Farm in the Park

These are from yesterday's farmers market in Deering Oaks Park. During the summer months the market visits the park every Saturday and Monument Square on Wednesdays.

Let's have a parade

One more from Monday's Memorial Day Parade on Congress Street. I wish there were this many people out in this area everyday. I find NYC's sidewalks full of people fascinating. Portland, however, certainly is alive again with tourists and locals coming out of their  winter hibernation. 

Looking Out

The view from one side of the Eastland Hotel. Nice seeing all the leaves on the trees again.

King of the Hill

Behind the Asylum sports bar/club/concert venue

Far Away

I post a picture from South Portland's spring point every now and then, but here is a slightly different taken on that 'postcard' view. The lighthouse in the middle of the picture, Bug Light, is the area where most of those photos are taken (and where my recent 'looking into the past' shot was taken also). This is from further back near Fort Preble. Makes it look like Munjoy Hill is just a short jump across the water!

Looking into the Past: Bug Light

Haven't shared one of these in a while, this is from the Flickr Meetup on Saturday. Note that the 'before' picture (source) shows that this area wasn't a touristy destination back in the day and even Bug Light wasn't maintained very well. Much has been done to revitalize this area in the last decade(s).

Memorial Day

A few photos of the Memorial Day Parade and 'rally' in Monument Square.

United States Senator Olympia Snowe, speaking, and (on the left behind the veterans) Major Jill Duson, State Senator Justin Alfond, and new Portland's new Police Chief James Craig.

Moose on the loose

From MaineToday.com...

PORTLAND — A moose that wandered into Portland early today was shot by police after state biologists made several unsuccessful attempts to tranquilize the animal.

Police Lt. James Sweatt said the moose was sighted in the Forest Avenue area around 6 a.m. The animal headed toward the peninsula and "spent quite a lot of time" in Baxter Woods, Sweat said, before moving in the direction of Forest Avenue again.

Sweat said police summoned state biologists, who tried four or five times to shoot the animal with a tranquilizer but could not bring it down.

A police officer shot the moose with a firearm when it moved toward Forest Avenue again. Sweat said officials were concerned that it could be hazardous to the public to discharge the tranquilizer gun near a busy area.

Just a comment about  that last paragraph - Isn't it equally, if not more, dangerous to discharge a rifle in a busy area compared to a tranquilizer gun? Or maybe they could have given the tranquilizer gun to the police officer since he had a better shot than the biologists. I'm glad no one got hurt and disappointed that a moose was. 

Shell

From yesterday's Maine Flickr Meetup at Spring Point in South Portland.

Spiderweb

Turns out these are hard to photograph, I'm surprised it came out this well.

Music-ing

A street musician in Congress Square. Happy first weekend of summer!

Tug

I think the word 'tug' is rather odd. Anyhow, this tugboat can also be seen in the panoramic photo I posted a few days ago. 

Happy Teriyaki

I like my food to be in  a good mood when I eat it.

Wide Angles

This first shot is from 'the bridge' looking towards Portland. Click it for a larger view. It was made with photoshop's photo-merge feature and came out pretty well except for the far right side.

And this is kind of a panoramic also, of Congress Square.

Rooftop Pigeons

These two photos don't really have  any common theme (except being taken in Portland, of course) but I figured I would share two since I took a break yesterday.

Oakhurst is hiring

"Are you friendly, outgoing and a physically active? Can you be all of the above while wearing a large Acorn costume? If so..."

- Spotted while browsing a local job website, see the wanted ad here. Oakhurst is looking for a new hire to be their mascot, Oakie. In this economy I am sure they will get more than a few applicants!

Smaha's

Smaha's Grocery in South Portland, just across the bridge.

Farmers Market

This is from a recent Wednesday farmers' market in monument square. There the same market appears in Deering Oaks park on Saturdays. Check out this site for more info and to find a market near you.

Tower of Song Congress Square

I've posted a few pictures of this building, and will continue to do so since it's a geniunely interesting structure.

