Hips and Ships

 and five four lighthouses

Portland Head Light, completed and first lit in 1791.
It is the oldest lighthouse in Maine.
If you look closely, you'll notice the beacon is lit.

We first stopped at Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth.  There are actually three lighthouses in the park.  The lighthouse pictured above is commonly referred to as the Cape Elizabeth Light.  It is a working lighthouse.  There is another, not pictured, that is no longer in service.  Both of the lighthouses are on private property with no public access.

The third lighthouse standing in the water is abandoned, and that's all the information I could find about it.  Update:  The lighthouse is Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse.  It is no longer in service.  When the light station was taken out of service, it was offered at no cost to federal, state, and local agencies; nonprofit corporations, and educational organizations.  There were no takers.  It was then auctioned off in 2008 for $186,000.  The owner is a native Mainer.  The photo on the right is patio dining at The Lobster Shack.  We opted to hold out for fried clams later in the day.

Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse

Views of the shoreline

We drove a little farther down the coast to Fort Williams State Park where the Portland Head Light is located (also pictured above).  As the oldest lighthouse in Maine, it is listed on the National Historic Registry.  It is still in service today.

The two most common sights in Portland are the ships in the harbor and the rosehips at the shoreline.  The two most common scents in this area are the pine trees and salty sea air.

I am completely mesmerized by the coastline.

Pictures that pose questions.  We see the rock on the left all over the shore.  To me, it looks like petrified wood, but consort disagrees.  Yesterday we saw veins within the rock formations.  Does anyone know what type of rocks these are?

And the house...  Neither consort nor I have ever seen inverted windows on a house.  These windows are similar to bay windows, but instead of bowing out of the house, they are framed inward.  Have you ever seen this type of window before?

We ended our day with a search for the best fried clams we could find.  After a bit of research, we drove about 15 miles to Yarmouth to have fried clams at Day's Crabmeat & Lobster.  They were sold out.  We drove back into Portland to Susan's Fish & Chips.  Susan was all out of clams, too.  We then drove back to Scarborough and headed to Ken's Place where there were fried clams galore.  Consort is not a big fan of seafood, but he agreed to try the clams.  After a few bites, he decided the clams were pretty good.  Unfortunately, about two hours later, he changed his mind and spent the next three hours in the water closet paying homage to the porcelain throne.  I don't believe he intends to try anymore seafood.  Ever.