It’s rare to find locals who share a passion for exploration and sharing raw, authentic experiences like our friend, Max Ablicki. A photographer, open fire cook, stonemason, coffee guy, and adventure seeker, Max is a New England renaissance man who rarely says no. So when we asked if he wanted to partner on anything this summer and share some unique experiences with our community, he had just the place in mind and captured it beautifully.

Maine’s MidCoast region is enough to keep you busy exploring for a lifetime - and that’s before you even leave the mainland. However, 12 miles off the coast sits a small island like no other: Monhegan.

While the island is less than two miles wide, you’ll still find yourself wishing you could stay just a bit longer...or a lot longer.

The beauty of Monhegan lies in its simplicity: there are no cars on the island aside from a few old pickups that the island residents use to run supplies around on a small network of dirt roads...just about everyone walks everywhere. In the center of the small village, a small wall acts as a poster board for everything happening on the island. The distant sound of the waves hitting the stone cliffs can be heard just about anywhere on the island. Aside from the occasional little truck and the sounds of your footsteps on the gravel paths - Monhegan is beautifully quiet, simply the sounds of the ocean, the breeze, the birds, and the trees.

Monhegan has a fairly quiet fishing community compared to its past. This is mostly due to its spectacular conservation efforts and stewardship of the environment. However, Monhegan still supports a great fishing and lobstering community that supports its local economy.

Monhegan island is an artists haven…many of the homes on the island double as studios for incredible painters, sculptors, craftspeople, and artisans - all who offer up a space in their home for you to come experience and enjoy the island's vibrant art culture. An opinion piece by Island Institute Community Energy Director Suzanne MacDonald, claimed that “there is probably no single square mile more important to American art.”

As you stroll down quiet dirt roads listening to the seagulls and the ocean, you’ll notice an astonishing array of native wildflowers and beautiful forests. Classic New England cedar-shingled homes pop up here and there out of the foliage, so perfectly tucked away from it all. Many of them are still fairly off the grid and as simple as it gets.

You don’t have to live on the island to have an incredible experience, though. For our trip, we took a mid-morning ferry out from Port Clyde and spent the day on the island taking the “late boat” out in the afternoon.

The ferry takes a beautiful scenic route for about an hour out to the island, but I’d recommend checking out the forecast for wind and waves in advance. When the waves are up, it gets very bumpy. If you’re prone to seasickness you might want to go on a calmer day or take some precautions. Thankfully, none of us were prone to seasickness- but we had a very bumpy ride and some of the other passengers weren’t so lucky.

Once on the island, there’s an array of great little restaurants and even a brewery, Monhegan Brewing Co, that has some excellent drinks and small bites. If you’re staying longer, there are a few hotels and B&B’s all with incredible histories - some have been there for over a hundred years. Along with great little restaurants, artist studios, a coffee shop, and historic hotels, there’s a small beach to swim, rent a kayak, or sit back for a while.

Along the backside of the island there is a preserve with fantastic hiking trails that’ll take you through the forest and up steep cliffs along the ocean - with some of the most spectacular views on the island.

That being said - this is just a small fraction of Monhegan island- and there’s plenty of things left unsaid in this overview, with the full intent that you might someday go explore, discover, and enjoy all that Monhegan island has to offer in your own way - in my opinion, one of the most unique and special places in all of New England, with a little something for everyone.

-Max Ablicki

A big thanks goes out to Max and the guys for sharing their trip to Monhegan with us. We’ve got more in store from Max this summer and look forward to sharing soon. Stay tuned friends!