A blustery January weekend on Little Deer Isle


January 2021

 One of my favorite things about living in the Northeast is how easy it is to visit nearby states and attractions.  Within a few hours in any direction you can head to the coast or the mountains.  Previous to our move to New Hampshire in Dec of 2015,  we lived in El Paso, Texas for several years.   The desert is beautiful, but also very vast and Texas is a huge state.  To put it in perspective, to drive from El Paso to Austin takes you about 12 hours.  I did it once, it was a beautiful drive but a short weekend trip is definitely out of the question.

Since moving here, one of the places I have of course fell in love with is the Maine coast.  We try to make at least one long weekend trip a year, exploring different areas.  COVID-19 obviously waylaid some time to make a visit, but with conditions improving slightly albeit slowly,  residents of Maine and New Hampshire can travel across each other's border without quarantining. I also have the advantage of participating in weekly COVID tests at work which gives us some additional comfort that I'm not actively infecting others.  So when my husband suggested we see if we could find a way for a little Maine get away for my 37th birthday, I immediately wanted to head to the coast.

AirBnB offerings are expectedly slim right now, but I did manage to find a little guest house on Little Deer Isle.  Little Deer Isle as it's name suggests is an island in the southern portion of DownEast Maine, just south of the Blue Hill Peninsula.   You cross a large suspension bridge to get there from the mainland, and it is connected by some narrow water-lined roadways to the larger Deer Isle where you will find the seaside town of Stonington. 

Deer Isle Bridge

 The islands are scattered with houses and small gas stations,  and general stores.  Compared to coastal areas south of it, the isles feel much more residential, filled with more locals than seasonal tourists.   Stonington has a compact and picturesque seaside downtown area, and it was easy to imagine people casually strolling the streets with a seaside breeze and the boats bobbing in the summertime.  

One of my prime activities when visiting anywhere on the Maine coast is too look for the local lighthouses.  I love lighthouses, I think they are so mystical and fascinating with all their history.  I read that there were 65 lighthouses in Maine specifically, and I thought it would make a great life adventure goal to see all 65!  Admittedly, I had  only seen about 5 so far since living in New England but some of these can only be seen by air or boat so it will take me several years to see them all.   However, when researching the Deere Isle area, I happily discovered there were 3 viewable from land I could cross of the list!

Something I've recently learned is that there is a lighthouse passport you can buy that supports the Lighthouse National Society and you can get a stamp for each lighthouse you see across the nation. Once I learned about this, I knew I needed one ASAP. But where to find one in  the winter during COVID19?  A website lists the local places where you can find where to buy a passport and more importantly get it stamped. (https://uslhs.org/fun/passport-club) However, since it was the middle of winter - most places were not open.  In a desperate attempt I emailed the Island Heritage Trust (https://www.islandheritagetrust.org/) to see if there was any way possible for me to pick up a passport. (Actually 2, my sister wanted one as well).  Jacob the incredibly gratuitous Outreach Manager of the foundation must have heard that desperation and agreed to meet me for a masked, COVID safe transaction so I could get my passport. He also provided me a map to show me the best spots ot view the lighthouses on the island.

Pumpkin head Light house
Technically you can see 8 lighthouses from Deer Isle, it's called the Deer Isle Light house trail. (https://www.deerisle.com/the-deer-isle-lighthouse-trail/) , but most need to viewed by boat.  3 are technically viewable by land - Pumpkin Island light, Eagle Island Light and Mark Island light.  Truly, the most visible from is the Pumpkin Island Light. Eagle Island and Mark Island need a very clear day. We had rain and drizzle, making it a little hard, but it kind of made it a fun game. Our phones had poor service, but we aimlessly drove around straining our eyes to find the lighthouses, and after a few hours we glimpsed all 3.

Unfortunately the rain and drizzle turned into 35 mph wind guts and flooding. It dampened in the exploration a little but I made some notes of some places I'd like to check out when I visit during better weather in the future! 

 

Places to check out on and around Deer Isle.

Restaurants/Dining:

  • El El Frijoles
  • Stonington Ice Cream Company
  • Stone Cutters Kitchen
  • Harbor Cafe
  • Strong Brewing and Kitchen
  • Jones Lobster Co. Deer Isle

Shops/Galleries:

  • The Dry Dock
  • The Turtle Gallery
  • The Periwinkle

Activities:

  • Causeway Beach
  • Reach Beach
  • Deer Isle Granite Museum
  • Nervous Nellie's Jams and Jellies (Kid Friendly!)
  • Isle au Haut Boat Services (seasonal for summer)
    • Puffin Tours
    • Trips to Isle au Haut 
    • Light House Tours



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