Portland

Portland Breakwater Light, more commonly referred to as Bug Light, is a teeny beacon in Portland Harbor. A 24-foot high granite tower built in 1875 (first version was erected in 1855), it doesn't look too distinct - but is supposed to have been based on an ancient Athenian structure (the Choragic monument of Lysicrates).

The light was doused during WWII to provide cover for the Atlantic Fleet harbored here and only got switched back on in 2002.

For sure, the most awesome neighborhood in Portland, Maine is Old Port. The remarkable part is that I lived here when this was a decrepit warehouse district…but was fortunate enough to witness it transformed into today’s charming collection of pubs, eateries and shops right along the water. Utter charm oozes from the restored Victorian buildings lining beautiful cobblestone streets. You inhale salty sea air to acknowledge you are indeed by the sea, further reinforced by the constant cry of seagulls (which I used to call ‘sky rats’ when I was a resident…but absence makes the heart grow fonder, I guess).

This can transport you back to sailing days a couple centuries ago and another cool aspect is that this remains a working waterfront --- which means great fresh seafood! While there are many of your typical ‘tourist junk’ places, the selection of really cool art shops is amazing - favorite is Abacus (on Exchange Street in the Old Port), a stunning gallery that was my preferred Christmas shopping spot for a decade --- their tasteful presentation of jewelry, paintings, sculptures and more makes it like a free museum, but if you are like me it will be impossible to exit without making a purchase. Another excellent store is Maxwell’s Pottery, down on Fore Street (just head towards the water from Abacus)…great pieces!

Of course if you make it to Fore Street you should definitely visit its namesake restaurant, which I believed I reviewed on TravBuddy some time ago. But this neighborhood is jumping with great dining establishments and I can also heartily recommend Street & Company.(on Wharf Street, which is foot traffic only!). Both of these eateries are a bit expensive, but that is only because you are getting really fine dining…without the stuffy atmosphere. I wouldn’t dare recommend Portland to anyone without insisting they sample both of these masterpieces.

After dinner, you have your choice of many pubs and micro-breweries. Will confess that being an old fart who has been absent from the scene for six years, I can’t suggest any hip dance clubs. However, if you like to enjoy a good quaff and chat with friends, Gritty McDuff’s is a superb recommendation. This micro brewery makes splendid dark brews and pre-dates the micro-brewery rage (i.e., I think they were the first one in Maine)…pretty sure they are on Fore Street, but I was always a little foggy when I exited, lol.

Won’t continue to ramble, but no trip to Portland is complete without rambling on down to the waterfront…you will not be disappointed by all that Old Port has to offer!

Portland Discovery is a relatively new land & sea tour operator in these parts – when I lived here there was no regular service to Eagle Island. Offering a variety of boat tours in addition to trolley tours of the city, everything departs from Long Wharf, which is on Commercial Street along the Old Port’s waterfront.

Though I can only attest that the Eagle Island Tour is fantastic, it leads me to conclude Portland Discovery’s other offerings are a value as well. The boat we took to Eagle Island wasn’t luxurious, but comfortable and equipped with a rest room. Our captain offered an intermittent dialogue both ways, which I found interesting. Though I had been out sailing these parts with friends, the chat on those voyages was always focused on tending to the boat. Despite wanting to feel like I “knew” these waters relative to my companions on the tour, almost all of the stories the captain shared were new to me.

Even better, the commentary wasn’t annoying – he wasn’t constantly chatting, but would switch the mike on as we passed by something which seemed to jog his memory. Assuming he did this five days a week, I was impressed that his stories sounded so fresh and inspired. A couple of Portland Discovery’s other boat tours are the “Lighthouse Lovers Cruise” and the “Sunset Lighthouse Cruise” --- if you find yourself in Portland and aching to get out on the water, this operator is probably a good bet!

Please don’t confuse the Portland Observatory with astronomy. The octagonal tower atop Munjoy Hill in Portland was never intended to see the stars…it was only meant to see the sea. Lemuel Moody, a former sea captain, raised the structure in 1807 to identify vessels entering Portland Harbor hours before anybody else knew. Today the tower is fairly lost amongst all the modern structures, but it is the sole remaining maritime observatory in America and was virtually the only structure on Munjoy Hill for it’s first seventy years.

Time is money, and Moody’s tower aimed to give the local ship owners a heads up that one of their boats would soon need laborers to unload goods. For $5 a year, you simply gave Moody the flag your vessels raised. When Moody espied your ship from his loft, he would raise your flag along with a banner indicating what type of vessel it was (many of the ship merchants had large fleets with many different size ships). He would also hoist a number of globes to indicate his estimate of how many hours it would be until the boat arrived at the dock.

Though this didn’t strike me as a money maker, the observatory remained in business until 1922, when Marconi’s two-way radio finally put it under.

I found this to be a very interesting tour. You basically climb up six landings, stopping at each for a brief commentary from the tour guide (volunteers from the Portland Landmarks Society). The octagon was based on eight pillars from giant Maine White Pines…each of the original 65’ trunks remain as the foundation (though they have inserted a central pillar to add support for the floors on each landing). They do not tar or stain any wood they replace, so the interior is a crazy wood quilt which I found remarkable – quite a lot of the original wood structure from two hundred years ago remains.

Another tidbit I chuckled over was that the foundation. There is no concrete or girders embedded into the earth, just twenty tons of rock which the beams sit in. After all, the tower was designed by a former ship captain who was sold on the beauty of ballast! The lack of a sturdy foundation and the fear that a strong wind would topple something of such height always taunted the Observatory, but two hundred years is probably a safe rebuttal (Moody had maintained the octagonal shape would insulate the structure from high winds).

Though this is not a usual tour stop for those visiting Portland, it is rich with the essence of local history and I would heartily add it to your itinerary if you want to experience this remarkable city.

I try to avoid restaurant reviews because they seem so fleeting and I find it strange photographing my meal, lol (though I will confess TB is revising my opinion of pictures – I took more pictures of Maine this weekend then I did during the ten years I lived here!). However, Street & Company was one of our favorite restaurants in Old Port fifteen years ago and after dining here tonight it passes the resiliency test.

There are probably newer and trendier restaurants around, but if you are searching for a first class meal in Portland I doubt this would disappoint. Street & Company is set in an old brick building on Wharf Street (a delightful cobblestone pathway which gets closed to auto traffic at dusk). Spread across three rooms, the middle section features the open kitchen and I have always been amazed watching the chefs expediently dispatching orders amidst belches of flame. The first room you enter is a classy wine bar and the third is another dining area.

Seafood is obviously a primary ingredient, typically co-mingled with a variety of pastas and local ingredients (such as goat cheese). The wait staff remains very young, I suspect they are mostly local college students, and extremely proficient and friendly. It was a bit odd eating here solo tonight, but it felt like coming home so I felt like an old hand despite not knowing a soul.

Reinforcing my confidence that this review will not get stale in a month or two, I was delighted to see their spicy Frau Diavolo still featured. Unfortunately this lobster extravaganza is a two-person serving so I had to pass, but here’s what I savored: lentil soup with (local) sausage, followed by an absolutely amazing salad of peppers, onions and salt cod (tastes like pickled herring) and an entrée of shrimp with garlic and tomatoes over angel hair pasta. Did I mention the amazing fresh baked bread they serve? Just an incredibly edible destination in Old Port!

They also have a very hip web site, check it out --- http://www.streetandcompany.net/home