(continued)
6/26/02
Today's journey took us to Portland for the second planned daytrip
of this vacation (the first being Bar Harbor). Portland was considerably
closer, clocking in at almost exactly an hour away. We were on
the road by 11:00 AM on another warm, sunny day.
Route to Portland from Edgecomb.
I was in the market for some outdoor wear,
so along the way we made a pit stop in Freeport to see the L.L.
Bean factory outlet. We were both unimpressed with the selection
and less with the prices. We didn't hang out in Freeport long.
Portland was easy to find. We decided to park
the car at one of the first lots that we found, in South Portland
near City Hall and a small park. The sign said $16 for the day
or $2 an hour. We weren't sure what else we would find, but later
learned that parking is plentiful in Portland, with lots and garages
much closer to the attractions.
Our first stop was the Portland Observatory.
It turned out to be located five or six-blocks uphill from where
we parked. We took the 30 minute guided tour of the tower with
one other couple. We stopped on each floor for some background
on the building and builder, and eventually reached the top where
we could see for miles.
View of South Portland from the observatory.
The thing that I found most interesting about
the history of the tower is that the builder did not keep any
drawings or blue prints. So when the restoration was done, they
had to study the construction and determine how it was built given
the technology of the day.
The other thing of interest is that the tower
is not rooted in the ground with any type of foundation. 122 tons
of stone ballast in the bottom has kept it steady for 200 years.
Looking down along the watch tower.
After the tour we walked back toward the shopping
district, stopping at a couple shops along the way, including
another large used bookstore. As we approached City Hall, we started
to get hungry so we decided we would seek out one of the two sushi
places that were recommended to us. By this point we were already
feeling the effects of the sun, and really needed to find some
shade. Our maps indicated the sushi place was several blocks away,
tucked in the far corner of the downtown area, but in the opposite
direction of the shops and other attractions.
Still, we were hungry, and sushi was on the
agenda for our Portland dining experience. We eventually found
Benkay Japanese Restaurant on India Street, near a large shipping
crane. The sushi bar was top notch, with three sushi chefs slicing
fish in between glances at the tennis match on the TV. We both
ordered an 18-piece platter that was reasonably priced ($13) and
which came with miso soup.
While we were waiting for our order, I overheard
a man reminiscing with an old friend about his band in the Portland
area. Later, I learned his name was Ron and that he was a musician
from the blues band In The Red. I asked him for the skinny on
music stores in Portland, hoping I might find a place that could
help me with my microphone problem, and Ron recommended a couple
places, though he said Portland was hurting for music stores.
About the size of Harrisburg, if not bigger, that was surprising
to me.
The eldest sushi chef struck up a conversation
with us, asking us where we were from. Then we freaked him out
with our inquiry about the tradition of sushi in Thai restaurants.
So far in Maine we'd encountered at least two Thai places offering
sushi. He looked at us aghast, just as dumbfounded as we were
when we came across the culinary curiosity.
Benkay turned out to be on India Street, in the foreground near
this shipping crane (shot taken earlier from the tower).
After lunch we roamed the streets in the hot
sun for a little while, trying to place ourselves in the area
with the most shops to jump in and out of. In Portland that's
a challenge because everything is spread out. There are many ethnic
restaurants, including at least two Indian places, a Vietnamese
place, and the usual Chinese establishments. After a stop in a
book shop and a specialty food store, we headed toward the Portland
Market.
Portland tourist shops and businesses.
I enjoyed the market at least half as much
as Audra did. Audra had been looking for Maytag Blue Cheese and
found it there. I was just taking in all the colors and tasting
some samples. We both wish there were some place like this close
to home.
Audra's quest for Maytag Blue Cheese ended here.
After resting, we continued on to the Portland
Museum of Art (www.portlandmuseum.org).
I don't have any pictures from inside the museum because they
were forbidden in most cases. One of the main displays was of
Paul Caponigro, a Massachusetts photographer who does a lot of
close-up, black and white work, usually with a nature theme. I
can honestly say that I liked his stuff, though I couldn't tell
you why. Maybe because it was unpretentious, and had a Zen quality
to it.
Also on display were a number of oil paintings,
19th Century American glassware from the Greenberg Collection,
sculpture, antiques and other work of European origin. My favorite
painting in the museum, was Dark Harbor Fisherman by Winslow Homer.
Audra noted it as a favorite too. The museum was about to close,
so after a brief look at the gift shop we moved on.
Sculpture from outside the museum.
There was much more to do in see in South
Portland, but it sun was beating down, and we still had to walk
back to the car. The Maine Mall, about 15 minutes away from downtown,
was our next stop because we knew it would be air-conditioned.
