Category Archives: lighthouses

In Search of Angry Seas

Posted on by

Ok I was a good girl. I did not go out in the hurricane looking for storm photos. I stayed home. I was bored. But every time I’d think about venturing out I’d hear another horror story about tree limbs hitting cars or even whole trees falling… but one day is about my limit.

Hurricane Sandy: Tree crushes car

I was thrilled when I got up this morning and saw the sun trying to peak through. By 9 am it was shining brightly. There was a breeze but no major wind gusts. There was no reason for me to stay in today.

I had lots of places I could check out..The cape, Falmouth, Scituate, Jamestown and Newport RI??? No way would I get to all of them they were too spread out.

Scituate was on the news. Photos there looked pretty tame now so I headed south to Mattapoisett. Neds Point Light is pretty easy to get to and I figured it would give me an idea of what the ocean was like today. Getting there turned out to be the challenge. The Neds Point Rd. was closed with a huge tree down but one of the residents gave me directions to get around it. Those took me through a residential area with a lot of pine trees. It was easy to tell when you would see down branches because you’d smell that wonderful pine sent before you even saw  them.

Once I got to the lighthouse in its little park I couldn’t believe it. It was like nothing had happened.

The sky was blue, there was no damage and the seas were calm.

I enjoyed the ambiance for a bit then decided to head to RI, specifically Beavertail Sate Park. That place can kick up a surf without any storm. I was sure I’d find some big waves there.

To get there I had to go over the Claiborne -Pell Bridge. It’s a beautiful bridge. It’s huge!

When I got to the toll booth I asked if it had stayed open during the hurricane. The collector told me he was only going to tell me once…they need SUSTAINED winds of 69 miles per hour. He said they only had sustained winds of 45 MPH during hurricane Sandy.

I mentioned that I’d seen quite a few boats moored in the harbor as I came over the bridge, did they ride out the storm out there? He said yes, not the smartest thing to do.

Then my time was up. Another car was behind me. I wished my toll collector a good day and continues on my way.

Along the shore you could see the debris left by the storm so it was easy to judge how far up the waves had come but the road was clear and  before I knew it I was tuning down the road to Beavertail State Park. That’s when I saw the blue lights.  Oh oh road block. I made a left and parked, grabbed the camera and headed down the hill to the corner. A women coming up the hill said I was a day late..I should have seen it yesterday. As I suspected the road had been completely under water. (This is what it normally looks like)

Today they were cleaning it up and had the road closed so the workmen could complete the chore.

On a side note I was told that IF I was able to get across to the other side I would see a car floating in the bay. A woman had run 2 police barricades because she didn’t want to be trapped on the “wrong side” of the bay. When she got to the low-lying section the water was too high and carried her car into the bay. Here the story changes depending on who is telling it. Some says she swam to shore and was rescued by the police others say she got out before her car went in the drink. Either way what she did after that was walk to the nearest bar and get drunk. Most of the folks I spoke with said they hoped her insurance turned her down. They were pretty irritated by her irresponsibility.

I hung around for a bit but by 1:30 it was pretty clear it would be several more hours before they opened the road so I headed back across the bridge to Newport, RI.

Driving and Driving and Driving

Posted on by

The road to Pemaquid seemed to go on forever. It was a good road, well paved and now that the rain had stopped and the sun was out it was easy to look for signs if there were any.

I followed the road through little villages and long stretches with nothing but trees and the occasional farm. I questioned if I had missed a turn somewhere. I didn’t see any ocean. Shouldn’t there be ocean if I’m looking for a lighthouse?

It was almost lunchtime and I wasn’t seeing too many places to stop when I came over a rise in the road and there was this enormous lobster.

The sign in front of the restaurant was “Taste of Maine”. Why not. This was as good a place as any.

I was seated on the deck that looked out over a marshy tributary.

A few boaters were traveling the channel but mostly it was populated by ducks and other water birds. It was so peaceful. I could have just stayed there. Of course I had their baked scallop casserole. It was really good. Service was friendly and pleasant. It was just a nice experience. But all good things come to an end and I wanted to find this lighthouse so back on the road I go.

