BAILEY ISLAND, Maine — Cook’s Lobster House on Bailey Island, which opened in 1955, had grown from a small takeout shack to an institution featured in a national ad campaign.
But a decade after that Visa commercial in the ’90s thrust its stunning location and famous crustaceans onto the tourist radar, the seasonal attraction began sinking into disrepair. The roof had holes, the interior needed an update and the staff was glum. Some say the food had suffered too.
A quarter mile away, the Bailey Island Motel was in similar straits. The oceanside, two-story inn facing the Cribstone Bridge needed a new deck, new lobby, updated rooms and an infusion of tender loving care.
Now, one family from Lewiston is pouring that care (and cash) into these island icons and sharing a dream.
It began last July when Jennifer Charboneau and her husband, Nick, took over Cook’s.
“Walking in there, my childhood flashbacks came back. It’s just Maine to me,” said Jennifer Charboneau, who grew up boating through Casco Bay, including nearby Garrison Cove, with her father, Paul Dube.
Though settled in Vermont, where she and her husband were raising their two daughters, she longed to return to the Pine Tree State. Then her parents unknowingly helped her realize that dream.
“We got a flier in the mail from the Chamber of Commerce with all Maine restaurants for sale,” recalled Charboneau’s mother, Rita Dube, a Lewiston native. As an offhand joke, they sent it to their daughter.
“A week later she called and said, ‘We are coming to Maine to look at Cook’s,’” Rita Dube said. “They fell in love with it right away.”
Still, the Dubes didn’t have high hopes. Their son-in-law ran a Mexican restaurant in Williston, Vermont, and Cook’s was listed for a staggering $1.8 million.
“We never, ever thought it would happen. It was too big a place, too big a dream for us. It didn’t seem like reality,” said Rita Dube, a former executive director of the Franco American Heritage Center in Lewiston.
As the Dubes dived into plates of fried shrimp and clams and sipped martinis at Cook’s on a recent Friday night, their daughter welcomed diners to the newly renamed Cook’s Lobster and Ale House. Nick Charboneau ran the kitchen while their granddaughter scurried among the crowd. The dream was alive and kicking.
The price tag was scary, the Charboneaus admitted, but Nick Charboneau, who had never been to Cook’s before, fell hard.
“We came out here and I said, ‘This place is a gold mine,’” he said.
“I saw the potential of owning this property and what it can do,” said Nick Charboneau, who tapped friends to help him invest in Cook’s. Family members kicked in some too.
“We believed in it. What this place stood for. We are not afraid of risk. We didn’t look at it as a risk,” added Jennifer Charboneau.
To her, the bigger risk would’ve been walking away.
“For me it was coming home. They say home is where your heart is and for me it’s always been Maine,” said Jennifer Charboneau.
Not content to have all the fun, their daughter turned the tables with a real estate possibility for her parents.
“Six months after we took ownership, I heard the Bailey Island Motel was for sale. I quickly told them as I knew it was always their dream to own an inn on the ocean and … they bought it,” Jennifer Charboneau said.
Though her father runs Dube Travel, an agency based in Auburn, and has no plans to retire, they were ready to downsize.
“His dream for 30 years was, ‘When I retire I would love to have a little B and B or motel by the ocean.’ But we gave it up 20 years ago thinking it would never happen,” said Rita Dube, sitting in her partly refurbished new home attached to the 11-room inn with peaceful water views. “At 75 and 73 here we are embarking upon that big step.”
What do they know about running a motel?
“Nothing,” they both said unabashed.
But as a travel agent for more than 50 years, Paul Dube seems well equipped to handle hordes of tourists.
“I’ve been in and out of hotels enough times in the last 53 years that I feel like I could run them,” said Paul Dube. “I feel I’m very comfortable running a hotel. Plus we’ve retained the same staff.”
The couple bought the motel in late February and have been working nonstop. The week before Memorial Day weekend they were booked solid. Their house in Lewiston is on the market and Bailey Island soon will be home.
“We fell in love with the place and the view,” said Rita Dube.
Her husband, filled with energy and a winsome demeanor, will commute to Auburn, and continue to take groups on travel trips abroad.
How will their lives overlap, now that they are living and working a quarter mile from their daughter? On a basic level they will buy in bulk from the same vendors and are sharing contractors. If a motel guest craves lobster they’ll be seated at Cook’s in no time. If diners at Cook’s are so charmed by the island that want to stay longer, the Charboneaus know where to send them.
“All my family has been really wonderful,” said Jennifer Charboneau, 43. “When we needed all hands on deck, my brother and sister-in-law were flipping burgers, tending bar. While it is ours, it’s really a family affair.”
The Dubes are proud of what their daughter and son-in-law have accomplished in less than a year.
“We are bringing it back to the glory days,” said Rita Dube.
When winter comes and the tourists are gone, Cook’s Lobster and Ale House will stay open to give locals an expansive place to socialize. Offering up to 20 local beers on tap, the new lounge replaces a cramped two-seat bar with a contemporary, wood-toned space that can seat 20 at the bar and more at tables lining new picture windows. Concerts and lobster bakes are planned on the point this summer.
Menu upgrades including lobster wontons and a popular grilled chicken and brie sandwich have impressed both locals and tourists.
“It’s an anchor for the island,” said Richard Moseley, president of the Harpswell Business Association. “Having excellent food is a big draw.”
Though this is their first full season as owners, “they’ve made an impression on the business community as well as Bailey Island residents,” said Moseley.
Despite Harpswell’s population growth from 5,000 year-round residents to as many as 35,000 in the summer, “in a small town in Maine you have to have local farmers and fishermen on your side,” Moseley said.
Trevor Pontbriand, manager of the Bailey Island General Store, confirmed they do.
“We are definitely excited with the new owners,” Pontbriand said. “The hype has brought a lot more people to the area.”
Amid the hype and lingering nostalgia, the family is preserving as much of the island’s legacy as possible.
“There is so much history in this place. Everyone we’ve met has a story that their grandfather built this place, or they fished off the pier, or got engaged here,” said Jennifer Charboneau. “Everyone has a story about how this place touched their lives.”
