One last look

To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying,
The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.
West, west away, the round sun is falling.
Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling,
The voices of my people that have gone before me?
I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me;
For our days are ending and our years failing.
I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.
Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,
Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,
In Eressëa, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,
Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!

- Legolas, upon hearing the gulls' cry at Pelargir

At this point we could feel that sensation known to all travelers; that the journey was nearing its end.  We strolled the harbor, taking in the sights and sounds of Portland, trying to absorb all we could on our last evening here.

The memory of the gulls calling would follow us home, a stirring reminder of this place and its unique character.

 

This was supposed to be a single panoramic shot of the harborfront.  Technology!

The Sea Bags sign marks the manufactory where the recycled sailcloth bags that we brought back with us are made; Jen's bucket bag and the little zipper pouch I carry in my overnight bag.

Fresh fish, straight from the nets.

Smokestack?  If you look more closely, you can see the stalwart sentinel perched atop.

Dinner at Le Petite Jacqueline, al fresco in the beautiful evening air.

Cryptid Trek

When he learned about our trip to Portland, one of my good friends from my TAMS days, Jon Black, asked me if we were going to visit the International Cryptozoology Museum.

"Of course", I replied, stroking my beard knowledgeably while internally digesting the fact that an International Cryptozoology Museum existed, and was in Portland of all places (entirely unsurprising is the fact that Jon knew this offhand).  After that, well, of course we'd have to visit.

Despite the museum being located several miles from the hotel, well outside the Old Port area, we decided we'd hike it.  It would let us see more of the town (the "real" town, you might say, the part that doesn't explicitly cater to tourists like us), and also test our endurance a bit, especially Jen's post surgical foot.

The walk began along Congress, which by this point was quite familiar to us.

This guy again.  Must be famous or something. 

The museum was quite incongruous in its location in a strip mall.  Sadly, the museum was very adamant about not taking photographs, and we felt we should respect that.

That's pretty much it.  There was another display that could be photographed, and I thought I'd gotten one, but it's not here.  Our shared album (which Blogger steadfastedly refuses to allow me to link to here) has many more pictures, of this and other journeys, and I'll leave it as an exercise to the Reader to find them.

The museum was, all in all, a bit underwhelming.  I think it's principally because it could not decide whether it was a collection of curiosities, a demonstration of the evolution of pop culture mythology, or an exhibit of "scientific" attempts to prove the existence of cryptids and urban legends. It does a bit of all of these, and is not always clear on which it is doing.

Still, they had some pretty great stuff, and if you can look past some of the tabloid journalism and filler display material, it's worth a look.

On the way back, we found the ball park, home of the Portland Sea Dogs.

We stopped at a park as well to rest our feet and watch the ducks.

Lunch at Cheese Louise.  This was a place that we'd seen many times, as it was near the hotel, and we had to try it on the name alone.  It was delicious, and their lemonade (sweetened with maple syrup) was amazing.

This was from a restaurant supply store.  I really liked the bag, but we didn't leave enough room in our luggage for stuff this size, so I snapped a picture so I could buy it later (and did; it is the waxed canvas insulated wine bag that the Reader might be familiar with).

A four hour tour

As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

― Herman Melville

One of the things we felt we must do on this trip was whale-watching.  Jen has a very precarious relationship with water in general, and the ocean in particular, but she was still eager to take a short trip.

July 11th is of course our anniversary, and the reason for the trip, so it only seemed appropriate to schedule this outing for the day.

The hotel exterior from the lounge window.  The gardens in this place are just gorgeous, especially to us Central Texans.

It took me till today to realize this sculpture was of porpoises.  This is the front courtyard of the hotel; the garden we had dinner in is just across.

My love was starting to feel a bit anxious before our voyage.  She doesn't swim well and is afraid of large bodies of water.  "And yet she persisted", as Mitch McConnell said of Elizabeth Warren.  My wife is pretty damn special.

Not the Minnow, but it'll do.

I was unprepared for how beautiful the water would be.  I've seen oceans, including the North Atlantic, many times before, from the shore, but had only ever been out on the open water in the Gulf Coast.  This was a very different experience, with the water a deep, crystalline blue that was spectacular.  As clouds skated by overhead, the wave peaks glittered like jewels as rays of light pierced the clouds. 

Halfway Point Lighthouse, the last spur of rock before reaching the open ocean.  There were dozens of harbor seals basking in the sun on the surrounding rocks.

The astute Reader might notice a distinct lack of whales in these photographs.   This is because we saw only a single Minke, which did not hang around the boat long enough to oblige us with a photo-op.  The same is true of the porpoises, seals, birds, and other life.  I think this is where a phone camera that is not hanging around the neck ready to go is a huge detriment.  Wildlife photography wants better tools.

The restaurant that Jen and I dined in celebration of our 27th anniversary.

The day we married, we had in celebration a medium pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut, because we were broke college kids.  We talked about having a pizza to commemorate this, and ended up at very upscale Italian restaurant which did not in fact serve that dish.  They did however have a fantastic Focaccia which we had as an appetizer.  The food was very, very good.