Lighthouses by Land

Posted on August 27, 2012August 27, 2012 by Dusty Roads

With the clock heading into the late afternoon it was time to see if I could find my way back to Portland Head Light. I wondered if I could get an evening picture. The weather report had said there was a storm coming but you’d never know it by looking at the blue sky and sunshine of late afternoon.

My path took me over “The Bridge” . The Bridge is a wide span that takes you over to Cape Elizabeth.

The view from the bridge of Casco Bay is great. I got a good look when I was on the trolley tour but driving was a different story.

Especially driving during “rush hour”. I admit Portland’s rush hour isn’t anything like Boston’s. Boston’s rush hour is more congested, stop and go, a tough on the brakes kind of drive. On a bad night it can take hours to get from one end of the expressway (AKA distressway) to the other. On the other hand being on “The Bridge” in Portland during rush hour has earned the name “Rush”. I felt like I was driving in the Indie 500. Cars were flying by me like I was standing still! I checked and I was doing the speed limit which was plenty fast for someone who doesn’t know the road.

Once off “The Bridge” I was doing pretty good from memory until I hit a large intersection that I didn’t remember from the trolley tour. I made my best guess and of course, it was wrong. After a few more tries I was hopelessly twisted around. Time to break out the trusty GPS. Back on track I finally pulled into Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Light. Even getting twisted around it was way too early for the photo I was trying to get. So I decided to back track and see if I could find the lighthouses I’d seen from the “Sea” part of the Land and Sea Tour.

Since I didn’t have an address I couldn’t use the GPS and was left to my own devices. It wasn’t too long before I found a lovely park and there was Portland Breakwater Light in the distance.

There was a parking attendant but she really only gave me directions. She pointed out another entrance to the park and told me to drive down that and it would take me much closer to the lighthouse. Success! I could walk the large rocks of the breakwater right up to the “Bug” light.

This is really a cute lighthouse. It’s classical Greek Styling combined with its short stature (the tower is only 13 ft tall) makes this little lighthouse look like it belongs on a chess board.

After exploring the light I spotted another interesting structure. It was a giant hull of a boat with ribs exposed. I’d seen this on the boat tour as well but up close it was enormous. It’s a monument to the men and women that worked in the shipyards that built the vessels for the war effort in World War II. This is the Monument to the South Portland Liberty Ships. It was building ships like these that made Rosie the Riveter and Wendy the Welder household names.

Beyond the “ship” I could just see the Spring Point Ledge Light so I headed back to the car to see if I could find my way to that lighthouse. Several bumps and turns later I was pulling into the Portland Harbor Museum parking lot. To reach the lighthouse you walk through the ruins of an old fort, climb a short set of stairs and there you are.

The breakwater stretches out before you, at the end, another “spark plug” of a lighthouse.

This one much more simple without the Greek frills. The design of this lighthouse was intended to help it survive the gale force winds , high water and pressure from winter ice floes.

I sat on the steps leading down to the breakwater watching the boats sail past and the sun sink toward the horizon. It was time to head back to Portland Head light.

Portland by Sea

Posted on August 22, 2012August 22, 2012 by Dusty Roads

I chose a good cruise. One of the passengers on the trolley said that I should make sure to sit on the right side (starboard side) facing the bow if I wanted to get good shots of the lighthouses. I kept that in mind as we boarded. Guess what the ship is called…The Islander! That’s the same name of the boat that I was on for the Puffin Cruise in Bar Harbor!

I climbed to the upper deck seating myself about mid-way back. (Is that called mid-ship?) It was tricky because the benches were not bolted to the deck. Everyone had a tendency to put their hand on the seat back for balance and were caught off guard when the bench moved!

I didn’t miss any lighthouses by taking the afternoon cruise. We saw plenty including Portland Head Light, Spring Point Ledge Light, Portland Breakwater Light and Ram Island Ledge Light.

They told us the history of the forts that line the bay and the breakwater that was built to protect the pipeline to Canada.

History and folk-lore was sprinkled throughout the cruise. The day was beautiful. One of our last places to visit was a tiny rocky island ( I use the term island loosely) where the harbor seals like to haul out and sun themselves.

The island was loaded with seals, seals on the land, seals in the water and then something I’ve never seen before, a seal jumped in a graceful arc looking so much like a dolphin that there was a collective gasp. Then every one of us began to bemoan the fact that none of us had the camera ready,( and there were lots of cameras) it was so unexpected.

Too soon we were heading back to the dock. It was a great time. But I still had more of the afternoon and I knew just what I wanted to do.

