Castine,
Maine
One of the best experiences I had while visiting Castine
was meeting Kenny
Eaton of Eaton’s Boatyard. I’d been
told by others around town that Kenny was Castine’s
premier storyteller, so I was anxious to meet him.
When I did, he was friendly and enthusiastic, and even
took my husband and me out onto the Penobscot in a
lobster boat so that I might get a feel for the sea
that was such a part of the culture of the town. It
was Kenny who told me the waters there were too deep
for decent fishing, and that Maeve and Moira’s father,
Jack Leahy, would probably be a lobsterman
or boat builder instead of a fisherman—my original intent.
The deep waters are what made Castine the ideal spot
for the Merchant Marines ship, The State of Maine,
to dock there permanently. He said there were
guidelines about when to get your boats out of the
water for the season, what was safe, and he warned
that storms had the power to sneak up on you very quickly.
Later, I visited a small museum called the Wilson
Museum and found a Javanese keris on display
in one of the cases. Ironic? Just par for the course
with this book.
 I’d previously learned, through the Wilson Museum’s
online bulletin, about the Ghost
of Castine, so I was
eager to visit Fort George to see the spot where the
drummer boy’s spirit was said to have fled. I was disappointed.
Fort George was a ball field for the most part. I’m
not sure the little-boy ghost gets a lot of peace.
As I walked through town, I visited other places like
The Breeze, a dockside eatery, and of course the lighthouse.
Dyce Head Lighthouse wasn’t as isolated as I’d hoped
it would be, but the setting held promise: rocky cliffs;
evidence of fierce winds in the way the tree branches
grew long on the far side of the sea and were mere
nubs on the other; a ground covered with bark and pebbles
and grass and weed. Though the lighthouse had been
defunct for years, a keeper’s house abutting it had
been occupied for all but a brief period,during
which time a fire destroyed some of the house and a
reconstruction took place. Luckily, this timeframe
coincided with the events of the story. Dyce Head Lighthouse
was relit in 2008 and is once again a functional
lighthouse in Castine.
You can learn more about the charming seaside town
of Castine, Maine HERE. I highly recommend a visit.
• Javanese
mysticism and the keris
• Alvilda
• Castine,
Maine
• Rome,
Italy
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