I Must Go Down to the Sea

November 11th, 2010

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

Blue Hill Harbor

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

HMS Bounty in Lubec Harbor

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

In Lubec Harbor

And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.

Rockland Harbor at Dawn

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Stonington Harbor

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

Getting ready to dive for sea urchins off West Quoddy Head

 And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

Sailing from Bar Harbor

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

At Schoodic Head

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

Sailing from Bar Harbor at Sunset

To the gull’s way and whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

We saw whales, but I only managed to photograph a seal

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover

Pretend it's a laughing gull

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

Sunset from Mt. Cadillac

Sea-fever by John Masefield (1878-1967)

Art in Maine

November 10th, 2010

There is a fantastic art museum in Maine–the Farnsworth in Rockland–that focuses on Maine’s role in the history of American art.  Inside its collection of buildings that includes a Wyeth Center with works from all three generations of Wyeths, there were several special exhibits including one on rug hooking in Maine.  Outside there were several sculptures including one that was commissioned this year for this specific site as part of a program called Four in Maine.

30 Columns by Aaron T Stephan, Farnsworth

LOVE at the Farnsworth

Not all the objects of art I saw were at museums.  This one was at a small land trust preserve where I went geocaching.

At a land trust parking area near Blue Hill

Others were more whimsy than art, but I liked them.

Birds on a porch railing in Rockland

A Pirate Hanging? On a boat in Camden Harbor

And then there’s the kind of art I collect–made by Native Americans of natural materials.

Urchin Basket, Jeremy Frey, Passamaquoddy, 2007

Root Club Head, Senabeh, Penobscot, late 1960s-early 1970s

New England Architecture

November 9th, 2010

All the travel brochures for places in New England feature at least one photo of a town square lined with black-shuttered, Federal-style buildings or a simple white, steepled church–the quintessential New England scene, usually featuring some bright orange or red-leafed tree.  Well, there are lots of villages where one can replicate these photo scenes–if the sun shines.  Unfortunately, most of the days when I was meandering the back roads of DownEast Maine it was at least overcast, if not raining.

As to churches, there are a lot of Congregational churches, most of which are simple white structures which still have the original box pews.

Saunders Memorial Congregational Church

Bar Harbor Congregational Church

Somesville church interior

 Every once in a while I came across one that didn’t quite fit the mold.

West Gouldsboro Union Church

I did visit one that had stained glass windows.

Stained glass, Congregational Church, Searsport

Of course, the most famous stained glass windows are the ten Tiffany windows in St. Savious’s Episcopal Church in Bar Harbor.  Personally, I preferred the more modern window by Susan Dunlop (1966).

Susan Dunlop, 1966, St Savior's Episcopal, Bar Harbor

Many villages have areas which have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  One of my favorites was Cherryfield which made it onto the list on October 1, 1990.  The walking tour includes 81 sites and structures.  The oldest home in the village was built for General Alexander Campbell, a lumberman and Massachusetts State Senator from 1791 to 1796, in 1790.  (Maine did not gain statehood until 1820.)  His home is still occupied by his descendants.

Gen. Alexander Campbell House, Cherryfield, 1790 Federal

 Local architect Charles Allen designed this second empire house with a curving porch and bell-cast mansard-roofed tower for a Campbell descendant in 1875.

Frank Campbell House, 1875, 2nd Empire, Cherryfield

 Alexander Campbell’s grandson Samuel built this Queen Anne home in 1883.  The current owner’s have their own website about Campbell Hill.  I unfortunately did not get the opportunity to see the Santa Fe; maybe on another trip.

2nd Samuel Campbell House, Cherryfield, 1883, Queen Anne

 The William M. Nash Home is the largest in the Cherryfield Historic District and is considered to be one of Charles A. Allen’s masterpieces.  Allen didn’t start from scratch to build this home; he was hired to update and expand a temple-style Greek Revival dwelling.

William M. Nash House, 1840-1888, 2nd Empire

 Unlike Cherryfield, many of Camden’s historic homes are now used to provide tourists with overnight accommodations.  Of course, in this case, many (including the Whitehall Inn where I stayed) were originally built for that purpose. 

Whitehall Inn, 1834

Maine Stay Inn, Camden, 1802

1805 Federal-style home, Camden

One of the most photographed places on Mount Desert Island is a simple white bridge in Somesville.

Somesville bridge

Another view of the Somesville bridge

Not all of the buildings which I found interesting in DownEast Maine were in such good shape.  This building is now a community arts center. 

Seamark Deer Isle High School

Old barn on Blue Hill Peninsula

Stairways in the Air

November 8th, 2010

Do you want to make a grand impression on first time visitors to your home?  Try a flying-staircase.  Shirley Plantation near Williamsburg, Virginia has one that dates from the first half of the 18th-century.  When this country’s first Secretary of War General Henry Knox retired in 1795 to his wife’s property in Thomaston, Maine, leaving his friends like Washington and Jefferson with their grand plantation homes behind, he specified that his new home Montpelier contain many of the architectural details he must have seen in their homes–including a flying staircase.

