There is an almost perfect concave-cupped cove in Machiasport that will listen to your thoughts. It has been here for eons. Its shore is covered in stones of all size, shape and color.
There is no sand, only loose brightly polished and rounded rocks of granite, red rhyolite, quartzite and other rock reduced in size as primordial seconds roll into millennia. The waters of Machias Bay bless the beach with answers to questions, many not yet asked. Jasper Beach is special.
Its remoteness — though right off the road — embraces a collective essence as one travels through the small villages of Larrabee, Bucks Harbor, East Side and Starboard. This place provides a stoic welcome that will relieve just about any of the day’s ills. The road, known as “Port,” has one beginning point in Machias and another in Starboard.
In between is a sparse essence that can only be found Down East. A working harbor, white-steeple churches, friendly hand waves, historic parks and buildings, trees, hills, mudflats and ocean views that touch the horizon greet those arriving or passing through. When traveling Down East there are no end points, only beginnings.
Many people who visit Jasper Beach share their experience. In writings, in song, in photographs, video and in sculpture, people express the connection they feel to the locale. Delicately balanced stone cairns are built or messages spelled out in different sizes and colors of stone, even a large lobster — shaped from beach stones — arrive.
