Seeking Solitude on the St. George River

The small peninsula that encompasses the towns of Cushing and Friendship is a very quiet place where fishing is a huge part of everyday life. Pleasant Point Gut, down at the southern end of the peninsula where the St. George River empties out into Muscongus Bay, is a small harbor where wooden docks jut out into the water.

Side by side, they each dock holds the tools to making a living on the ocean. Traps, rope, buoys, diesel, and of course, the bait, which comes in containers that would flatten a small car. It is very quiet down here in December. Mostly a few guys on the dock, the rest out on the water.

Down the road in Friendship, there are decidedly more boats, fishermen, and places to buy, sell, and catch lobsters. The town’s waterfront is like a mini-Stonington. During a recent visit, two Labs ran around the dock at Friendship Lobster Co-Op, where the boys were talking about prices and who’s still going out and who has hauled their traps out for the year. The Labs, one black and one yellow, were soaking wet from jumping off the dock and swimming in the harbor, even in the middle of December.

This area is still so rural, which is a very welcome sight to a lover of quiet and sweeping fields that meet the ocean in such a beautiful way.