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.

With several hours to wait for dark I amused myself taking pictures of the surf and the gulls. I wasn’t the only one.

Photo of the Week~Week 31

Posted on August 4, 2012August 4, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Portland Head Light

The Summit

Posted on July 23, 2012July 23, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Because of the time and because we were thirsty and hungry at this point, we skipped some of the scenic turn offs after the Bubble Rock adventure and just headed for the summit. I can’t say we made a Bee line because the road was still quite twisty as it wound around the mountain.

The views were amazing. It’s easy to see why this is a National park.

Finally turning the last corner we saw the parking area for the summit of Cadillac Mountain. It really is a “bald” summit. There’s no tree cover to speak of, just a cap of rocks.

The snack bar had some ice cream and snack foods like nuts and power bars and some local treats like blueberry candy but no real food. Not even hot dogs. It did have restrooms however and that was almost as much of a priority at this point as food.

I bought a fruit drink and a water and met JR at the car. We took out the cooler and found a rock to sit on while we had out “makeshift” lunch. My left over french toast was coming in handy. It wasn’t bad cold.

Properly refreshed we wandered over the rocks taking in the magnificent views of Frenchman’s Bay.

With virtually no shade, staying on the summit for the rest of the day in the hot sun wasn’t an option. We decided to move on and return for a sunset visit.

When we planned the trip I said I wanted to see the lighthouses. JR said they were all in the park. Now he spread a map out and only one lighthouse showed up. So with JR navigating and me driving we set off back down the mountain the see if we could find this one lighthouse.

Pretty soon we had crossed out of the park and were passing through little towns and rural fields. Eventually we reached Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.

We were able to walk right down to it but didn’t see any paths or trails around it. Since I have been back I have learned that there is a trail to the rocks below. The pictures I had seen of this light were all taken from out to sea. If I ever get back to that area again I will have to look into that.