Stonington, The end of the Road

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Stonington, The end of the road.
August 10, 2009
When you drive east on the Deer Isle peninsula down the winding roads, over the many bridges and causeways, the road comes to an end in the village of Stonington. Stonington is a vibrant community that survives on a combination of fishing, art studios, tourists and a granite quarry. We’ve ended up here numerous times during our week on the peninsula. We’ve walked the town, visited the shops, eaten in the restaurants, had ice cream on the pier and taken the mail boat to Isle au Haut. Fishing certainly dominates the economy and fishing boats, piers and docks dominate the vista. Across the harbor is Crotch Island, an active granite quarry that produced the granite for the JFK Memorial. One of the storefronts in the center of town is the Granite Museum. This informative little museum tells the story of the Crotch Island Quarry and the men who worked there. The model mockup and presentation was an informative feature. An interesting fact that was shared with us is that the construction of the new Yankee stadium used Deer Isle granite installed by the granite workers who are avid Red Sox fans!

Stonington is also where you pick up the mail boat to Isle au Haut. Isle au Haut is an Island about seven miles to sea east of Stonington. Isle au Haut has an active summer community and last winter had 71 full time residents. Most of the island is part of Arcadia National Park, so it offers a great variety of hiking trails. Byrd and Karen found another shopping opportunity at the island’s gift shop, the Sea Urchin, which is owned and operated by Linda Greenlaw’s father. Linda is a famous Swordfish Captain and has written several books, her first, The Hungry Ocean. Prior to departing the ferry back to Stonington, we had the privilege of seeing Linda at the pier with her nephews. Her small stature makes her feat of becoming an accomplished female Swordfish Captain seem even more remarkable!

On our first visit to Stonington we stopped at the Mariners Cafe for lunch. The restaurant sits on a pier overlooking the harbor with a million dollar view of the harbor and boat traffic. Too bad the food isn’t anywhere as good as the view. The weather was unusually great for this rainy wet summer so they seemed understaffed on a Sunday afternoon. The service was extremely slow and the menu very expensive and the entrees poorly prepared. Going without a second beer before the food was served, I might have been able to live with, but our order of steamed mussles had not been thoroughly cooked except for a few of the ones on top. There’s nothing worse than mushy mussles. Byrd had ordered the crab and corn chowder for $9.00 a cup. The chowder was terribly bland and all we could see in it was corn and potatoes with no visible crabmeat. By the time the waitress returned to our table we were ready to leave. We told her of the uncooked mussles and bland crabless chowder and she said she’d have to talk with the kitchen. She returned by saying the cook could reheat mussles but informed us that we had eaten the majority of the order and didn’t qualify for a refund. They charged us full price for the uncooked mussles and crabless chowder. We won’t be back.

Monday night, we returned to Stonington for dinner and went to the Harbor Cafe Restaurant. Three pleasant local women were there to provide great food and drink service to us. We were seated in the front window so we had a harbor view and the food was wholesome and reasonable. On Mondays, they have a two for one dinner special and it’s quite a deal. We had two well-prepared orders of sirloin tips for $12.95 both. The beer was served cold and the dessert was good. It’s clear why so many locals go there to eat.

If you’d like a great cup of coffee, pastries or ice cream with a great view, try the Inn on The Harbor. They serve the Ice Cream Lady ice cream and fresh brewed coffee till 4pm each day. They provide umbrella tables on their pier with the same wonderful view of the harbor as the next-door Mariner at a fraction of the cost.

On Friday, Byrd and Karen wanted to do more shopping and browsing at some of the studios in down town Deer Isle. I chose to have them drop me off at a bar. After two closed bars, they took me to the Fisherman’s Friend restaurant back in Stonington to have a few beers and enjoy the view. The restaurant set on a wharf along the waterfront offers friendly service, good fried food and great views.

Stonington is an interesting harbor front community that was a pleasure to visit. I hope to return.

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Photos

Stonington
Ship in Harbor

Stonington
Statue to Quarry Workers

Stonington
Opera House

Stonington
Harborside Restaurant

Stonington
Fish Hut

Stonington
Crotch Island Quarry