Wanderers in Wonder

‘Bug’ Lighthouse – Portland, ME. At high tide the rocks are covered which made the lighthouse appear as a water bug to many early onlookers.

Portland Head lighthouse and lightkeeper’s house. And so we cross paths with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow again. Evangeline was one his best known poems along with the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. The inspiration for another, The Lighthouse*, was the Portland Head Lighthouse which he encountered on his daily walks from his Portland, ME home. Longfellow, like Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of 20th Maine Gettysburg fame, was an alum of Bowdoin College in Bowdoin, ME.

The British ship ‘Annie C. Maguire’ wrecked on the Portland Head Lighthouse rocks Christmas Eve 1886.

The Captain, his wife, first mate and all nine crew members made it safely out of the wreck.

Old Orchard Beach, ME.

Vines Landing in Kennebunk, ME…such a very peaceful spot

Wells Beach…our last camp in Maine.

Lobster Rolls…a Maine must.

A Maine Lobster Roll…toasted New England style hot dog bun, a bit of mayo and lobster. 

Connecticut Lobster Roll…toasted hot dog bun, lots of butter and lobster.

Many ‘Lobster Pounds’ in Maine have started to serve both the traditional Maine Lobster Roll and the upstart Connecticut Roll. Prices range from $24 – $32 for a traditional size roll. We did not make it to Red’s Eats in Wiscasset, ME which by many accounts is numero uno in Maine. 

We did get to several ‘Lobster Pounds’. It would appear that some establishments are just riding the wave of Lobster Roll popularity. Had a couple in which the lobster meat was a bit on the rubbery side.

Hand a wonderful Lobster Roll at the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound located on the mainland side of the bridge to the Acadian Peninsula.

The coast of Maine was stunning. It is no wonder why so many artists and writers have made their way here to pursue their crafts.

Peace…Wanderers in Wonder.

*The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
And on its outer point, some miles away,
The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.

Even at this distance I can see the tides,
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides
In the white lip and tremor of the face.

And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light
With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!

Not one alone; from each projecting cape
And perilous reef along the ocean’s verge,
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,
Holding its lantern o’er the restless surge.

Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night-o’ertaken mariner to save.

And the great ships sail outward and return,
Bending and bowing o’er the billowy swells,
And ever joyful, as they see it burn,
They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.

They come forth from the darkness, and their sails
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,
And eager faces, as the light unveils,
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.

The mariner remembers when a child,
On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;
And when, returning from adventures wild,
He saw it rise again o’er ocean’s brink.

Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same
Year after year, through all the silent night
Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame,
Shines on that inextinguishable light!

It sees the ocean to its bosom clasp
The rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace;
It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,
And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.

The startled waves leap over it; the storm
Smites it with all the scourges of the rain,
And steadily against its solid form
Press the great shoulders of the hurricane.

The sea-bird wheeling round it, with the din
Of wings and winds and solitary cries,
Blinded and maddened by the light within,
Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.

A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock,
Still grasping in his hand the fire of Jove,
It does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,
But hails the mariner with words of love.

“Sail on!” it says, “sail on, ye stately ships!
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!”

The Lighthouse — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow