Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue… This is from an old English rhyme and this week Patti is challenging us to feature pictures of places or things that have some or all of these good luck qualities. She also mentioned that showing all four qualities in one image could be extra challenging, and it certainly was! This topic required a bit of thought 😟….then, I remembered taking a family visit to Peak’s Island in Maine a couple of years ago and how pretty it was with an abundance of color everywhere; buildings, homes and vegetation! Before taking you on a short pictorial tour around the Island I’d like to briefly share a little of its interesting history.
According to Wikipedia it was a popular summer destination in the late 19th century, then known as the “Coney Island” of Maine. Its hotels, restaurants, amusement parks and theaters attracted well-known performers such as John Ford, the Barrymore family, Jean Stapleton, Martin Landau to name a few actors. Sadly, most of the hotels were destroyed by fires in the 1930’s. Now days, in addition to numerous attractive homes, there are a few restaurants, several museums and a chance to see the remains of the Army bunker named Battery Steele, a large military defense installation equipped with two 16-inch (406-mm) guns. This was build in 1943 and active during World War II.
Today Peak’s Island is a lovely quaint town and popular visiting destination with about 858 residents living there year round. It is located a few miles from Portland, Maine in Casco Bay.
Peak’s Island is only accessible via a ferry or boat ride. If by ferry, this is the first thing you see when you approach the Island. The green steel structure and new ferry docks on the right are a welcoming sight. Notice the small, old wooden structure beside the pier on the left where a blue boat is tied up. On the street in the distant background is a golf cart used for getting around the Island which can be borrowed for a small fee!
Not too far from the ferry docks is this fascinating blue-grey building. The first thing that catches the eye is an old, wooden, blue door with a small sign which reads “Be back in 5 mins”. The matching blue sign reads “FAFFY’S Salt Water TAFFY”. Looking towards the right, notice the new white, green and red striped board with the sign, “Gone Fishing”. This stripped board plus the small matching sign near by (“Fish…SHACK…Clams”) was more than likely borrowed from another location. The red TICKET window also looks new and was probably also borrowed! The BAIT sign with the fish plus the black MENU board have seen better days and appear to be as old as the weathered blue door!
The outside of this home appears to be a work of art! Instead of planting shrubs and flowers along the side of the house, colorful flowers have been painted along the foundation! (Plants like these certainly require less care and attention.😊) A new blue table along the blue and white chairs are along side the house for relaxing and enjoying the outdoors. The fence around the property is old and the stones beside the house, in front of the American flag, and also by the small shed were borrowed from another site.
The Cockeyed Gull is one of the few restaurants on the Island. The building appears to be fairly new along with its bright yellow sign and red window frame. The blue flower planter and glass front menu boxes are old and weathered and the printed menus inside the boxes were “borrow” from the printer.
This is the Army bunker, Battery Steele, located on the back side of the Island and facing the Atlantic Ocean. The opening where the twin 16 inch guns were located has been sealed up although the outside of the bunker is intact. The structure is quite old and unfortunately, people have “decorated” it with blue and white graffiti. A field of corn is growing in the foreground and the newly turned red, orange and yellow leaves announce the approach of fall.
This is one of the many old fishing piers and docks around the Island which is used by the residents. Both of the beautiful sailing yachts in the background are new and the hull of one is a beautiful shade of blue. The small dingy tied up in front of the red lobster boat is borrowed from time to time by boaters to access their boats which are anchored further out.
Peak’s Island is such a lovely place to visit should you ever be in the Portland Maine area!