The trip (without counting the lunch stop) was definitely an hour and a half, maybe more and I am very glad I didn’t attempt this drive at 4 AM. I would have been really lost.  Finally I saw a little lighthouse sign! I’m on the right track. A few more miles and the road splits in the middle of a little hamlet. I crossed my fingers and took the right fork. Sure enough there was a sign. Lighthouse Park ahead. I still didn’t see any ocean. Those Maine distances came into play here. “Ahead” was probably about 7 miles.

The guide books all said that Pemaquid Light is best seen from the ocean but so many of my photographer friends and acquaintances raved about “shooting it” that I felt sure there must be a way to take it from land.

Entering the park I paid a small entrance fee and pulled into the dirt parking lot. The lighthouse was right in front of me.

The grounds were pretty busy. There were a few benches for people to sit and watch the ocean and you could climb up the tower to see the lens. It was hot and humid and as I stood inline I happened to notice a sign. It listed the usual restrictions and one extra one for  “Stout” people.

It really didn’t look like it would be that bad of a climb but I certainly qualify as “stout” so I wimped out. I didn’t want to get to the door and have them tell me no. I would have died of embarrassment so I wandered the grounds instead.

The rocks are amazing. I’ve heard them described as “waves frozen in stone”.

What a great description. I don’t think any of my pictures captured they way they truly looked. People were climbing down them out to a point that jutted into the ocean.

I wanted to head out there with the tripod. What a picture that would make! I actually started down but after nearly turning my ankle twice I decided to stop where I was. Whatever I managed to get from that vantage point would have to do. Old bones don’t mend easily.

After I wandered the lighthouse grounds I went next door to a little snack bar and souvenir shop. It was crammed. So many interesting things around.

Having satisfied myself with this visit I headed out to find a boat that could take me past the lighthouse.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It’s 4 am! What am I doing up???

Posted on by

This was the day I had planned to drive up to Pemaquid. Everyone tells me that the best time to photograph the lighthouse is at dawn. My research makes me think I will have an hour and a half drive from Portland. That means if sunrise is 5:30 am I have to be on my way by 4 am.

Beep Beep Beep my cell phone alarm let me know that it was time to rise and shine. Boy was it dark! I peeked out the window and the reason for the extreme darkness (besides being 4 am) was that it was raining, hard and from the looks of the halos around the street lights it was foggy too. The storm predicted  had finally arrived.

In that case there was only one thing to do….Go back to bed.

Nite….

Day is done, Gone the Sun

Posted on by

On April 13, 1899, President McKinley named the one-time subpost of Fort Preble, Cape Elizabeth’s first military fortification, Fort Williams. Named after Brevet Major General Seth Williams, Fort Williams grew to be a tremendous military asset during World War II. Besides protecting the shoreline of Cape Elizabeth, the infantry and artillery units provided the Harbor Defense for    Portland. After the war, many of the forts in Casco Bay were closed, including Fort Williams, which traded in its defense of the coast for caretaker status    and Army Reserve accommodations. Fort Williams was officially closed and    deactivated on June 30, 1963. (from Cape Elizabeth’s web site)

Today, Fort Williams is still one of the most treasured sites of Cape Elizabeth. Home to the oldest lighthouse in Maine, Portland Head Light.

As I made my way back to Fort Williams and Portland Head Light the bright blue skies faded and the wind began to blow. There’s be no sunset shots tonight. The predicted storm was on its way.

While I was out chasing the other lighthouses the tide had gone out so there wasn’t much surf even with the wind. But I was there and intended to make the most of it. I would stay until one of 3 things happened

  • It got too dark to see what I was doing
  • It started to rain
  • or until I got a good shot of the lighthouse

I’m happy to report that I didn’t have to stay until full dark and I didn’t get rained on. Did I get the shot? Well I’ll let you be the judge.

Lighthouses by Land

Posted on by

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.