New2Maine.com

One of the best places we’ve found to walk our dog so far is the Back Cove area of Portland. There is a three or four mile path around the cove, drinking fountains (with dog bowls) every mile or so, and some beautiful views of the city. We brought the camera on a recent evening walk, and here are some of the results. These photos were taken at low tide, so the foreground isn’t quite as nice as it could be, but the vistas are still very pretty (in our opinion anyway). These photos are part of our “In and Around Portland” photoset. Click this link for the full photoset.

Update: I’ve also added a few taken at night. They’re not perfect–I’ll need to bring my tripod down with me one evening. But they do give a nice idea of what the city lights look like from Back Cove at night.

She and I took a late-afternoon trip down to Deering Oaks Park to catch the tail end of the Fifth Annual Festival of Nations on Saturday. The event ran from 2:00 pm - 8:30 pm, and we get there around 6:30 or so. I think we came too late. By the time we arrived, several of the vendors had started or finished packing up, and the crowd had thinned considerably. We did manage to find some good food–I had a chicken gyro and She had some West Indies-style curried chicken. We also hung out for a while and watched the band. It was a good time, but I’m not sure I’d be terribly upset if we weren’t around for the Sixth Annual Festival next year.

I did snap a couple of fun pictures at the festival and in the park. I was fortunate enough to be sitting right behind a woman having a ball with two of her adoptive children, and I managed to catch a fun one of a man walking on his hands down by the park pond. I also grabbed a shot of the band. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch the name of the band, but they had a pretty good beat. These pictures are part of our “In and Around Portland” photoset. Click here to see the full photoset in Flickr.

Kinda makes you want to get up and dance, no?

Just a quick note that we’ve finally started uploading some photos from our Maine adventure. You can check out our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/new2maine/ to see what we’ve got. I’ve also added a widget to the sidebar here which will display thumbnails of the five most recent. So far we’ve only got the photos from our day at Scarborough Beach posted, but there will be more in the coming days and weeks (especially once my desk arrives and I can set up my Mac again–I hate my work laptop). Here’s one from the beach to put you in the mood to come to Maine:

Now doesn’t that make you want to head out to the beach and cool off? This pic is part of our “Maine Beaches and Parks” photoset.

It’s been hot up here. Like, really hot. And humid. This is not really the weather we moved up here for, but at least it cools down enough at night that we’ve been able to sleep alright with just a fan. As a cure for the heat, She and I headed over to Scarborough State Beach this afternoon for a quick dip and some sunbathing. Living only 10-15 minutes from the ocean is fabulous. The sea breezes and sound of crashing waves at the beach were just what we needed to refresh our bodies and our spirits. We’ve also previously been to Higgins Beach, and I think we liked that a little better, but Scarborough Beach was just what the doctor ordered today.

Update: For some photos from our day at the beach, take a look at this photoset on Flickr.

This is just a quickie post so She doesn’t yell at me because we’re not yet finished unpacking, but we live in Maine! We got up here and unloaded the truck in a light drizzle on Monday and have been busy unpacking and organizing since. We’re not done yet, but we’re getting there. We went out and picked up some lamps and a few other pieces of furniture (more on this in a later post), and we finally got cable, internet, and home phone today. I can’t tell you how good it feels to be connected to the outside world again.

But, the feeling of living in Maine is even better! The weather has been great since Tuesday (mid 80s and a bit of humidity). Forest Avenue is busier than we’d like, but it’s a quick walk over to the cemetery or Baxter Woods, and a slightly longer walk to Back Cover. All things considered, the location is pretty good, if you don’t mind traffic noises. We’ll see how well we adjust to that again. Our last place in New York was at the end of a very quiet cul-de-sac.

Okay, time to head out to transfer insurances, order driver licenses, and a few other errands. I’ll post more later. She and I are Mainers!