Also, here is a 'poster' I made promoting the Tower of Song music + arts festival, happening May 23rd. 

Around the Peninsula - May 14

Here are a few interesting things from around the local blog circuit...

Rights of Way reveals the MDOT's flowchart, which looks pretty accurate.

Portland 207 has the scoop on dance team tryouts for the new 'Maine Red Claws' basketball team. Job requirements: "...a car and a willingness to show up for the 24 home games."

Strange Maine covers the falling moose epidemic. (I use the word epidemic lightly)

Munjoy Hill News has a nice write-up about the Portland Harbor Museum's move from the SMCC campus in South Portland to downtown on Congress Street. Grand opening 5/20.

The MidCoast Collective has some nice posts on their recent advertising project for the Salvation Army. To go along with the theme of the campaign, my mentioning of their advertisements costs nothing!

Fed. St.

Looking west on Federal Street, the Eastern Cemetery is on the right and 'downtown' is in the distance. 

Parkside - Spring 2009

City-Data.com has some neat information and a map highlighting the Parkside neighborhood, see here. I've read before that it is the most dense neighborhood in the state of Maine, and I believe it due to the pretty small geographic area and amount of multi-family buildings. 

A few shots from the walk to work yesterday. This first one is looking down Deering Avenue, where it begins at Bramhall Square. This is one of my favorite views in the area. It's nice to see so much green.

And this is looking East on Sherman Street, from Deering Avenue. The Back Bay Tower on Cumberland Avenue can kind of be seen through the trees.

Evergreen Cemetery

According to wikipedia...

Evergreen Cemetery is a cemetery in Portland, Maine. With 239 acres (0.97 km²) of land, it is the largest cemetery in Maine. It was established in 1855. The Wilde Memorial Chapel, an on-site granite Gothic building, was a gift to the city by the family of Samuel Wilde in 1902, and is used as a place for memorial and wedding services

Pretty neat, here are a couple pictures from this past weekend:

Mother's Day

So says the sign out front of Minott's Flowers on Temple Street.

Munjoy Hill - Vesper Street

Just a couple of shots from yesterday while walking down Vesper Street. 

Stroudwater Trail

The Stroudwater Trail is part of the Portland Trails network and is a nice walk. I recommend it for anyone who finds themselves in that neck of the woods.

The Expo

Timeless? 

To Cross Push Button

Step 1 - Press Button

Step 2 - Wash Hands

Pink Tulip Project 2009

The Pink Tulip Project is an annual awareness effort by the Maine Cancer Foundation. It is now an annual blog post here as well. Here are some tulips on the Western Promenade:

And here is a photo I posted last May of a flower bed on Munjoy Hill. (Note that they used the same signs as last year but the above photo was over exposed so the pink ribbon isn't visible)

Land/Sea Line

This pay phone is near the end of the (deteriorating) state pier. Looks like a good place to shoot a scene for a mobster movie, I think.  In the meantime, Wilco, Conor Oberst, and the Mystic Valley Band will be having a show on the pier this summer. (see Hillytown for details)

Sing Loud for the Sunshine

Kind of a skyline shot...

Spring on Park Street

A view along one of Portland's nicest streets, Park Street. I take a lot of pictures at this angle, by the way.

Night on the Town

Here are some photos I took tonight, using a pretty awesome 50mm lens (I think this is it), borrowed from David Chu.

Early May Flowers

A picture of the flowers in front of the First Parish Church on Congress Street.  They always do a nice floral arrangement in their courtyards.

Night Lights

Looking down Middle Street, between Exchange and Union Streets. The building on the right is the Casco Bank Building. Directly to the right of the Casco Bank Building (Former headquarters of a former bank), is the Canal Plaza complex which is home to Key Bank among other tenants. For a great read about a street that used to be right next to the Casco Bank, check out this Strange Maine story. 

Boat for sale?

A nice fixer-upper.