Idyllic is an overused word so I will try to avoid it. But what a nice place.
Long Island is a handful of miles South of Mt. Desert Island (pronounced Mount Dessert Island by the locals BTW). It is a smallish island in a cluster of other islands, and the harbor is small and snug.
There are less than sixty residents of Long Island; it is a fishing community populated mostly with lobstermen or people in the lobster business. There are a few summer residents but most of the people that are there are living, not vacationing. A passenger ferry runs about once a week, with occasional ferries for cars and a mail boat. There are a few rooms and houses to rent, but not a lot. Most of the visitors to the island are transient boaters, many of them coming for the lobster!
And lobster there is! Long Island boasts two (2) commercial establishments (Lunt’s Deli and the Offshore Store) where you can sit down and get a bite to eat. The chef d’oevre in both places is of course the lobster – lobster rolls, and lobsters you can buy cooked or alive to take back to your boat. You can always get a burger, hot dog or a couple of other options if you don’t like lobster…I’ve been told they are quite good.
Within minutes of landing on the island at Lunt’s (who graciously provides a dinghy dock) we were happily seated eating a first rate lobster roll. Great lobster there, but we go distracted and didn’t make it back to Lunt’s for another.
Further up the harbor is the Offshore Store, run by Jay & Tammy DesJardin. It’s a small unpretentious building with a tent outside and a few picnic tables. Jay has a lobster boat and Tammy runs the store; Jay also has a background in boat maintenance and repair and both of them are friendly and willing to help you out in a pinch (as we were to find out).
We were initially drawn there by the “Lobster $3.25/lb” sign outside. We ended up going back there again for the welcome, the good food and the atmosphere. And the friends; my daughter hit it off instantly with the Desjardin’s two girls, and Jay an Tammy suddenly found themselves with an extra daughter for two days.
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| Beaver pond |
Our plan was to spend a night or two on the island. There is a 1100+ acre nature preserve that was created a couple of decades ago when a large portion of the island was put up for sale. To help preserve the wildlife habitat and the island way of life a massive fundraising effort was undertaken save the land from development. There are more than 10 miles of trails through the woods and wetlands and around the coast. We figured a day of exploring and a lobster dinner and we’d be headed back to MDI.
It was just too nice to leave. Currently there is a “negotiation” under way between the Lunt’s (who had provided the mooring balls to rent) and the Federal government (who just recently dredged the harbor) over whether one can charge for mooring balls in waters that were the beneficiary of a Federal dredging effort. The net result is a bunch of moorings that are installed and maintained and open to use, but that nobody is allowed to collect payment for. At a comfortable mooring in a protected harbor with great food, new best friends for Danielle on shore, and miles of woods to explore? We stayed an extra day – even though the propane system broke and we couldn’t cook on the boat.
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| One of the many cool pools and formations on the trail |
We arrived Wednesday and cooked on the boat, planning to bring back some lobsters on Thursday for dinner and to leave Friday. Everything was going better than plan and there was already mutinous talk of staying another day as we motored out to the boat with our bags of lobsters. As I was melting butter and boiling water to cook the little beasts I noticed it was taking a loooonng time. The stove was out and wouldn’t re-light; the likely culprit was the system’s solenoid switch; an electromechanical switch to allow us to turn the propane off at the tank from inside the boat. I’d debated carrying a spare, but this one was relatively new. As I tried to bypass the solenoid in my zeal for lobsters I overtightened a connector and broke it, permanently crippling the system until I could get a replacement part (a 1/4″ NPT Female to 3/8″ Male Flare connector, for the curious).
The solution was a panicked call to Jay & Tammy “Are you still open to cook our lobsters PLLEEAASSE!!”, to which they replied “Of course, bring them right in.” So Danielle and I raced in with the lobsters and handed them off. We got lucky that night, as they were up late picking lobsters for a large party they were supplying. They cooked our lobsters quickly (too quick for the girls who were eager to spend more time together) and Jay gave us a ride back to the dinghy dock in his truck.
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| East beach seawall |
That night we decided we’d stay another day – without gas we could still make waffles while we were running the generator in the morning, eat a cold lunch and go to the Offshore Store for dinner and make our lobster mess there.
It was worth staying. After a relaxing morning (with only one person antsy to get off the boat and find her new friends) we came ashore and split up. My parents (visiting us for a week) decided to enjoy the comforts of Jay & Tammy’s shaded and breezy tent, Danielle disappeared with the girls and Will, Kathy and I headed for the woods.
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| Will and Kathy trying to figure out whether the goat went left or right. |
Our first walk was a short one with just Kathy and I around the beaver pond in the middle of the island. Friday we took Will to the beaver pond, and beyond out to Rich’s Head at the far end of the island. The paths were well marked and clear, mostly easy. We looked at the trail map and saw a trail from Rich’s Head to East Beach, where there was a sea wall that looked interesting. It seemed to follow the same height level on the topographic map, so we thought it would be flat and easy. It didn’t actually have a lot of hills, but it sort of looked like they picked the trail by tying a can of blue spray paint to a mountain goat and chasing it around the island. This was a considerable bit less worn and used path then the others, and we had to follow it more carefully, at one point climbing up a fairly steep rock face that had a rope strung for just that purpose. But it was worth it, it was a gorgeous part of the island, remote and stunning with the raw beauty.
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| My parents at the Offshore Store |
We arrived back at the Offshore Store to find my parents relaxed and happy, my daughter soaking wet and not ready to leave her friends, and all of us hungry and ready to settle in to an excellent dinner which was readily had.
P.S. – Try the brownies, or better yet the brownie sundae!
