More Acadia plus Portland...Maine!

More shots from Acadia.  This one was taken at the summit of Cadillac Mountain, 1500 feet above the sea.  Fog was racing across the landscape, which looked positively Northern Canadian with the granite and stunted trees.

Like the rest of New England, Acadia was scoured by glaciers during the Ice Age.  This boulder is another one of my favorites...a glacial erratic! 

The rugged Maine coast.  Maine's shoreline is singular in the Eastern US...it's the only state with a rocky, precipitous Atlantic coast.  From Cape Cod south to Florida, it's all low lying sand dunes.

The pink granite of Acadia is striking when the light's good.

The granite proved excellent for slotation, which I effected for a pleasant half hour.

Now I'm in Portland...Maine!  Growing up in Portland, Oregon, I learned in third grade history that my home town was named after Portland, Maine, because William Pettygrove, from Maine, had won a coin flip with Asa Lovejoy, from Boston.  It occurred in 1843 when both men had purchased land in a new settlement on the Willamette River that had previously been called Stumptown.  They each wanted to affix a more dignified name to the place...the major city in their home state.  To decide who would get his way, they did the coin toss.  The coin, an 1836 large cent, can be viewed in the Oregon Historical Society.  I had always wondered what Portland, Maine was like.  I visited briefly in 2006, and explored in more depth today...I'm staying overnight here.  Actually, the two Portlands resemble each other.  Each has a funky alternative scene, with many individualistic restaurants and brewpubs.  They're both major ports, with a lot of water around.  They both sport cool Victorian architecture.  And, yeah, they both have a lot of crummy weather...i.e. wet, and occasionally icy in winter.  Portland Maine gets a lot more snow.

A typical street in the Old Port section of Portland.  Looks like England or Ireland with all the adjacent brick townhouses.

The architecture on the side streets of Old Port is equally old, but less substantial.  You can almost see the sailors roaming these alleys more than a century ago, getting into trouble, being rowdy.

A typical eating/drinking establishment in downtown Portland. 

During much of the 19th century, Portland was one of the leading ports of the US.  Many of the merchants and sea captains who drove that economy built mansions here in the East End, about a mile from downtown on top of a bluff overlooking Casco Bay.  This is a fine area for strolling, and enjoying the water view at sunset.  It's a nice 'hood.

The architecture on the side streets of the East End is less ostentatious than the waterfront mansions, but equally cool. 

Casco Bay at sunset.  There are many islands in the bay, some of which are part of the city of Portland.  Many of the island residents commute daily to the city center by ferry.  Portland Maine is a cool place...I like it a lot!