Magical Chebeague Island

We arrived on Chebeague Island on Wednesday July 29th for a magical week exploring the island and hanging with family. Chebeague Island is the largest island in Casco Bay, Maine. About a 15-minute ferry ride from Yarmouth, Maine, or an hour from Portland, Maine, the island is about 5 miles long by 1.5 miles wide, forested in the middle and with sandy beaches and rocky coves. It has around 360 year-round residents, and a summer population of about 2,000 people.   

John’s niece Laura and her husband Geoff live on the island year-round. John’s other niece Tina and her husband (John Jorden) spend the summer on the island with their daughters Catarina, Lucia and Ana who were enjoying a break from college/school. Their sons John and David are working and visit when they can, along with many other family members who pop in to join the fun. This year our great-niece’s Julianna Stanford and Cici Stanford were staying with Tina for a few months. 

In the 19th-century "stone sloopers” were sailors and shipwrights who used custom built sailing ships to move massive granite blocks quarried in the Maine area down the coast for major US landmarks like the Washington Monument. The "Sloopers" built what are now historic homes on Chebeague island and John Jorden’s parents had one of these homes where he spent his summers. Tina and John now use this house during the summer, and it has a large barn attached to the house where everyone meets in the evenings for dinner. 

We setup at Laura & Geoff’s house which was perfect, a outside patio, fire pit, plenty of shade and a delightful outside shower. The cats loved the area, very quiet and lots of areas to explore. We settled into what became a pattern for the week. Exploring during the day, followed by a wonderful family dinner prepared by Tina every night. We spent the next five days cycling round the island, swimming and relaxing. We have always heard Tina talk about the island being a summer paradise and it was wonderful to really experience it ourselves. 

Sunday August 2nd was a big party day to celebrate both Laura’s birthday and her daughter Caroline’s birthday. Laura’s son John and Caroline and niece Caroline Fernandes came over from the mainland for the celebration. We spent a delightful afternoon in the barn eating great food & birthday cake and chatting with everyone. John Jorden’s mother Shelia lives on the island full time, and we really enjoyed getting to know her. Connie who is Tina's aunt was visiting for a few days with her granddaughter Riley, so it was quite the family gathering.

Laura and Geoff had to leave on Tuesday to travel to Madeira island, Portugal as Laura's father was very sadly close to passing. We drove them to the ferry and sadly waved goodbye after a wonderful week together. 

We really made the most of our last two days before our barge pickup on Friday August 7th. Both days we got up early and Sara went paddle boarding. First up was Hamilton beach a lovely sandy beach cove close to Tina's house. There were many terns diving for fish and it was delightful to sit on the board and listen to their calls as they flew around before diving into the water. That evening we were treated to a magnificent lobster dinner at Tina's. John Jorden and his son (John) are both lobster fisherman, and the lobsters were caught and delivered by son John that morning!

Thursday was all about the sea. We started with a paddle board from the boat yard, driving there with the board sticking out the back of Laura's "island car". Sara paddled out to Crow island and explored the pools visible as the tide went out. That afternoon son John treated us to a personal tour in his lobster boat. We went out to where John Jorden was working pulling lobster traps. We saw the whole process of hauling the lobster traps, removing the lobsters, throwing back the small ones and then re-baiting the trap and putting them back in the sea. Not an easy profession!  We met John's girlfriend Whitney who had been out the day before as the stern person helping her grandfather pull traps. Maine folks are very tough! We finished off with lunch at Erica's Seafood a fabulous classic waterfront seafood shack located just across the water in Harpswell, Maine. What an amazing day!

Friday was departure day, and we drove to Bennett's cove for our 7:30am barge pickup. Tina, Lucia and Julianna came to wave us off and it was quite tearful to leave after such a wonderful visit. We were nervous again because the beach looked pretty rutted, but Brian got us loaded no trouble and we were back off to the mainland. 

Family Gatherings - Click here for the photos

Around Chebeague Island - Click here for the photos and videos