The mall was of moderate size, but not huge. Anchored by a JC
Penney, Macy's and Best Buy, it was really your typical mall with
a few specialty shops like Discovery Store.
I found one of the books I was looking for
in the Walden Books, but aside from that I was unimpressed with
our mall experience. Our feet were killing us from walking all
day, so we were looking forward to taking a break for dinner.
But not before we made a stop at Borders Books & Music, which
was a separate store outside of the mall itself. I found another
book I was looking for, and Jai Uttal's new CD.
After leaving Borders, we drove down the highway
near the mall looking for a place to eat. There were several typical
places like TGI Fridays, but we chose Panera. At first glance,
and probably due to the heat exhaustion, Audra thought it was
a Pier I due to the décor. On closer inspection it was
a restaurant serving an assortment of fresh made sandwiches on
fresh bread, salads and soups. They also had a full menu of coffees
and teas, much like a coffee shop. Best of all it was cool inside,
and there were places to sit down.
I got the salmon and asparagus soup with a
side of Asian chicken salad and one half of a Mediterranean veggie
sandwich. Audra got a fruit salad with poppy seed dressing and
a roast beef sandwich with horseradish dressing. Except for my
soup, which was very good, this was the only meal of our trip
that did not involve seafood as the main attraction. It was a
very satisfying meal nonetheless, and we were both refreshed afterward,
but looking forward to getting back to the cottage.
Once we got home we unwound with some reading.
We had to tend to an ingrown hair in my leg that had been brewing
since the day before. By then it had formed a red welt and had
become painful to the touch. Sleep that night was more difficult
than most, with lots of squirrel activity in the walls and ceiling.
Snails.
6/27/02
We spent half the day at the cottage reading and writing. I did
some more exploring of the dock area. I found the remains of some
sort of mammal that was either washed up on the shore or eaten
there in the recent past.
We had a locally inspired lunch featuring
sandwiches made with lobster from one of the roadside stands,
and salad with the Maytag blue that Audra got in Portland.
Our outing for the day was the Cabbage Island
Clambake. The trip included a boat ride on the Argo, dinner on
the island, and some time to explore. Cabbage Island, which is
owned and run by the Moore family as a side business during the
tourist season, is in the Linekin Bay, east of Boothbay Harbor.
Cabbage Island is in the Linekin Bay, on the East side of Boothbay
Harbor.
The boat ride to the island was about 40 minutes
long, and included scenic views of some of the other islands alone
the way. As we got further away from the mainland, the temperature
dropped considerably. We both had jackets, but I could have used
an additional layer of clothing.
Leaving the Boothbay Harbor we passed a Navy ship.
Once on the island, we chose a picnic table
and did some browsing around the immediate area. Then the first
bell rang indicating it was chowder time - fish chowder to be
exact. The second bell rang, signifying that dinner was ready.
The dinner consisted of two whole lobsters, a dozen clams, baked
potato, ear of corn, roasted onion and hard-boiled egg. We had
a fresh blueberry cake dessert that was still warm when they brought
it to us.
Clams and lobster were steamed in this device.
After dinner I did some heftier exploring
of the south side of the island. Well, not exactly "hefty",
since I was wearing sandals. On my flip-floppy hike I found a
number of different rock formations and plants that I hadn't seen
before, and the grave of one of the elder Moore's. I also found
what appeared to be rock monuments, but they were unmarked.
Algae on Cabbage Island.
I found some ospreys (medium sized hawks)
flying near the tip of the island. I was in awe of one in particular
as it swooped down near my head repeatedly. The Steve Erwin side
of me pushed on to get some pictures of this, but they didn't
come out too well as they nearly collided with me in their attacks.
I later learned that I was standing right below a nest they had
built in the tree at the end of the island, and that they do defend
their territory by nature.
Stone monument on the south end of Cabbage Island.
I had enough of the bird attack, so I met
up with the rest of the unit. Before we left I noticed that the
north end of the island could also be explored, but there wasn't
enough time. Audra and I agreed this was a must-do trip again,
so I'm sure we'll be back. The Argo headed back to Boothbay Harbor.
All told the trip, including dinner, was just over three hours.
After another grocery store stop, we returned
to the cottage to make tea and taste some of the other local goodies
we purchased along the way, including a fig ginger jelly. Audra
made the mistake of running the microwave and the toaster oven
at the same time, and something blew a fuse. We had been warned
about the possibility of electrical outages in the cottage if
certain things were used at the same time. It looked as if the
microwave was dead, but it was too late to call anyone for help.
We later learned that the outlet had gone bad, but not the microwave.