September 20, 2012

• Our next stop was the island of Vinalhaven, 13 miles off the town of Rockland, Maine.  My parents were from there and it’s where I spent my summers when I was growing up.  I loved it and couldn’t wait to get there every year.  It holds precious memories for me.  Both my grandmothers and my only aunt lived on the island.  It has a permanent population of about 1,200 which swells to probably 3,000 in the summer when the “summer complaints” are there. 

  

  The harbor.  These are all lobster boats as that’s one of the main occupations on the island.

  

  This is my grandmother’s house where I lived in the summers.  I was so happy to see it in good shape.  She was a widow of very limited means, but she loved this house and kept it painted and repaired.  I would love to have seen the inside.  Even more, I would love to have gone in and seen her sitting in her rocker beside her big black stove working on her quilting.  I loved the smell of her house.

  

  I’ll bet you have no idea what this is. It’s called a galamander and it was used in the island’s granite quarries to move large pieces of granite around.  No one knows the origin of the name.  It’s been on the town square ever since I can remember, and I used to climb all over it when I was a kid.  I didn’t climb on it this time, but it brought back a host of memories.

  

  This how they hauled the granite. The island has several quarries with excellent quality granite.  Lots of buildings in the big eastern cities have Vinalhaven granite in their construction, including the columns at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.  Both my grandfathers worked in the quarries.

  My aunt and uncle willed their house to the town to be used as an assisted living home.  There was no place for island residents to go except the mainland when they needed care.  Now they can stay on the island in their final years.  I won’t put pictures of it here because you have to know the “before” of the place to appreciate the “after,” but I will say the  town did a magnificent job of transforming it into a first-class care facility.  They redid the whole interior and built a wing for residents’ rooms.  Everything was extremely well done.  It meant a lot to me to see it being used in such a worthwhile way.

  We laughed at the support for this building – hunks of granite piled up.  Look at the fourth support from the left.

  

  

  This is my grandparents’ headstone.  It’s made of black granite from an island quarry and it’s in excellent condition for being over a hundred years old. My grandfather carved the top part himself. 

  This is near the top.  I have no idea what it stands for.  Does anyone know?  He was a Mason.  Maybe it’s a Masonic thing.

  

  Here are some views of the island.  I could put a ton of them up but will restrain myself to a few.

  

  The view from a small mountain.

  

  A lighthouse facing the mainland. The hills in the background are the Camden Hills.  Those of you who have driven up the coast of Maine have probably gone through the town of Camden.

  

  A lobsterman on his way back to the harbor.

  

  I used to swim here. It’s low tide (my mother used to say, “It’s always low tide”).  The tide in this area is 11 feet.  The water was way too cold to stay in long.

  I probably will never see Vinalhaven again, but I’m so glad we went this year.  It has a big place in my heart.  If you’re ever in that area, be sure to take the ferry over to the island (if it’s a good day).  It’s well worth the trip.

  • 4:22 pm
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