Photo: Elfin Cove from the inner harbor.

We rounded a corner on Elfin Cove’s boardwalk and saw a man talking on a cell phone.

“Stop!” I said to Steve. “He’s got service.” I whipped out my phone and held it up-- one bar! I dialed. It took two tries and a lot of loud talking and repeating but I made my call. By the time I finished, two other people had joined us with their cell phones, all of us laughing at the absurdity.

In 2007 when we last visited Elfin Cove, it had three pay phones. Now it has none. The phone company took them out because “everyone has cell phones.” But cell phones don’t do much good where there’s not reliable service. Elfin Cove doesn’t have cell phone hot spots; it has cell phone warm spots. We’d already tried the recommended spots at the top of the hill and the deck overlooking the inner harbor with no luck. On the boat Karen had gotten a voicemail message signal but hadn’t been able to listen to the message.

Elfin Cove may not have great phone service but is has a lot of other things going for it: a boardwalk with quaint houses, a restaurant/bar, a laundramat with showers, a post office and even a general store. It also has Patti’s smoked salmon, the best smoked salmon I’ve had anywhere. It’s worth a trip to Elfin Cove just for that. (Look for the small yellow building. If it’s locked try the yellow house across the boardwalk and shout for Patti.)