Off the beaten path: Blue Hill Peninsula & Deer Isle
The gardens at Tinder Hearth provide ample entertainment for the littles and wandering inspiration while you wait for your pizza. Photo: Emily Delamater
By Saisie Moore
Getting off the beaten path requires a spirit of adventure and a desire to discover your own experience of a place. In this article, we explore the Deer Isle and Blue Hill regions. Consider this a jumping off point to fuel your own sense of adventure, with a few guideposts along the way.
Blue Hill Peninsula
On the cusp of Downeast, just out of reach of the heady crowds of Mount Desert Island, the Blue Hill Peninsula carves into theAtlantic—with Deer Isle a 2,500-foot bridge crossing offshore. Approaching from the south you’ll pass a tangle of rugged coves, forest and boulder-strewn blueberry barrens. Thanks to a robust year-round community, this is much more than just a boom-and-bust summer destination. A population of local artists, craftspeople and environmentalists has shaped the area over generations to create a destination with its own unique sense of place.
Wood fired pizza at Tinder Hearth in Brooksville. Photo: Emily Delamater.
Pulling onto the long stretch of Main Street in Blue Hill, you’ll pass the town resident who has stood sentinel for almost 30 years—a 9-foot bronze statue of an Iroquois warrior leaping, lacrosse stick outstretched, outside the Jud Hartmann sculpture gallery.Next door at Bucklyn Coffee, a tiny cafe that nonetheless amasses groups of chatting locals, the robust coffee and baked goods will revive your senses as much as the first deep breath of ocean air. Take your cup to-go for a short walk along Water Street to the polished granite curves of “The Window of the Sea,” a public sculpture created by Hitoshi Tanaka that frames a view of Parker Point across the Mount Desert Narrows. Some rare magic in these woods and waters has inspired a long and illustrious artistic pedigree: writers E.B White, Michael Chabon and Heidi Julavits and artists Robert Shetterley and Frank Hamabe have all called the region home. At Blue Hill Books on Pleasant Street, a wide selection of titles from Maine writers showcases this local talent, as well as the Word Literary Arts Festival in downtown Blue Hill each October (visit wordfestival.org for updates on this year’s festival). The visual arts scene is equally dynamic, with dozens of diverse art studios and galleries scattered throughout the Peninsula. In Blue Hill, Cynthia Winings Gallery is a must-see stop for art enthusiasts. Inside a humble barn facade, the gallery space houses a diverse array of conceptual and abstract contemporary art exhibitions across two floors. Outside, visitors can seek out sculptures dotted along the landscape.
When you're ready for lunch, find your way to the Blue Hill Co-op on nearby South Street. A favorite gathering space at the heart of Blue Hill's food scene, the co-op carries products from over 180 Maine farmers and businesses in addition to a Co-op Café with gluten-free and vegan options available daily. Enjoy ample patio seating, down-home cooking, events and live music.
Travel toward South Penobscot and discover an experimental creative enclave at The Cannery. A vegetable and blueberry canning facility until 1970, this cavernous building serves asa hub for creative exploration and collaboration for owners Leslie Ross and Zeke Finklestein and a host of visiting artists.The work produced here is typically on display for visitors to enjoy throughout the summer. Turn through a warren of rustic doorways and you may find yourself face to face with an intricate sound installation suspended from dusty rafters or a knitting circle strewn with lengths of colorful yarn. “We hope to hold some performances this summer,” Ross says. “We’ll see where things go.” He says that the “Winslow Sirens”—an installation animated by the Winslow Stream that runs beneath the building to produce strange music—will likely be open for outdoor visitors to enjoy.
On your return to Blue Hill, it would be a shame to miss out on a hike up the town’s namesake mountain. Park at the Osgood Trailhead on Mountain Road and climb a one-mile steady incline to the summit, where the landscape opens on to a granite outcrop outlook surrounded by lowbush blueberries, hemlock and pines. It may not be off the beaten path, but this trail is worth following for a view of the Peninsula’s staggering beauty and scattered coastline.
Patrons enjoy patio dining at Deep Water Brewing in Blue Hill. Courtesy photo
All this exploration can work up a powerful thirst! Quench yours with a happy hour pint at Deep Water Brewing, a three-barrel microbrewery housed in a shingled barn alongside parent restaurant Arborvine on Main Street. The rotating draft list is best enjoyed with a flight of sample beers. “We’re planning to offer both indoor and outdoor dining this summer,” says chef and co-owner Tim Hikade. “We’re in the process of building a conservatory that will cover our outdoor dining guests. It’s able to be opened up to allow for air flow, but still shelter from the elements.” Further down Route 176, you can keep the tasting session going at Strong Brewing. Sling yourself into one of the signature red Adirondacks and sip a frosty Bale O’ Hay IPA while you soak in the atmosphere.
