Thursday, April 8, 2010

JULIA CHILD IN MAINE

Seeing the words "Julia Child In Maine" on the March issue of Down East magazine caught my eye. One summer after World War II, Julia McWilliams along with her then beau Paul Child visited the Child's family at Mountain Desert Island, Maine. It was an opportunity for Julia to meet Paul's family who at the time were in the process of building a rustic cabin, located on the quiet side of the island. It was long before Julie became "Julia", the kitchen icon. On September 1, 1946 Julia and Paul were married and when time and schedules allowed they returned to the Island as often as possible. While in Maine the couple pitched in with the completion of the cabin, took walks through the woods, hiked, fished, sailed and enjoyed summer weeks with family in Maine. In 1959 the now famous "Julia Child" would visit the local market in Southwest Harbor regularly and these visits continued right up to the mid 1990's. This plot of land in Maine held a special place in Julia's heart. Upon her death in 2004 at the age of 91, some of Julia's ashes were spread near the family cabin on the Island. Acadia National Park in my opinion is one of the most special places on this earth and after reading this article, I see Julia would agree with me.

11 comments:

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

oh my...this caught my eye..
Julia Child...my favorite

In Maine....my next favorite

great story....

kary
xxx

Gail said...

Wonderful story.

Susan McShannon-Monteith said...

I enjoyed this post... being a fan of Julia and her divine cooking I knew there was a natural side to her and this place in Maine would have captured her soul.
Is that your beautiful home in the banner at the top... a ship's bow roof is it not? Wonderful!
Susan

Rural Rambler said...

Cool post Julie. I have always been fascinated with Julia Child and not until the movie came out did I start to go about learning a few things about her. CH and I have never been anywhere too far North other than D.C. where we lived for four years. Now that we are doing a little traveling I think Maine and around that area would be a fun adventure. Oh leaf season!!!

Pondside said...

She was such an interesting woman. I didn't know about the Maine connection, although I'm not surprised.
I don't know Maine very well, although I too am a Maritimer by birth - Cape Breton.

Shelley said...

I love cabins and hiking - this sounds wonderful! Julia was a cool lady for sure!

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

just saw your comment about animal love....me too..big time....

have a wonderful weekend, my friend

kary

Eve said...

I think Maine would attract many people...it is a beautiful place to be!
Thanks for the story! Did you know Julia was a spy for the US in WWII!!!??? Pretty cool huh? I think I read that somewhere.

Peacemom said...

Hello! Just found you over on Jenna's CAF blog. I'm in southern NH...family and I are trying to make our way to Maine, we're hoping for the Freeport/Yarmouth area...we have family that used to live in Gorham. I'm looking forward to reading back through your blog! Feel free to check mine out if you're interested. Nice to meet you!
~Vonnie

Peacemom said...

Oh! And I also should mention that I read that article on Julia as well. And I too, think Mt. Desert is one of the most special places on earth...my husband chose a beautiful night on the rocks over looking the ocean in the moonlight near Blackwoods to propose to me. It has a very spiritual connection for me and we've vacationed there many times!

Janean said...

i used to giggle every time i saw her on TV...her voice...her *tasting*... didn't realize she was 91 when she passed away. wow. she impacted many lives.