This is Monhegan Island Part 2 of 2.
My Monhegan Story
My guess is that someone at work told me about Monhegan Island. It sounded so idyllic I just had to check it out.
At the time of my first trip (early 1980’s), I was working as an engineer in the nuclear power industry. It was a highly technical job: using computers to predict possible conditions of a complex and somewhat esoteric system. I enjoyed the work because I was helping keep people safe. But there is something to be said about getting away from it all, too. In this case, “all” was the technology I was using every day at work. My colleague probably said something like “visiting Monhegan is like taking a step back in time” which is what I was looking for. I was told not to worry since they did have indoor plumbing and electricity, but few of the other “modern amenities” we tend to take for granted. It truly felt like a simpler way of living.
A Tale of Three Trips
I took three trips to Monhegan: one in the Spring, one early Fall, and the third in late Fall. The first trip was in the Spring and it was the one where the weather (mostly) behaved. I was able to get quite a few great land- and seascapes. If conditions are good, try climbing the hill up to the lighthouse just before sundown. By doing this, you’ll be in a great position to photograph a nice panorama, especially if you’re lucky enough to have clouds, too. The smaller self-portrait on my About page was taken on Monhegan.
Trip Two
The second trip was a lot like the first, except the Inn was having water supply problems. Something happened to one of the wells so they were trying to conserve water. Fortunately, this did not get in the way of taking photographs so I didn’t mind too much. After all, it was part of the adventure.
On this trip I took one of my favorite photos. After a morning wandering around the Cathedral Woods, I decided to eat my bag lunch from the Inn on top of one of the headlands on the island’s east side. I had just sat down, placed my camera on top of the camera bag, and got out my lunch when this seagull rose up from just below where I was sitting. No time to think: grab the camera, frame the shot, press the shutter release, sea gull gone, put the camera down, and done. The resulting picture is the feature picture for this post and is also at the top of the Photos page.
And Trip Three
My third trip was a little different than the first two. Weatherwise, it was colder and darker since the sun was behind the clouds a lot. Some of the pictures I took on that trip actually have snow in them. If you check out my Monhegan Island gallery, the (partial) lobster claw on the dock was taken on that “cold” trip.
The weather didn’t behave when I left the island, either: rainy, cold, and windy. I had to get back to work so I couldn’t extend my stay. This meant I had little choice but to take the noon mail boat with “choppy” seas. The short story is I’m glad I didn’t sit inside, out of the weather. Even though I hadn’t eaten anything for lunch it didn’t matter when the sea sickness hit me. Luckily, I was close to the railing so I could feed the fish. Ah well, another lesson learned.
End of the Monhegan Adventure
So, this is the end of Monhegan Island Part 2. (if you haven’t already, check out part 1.)
I wholeheartedly recommend at least a day trip to Monhegan Island but if you have the time, an overnight or two is great for really getting away from it all. Hopefully, the weather behaves so you can get that great sunset shot from the lighthouse hill.