Montpelier"s semi-flying staircase

By 1871, seventeen years after the last Knox abandoned the house, Montpelier had fallen into such a state of disrepair, it was razed to make way for a railroad station.

Montpelier 1871

Then in 1929 the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution gained sufficient financial support to build a replica of the mansion on a knoll at the edge of town.  The new Montpelier lacks the grand river view of the original, but it contains a remarkable number of items that belonged to the family plus copies of architectural elements salvaged when the original home was destroyed.

Montpelier 2010, street-front view

About twenty years after Knox built his home in Thomaston, Judge Thomas Ruggles built a new home in Columbia Falls.  His home was much more modest in size than Knox’s and it lacked the land and river view,

Ruggles Home, Columbia Falls

but almost one-third of the Ruggles Home was devoted to a flying staircase.

Ruggles staircase

Another architectural element common to both homes was the classic Federal-style front entranceway with two side lights.

Ruggles Home front door

Montpelier's classic Federal-style front door

I was also impressed by the non-flying staircase at the Barncastle Inn where I stayed in Blue Hill.

Barncastle Inn Staircase, Blue Hill

Need a Ride?

November 7th, 2010

Like old cars?  DownEast Maine has two spectacular collections–the Owls Head Transportation Museum and the Seal Cove Auto Museum.  One of the fascinating facts about the Owls Head collection of over 50 automobiles (and 28 airplanes) is that almost everything is kept in working order, and the museum periodically demonstrates parts of its collections.  This museum even made USA Today‘s top 10 list of car museums in the USA.  The collection exhibited at Seal Cove was amassed by Richard Paine.  Some items in both collections purposely remain in the condition in which they were acquired. 

Here are a few of the oldest automobiles in both collections.

1898 Leon Bollee Tri-car (Owls Head)

1900 Locomobile (Seal Cove)

1902 Pope Hartford (Seal Cove)

1902 Curved Dash Olds (Owls Head)

1903 Stanley Steamer (Seal Cove)

1903 Ford Model A (Seal Cove)

1903 Prescott Steam Runabout (Owls Head)

1903 Mercedes Simplex Tourer (Owls Head)

1903 Knox (Seal Cove)

1904 Curved Dash Olds (Seal Cove)

1904 Knox (Seal Cove)

1904 Stanley (Owls Head)

1904 Cadillac (Seal Cove)

1905 Maxwell (Seal Cove)

1905 Pierce Arrow (Seal Cove)

1905 Panhard & Levassor Tourer (Owls Head)

DownEast and Acadia–Lighthouses

November 6th, 2010

After leaving Monhegan Island, I headed north along the coast of Maine, and for three weeks, I immersed myself in the DownEast culture of lighthouses and lobsters.  I attended two Road Scholar sessions in Acadia National Park and one in Eastport, the easternmost town in the United States.  Between sessions I hiked in the Camden Hills and in several preserves, and I ate lobster.  I visited museums focused on art, transportation and maritime history, several historic homes and historic districts on the National Register, and many lighthouses; and I ate lobster.

Let’s start with one of the most recognizable symbols of Maine–the lighthouse.  There are more than 60 along the coast, not all of which are on land or easily viewable.

Marshall Point Light

Owl's Head Light

Bass Harbor Light on Mount Desert Island

Egg Rock Light--the only square lighthouse in Maine

Petit Manan Light

Winter Harbor Light

West Quoddy Head Light--the easternmost most in the USA

This last light is on Campobello Island in New Brunswick across the Lubec Narrows from Lubec, ME.

Mulholland Point Light

In addition to visiting a number of lighthouses, I toured the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland which had a number of very interesting exhibits including one of the best I’ve seen on lighthouse lenses.

2nd Order Fixed Flashing Fresnel Lens from the Petit Manan light (1855-1972) weights two tons

3rd order Fresnel lens from Matinicus Rock Light (1923-83)

4th order Fresnel lens, possibly from Buffalo, NY

6th order Fresnel lens made in Paris, used in San Francisco area

Hiking and Birding on Monhegan Island

November 5th, 2010

Every day we went searching for birds at 6:30 a.m. for an hour before breakfast, for about 3 hours after breakfast, and then for a couple of hours in the late afternoon.  In the two full days and two half-days on the island I logged 70 species, making several additions to my life list.  Seth’s list was closer to 100.

We hiked most of the trails on the island except for those to Green Point on the very northern tip of the island.  We walked through the Cathedral Woods where there are many fairy houses along the trail.

Fairy House in Cathedral Woods

We hiked along the shoreline,

Monhegan Harbor from near Fish Beach

and up on the bluffs that reached a maximum of 160 feet above sea level.

White Head

Gull Rock

We found birds on the rocks being beaten by the waves

Great Cormorants

and on the placid Ice Pond in the village just below the school.

