing. Getting soaked only added to the excitement
for the teenagers struggling to maintain their balance
and spot the surfacing whales. The staid generation
retreated to a relatively sheltered bench or an indoor
seat by the large picture windows.
As the ferry approaches Monhegan, you get views of
the entire Island. Roughly the size of the Village of
Larchmont and shaped like a whale, Monhegan is dotted
with a few year-round homes for the seventy-five permanent
residents, a sprinkling of summer homes, some small
bed and breakfasts and two antique hotels. Completely
missing are cars – except for the few luggage
trucks, no vehicles are allowed on the island.
An old truck hauls the baggage from the ferry dock
as we passengers trudge up a steep dirt road to the
Monhegan House hotel, our destination for a weekend
family reunion. The hotel resembles a rustic Maine relative
to Larchmont’s Manor Inn. There’s a broad
front porch complete with white wooden Adirondack and
rocking chairs and a parlor furnished with sofas and
rainy day games.
 Like
the Manor Inn, Monhegan House has undergone multiple
renovations, but has been continuously operated as a
guesthouse since the late 1800’s. A bit behind
its Larchmont cousin, there’s electricity now
at Monhegan House, but no elevator and the rooms have
no air conditioning, telephones, televisions, closets
or bathrooms. There are thirty-three rooms on four floors,
but only one communal bathroom on the second floor with
one shower, one claw-foot bathtub, four toilets, and
four sinks. We very soon learn about timing: get up
early if you want to brush your teeth without waiting
on line. Also, if you like hot water, shower at off
hours. Otherwise you can avoid the lines by washing
under the garden hose by the fire escape.
The dining room is not as quaint as the washroom, but
timing is again critical. Breakfasts are included with
the room charge and provide excellent motivation to
get out of bed when the early summer sunrise streams
through the lace curtains. Noteworthy are the French
toast with mixed berry compote and the five variations
on Eggs Benedict, especially one with “filet”
of lobster claw and asparagus. In our party, the early
risers got their choice; slug-a-beds missed out when
the kitchen ran out of the most popular dishes. This
was also true at other meals: the (perhaps overly) rich
lobster stew went fast at lunch, and there were not
enough lobsters (in Maine!) at dinner. The late diners
were left eying the four-pound beauties served to the
neighboring table. However, there was no trouble with
the wine or beer. Mohegan is strictly a BYOB operation,
if you want something to drink you run down the hill
to the general store.
Despite its quirks, we prefer the Monhegan House menu
to the only other full-scale hotel and dining room,
the Island Inn, or to the few sandwich shops. The food
and service is better and the wait-staff is young, friendly
and generally unflappable, even when dealing with our
fourteen-person table. Between meals you encounter the
waiters and housemaids horse playing on the lawn or
engaging in a wild game of croquet.
So what does one do on a remote island with no organized
entertainment or transportation? You stroll, amble, walk,
trek, hike and otherwise explore the seventeen miles of
trails maintained (some better than others) by the Monhegan
Associates. Or you take the various dirt roads to the
lighthouse, museum, cemetery, one-room schoolhouse, or
art galleries. Creative types bring their art supplies
and join James Wyeth and other local artists who regularly
take advantage of the Monhegan light and sights. Perhaps
you build houses for the faeries reputed to inhabit the
Cathedral Woods or just house hunt for the hundreds of
miniature constructions left behind by previous visitors
in the tree hollows and other hidden places. For those
needing advice, Maine enthusiast Rosemarie Colombraro
offers a complete guide at: Faerie
Legend or Forest Lost?
If you like your water bone-chilling cold, you take
a plunge in the clear waters at the swimmers’
beach. Look down and you see the small crabs and lobsters
crawling between your toes. Time your swim for high
tide when the water reaches the small sandy strip; otherwise
you’re left to scramble awkwardly over yards of
rocky beach before making it to the water.
Time matters on Monhegan and there are plenty of rewards
for those who adjust their pace to the rhythms and ways
of this Maine island.
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