Tay Vaughan - Monhegan Island, Maine

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Monhegan Island, Maine, 2018

With side trips to Appleton and Bangor

A Plein Air Workshop with Walt Bartman

Walter Bartman , Director and Founder of the Yellow Barn, has taught art in the Bethesda, Maryland area for over forty years. Specializing in landscape and figure painting, he is known as one of Maryland's finest artists and teachers. He is listed in the Art and Artist Files in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library Collections.

With Marcia van Gemert, Mary Kirby, and Carmen Vaughan (husbands tagging along).

Getting there

An overnight stop at Marcia's camp in Tuxedo, New York

The Island Attitude

Unfortunately, what we found at Monhegan is in line with the negative reviews discovered at TripAdvisor:

I agree with many reviewers, the people were very unfriendly and angry.

I have travelled the world and have never seen such a degree of disregard for the tourists that bring their cash here.

Monhegan is special but maybe overly loved.

I will say that half of the people we encountered there, who work there or live and work there are the most rude people I have ever dealt with!

Throughout the day we started to notice something odd…NOBODY HERE, and I mean NOBODY, acknowledges you with even a nod or smile. If you walk into a store they barely say hello to you.

The locals are dirty, never saw such ghettos trash all over the place. It's a shame they don't take pride in thier homes. A day visit wouldn't be bad but I will never stay overnight again. Too expensive for what you get,

This was the most unwelcoming place we visited on an otherwise delightful trip to Maine.
But the rudeness of anyone on the street to whom you directed a question made it clear that tourist dollars, but not the tourists themselves, are welcome.

Almost all the workers and island people were very unfriendly and rude. We got the overwhelming feeling that outsiders were not wanted there. The island was very dirty and a waste of time and money.

But the overall feeling from everyone other than the staff at the inn, was one of condescending unwelcomeness. No smiles from the children, or nods from the locals driving their golf carts by - It seems they think of tourists as this horrible neccessary evil - they certainly want our money, but not us.

Following is a photographic survey of some local folks to illustrate the reviews above:

The Island in General

Water on the island was so scarce that the four of us were asked not to flush for Number 1 in the house we rented for a week. An artist friend who went to one of three public toilets on the island was told it is closing time (4:00 P.M.) and, despite her pleas, was not allowed in. The local woman with the toilet key stood in front of the door and declared that if the artist was on the island after 4:00, when the last ferry left for the mainland, she had another place to pee (where she was staying overnight). The lady with the key walked away leaving our friend standing. Food and service at the three restaurant choices, however, was expensive but fine.