Maine Visit

Our recent lack of updates can be blamed on #1: we just moved in! (a month and a half ago...) and #2: photostream on the iPad (it's so easy!). But I'm determined to actually post on here, since the photostream is hardly an archival method of recording all the fun stuff we do! In starting over, I decided to begin with the present – so here's the first post of pictures from our visit to Maine this past weekend.

On Friday, we went down to the Old Port, a cool area of Portland with cobblestone streets and old buildings and views of the water. The two of us and Matt's parents all went on a boat tour of Portland's lighthouses and it was really fun (and educational!). Like the Lolly the Trolly tour we did in Cleveland!









Our tour started out in Casco Bay, where Portland sits. It was a really busy waterway, with all kinds of boats out. Since there are so many small islands off the coast of Maine, lots of "every day" things happen on the water instead of in the streets. Like delivering mail, and commuting to work or school! In the last picture, you can see how we went right by an osprey nest with an osprey sitting right on top! If I had a zoom lens I'd have gotten a closer picture...in real life, we were just about level in height with the huge bird, who just watched us as we passed by.









After passing by a few lighthouses that we visited on land back in December, we briefly went out into the Atlantic. It was definitely much bumpier than in the bay! Luckily, there were no problems with seasickness and we all just enjoyed the views. The little desolate lighthouse above is built on a tiny rocky island that sticks out into the ocean and has waves crashing up to its top all winter long! Apparently, when it actually had lighthouse keepers that worked it (it's automatic now), they sometimes got trapped inside because of the terrible weather and couldn't leave for weeks.











On the way back around the other side of the bay, we passed by some weird military watchtowers, forts built around the Civil War, a rock shaped like a face with a legend behind it, and a cute seal that hopped around when our boat passed. We also went by lots of islands - some private islands that you can't visit without an invitation, some that are just abandoned buildings, some that used to be tourist destinations in the Victorian Era. Before we knew it, we were back on shore – and not a moment too soon, since a light drizzle quickly turned to a downpour which would have dampened our trip slightly (excuse the puns...). I'll post more photos from Maine soon!