Ice Pond

Mallard on the Ice Pond

In what resembled an overgrown drainage ditch alongside the swampy meadow which is the source of the villagers’ water

Village Meadow

a sora lurked the entire time we were there.  With patience one could get a glimpse of this very reclusive bird.

I took many pictures in an attempt to capture the fury of the waves and sea, but without sound, you’ll have to use your imagination.

Waves about to break on the rocks

Crash!

Living on Monhegan

November 4th, 2010

Monhegan Island has several shops with basic groceries (including beer and wine), a couple of cafe-like businesses, and a number of galleries and tourist shops.  Artists have long flocked to the island, and pieces of art can be found in front yards, gardens, and atop houses.

Sculpture outside an island inn

Wood sculpture

A Raven in a garden

Fish also provided inspiration for signs and various garden objects

There’s a K-8 school where just two students are currently enrolled.  To attend high school, island students must find a place to live on the mainland.  Sometimes the students live with family friends or relatives; sometimes one of the parents rents an apartment on the mainland.  There’s also a private boarding school just up the coast.

Monhegan School

Note the “guard dog.”  At recess he acts as the fielder while one student pitches to the other.

He's a very good outfielder

There’s a library on the island,

Monhegan Island library

and a lighthouse.

Monhegan Island light

The lighthouse keeper’s house is now a very nice little museum with lots of interesting exhibits that focus on island history.  There’s also a great view of the harbor and the small isle of Manana from this location.

Monhegan Harbor, the Island Hotel, and Manana Island

Even with the lighthouse Monhegan has had its share of shipwrecks, including the D. T. Sheridan.  The 110-foot ocean-going tug had two barges laden with coal in tow when it lost track of its position in 1948.

Model of the D. T. Sheridan

Remains of the D. T. Sheridan

Shipwreck of D. T. Sheridan

The water supply system reminded me of those in Bhutan and Nepal.  It consisted of pipes laying on the ground.  In the winter the central pump house is closed down and residents have to rely on cisterns and bottled water.

Lobstering on Monhegan

November 3rd, 2010

Monhegan is surrounded by the only lobster conservation area in Maine.  The number of fishermen is limited, and each is limited to 300 traps.  The first day of lobster season this year was scheduled for October 1, the day after our departure.  Thus, all the fisherman were busy readying their traps for the season, and on the day we departed, they were hauling them down to the dock.

Each lobsterman's buoys are uniquely colored

Some are more colorful than others

Lobster trap lines

 There are no cars on the island–just trucks which have the right of way.

Hauling traps to the dock

The dock was a beehive of activity the day before opening day

The piles of traps kept getting bigger

And bigger

Not all the lobstermen were men

It's hard to believe this boat has 300 traps

Monhegan Island, Maine

November 2nd, 2010

On a dreary, overcast day in late September the 65-foot Elizabeth Anndeparted Port Clyde for the ten-mile trip to Monhegan Island carrying a group of 17 Road Scholar birders and their two guides–Seth Benz and George Kleuber.

Elizabeth Ann in Port Clyde

The wind was blowing (note the flag), and the seas were rolling.  Many of us huddled on the upper deck hoping the fresh air would keep our stomachs under control during the one-hour ride to the island.

Double-crested Cormorants and a Great Black-backed Gull

 This 1.75 mile by .6 mile piece of isolated rock at the entrance to Penobscot Bay had been noted in the journals of Samuel de Champlain (1604) and John Smith (1614).

John Smith plaque on Monhegan Island

English traders and fishermen began using the island soon thereafter, but there were never many year-round, long-term residents until 1807 when Henry Trefethren and his two sons-in-law Josiah Starling and Thomas Horn bought the island for 300 pounds.

Sketch map of Monhegan Island

 As of the 2000 census, the island had a resident population of 75, living in 46 households with 21 families.  The island’s population swells in the summer with both tourists and summer people who own many of the 177 housing units on the island.

Monhegan Island shrouded in fog

Arriving at Monhegan Island

Some of the houses are available for rent–if you qualify.

House for Rent Weekly--No Water Wasters!

Most of the houses are relatively modest, especially in comparison to the “cottages” of the gilded age at resorts like Bar Harbor or Campobello Island.

Summer home on Monhegan

A modest cottage on Monhegan

Even the homes of the rich and famous are fairly modest here.

Wyeth home on Monhegan

There are a handful of “hotel” accommodations including the classy Island Inn,

Island Inn is in the background

 the very modest Monhegan House,

Monhegan House

and the Trailing Yew where we stayed.  The main building shown below was built in 1850; over the years 10 other assorted buildings were added to the complex.  Some of the rooms at the Trailing Yew have no electricity, but most of our group were housed in an annex with electricity and a shared bathroom for each floor which had 4-5 rooms.  The hostess rang a bell on the lawn to summon everyone to breakfast and dinner.  The food was generally very good, although I got a little tired of baked haddock with some rather blah flavored butters. 

Trailing Yew

Trailing Yew's Office

To be continued–