The year was 1889. Wilhelmina Tuckerman and her family were on their way to Mount Desert Island in Maine. They were traveling by train and by steamship. Wilhelmina's father Samuel had insisted
they come to Maine instead of spending the summer in the Berkshires as they had done in previous years. The family consisting of Elizabeth, the mother; Caroline, the older sister; and Joey, her
younger brother, was sure they were going to dislike Mount Desert Island.When the steamship pulled into Frenchman Bay, they were all speechless as they gazed at the beauty that surrounded them.
The little town of Eden (Bar Harbor) nestled against the backdrop of Green Mountain (Cadillac Mountain). The sky was so blue without a cloud in sight, and the air so pure and refreshing.As the
summer unfolds, Wilhelmina meets a young Indian girl, and they become forever friends.After a fishing trip to Greenville and the East Branch of the Penobscot River, Samuel reveals to Wilhelmina
that next year they will have their own cottage on Douglas Ave., and that he has hired her best friend's father Charlie as caretaker of the new cottage.When it was time to leave Mount Desert
Island, the family realized how very much it has come to mean to them, especially Wilhelmina, as she now has to leave her best friend and go home to Philadelphia. She would be anxiously waiting
for next summer to return.
