#127 Portland, ME 7-27 thru 7-30-09

After leaving Salisbury Beach we headed north to Portland, Main. We stayed at the Portland Elks Lodge where we parked on the outside edge of the large parking lot and had 30 amps of electric to hook up to. How nice. We drove into Portland that evening and had a look at the wharf and ate dinner at a little restaurant on Commercial Street, which is the big tourist area. We made reservations to go back the next day on a trolley ride and boat ride combo.

We really lucked out and got an exceptional trolley driver. He knew so much of the history of the area, and so much about the architecture of the town, we really got an education.

The old stone church.

The tallest building in Maine, 16 stories high.

Check out the rock mosaic feature on the front of this house.

Can you see the wolves heads on the roofline? They are protecting the owners of this home.

This is where the workers and fishermen lived. They are row houses. They have been restored and are now condos. I loved all the different colors.

On our way up the the Portland Head lighthouse, our trolley driver stopped in front of one of the homes and many of us bought lemonade from the kids who had set up their lemonade stand in the front yard. I told you we had a great trolley driver! The day was clear and a little humid, so the lemonade really tasted good.

Portland Head lighthouse was originally commissioned by George Washington. Because of the Revolutionary War, money and materials were hard to come by. The lighthouse is built of natural stone from the surrounding area. It is still an operating lighthouse, but the lighthouse keepers home has been turned into a museum.

I hope you click on the picture and read the sign. It is pretty awesome to know we were walking the same paths that Longfellow walked and seeing the same sights that might have inspired some of his poems.

The Annie Maguire was wrecked here on Christmas Eve,1886. All hands were saved by the lighthouse keeper. The ship was unloaded by hand all week until it finally broke up and sank on New Years Day.

As you can see, the shore is nothing but rocks. Very rough.

The second part of the tour was by boat. The first thing we saw was a next of Osprey on and old pier. If you look close at the picture you can see one of the baby birds in the nest with a parent bird.

The above lighthouse is called “Button” lighthouse. It was given that name because it is cute as a button!

The view of the Portland Head lighthouse from the sea. It is getting a little foggy, as you can see in the picture.

This lighthouse is built on a point of land that at high tide is under water. It was built only when the tide was out. The waves during the storms go 80 feet up on the side of the lighthouse. The tower is hollow and when the waves hit the outside it is very, very loud.

The people who live out on the island year round have to commute by ferry every day. The children go to school on the mainland and have to get up early to catch the ferry and if they get detention, well it’s a motel for the night!

A lobster boat coming in with his traps.

There are row after row of Lobster trap markers. And below is just a couple of the different colors that they are painted. That is how each lobster man knows where his traps are set. All the color combinations are registered and that is how the territory is marked.

We went by a little island that the Atlantic seals like to sun on. We were told that they are different than the Pacific sea lions, because they don’t have reticulated rear flippers, so they cannot get up and “walk” on land like the Western seals can.

Back on the docks we took a walk down where the fish are hauled in and processed. Below is a up close look at a lobster trap.

We stopped here at the Lobster Pound to see if we could send a live lobster home to Ray (Dixie’s Son) for his birthday. Sure you can. The price of the lobster is reasonable, but shipping is over $100.00. So no lobster for your birthday, Ray!