The Cruise: Maine's Portland and lighthouses

Portland, Maine: Casco Bay

Day 4 found us in Portland, Maine, quickly chasing the rainy, humid and rushed tourist hell of Boston (almost) out of mind.

Maine is supposed to be part of New England, too, but except for the peculiarity denizens of the region have for screwing up the "R" sound (it's a pronounced, "Ahr," and they know it's odd: even saw street signs outside bars and diners boasting of "Clam Chowdah" and "Lobstah Rolls"), I'm not getting the comparison to Britannia. Maybe there's a dialect there in the U.K. somewhere similar? Dunno.

For sure, though, the courtesy and approach to life (slower, friendlier and even in the urban settings cleaner, far less crowded) of the Pine Tree State is to Boston what a bottle of Perrier is to Flint, Michigan's tap water.

Barbara and I opted for a three-hour tour by bus and walking, leaving the ship's gangway about 8:30 a.m. The theme: lighthouses, structures than have long enchanted Barbara, and eventually made me a convert as well. Three representative lighthouses were on the agenda: the so-called "Bug Light," the "Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse," and the "Portland Head Light." 

Careful: A rocky walk to Bug Lighthouse

Even had a "lobstah roll" for lunch. *Thing about lobster, that big spider of the sea, is that unless it is slathered with butter, lemon and garlic, or in this case all those ingredients AND about quarter cup of mayonnaise on a toasted, split-top bun. . . it's pretty much tasteless by itself.

But that said, and with the savory, albeit unhealthy additions, it was tasty. And personally, anything that involves flash-boiling ocean-bottom crawling arachnids? That really doesn't bother me much. (Too big to step on or spray with Raid? Boiling is just fine!)

Back to the lighthouses. Their history of keeping sailors safe from wrecks, and the engineering involved, make them noteworthy enough.

But throw in the breathtaking scenery of ocean waves, rocky beaches, the feeling of salt spray on your face, and the scent of brine and kelp carried by fresh air . . . well, that's a sensory experience rivaling a doggone epiphany.

Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse

Our tour also included the Liberty Ship Memorial. The shipyards at South Portland built nearly 300 of these WWII cargo and troop ships. The fleet of these mass-produced, no frills ships (about 2,700 in all) were launched on a British design by American industry, likely saving our British and Soviet allies while supplying and ferrying our G.I.s fighting the Japanese.

(Next up: Bar Harbor (a.k.a. "Bah Hahbah," Maine).