1. Boyce’S Motel
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 367-2421 or (800) 224-24
Address: Main St.
Description: Comfortable rooms with access to a deck overlooking Stonington Harbor are offered at this circa 1960s motel. Guest quarters are equipped with cable TV, fridges, phones, air-conditioning, and in-room coffee, and all have private baths. Some even have kitchenettes and private decks, and there are apartments available as well with fine views of one of Maine’s most picturesque harbors. Everything in town is within walking distance. No matter where you stay, you can use the motel’s sun-deck and stare at the harbor to your heart’s content—and that alone is worth the price of admission. Rates are eminently reasonable.
2. Inn On The Harbor
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 367-2420 or (800) 942-24
Address: Main St.
Description: The name says it all at this attractive downtown hostelry—it’s on the harbor to such a degree that the water actually passes under some rooms. Long known as the Captain’s Quarters, the inn was purchased and revamped in the 1990s, and it’s now a very pleasant place to stay on Deer Isle Thorofare. More of a compound than anything else, the place is made of a few buildings from the 1880s—a mansard-roofed classic with a few adjacent storefronts—joined by walkways and decks. There are 13 rooms in all, 10 of which face the waterfront, with its working boats and all its islands, and many have private entrances. Named after vessels in the state’s windjammer fleet (the Mary Day, for example, which has overstuffed chairs, a king-size bed, and a large bath), these quarters are comfortable and homey without a lot of froufrou, and there are a lot of thoughtful touches, from binoculars with which to watch the activities in the harbor to fresh flowers. A breakfast of fruit and muffins comes with the room fee.
3. Isle Au Haut Company
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 367-5193 or 367-6516
Address: Sea Breeze Ave.
Description: The Miss Lizzie navigates Deer Island Thorofare on a daily basis as the ferry and mail boat to the island of Isle au Haut, so it knows these island-dotted waters better than most—which is what makes a sightseeing cruise aboard the local institution a pleasure. That and the captain’s narration about marine life, the many islands, Mark Island Lighthouse, and the history of granite quarrying in the area. The boat leaves Stonington Dock daily at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
4. Old Quarry Ocean Adventures
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 367-8977
Address: 130 Settlement Rd.
Description: Half- and whole-day trips aboard the 38-foot lobster boat Nigh Duck are Captain Bill Baker’s specialty. With more than a quarter-century on the water, he’s a wealth of information about the seabirds, sights, and history of the Stonington area. You can even try your hand at sailing if you like. Morning cruises sail from 9 a.m. to noon, and afternoon trips are from 1 to 4 p.m. The rates are $40. He also offers whale-watching jaunts and whole-day trips.
5. Old Quarry Ocean Adventures
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 367-8977
Address: 130 Settlement Rd.
Description: Lobstering aboard the Nigh Duck is just one of the zillions of trips and tours offered by Old Quarry. Help haul traps if you like—or just sit back and watch, learn, and enjoy the spectacular scenery off Stonington. The boat heads out at 9 a.m. sharp and returns at about noon on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Adults are $40, children age 11 or younger $24.
6. Old Quarry Ocean Adventures
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 367-8977
Address: 130 Settlement Rd.
Description: The 60-island archipelago off Stonington is the seascape worked by the guides of Old Quarry. An outdoor institution on Deer Isle, Old Quarry has a campground, provides sail and motorboat charters, rents bikes, and even does camping trips. The outfitter also offers full-day ($105) and half-day ($55) outings in single and tandem kayaks from June through September.
7. Crockett Cove Woods Preserve
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 729-5181
Address: Off Whitman Rd.
Description: This sanctuary covers 100 acres of lush woods—fog forest, as Mainers call it—and four trails wind through it past a wide variety of lichens and mosses. The area is covered with spruce and fir and is rich with birdlife. You’ll find tree beard lichen draping many trees and tamarack and cedar in the wet areas toward the middle of the preserve. The Nature Conservancy owns the property, and a brochure describing what you’ll see is available at the trailhead. Open from sunup to sundown.
8. Fisherman’S Friend Restaurant
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 367-2442
Address: 5 Atlantic Ave.
Description: This place surely must be a friend to fishermen. It serves so much seafood, it must keep half the local fleet in business. If you like your lobster you’ll find 30 reasons to be happy here. The chowders and seafood stews are fan favorites, but you’ll also find a turkey dinner with homemade stuffing that’s no slouch, either. Portions are hearty enough for a day at sea, prices very fair, and the service very friendly. Definitely save room for the pies or you’ll regret it. The views from their new location, right on Stonington’s fantastically picturesque Atlantic Avenue, are as good as the food.
9. Maritime Cafe
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 367-2600
Address: 27 Main St.
Description: Doesn’t get much more maritimey than an old Main Street building overlooking Stonington Harbor. And this little cafe, with big windows out the back, makes good use of it. The entrée menu at lunch consists of lazyman’s Stonington lobster and Stonington lobster with mussels and corn, but there is an array of sandwiches available, many of them also of the seafood variety, naturally. Dinner brings a handful of other choices—crab cakes, roasted halibut, and a couple of meat items—all of which are tempting.
10. Deer Isle Granite Museum
City: Stonington, ME
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (207) 367-6331
Description: Stonington takes its very name from the bedrock of granite on which it sits, and the community was the site of quite the quarrying industry in the late 19th century. Stone slabs from this picturesque village made their way into some American landmarks, from the George Washington Bridge to Rockefeller Center to the Smithsonian, and you can learn all about it at this small museum. An 8-by-15-foot working model depicts what Stonington and nearby Crotch Island, where stonecutting continues to this day, looked like in the golden age of granite. Open in July and August. Call for hours.