For a selection of libations to-go, Blue Hill Wine Shop is the go-to spot for those in the know. A local hub of fine and unusual wines stacked high among barnboard walls, owners Max and Mary Treitler will demonstrate their expertise to pair you with the perfect bottle, local beers or baguette and cheese.
An unpaved road in East Blue Hill will reward your sense of adventure with a true taste of Downeast Maine. Framed by boat sheds and the marine paraphernalia of Webber’s shipyard, The Boatyard Grill serves icy beers and mouth-watering baskets of fried fish and grilled sandwiches in an open-air space festooned with bright buoys. Lobster is caught daily by owner Matt Cousins and served up fresh with drawn butter or in a pillowy bun by wife Annaleise. The Black Bart pirate ship, horseshoes range and vast fire pit will keep the whole family satisfied for a long summer afternoon.
Summer diners enjoy wood fired pizza and Blue Marble Ice Cream among the gardens at Tinder Hearth. Photo: Emily Delamater.
Across the peninsula in Brooksville, another open-air eatery attracts a devoted crowd. A rambling farmhouse with a wood-fired oven at its heart, Tinder Hearth supplies visitors and surrounding cafes with fresh bread and pastries made from naturally leavened dough by a team of passionate bakers and musicians. Throughout the summer, visitors spill out onto the surrounding lawn to enjoy the signature pizza, while a live band plays under the string lights and stars. Among the homegrown gardens, an additional wooden outbuilding serves organic Blue Marble ice cream—in case the experience wasn’t sweet enough already.
Rest your head in rustic comfort at Reach Knolls Oceanfront Campground in Sedgwick and wake to panoramic views across the Eggemoggin Reach and Deer Isle. A morning walk across the campground’s shingle beach, followed by fresh coffee and homemade breakfast in the beer garden at Brooklin General Store, will set you up for another fulfilling day of exploration. If you need an extra sugar boost, Pugnuts Ice Cream Shop in Surry is a worthwhile detour via an adorable candy-pink store, where the Findlay family has created a sweet stop for housemade ice cream and gelato beloved by locals and summer visitors. Deciding which flavor to pick may be the hardest decision of your whole trip.
The private beach at Reach Knolls Campground in Sedgwick. Photo: Heather Chandler
Deer Isle
A wooden boardwalk connects the studios and retreat buildings that dot the hillside leading down to the ocean at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle. Courtesy photo.
It’s time to tear yourself from from Blue Hill Peninsula and set sight toward the ocean shore. Along the quiet stretch of Route 15, El El Frijoles is an unexpected but welcome sight. You got it—the name is a bilingual riff on LL Bean—but the food here is no joke. Inside a shingled barn building, Michele Levesque and Michael Rossney have created a taqueria seemingly suited to the West Coast rather than an unassuming forested road in Sargentville. El El Frijoles approaches traditional Mexican street food with ingredients found or grown locally, earning a loyal contingent of regulars. “We make everything from scratch every day, and we’re planning an amazing string of specials,” Rossney says. Menu favorites include Spicy Lobster Tacos and housemade horchata. The couple also runs nearby Makers’ Market Shop & Studio, a turn-of-the-last-century general store packed with handcrafted, locally produced items made on the Peninsula. “This season we’ll have large quantities of tiny plants available,” Rossney says, “and there are always snacks, cookies and syrup available, too.”
Continuing toward the coast, Byard Point reveals another local treasure—the Deer Isle suspension bridge. Designed by David B. Steinman and painted teal green, the project was a precursor to the iconic Mackinac Bridge. This memorable entrance sets the tone for a place that left even John Steinbeck speechless, writing in Travels with Charley in 1960: “I can’t describe Deer Isle. There is something about it that opens no door to words.”
Driving eastward across Little Deer Isle and the low curving stone bridge that links it to Deer Isle proper, you’ll pass Driftwood Kayak, a local outfitter for paddling expeditions around the Eggemoggin Reach. Follow Sunshine Road to the edge of the Atlantic and arrive at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, an enchanting campus for creative arts designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and set into a steep granite ledge. Check ahead online (www.haystack-mtn.org) to confirm if tours are available to the public.
Guardian Knights, created by sculptor Peter Beerits, stand sentry outside the gates to Camelot in the forested wonderland at Nervous Nellie’s Jams & Jellies in Deer Isle. Courtesy photo.
