Acadia was the main draw for my trip to Maine, to be sure, but I had decided that since I was making all this effort to go, I might as well make the trip comprehensive. To that end, I set out Monday morning for Portland, with a few stops along the way.
First, I arrived back in Bangor, and finally got to see the waterfront I'd missed out on two days prior:
wooooo.
Next, another hour down the road, was Augusta, the capital of Maine. You know me and my capitals, so I had to make this a stop on my journey. This one was a bit more than just a quick snap of a photo at the waterfront (although I did do that too). First, I was starving, so I had lunch at a wrap place called Wrapped Up, which was nearby the Capitol building, my main point of interest to see, and where I headed next:
and actually was able to go inside this time!
Then the Capitol park:
Then the aforementioned waterfront:
Then a coffee shop in the downtown area for a pick-me-up:
which was also, weirdly, called Wrapped Up. I am assuming they are affiliated? But the wrap shop did not sell coffee and the coffee shop did not sell wraps. Odd!
My next destination's a little weird. In the early 80s, before children, my parents took a New England road trip, which only just detoured into Maine. They made it as far north as Freeport, where the original L.L. Bean store is, before turning back. Thus, I made it a point to stop at that same shop, some 40-odd years later, just to see if it had changed:
Last but not least, just another 30 or so minutes down the road, was my final destination of Portland. As of this writing, I work at the Portland library in Louisville, but that connection is not really why I chose to come here. Rather, it's just that it's the largest city in the state - a strong enough reason on its own, but also meaning that there was a decent sized airport to fly out of.
Largest city, by the way, at about 66,000 people. Maine is one of five states in the U.S. with no cities at 100,000 or more in population. Trivia time - can you name the other four??
After getting settled in the hotel, I had just enough time to make my way downtown to Portland proper and see the sunset. And what a sunset she was!
The downtown of Portland sits on a peninsula, and this was at the top end of that peninsula, looking back across the bay to the other side. The embers of daylight filled the sky and covered the surface of the water, causing the whole horizon to bloom into a fiery glow, and creating a fairly magical atmosphere.
Once I had finished taking 10,000 photos of the sunset, I strolled through the rest of the series of parks at the northeast end of the peninsula as the last of the light died away:
culminating in I think one of my favorite panos I've ever taken:
I ended the evening with ice cream from a place in town, then returned to my hotel room.
It hadn't occurred to me until just that evening that I could try the sunrise again, here, that Tuesday morning. Sure, it was no Cadillac Mountain, but the vantage point from these parks would still make for an incredible view, weather permitting. Sunrise was even to be at the far more reasonable time of 5:02 AM! So I decided to give it a go.
I think it turned out well!
I returned to my hotel and went back to bed for another three or so hours, getting back up at what still would be considered a reasonable time.
The main item on the agenda for that day was seeing the area's lighthouses, which spread across the cape to the south of Portland. I spent late morning and early afternoon tooling around from one to the next, hitting four in total. There was the Bug Light:
Spring Point Ledge:
A bit further down, the big one: Portland Head Light
Where I probably spent most of my lighthouse hunting time, climbing around on those coastline rocks. And experimenting with iPhone's Long Exposure feature:
And lastly, Two Lights:
which had an adjacent state park, but you had to pay to get in. Nope!!
Next to the Spring Point Ledge lighthouse, I'd seen a beach - like a proper, sand-based beach - and decided that since I hadn't swam at Sand Beach in Acadia, now was the time to check that activity off the list. With the lighthouses seen, I returned to the hotel, changed into my swim suit, then returned to Willard Beach. My intention was to swim for about 30 minutes, not too long, then get back to the hotel to rinse off, but I hadn't accounted for water temperature. Even though the day was now boilingly hot - a proper summer's day, and a far cry from the mild 60s & 70s I'd had in Acadia - the water was ice cold, enough so that just walking along the surf actually hurt my feet, and definitely ruled out any full-on swimming. After a brief stroll up and down the beach, I called it quits.
Dinner followed, then as the unbearably hot weather subsided with the onset of evening, I returned to downtown Portland to walk around one last time and get yet another treat, this time gelato.
and a little jam band was playing!
Portland charmed me. The downtown area especially had this great vibe, was very walkable, and had great scenery. High recommendation. Plus, it was cathartic to get my sunrise and sunset in, after having missed out on them both in Acadia. Things felt balanced out.
Another early, early morning was to follow, in order to get me to Portland International Jetport and my 6:00 AM flight on time. All went according to plan. I watched the east coast shrink and drift past as I returned to points south.
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