Mccloskey's Buck's Harbor
One Morning in Maine functions as a kind of "Two Hours in Buck's Harbor." Sal (whom McCloskey introduced in his 1948 book Blueberries for Sal) and her family live on an island or peninsula so remote that they need a boat to reach civilization—i.e., Buck's Harbor, located in the town of Brooksville. Sal wakes up and remembers, "Today is the day I'm going to Buck's Harbor with my father!" Notably, Sal and her sister, Jane, wear fleece-lined slippers in the middle of summer. (Tip #1: Pack sweaters for your beach vacation.)
Over breakfast Sal discovers her first loose tooth, and she runs down to the clam flats to tell her father. McCloskey's drawings of Maine's iconic rocky coast are more evocative in their honest grunginess than the average brochure photograph. His charcoal renderings of the pine trees, the smudgy high-tide mark that traces the rocks, the water, the seaweed, the jagged mussel bed, the head of a seal, all look appropriately viscous and oily, just as these objects do on windless mornings in 2008. Gazing into McCloskey's murky woods, the seasoned native can practically hear the mosquitoes. (Tip #2: Pack bug spray.) Sal tries to show a seal her loose tooth, slips on a seaweedy rock, and just misses sliding into the ocean—this being before the Croc world takeover, Sal wears sneakers on the beach. (Tip #3: Shells and barnacles will shred your feet. Pack appropriate waterproof footwear with thick soles.)
Finally, Sal and Jane and Dad load themselves into the dinghy, and Murphy's Law being the prevailing cosmic force in these parts, the motor doesn't start, so Sal's father has to row across the bay. McCloskey's Buck's Harbor—a T intersection with a church and a few buildings—remains basically up-to-date and can function as your road map. Condon's Garage, where Sal's dad hauls his dead outboard, is still called Condon's Garage. The girls get ice cream at the general store and sit on the porch, still one of the best ways to while away the late morning in Buck's Harbor. McCloskey's store is located a few doors down from the present store; his illustration of the interior shows the usual fare—matches, bananas, mops, shovels, axes, and potato chips. The current Buck's Harbor Market is a bit more swank—you can buy organic produce and a hunk of Humboldt Fog—but the remote port-in-a-storm vibe remains the same. The story concludes with the family headed home for a standard Maine lunch of clam chowder. (Tip #4: Despite the slight culinary uptick in this area, people with allergies to shellfish and dairy should probably pack their own food.)
Next Page: White's Brooklin and Blue Hill
