It turned out that several workshop attendees were arriving to Bangor International Airport at around the same time, so once everyone had collected the baggage, we all jumped into Rob’s van (the island caretaker, who came to pick us up) to head to Jonesport to then take the boat to the island.
Of course, since we were in Bangor, we had to drive by Stephen King’s house.
You can’t really see them in the picture, but all along the top of the wrought iron fence Stephen has all sort of iron dragons and monsters sitting in sinister locations.
Then, on the way to Jonesport we took a short cut through miles and miles of blueberry fields–blueberries grow very well in Maine!
Once we got to Jonesport, which is a small town primarily focused on fishing, we hopped on the boat and headed to Norton Island.
Norton Island is about a mile offshore from Jonesport. Here’s a pic of Norton Island’s East Camp as we pulled in on the boat. In the picture, you can see some writing workshop folks (who arrived before we did) standing down on the dock and some folks standing at the top of the stairs leading up from the dock. Beside these people at the top you can see the golf cart and Mule people use to drive around with, and then in the background you can see the East Camp lodge itself.
Here’s a pic of just inside the East Camp lodge, in the dining room. Everyone attending the workshop has by now arrived, and we are all seated around the table (a few folks are off camera). Tom (standing) is giving us an intro to the workshop, how the cabins work, how the meals work, etc. You can see the front door that leads out onto a big porch. Behind the counter in the lower left corner is the kitchen, and behind Tom are two doors leading to the rest of the main level (a den area + two bedrooms, a hall with 2 bunk beds, a washroom, and two bathrooms). Behind Tom there is also a set of stairs that leads to an upstairs bedroom.
And here’s an example of the trail we use to get to and from the East or West Camp lodge buildings and our cabins.
You take the trail (flashlights are, indeed, your best companion here) to get to your cabin. Here’s the outside of my cabin.
And here’s the inside.
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Norton Island Writers Workshop post series: