Happy Valentine’s Day! At this stage of the winter, who hasn’t wanted to run away to a beautiful, private island with a sweetheart? I can’t supply the companion*, and this island may not be tropical, but at least it’s close to home—Islesboro, in Penobscot Bay.
My daughter Jessie is the caretaker of a large waterfront estate there, and lives in a nineteenth century farmhouse on the property with her son, Ryder, a rescue dog named Georgia (who is the star of several of the pictures below), and two rescue cats. This sounds like the perfect set-up for a cozy mystery series to me. Alert the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel. Jessie could even act in it as she has a degree in Theater from USM, although I don’t guess she’d like to dig up any dead bodies on the grounds for real.
Islesboro is a twenty-minute ferry ride from the mainland (“America”), but even if you’re from Maine, you may not have visited it in all its glory. The island is well-known as a discreet destination for the rich and famous; I once spotted Teddy Kennedy at the ferry terminal, and I sold two angel food cakes to Kirstie Alley at the preschool fair when we lived out there. John Travolta’s house,( John Travolta Lists Resort-Sized Maine Estate for $5 Million – Mansion Global )the former Drexel compound, would be the perfect location for a crazy Clue 2 movie. It was Miss Scarlett in the conservatory with a candlestick! It’s been on the market for only $5 million. We can all chip in and have an amazing writers’ retreat.
If you’re not familiar with the area, Jessie will take care of that with her unfiltered photos of one of the most spectacular places in Maine, or, in fact, America. Soon enough, her garden will be in bloom, as will mine. In the meantime, enjoy the armchair travel and dream of spring!
*For a sweetheart you can curl up with on a cold winter’s night, the first book in the cozy, 1920s-set Lady Adelaide Mysteries, Nobody’s Sweetheart Now, is only $1.99 during the month of February. You can read the first chapter and access buy links here: Nobody’s Sweetheart Now | Maggie Robinson
For more info about Islesboro: Islesboro | Maine: An Encyclopedia (maineanencyclopedia.com)
Charlene D’Avanzo 
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
I thought we all needed something pretty. 🙂
Lovely photos, and cute dog! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Georgia is the sweetest. She is a rescue from North Carolina…not sure why her name isn’t Carolina, LOL.
Great photos. We used to go there for AA picnics.
It’s really a beautiful place. We lived out there for four years and left our daughter behind, LOL.
OMG! loved this post and the pics. Lucky woman, to be living out there. Many decades ago, my sister and her husband and I were contacted by a Camden pastor to take over this huge mansion while the owner was hospitalized. And take care of her dogs!!! We were out there all summer and it was so huge, we lost track of items soaking in one of the 8 bathrooms. But we hosted waves of friends and oh, the dogs! Six Whippets (fast like Greyhounds) did not know their names and were completely untrained. She housed each in a servants’ quarters attic room with a name they didn’t know… stuck on a Band-Aid on the door. Needless to say, Mrs. Prue was not able to return home and I think the dogs found other island homes. We had a great time…..
What an adventure. It always makes me laugh that these mansions are called “cottages.” I was talking to a housekeeper out there and asked how many rooms the house had, and she honestly didn’t know. Too many to count!