Just down the road, another artist has spent 30 years building an imaginary world into existence around a café and storefront. Nervous Nellie’s Jams & Jellies is a truly unique visitor experience. Created by sculptor Peter Beerits and manager Anne Beerits, the eccentric campus comprises a recreated Wild West town made of fragments of saloons, general stores, and jails—all tied together with sculptures and curiosities that spill into fantastical structures through the woods. Guided tours are on hold, so explore alone and discover new additions to the already storied landscape: “Peter has completed the Wizard’s Tower: a three-story tower of wonders that still carries traces of its spell as a stage set,” says Anne Beerits. You may want to pick up handmade chutney or a small sculpture as a souvenir to assure yourself it was all real and not just a dream.
On the western shore of Deer Isle, 1.5 miles of blazed walking trails wind through the moss-carpeted boreal forest of Barred Island Preserve. Arrive at low tide and you’ll find a sandbar forming an ephemeral natural bridge to Barred Island itself. In the town of Stonington, centered around a working waterfront, the past doesn’t feel too far away.
From Main Street you can’t miss the Opera House Arts, a listed landmark that has overlooked the town for over 100 years. This year, performances will take place at the Ball Field, where outdoor movies, musical performances, theater and the 21st Annual Deer Isle Jazz Festival fill the summer air with art. The Granite Museum on Main Street gives a glimpse to bygone times through video footage and a unique working model of Crotch Island quarry, showing how Stonington’s quarrymen cut distinctive pink granite that built monuments like the Rockefeller Center. Discovery Wharf at Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries will take you up close to the heritage lobster fisheries and ecosystems that surround and define the island. A marine touch tank replicating the natural environment and filled with native species like lobsters, sea stars, crabs and sea slugs is guaranteed to have children and parents alike captivated or squeamish at the opportunity to interact with our ocean neighbors.
Refuel in style at 44 North Coffee, where the house-roasted beans and attention to detail produce one of the best pour-over coffees anywhere. Pastries delivered daily from local bakers also sweetens the deal. If you feel at home in the curated cafe-space, you’ll be glad to learn the upstairs Coffee Loft apartment is justas well-appointed and available to rent for the weekend. Despite its size, Stonington’s dining credentials are anything but limited. Renowned chef Ryan McCaskey, who launched twice Michelin-starred Acadia in Chicago, returned to the source to create Acadia House Provisions in 2019. Don’t expect a 12-course prix fixe—this is an earthy blend of New American and Chinese dishes sure to satisfy, whether you’ve got a craving for a burger or Spicy Mongoloian noodles.
Built in 1886 and overlooking the town and harbor, the Stonington Opera House provides year round performing arts programming for the local community and visitors, alike. Courtesy photo.
For a sit-down meal, don’t sleep on chef Andrew Chapelle’s adaptation of Modern Maine cuisine at Fin & Fern, housed in a bright and welcoming space on Seabreeze Avenue. “We offer fresh off-the-boat seafood, homemade pasta, locally sourced organic ingredients, and local favorite desserts—including giant whoopie pies and local berry tarts,” says General Manager Leslie. “This summer we’ll also be throwing wood-fired specialty pizza.”
Down a winding dirt road at Goose Cove, Aragosta is the kind of setting where memories are made. Overlooking the water, the bright space is filled with blond wood tables and delicate arrangements of greenery. “Aragosta” is Italian for lobster, and the seafood here is the star of the show, appearing in changing forms on the seasonal menu between April and November when the restaurant operates. Almost every ingredient is sourced locally, the names of farmers and fishermen listed beside menu items showing their provenance. Chef Devin Finigan’s creativity is expressed in every carefully considered element, from the amuse bouche to the table setting. On the pricier side, this is a destination that can transform a special occasion into something truly priceless.
Still have room for more? End your night with a waterfront walk to a small but mighty staple of Stonington—the Stonington Ice Cream Company—impossible to overlook painted in lobster red with a cut-out of Maine’s iconic crustacean hung over the service window, a nod to the town’s status as lobster capital of the world. Here you can indulge in an award-winning lobster roll or pick from one of 16 ice cream flavors to send off your stay in delicious style.
Enjoy a caramel caribou or twisted coconut cone, or one of 16 flavors at this Stonington staple. Courtesy photo.
Off the Beaten Path: read more from this series
Winding roads, rivers and coves lead to picture-perfect seascapes and classic New England small towns in Maine’s Mid-Midcoast