Isle Au Haut Dazzles
MAINE'S ISLANDS-July/August 2009
by Maggie Knowles
Photograph by Jerry + Marcy Monkman
Why is someone shining a flashlight in my eyes? Ugh. It feels like 4 a.m. My eyelids creak open, and I realize it is the sun, stretching its amber glow over nearby hills, rocks, and ocean outside the window at the end of the bed. It only takes a few moments of this dawn splendor for me to conclude that this island is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Isle au Haut (French for “high island” and pronounced eye-la-ho) is six miles off the coast of Stonington and accessible by the Miss Lizzie (the mailboat) or private watercraft. The island has a year-round population of 60 (including best-selling author Linda Greenlaw) and about 300 in the summer. It is also the outermost point of Acadia National Park, and mostly virgin land perfect for hiking, biking, camping, and escaping the static buzz of the plugged-in mainland.
Lodging options are limited to camping and a couple of small inns. While I crave the isolation this island offers, camping is something I have never been fond of (why is everything always wet?).
Have no fear, my fellow urban adventurers. The Inn at Isle au Haut is a wonderful alternative. Diana Santospago, the gracious innkeeper, has a knack for making you feel like family, beginning the moment you step off the Miss Lizzie.
Waiting against an old, wood-paneled station wagon, she waves us over like she’s known us for years. She nimbly hoists our bags as my husband and I sink into the sofa-like backseat.
Driving to the east end of the island, Diana points out the library/town hall and the general store—a.k.a Town. If you blink you miss it, but this is the charm: there is nothing to do here.
“That’s the secret,” Diana says. “Then you have time to do all the reading, biking, photography, and happy things you don’t have time for in real life.”
Everyone we pass on the road waves. “You cannot be unknown on this island,” she says, looking at us in the rearview mirror. “If you don’t wave back, the person will spend the whole day thinking you are mad at them.”
Turning onto a narrow driveway, the four-bedroom inn stands before us with a bearing reminiscent of the sea captain who lived here a century ago. A giant lawn cascades down to the cerulean Atlantic, which on this late-summer day is as serene as a pond.
Diana leads us through her flower garden. As our clothes brush the plants, butterflies gently lift from their perfumed perches. The Disney-like effect is almost comic.
Once Bruce and I settle into our cozy, antiques-laden room nicknamed “The Fo’c’sle” (short for “Forecastle”), we find our way to a table stocked with tea, blueberry lemonade, and freshly baked, oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies. Diana laughs at our glee. “It’s like staying at your mom’s, but without the guilt,” she says.
We head to the Adirondack chairs armed with cookies and a bottle of wine. Digging our toes into the grass, we sit in silence, surprised to find this paradise only a few hours from Portland.
Diana, who has worked as a sternman on a lobster boat, housekeeper, and waitress, is also a self-taught cook. She reads cookbooks “like novels” and watches the Food Network as if it were a soap opera. She creates three meals plus snacks daily for her guests and in 2006 published her favorite recipes in The Inn at Isle au Haut Cookbook.
At dinner that evening, we share a table with a retired Newsweek journalist and his professor wife from the Washington, D.C., area. We swap stories deep into the evening over warm cobbler and coffee.
The following morning, after that glorious sunrise, Bruce and I decide to work off our gluttony and go hiking. Diana packs us goat-cheese sandwiches with vegetables from her garden, orange slices, and lemon Madeleines. We aim to make it to Boom Beach, a rather ambitious goal, but a fellow guest assures us we can hitch a ride should we tire. “Oh, hitchhiking is encouraged,” Diana confirms.
Five hot hours later, I am ready to collapse. We finally grab the attention of a pickup truck. Bruce hops in the front seat, and as soon as I toss my backpack into the open bed, the truck speeds away. I imagine walking alone for hours with no water and wondering if my husband has been kidnapped. The thought leaves me in tears. But a few minutes later, the vehicle spins around the corner, a prankish smile on the driver’s face.
Back at the inn, Bruce heads to the sun-shower that sits under two ancient apple trees, and I rock on the back porch watching hummingbirds dart around the nectar feeders. I reach for yet another homemade cookie and sigh. You’re certainly not going to hear me complain. In fact, Bruce and I decided to make our “staycation” an annual trip.
If You Go
The mailboat is the most popular way to access the island. Schedule and ticket information is at isleauhaut.com. The Miss Lizzie leaves from the Stonington pier twice a day for the 45-minute trip. It does not run on postal holidays and most Sundays. Private charter boats are also available.
Besides the Inn at Isle au Haut, the Keeper’s House Inn, currently for sale, offers accommodations. The Woodshed Cottage is still available for weekly rental. The Duck Harbor campground has five lean-tos that can accommodate six people each, and can be reserved for use May to October.Details at keepershouse.com; acadia.national-park.com/camping.
Special tours can be arranged through the Inn at Isle au Haut. They include lobster-trap hauling with Linda Greenlaw, full moon cliff walks, and sunset cocktail cruises. Information is at innatislseauhaut.com/tours.
Far Out Chocolate
Black Dinah Chocolatiers on Isle au Haut is probably one of the most isolated sweet shops in the world. Yet thanks to Internet shopping, the business has fans all over the world.
Using Maine ingredients along with single-origin, Venezuelan couverture cacao, owners Kate and Steve Shaffer create flavor combinations to dazzle any chocolate lover. Sexy Mexi, Strawberry Balsamic, and their signature Seasalt Caramel are a few favorites. They also run a full coffee bar with homemade ice cream on the island. blackdinahchocolatiers.com.
Isle au Haut Lobster Stew
from The Inn at Isle au Haut Cookbook, by Diana Santospago (Short Circuit Press, 2006)
2 lbs. fresh, picked lobster meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. paprika
1 c. bottled clam juice
4 c. light cream
Salt and pepper to taste
In a two-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add paprika and lobster meat and sauté for one minute. Add clam juice and cream and heat until hot but not boiling. Remove from heat and let sit for two hours or in refrigerator overnight. Reheat gently. Season with salt and pepper, and serve hot. Serves four.
Photograph courtesy of Sharon Kitchens
