The tour of Portland started after a meeting I had at the University of Southern Maine, Gorham Campus. Our new logo was unveiled. Buzzy insisted on having his picture taken at the campus entrance sign with the new logo.
From there, we headed to Portland proper. Our first stop was Deering Oaks Park, where Buzzy conferred with and shared lunch with one of the Deering Outpost Squirrels. The squirrel briefed Buzzy on current (lack of) devilbunny activity in the Portland Region.
Next to get a true squirrel's eye view of the city, we proceeded up Munjoy Hill to the Portland Observatory. The Observatory was built in 1807 and is the last surviving maritime signal tower in the nation. In the days before telephones (or telegraphs for that matter), the citizens of Portland relied on those who manned the tower to relay which ships were coming into port or to alert the city doctor should a resident of a nearby island need medical help. All of this was done with different kinds of flags that would be flown from the tower. The tower was nearly lost due to a sever beetle infestation (which bore into the rotting wood like termites!) in the early 1990's. It has undergone extensive renovation and was reopened to the public just a couple years ago. On a clear day you can see 15-20 miles out to sea. In the other direction you can see the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
View towards the South: Portland Harbor. The oil rig platforms on the right are being serviced
by a local company for a Brazillian oil company.
View to the west down Congress Street towards downtown
Buzzy gazes towards downtown.
View of the Portland's Back Cove to the north.
View of Casco Bay towards the East.
From there we proceeded down the hill towards the Eastern Promenade. After another quick picture session, we checked out the Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. Unlike the regular railroads you are use to seeing, many of Maine's rail systems in the late 1800's through early 1900's was on narrow gauge (2 ft between the rails). I suspect this was partially due to our smaller/sparse population in comparison to other states. You can catch a ride on the narrow gauge if you wish.
Buzzy sitting on a rock just above the water near the Eastern Promenade Multi-Use
Trail
Buzzy in one of the passanger train cars. The seat backs can be reversed.
Next it was a walk along the busy (many, many tourists around) waterfront and through the Old Port shopping district. Most of this part of the city burned in 1866. The buildings here were built after the fire. About 30 years ago, local developers revived this then rundown area into the shopping unique shopping district it is today with more than 100 speciality shops and restaurants. This picture is a shot of one of the busier corners in the Old Port, Exchange and Fore Streets.
Then up Congress St. and pass Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's House. (Sorry, no tour, I'm too cheap to pay $7 for a tour!). If you don't know who he is, then you don't know 19th century American Poetry and one of our better poets of that time period.
Next, we passed through the Portland Market. I had a hard time reigning in Buzzy who kept staring down at all the fresh produce and nuts.
We then returning to the Stealth Lemon and drove down to Portland Headlight. Commissioned by President George Washington, it has stood at the entrance to Portland Harbor for more than 200 years. It is also the most photographed and painted lighthouse in the nation. Land's End clothing recently received a lot of bad publicity up this way for taking a picture of Portland Headlight and doctoring it with black stripes for one of their catalogs.
Portland Headlight from the north (looking south). Buzzy shows how natural squirrels are at
camouflage. Can you find him? (Hint: Look at the actual lighthouse tower and follow it down
into the rosebush.)
Portland Headlight from the south (looking north).
From there, we drove back towards Portland and stopped at Fort Preble in South Portland. It is the present day home of Southern Maine Community (formerly Technical) College. According to some employees of SMCC, when Fort Preble was decommissioned, it was offered to USM as a possible college campus. USM passed on it--their loss and SMCC's gain! Fort Preble was one of many forts in/around Portland Harbor erected to protect the city in the mid- 1800's. It was manned through World War II. Out from the fort is Spring Harbor Light.
Spring Harbor Light and the man-made granite breakwater leading out to it. The structure to the
left background is Fort Gorges. Peaks Island is to the right.
The view from Spring Harbor Light looking back on Fort Preble and SMCC.
Buzzy sitting in one of Fort Preble's cannon portholes.
A view of Portland Harbor from Fort Preble.
On the drive home from Portland, Buzzy insisted on stopping at Maine's #2 tourist destination (Acadia National Park is #1): LL Bean in Freeport. Much to his disappointment they were not equipped with any squirrel-sized equipment. I guess they haven't entered the squirrel apparel market yet. Of course, I warned Buzzy about this in advance, but he didn't believe me!
Again, Buzzy demonstrates his ability to blend in outside LL Bean.