Our stop in Portland, Maine has been interesting to say the least. While waiting out the arrival of Hurricane Irene we found it interesting in finding our way around Portland. Now Portland isn’t the largest city we’ve ever been in but it wasn’t all that easy to find your way around in either. If you were using the names of the streets in the city, the street names were very evident as you approached them but the street you were traveling on only showed up at the start and the very end. If you were to take a slight angle or 90 degree curve while staying with traffic, it would change names on you. Finally after the first day of confusion and distress we were able to get around by recognizing the buildings of the days before while negotiating the city. In the “Arts” district of Portland we found the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
You could almost feel his presence here in Portland with all the tales of his life and art that made up so much of Portland’s past. He was even highly evident when we visited the Portland Head Lighthouse. One of the markers at the lighthouse told the story of “H.W. L.” walking down and visiting with his friends (the master of the lighthouse) and writing some of his best works of poetry. The Portland Head Lighthouse also has another historical name attached to it.
This lighthouse was dedicated by President George Washington… Now we’re really getting into our countries history. All while of getting around the city and seeing some of the sights and sounds of Portland, we were patiently waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Irene.
We were aware of the possibility of Irene coming all the way up the coast while we were in Rockland and then when we arrived here in Portland it became evident we were right in the path. Then as we watched Irene coming across New York and the surrounding states we became more anxious. Fortunately for us and the people of Maine, what was left of Irene went west of us. We did get some of the winds and rain, but far from the damaging types that hit all around us. During this week we have stayed busy traveling up and down the coast visiting and exploring. In the 30 miles north of us we visited the cities of Bath, Yarmouth, and Freeport. Bath, Maine is well known for ship building and its magnificent waterfront.
Bath has been building the large sailing ships dating back to the early 1800’s and has found that it can still build the large ships of today. We could only see a couple of the semi-finished navy vessels sitting at their docks while we were crossing the bridge as the buildings and fences keep all the curious eyes denied. Freeport is the home of L.L. Bean and a beautiful little community sitting along the shores of the Atlantic.
I say on the shores of the Atlantic but it’s really the beaches of the many inlets that separate Freeport beachfront from the vast expanse of the ocean. As we walked one of the many parks of the area we looked out to see one island after another making a huge buffer from the crashing waves. Yarmouth is like most of the small towns of Maine…beautiful, old, quaint homes and businesses all sitting along narrow tree-lined streets and a waterfall flowing from the Royal River.
We have found the feeling of warmth isn’t only because of the weather here in Maine. Yarmouth has another reason for the tourist to come and visit…The DeLorme Headquarters for the famous map company and EARTHA.
Eartha is the world’s largest rotating and revolving globe and sits in the front window of their showroom while dwarfing everything else around it. Now before we leave town, we've decided we just have to take a drive to the shore and find dinner...LOBSTER AGAIN ???