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Portland by Land

Posted on August 20, 2012August 20, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Maine is a really beautiful state. I’ve read about Portland in many travel magazines and had good intentions of taking the Down’easter from Boston to spend the day. Of course it’s one of those things still on my bucket list. So finding myself staying in the Super 8 on the Portland Line I decided that the city deserved at least one day to see what it’s all about.

Based on the directions the desk clerk gave me the previous night I figured asking more directions was useless. “Right down the road” and “just a little way” weren’t very helpful. The just a little way was over 3 miles! I guess I’ve gotten away from my rural roots.

Anyway with the help of my trusty GPS I managed to navigate the street maze down to the waterfront. I found a parking lot that was pretty reasonable where I could pay hourly or have a discount by paying for the whole day. I took the day option and handed over a $10.00. I found a spot to park in the lot that was right on the waterfront. I recognized the spot as one I’d seen in an article about Portland.

I snapped some pictures and wandered back to the main street. There was a trolley tour right nearby and those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time know I always take the trolley tours. They are a great way to get familiar with an area.

Known as the “Discovery” trolley you can take a land tour or opt for a land and sea combo ticket. That was my choice. More on the sea later.

The Land part of the sightseeing is a 90 minute narrated tour and we had a wonderful driver/guide. She was humorous without being forced and had a wealth of knowledge about the city.

The tour took us by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s childhood home, a stop at Portland Head Light, and loads of other landmarks.

The city of Portland is like a Phoenix, it keeps rising from the ashes. The driver pointed out where time after time the city burned and then was rebuilt. We drove slowly by beautiful stately homes, mansions if you will and a park with views of Portland Harbor.

Back at the trolley stop I picked up a hot dog from a street vendor. I had a choice…red or brown! I was puzzled and must have shown it because the vendor quickly told me I would prefer the “brown”. Sure enough, that was the kind of hot dog I was expecting. She showed me the red ones. I don’t know if they taste different but the casing was definitely red!

My snack out of the way I shopped a little in one of the gift shops picking up a sweatshirt to wear on the boat then headed to the boarding section of the dock. There were several options for the “Sea” part of the combo. One was a harbor cruise in the afternoon, my choice, and the other option was the Sunset Lighthouse cruise which sounded nice but I didn’t want to be hanging around all afternoon. There was too much to see.

While I waited I made the acquaintance of a “Crusty” native Mainer and some of his friends.

If you take the lobster boat cruise you get to pull your own traps and then take your catch to dinner. The restaurant next door will steam them up for you.

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The “Nubble”

Posted on August 17, 2012August 17, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Around 8:30 pm we could begin to see the lights glowing on the lighthouse. I’m not sure when they came on. It was too light to notice them before then.

For the next hour while it got darker and darker I worked to get that special shot.

Finally when it was almost too dark to see the rocks under foot I packed up and headed back to Portland and bed..Here’s the result. It was a fun challenge.

Sohier Park

Posted on August 15, 2012August 15, 2012 by Dusty Roads

I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do . I had it in my head to spend a whole day in York, Me., go to York’s Wild Kingdom during the day and then to the lighthouse at night but as I drove around Portland I found I kept getting all twisted around. I finally decided to drive back to York and get the lighthouse pictures now so I would have more flexibility the rest of my visit.

On the way back I stopped at a roadside fish market. They had the section where the sold the fish and around to the side was a window where you could order cooked seafood.

There were picnic tables where you could sit and eat. I decided this was the place to try out for dinner, Tom’s Fried Clams.

I bet you can’t guess what I what I ordered? Yup, scallops. It isn’t getting old yet. These were good but a bit different. The portion was huge. I couldn’t finish it. Believe me I tried because scallops are too special to waste. They came with french fries but they could have kept those in the kitchen. I was too full to enjoy them. I didn’t even get an ice cream!

Tummy filled it was time to work my way over to the lighthouse.

Christmas in July is always the kickoff for the annual York Days Celebration. The “Nubble” Lighthouse is outlined in white lights. The event is held in Sohier Park. It didn’t occur to me to that this might mean more than just Christmas lights.

I headed over early in hopes of finding parking and was surprised to find myself in a traffic jam as I approached the park.

Eventually I arrived and lucked out when a parked car backed out right in front of me opening up a parking spot. Once out of the car it became clear why it was so packed. There was a concert in the park. What I could hear was excellent but unless you were right near the performers the music was drowned out by the pounding surf.

I started wandering around the rocks trying to scope out spots to set up.

I was hoping to get a slightly different angle but it soon became clear why all of the photos I’ve seen of the light are the same. There are utility lines that block a clear view of the light. Because of that everyone gravitates to the same area for pictures.

I saw scuba divers heading into the water. Boy does that take me back. I dove these same waters 30 years ago. Watching them made me miss it. Maybe someday I’ll re-certify.