Monhegan, Part 1

July 29, 2007

For a quiet birthday weekend, we decided to go to Monhegan Island, off the Maine coast. Located a pleasant 1-hour ferry ride from the mainland, Monhegan is a little island community adrift out in the Atlantic. A few dozen houses cling to the island on the leeward side, between a large meadow and Manana Rock. There seem to be three major industries on Monhegan:

1. Fishing (Lobstering, mostly)
2. Being an artist
3. Tourism (see #1 and #2)

Interestingly, I've been told that the lobstermen on Monhegan have a special arrangement with the agency that controls fishing in Maine. These Monhegan lobstermen get to determine their own season, and apparently have been doing a good job, as the lobster population appears healthy. This is very different, however, from most fishermen, who can only fish during very specific times. Perhaps this flexibility allows Monhegan natives to haul in the tourist dollars, since they close their own fishing season during the summer.

This alternate fishing season also symbiotically means there are scores of picturesque piles of traps, ropes, and buoys all over the village of Monhegan, prime sources of inspiration for painters looking to capture that spirit of the Maine coast. I don't know how artists can afford to live on the island, except for those who maintain galleries where tourists flock. We didn't visit a single gallery the entire time, so I can't really speak to the art community very much. We did take one funny picture of half a dozen people all painting the same scene.

And finally, there are the tourists themselves. These folks can be broken into two groups: day-trippers and overnighters. We were the latter, as we stayed for two nights, and so we quickly developed a condescending attitude toward the day-trippers. Perhaps we were unconsciously trying to think like locals. In any case, every morning the two ferry boats drop off up to a couple hundred tourists, who then proceed to wander small art galleries, hike the island's numerous trails, or....or I don't know what, because that's about all there is to do on the island.

Don't get me wrong, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable trip, but both of us finished the lengthy books we brought with us, a rare feat indeed. We hiked almost every trail on the island, past sea cliffs and through cathedral pine forests. We lounged in a beautiful garden with our books and cold beers. We ate seafood and stared at the ocean every evening. It was a wonderful weekend, but by the end we felt like we had seen all we needed to see, and were ready to steam back to the mainland. Perhaps Matinicus Rock would be interesting next time?