Cranberry Isles

“My favorite place to vacation is anyplace by the ocean.” ~ Nina Arianda

Blue Hill

My friend had an appointment early Saturday morning that she couldn’t change in Blue Hill. It isn’t on MDI, but is still a coastal town. While she went off to her appointment I went exploring.

There was a race going on and I stopped to talk to a volunteer who directed me towards a small park, that happened to have a small beach.

I know I use this phrase a lot, but this really was a hidden gem. Nestled amongst trees, was a staircase which led to the rocky beach. Just feet away surrounded by water, since it was high tide, were several minuscule islands. I couldn’t get out to any, but I imagine when the water is low, you are able to walk out to them.

I had brought my laptop, and with the sound of the waves and seagulls did some writing while I waited.

Eat-A-Pita

When my mer-twin was finished, we made our way to the Island, heading to Southwest Harbor. We had a full day ahead of us, but first we were grabbing grub at Eat-a-Pita which we had visited the last time I was here.

Once again it was a home run! Once I had my double shot cappuccino, I was a very happy (and much more coherent) woman!

As much as I adored the rancheros the last time, I had to try something different and ordered the Southwestern omelet which was amazing! You can not go wrong here!

Village Coffee 

After breakfast, we had to stop at one of my favorite places on the island, the Village Coffee Shop. It is nestled right behind Eat-A-Pita, but that didn’t stop it from being busy. I ordered a honey latte which was a home run, a touchdown, and Olympic gold combined!

I could seriously have drunk ten of them! About to sound sacrilegious, but I am not a huge fan of honey, yet this drink called to me and I am so happy I tried it! It was sweet without being overly so, the honey which was local, had a mellow nutty favor that enhanced the espresso they used. It is a definitely a new fav! One that is right up there with maple lattes!

Sutton Ferry

After savoring my delicious latte, it was time to catch the ferry. We were headed to Great Cranberry Island which is located in Southwest Harbor.

The actual Ferry “Dock” is minuscule. Located down a residential street, blink and you really will drive right past! Which we may or may not have done since the GPS was not much help. (thanks Google!)

Thankfully we found it with minutes to spare.

The exciting part about the ferry is that it is named after me.

I kid…Kind of. It is called Sutton Ferry which is why I was itching to go on it. Unfortunately we had to do a special charter if we wanted to go over to Sutton island, so we settled on Great Cranberry instead.

Great Cranberry 

The Cranberry Isles are located off of Mount Desert Island. Where as MDI is attached to the main land by a bridge, the Cranberry Isles fit the true definition of the word island. You can only access them by ferry or privately owned boat.

There is an isolated quaintness about the island. From the farmhouses with wrapped around porches that have rocking chairs on them, to the many varied museums, to even a “Shuttle” which is more of a tricked out golf cart it screams of the simple no frills country life and I loved it!

Cars are allowed on the island but I saw many residences driving golf carts. The island is walkable with one main road and easily accessible paths off shooting from that making Cranberry a destination for hiking and biking.

You can easily walk the whole island in about twenty minutes, after Tiffany and I explored, we made our way to the Cranberry Museum which also had a cafe attached to it.

There we had some drinks, sat in adirondack chairs and relaxed for a few minutes. We also had an impromptu photo shoot, because how could we not?

Down The Path We Go

On the ferry ride over, my friend and I met a man from Boston and his niece who is from New York. (small world!) He happily became our photographer, and we kept running into them when we were on the island.

He told us about a trail we could take that would lead down to the water and invited Tiffany and I to join them.

It reminded me out of a scene from FernGully (do any of you guys remember that movie?) with weathered trees, moss covering the forest floor, and wooden boardwalks suspended over the mud, it was a naturist’s paradise.

But the real treasure was once we came out of the woods, a secluded rocky beach stretched before us with views of other islands. It was like a passage from Treasure Island by Robert Louise Stevenson. I could easily picture someone living here shipwrecked.

I could have stayed there for hours, but alas we had to get back to the ferry and make our return to MDI to prepare for tomorrow’s festivities…