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Part of our Saturday exploring Maine’s southern coast with His parents included a stop at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth to see Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in America. This was the second time She and I had been to Portland Head, but the previous visit was in winter, so we didn’t spend too much time walking around. This time we took several photos, took a walk down the path that runs along the coast to snap some more pictures and see the lovely rocky coastline, and went in the museum.

For $2.00, the museum is a nice way to make a donation to the upkeep of the park and the buildings supporting the lighthouse. We were saddened to hear people complaining about not getting anything in exchange for their $2, especially once we learned that the park is supported by the town of Cape Elizabeth and receives not state or federal funding. Come on people, it’s $2! You probably spend more than that (by quite a bit) on your morning Starbucks run. Ok, sorry, I’m off my soapbox.

If (when?) you visit the Portland area, do yourself a favor and travel down Rt. 77 in Cape Elizabeth to stop at Fort Williams Park and check out Portland Head. The views from the shore are quite nice, and the lighthouse itself is just so photogenic. There are several more shots in my photoset on Flickr.

This past weekend we had our first house guests since we’ve moved to Maine. My parents came up Friday afternoon for an introduction to Portland and an explanation of why it is that we moved up here. First up, after a lengthy drive from Connecticut exacerbated by rain and a traffic accident, was a trip down to Old Port for dinner. After striking out on reservations at both Fore Street and Street & Co., we had a 7:00 table at Cinque Terre on Wharf St. We parked in the garage on Fore St. and wandered down into the cobblestone section of Old Port to show His parents around. We stopped at Wine Bar for a glass each and some of their delicious garlic olive oil and baguette, then headed next door for dinner.

Cinque Terre is a lovely space–not overly pretentious, but it definitely feels like an upscale restaurant. When we’d been seated, the waitress introduced herself and went over the menu. The left-hand side was a la carte items, and the right-hand side was that evening’s tasting menu–a six-course meal selected by the chef. My mom not being a seafood fan, she went the build-your-own route because two of the courses were seafood ravioli and scallops, but She, He, and dad selected the tasting menu. Unfortunately, we’d already ordered wine before deciding on the tasting menu, so we did not go with the suggested wine flight. That will be something to keep in mind for next time.
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Whilst at lunch with us, reader SteveG mentioned that he’d been reading the blog of another new Mainer, a college professor and his wife who recently moved out to Portland from Santa Barbara, California. He goes by Ickenham, though I’m not certain whether that’s his real name or not. His wife’s name is Watoosa, so you never know.

Anyway, I took a look at his blog, The Monocle, and decided I’d try to get in touch with him. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn’t seem to include a “contact the author” link (like mine, here), so I had to leave a comment and ask him to contact me. We’ll see what happens. I do hope he writes, as I think She and I might get along with them fairly well. I even noticed that they’re Episcopalians, as She and I are, so perhaps we could do a bit of church shopping together.

While we were out two weekends ago, She and I stopped into Portland Pie Company on Fore Street for a few slices. We’d previously eaten at the Westbrook location, which is much larger than the Portland location, and liked what we’d had, so we figured it was worth another stop. We were right. Though the Portland store is pretty small (seating for maybe 18 people), the atmosphere is what a hometown pizza joint should be. The specialty pizzas were quite good, and they had a decent variety of beer and soft drinks as well.

I had The Downeast, their version of buffalo chicken pizza, and loved it. She tried The Great Diamond (garlic, olive oil, vine ripe tomatoes, feta, and fresh basil, no red sauce) and was similarly impressed. Unfortunately, the slice of regular old pepperoni that I had wasn’t nearly as good. Their red sauce was unimpressive. However, if you’re into somewhat non-traditional pizzas, you should definitely stop at Portland Pie (perhaps on your was to Uná or Brian Boru?) and sample their specials for the day. You won’t be disappointed.

The weather here in Portland could not have been better on Sunday. It was in the low 80s with lots of sunshine and very little humidity. A perfect Maine summer day. Taking advantage of that fact, I decided to catch the ferry out to Peaks Island for some lunch and a little reggae at Jones’s Landing. I’ve heard about the Sunday afternoon reggae from several different people and decided it was time to check it out. I’m glad I did.

The 12:15 PM Sunday ferry to Peaks is packed when the weather is nice, so either take the 11:15 (or the 1:15), or be sure you’re in line at Gate 5 plenty early. I was around back of the pier at about 11:50 and got on just fine. Upon landing there was a long line at the entrance to Jones’s, so I decided to stroll around a bit and grab a beer and a bite to eat at The Inn first. Unfortunately, the cask of Old Thumper was kicked just before I ordered mine (literally–the guy in front of me ordered the last two), but the Shipyard Summer Ale is pretty good this year, so I had that and the turkey BLT instead. A very good sandwich, but a bit pricey at $8.95. I really went in for the cask-conditioned Old Thumper, so watching it get kicked in front of me was very disappointing.
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