Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Portland. Excursion: The Best of Maine: Portland Head Light & Kennebunkport.

Heading along Eastern Promenade

Paul got a call during the night - there was thick fog and he was needed on the bridge. So he did a few hours stint 'on the watch', and headed back to bed around 4am. He was given time to sleep in but he was not a happy chappy when my alarm clock went off. Apparently he went back to sleep but was not a happy chappy when his own alarm clock went off - he had to get up at 9am (rather than 7am) and start his day's work.

Today there was a difference in the way the tours were handled off the ship. Instead of guests going into the showroom about half an hour to 15 minutes before their tour departed, they were asked to head straight down to the pier where they were directed to their tour bus. It seemed to work very well and I think, for the Canadian ports, that will be the way things will be run until the Maasdam gets back to the USA.

Portland Head Light

I found the tour bus to which I had been assigned to and met Judy, a petite elderly guide. She was the same height as me so no craning my neck to look upwards for a change! I was glad I was with her for the day because she turned out to be a fun and very bubbly person.

Our first part of the tour was a drive around Portland to give us an idea of what the city looked like. We drove along the Eastern Promenade, passed the City Hall, Cathedral, Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and other places of interest.

Fort Williams

From there we headed to Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Light. Apparently Fort Williams served as a military outpost for coastal defence during the Spanish American War and the Korean War. The lighthouse itself was commissioned by George Washington in 1791 and is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. We had time to wander around the grounds and to take photographs.

Wedding Cake house

The Bush estate at Walker's Point

Back in the bus Judy kept us entertained with her version of history and places of interest to visit, but not boring anyone - bearing in mind that there were a few teenagers with us today. As a result, the drive to Kennebunk went very quickly. At Kennebunk we passed by the 'Wedding Cake' house. The house looks like a wedding cake and the story that Judy told us was that Captain Bourne, a ship's captain, got married but was unable to take his bride on a proper honeymoon because he had to go back to sea. So, he had the house built as a gift for his bride. Wikipedia gives a totally different version of events - here is the link: Wikipedia & Wedding Cake House . Unfortunately the house starting to look a bit tatty and needs restoring. It looked very unusual though and would be well worth a proper visit. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go in.

Kennebunkport

Our drive through Kennebunk also took us past Barbara Bush Gardens, Walker’s Point (on which the Bush estate stands), and past Victorian style and ‘shingle’ style houses. It is a very pretty area.

Pier staff letting go the Maasdam's ropes - we are setting off!

Eventually we arrived in Kennebunkport where we had plenty of time to explore and have lunch. Kennebunkport is very popular and is a sweet little harbour town with art galleries, antique shops, 'boutique' shops, a hotel, restaurants and much more. I happily wandered around the village (I forgot to take photographs though!) and forgot to have lunch. We could have probably spent more time in the town but we had to get back to the Maasdam on time.

On the way back Judy talked about the lobster industry and 'husbandry'. She got out a fake plastic lobster and gave an improvised demonstration how it is caught (using a miniature lobster pot), how it is sized; whether male or female, and why lobsters claws are banded. At times Judy had some of the guests in tears with laughter.

The Maasdam's route to Saint John from Portland.

We made it back to the pier with about half an hour to spare so some of the guests had a quick dash around the waterfront, others went back to the ship.

It has been a lovely day. I hope tomorrow will be just as good!

I have managed to quickly film the lighthouse as the Maasdam headed out of the bay.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Drive through Portland