The Emilie Loring Collection

Four thousand five hundred miles later, I am home. As always, there is much to play back in my mind, much to appreciate anew as I pore through my photos.

I had three book talks in Maine–at Blue Hill, Brooklin, and Bar Harbor–each its own experience with a different presentation and a different group of people. Happy Landings is well traveled!

In between, I lived in Maine. I ate blueberries and lobster, clambered across granite rocks to find a perch from which I watched boats enter and leave the bay, saw them bob at their moorings and turn golden at sunset.

I’ve learned not to plan those in-between times. A chance meeting often leads to a new idea, and pretty soon, I’m in discovery mode, learning something I hoped to find or finding something I had no idea existed.

Brooklin, Maine

Brooklin, Maine is a tiny place. Above, you see almost all there is of it: the library, a general store, and a small shop called “Leaf & Anna.” They sell books, clothing, and gifts–and provide books when an author gives a talk at the library. (If you’re nearby, I signed a few copies of Happy Landings for them to sell. Stop in and snap them up!) Out of view to the left is The Morning Moon Café which I haven’t tried yet but which comes well recommended. Next time!

Well out of sight is Brooklin’s claim to fame, the Wooden Boat School. My father loved wooden boats and used to talk about this place. I didn’t make it a priority this year, as I was not planning to build or buy a boat, but I discovered that they teach sailing, so watch for me to sail by in a small craft next year!

Friend Memorial Library is a sweet little place, nostalgic and modern at the same time. A small connection moment occurred when I learned that its award-winning renovation was designed by architect Matthew Elliott, the current resident of Emilie Loring’s Stone House.

The audience at Brooklin was what you’d expect–small–which just meant we had more time to visit. One of the women had brought a copy of Emilie Loring’s To Love and to Honor that she bought in one of those book sales when a library is trying to reduce its collection. This copy came from the “Ladies Social Library” of Bluehill, which is now the Blue Hill Public Library. (gasp)

I thought about that a bit. Here was an author, one of the town’s own, who wrote books about their town, and yet her book was up for sale. But look at its condition. Through the 1970s and ’80s, it saw plenty of use. It was definitely in need of TLC, and it lucked into the hands of a local woman who is… a book binder! I can’t wait to see how it looks when she is finished with it. (Please share, Carol!)

All across the Blue Hill Peninsula, you’ll see these brightly colored, wooden fish. The creations of Glenn Towne of Brooklin and Florida, they brighten doorways, the sides of shops, interiors… just about any place that a piece of painted driftwood can fit. Blue Hill is New England, not the Caribbean, but these brilliant fish have become “locals.”

My good friends Debi and Gary also live in Brooklin. Their “Duck Cove Cottage” is adorable, with a water view, if you’re looking for a place to stay. I have it on good authority that it’s equipped with both a copy of Happy Landings and several of Emilie’s hardback originals. 🙂 Better get your bid in early, though; guests like to return year after year.

Down the East Blue Hill Road

This 1920s photograph was taken from Stone House, looking west toward the village of Blue Hill and Blue Hill mountain. The flat, whitish area in the left foreground is where the Lorings built their tennis court. A house stands there now–a nice, flat spot for building!

The big house with the three prominent windows was “Larkspur Lodge,” where Carrie Owen had her “Wayside Studio,” and the Owen sisters operated their tea and gift shop. The pinkish-lavender paint was covered long ago with shingles, but the house remains. Compare the upstairs windows of yesteryear and today. Same home, same place.

I had the luck to meet its present-day owner, who turns out to be a respected author! Christine Schutt, according to Wikipedia, “has been a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.” We had a lovely conversation inside her home–renovated, to be sure, since the Owen sisters’ day, but much of the original remains, and its extensive gardens would have delighted both the Owens and the Lorings. It seems right for an author to live there, don’t you think?

Kneisel Hall was an early fixture of the summer people at Blue Hill, already in place when the Lorings came along. Trudie, who lives in the Owen sisters’ former home, Tyn Y Coed, had an extra ticket to Sunday’s chamber music concert. Would I like to go along? Yes! I was delighted to!

Bar Harbor

I’ve been to Bar Harbor quite a few times over the years to enjoy Mount Desert’s outdoor activities–hiking, swimming, bicycling, sea kayaking–and Jordan Pond popovers, of course.

“I can recommend the popovers. They always pop. They never let you down.”

There is Always Love

I hadn’t stepped into the Jesup Memorial Library, though, until this visit.

What a lovely place it is, and the library staff were especially welcoming. As a patron or an author giving a talk, those friendly people make a difference. I had a great time there, and the library staff taught me two things: where to get some of Maine’s finest ice cream (borne out in both “Dirty Turtle” and “Rum Raisin”) and where to find this old map of Bar Harbor.

Summer 1935: “Then, when the Lorings went to Blue Hill, the Hallet sisters also traveled downeast and secured rooms at the Malvern Hotel, one of the most exclusive hotels in Bar Harbor.”

Happy Landings

I had looked long for the location of the Malvern Hotel which burned in the 1940s. There it is, just up the road from the Jesup Library and the Village Green. I imagine the Hallet sisters stopping in for a book on their way back from a stroll by the pier. (Across the street from the Green is the ice cream, in case you go.)

Sense of Place

Between scheduled events, when I simply live each day and explore the Blue Hill Peninsula at my leisure, is when I feel most connected to Emilie Loring’s life there. She sought a restorative vacation, and so do I. It’s well worth the effort to get there.

Happy Landings, everyone!