Bayside Trail Progress

Here are a few shots of the progress of the Bayside Trail, conveniently located in the Bayside neighborhood of Portland. Fore more information, visit the Portland Trails website. (warning: my first photo below was taken looking into the sun, oops)

Show me the Color

The best colors of fall only stick around for a few weeks each year, so here are a few shots from this weekend:

PANORAMA! Click to view LARGE!

Preble at Cumberland

Work continues on the former Public Market Building at the corner of Cumberland and Preble Streets:

And I haven't done any playing around with HDR lately so

Sorry for the dreary photo below. I posted about the covering of this clock in Monument Square back in April and was hoping that it was a temporary change. Unfortunately, this clock is still covered with the city logo. The Time & Temperature Building's clock is mostly visible from this area but I enjoyed the old fashioned analog style of this one. I will have to start a "save the clock" petition! :p

Seasonal Decoration

Halloween is on its way, signaled by pumpkins making scary faces, crisp cold nights, and the smell of wood stoves burning. It's a special time of year for Strange Maine.

Around the Peninsula - October 21, 2009

Just a few notable posts of the past few weeks from local blogs...

• The Blueberry Files shares a recipe for BLT Pie, which looks amazing to me.

• A guest writer at HillyTown tries some 'real Maine lobster' in NYC.

• Colin Woodard wrote a wonderful piece for Downeast Magazine about the secret lives of Mainers.

• Another new food blog, Appetite Portland. I think the layout is quite nice. I've been listening to a lot of Guns N' Roses lately so I would suggest they rename the blog "Appetite for Portland."

Crescent Heights

This is the Crescent Heights Project, right next to the Maine Medical Center campus, which will provide housing for medical students. It looks like a great project that will be great for this part of town.

Osher Map Library Opens

The University of Southern Maine's newly expanded Osher Map Library, at the end of the brick path in this photo, opened to the public this past weekend. Just out of view it the Glickman Library to the right of the building. I look forward to getting down there and brushing up on my cartography hobby.

West End Deli

I always liked the odd style of these buildings on the corner of Spring and Park Streets in the West End. The West End Deli, with the awning above the entrance, is a great little establishment.

Notice: When I mess up the exposure of a photo you may notice that I usually make it black and white

Last Summer Skyline

I figured I better post these shots from a few weekends ago before all traces of summer are gone.

Sea Breeze

Grey on Grey

This is from Saturday morning, but it's raining again so I imagine this view up Exchange Street looks very much the same this morning.

Shades of Fall

Portland Neighborhood Map

So I finished my Orkposters tribute poster today, here it it:

It's not perfect in any sense, but I dig it and plan to print it out and frame it. As I mentioned in the comment section on the flickr for this image, if anyone from Ork wants me to take this down I can do so but I figure it will be okay since I won't make any profit from it. (Although I wish I had thought of the idea first!)

The Hilma Frances

Every once and a while I need to post a photo that reminds me why the city is called Portland.

Google Mapping Portland

I am so used to using Google maps with the satellite view (with the streets and labels) that I just noticed on the 'standard' map of Portland that Monument Square is labeled as a shopping center. Also, it appears to have a pond! (David's Restaurant is misplaced, too)




Another odd spot is the "Spring Street Historic District" in the West End. The green area signifying this district is actually the playground and fields for the Reiche School. Perhaps ironically, as Strange Maine documented a while back, the area now occupied by the Reiche School was once a bustling neighborhood that might have become a historical district at some point.




There are countless other oddities (can anyone else find the mysterious pond on Munjoy Hill?) that caught my eye. I love Google and their maps but wish I knew how to suggest improvements. In addition to the correction of various labels around town, I would like to see building footprints added, as seen in many larger cities.

Old Port Exchange

I came upon this old sign the other day, by Bramhall Square. I decided that I will share other old signs around town as I spot them. There's a few old billboards that I have in mind...

Reader Photo - Back Cove Skyline

Today's wonderful reader photo comes from Mike Rourke of Portland's North Deering neighborhood. Be sure to check out Mike's photography website.

Federal Street Fountain

As a sort-of follow up to this post about the Boothby Square Fountain on Fore Street, here is the fountain on Federal Street. It is still used but appears to be turned off for the winter. Directly to the right of this picture is the Central Fire Station on Congress Street.

Buy Local - Soakology

Today's Buy Local photo is of Soakology, a foot sanctuary and teahouse, located at 30 City Center. I've never been there but it looks like a nice place and they have a very nice storefront.

Each Monday on October (and perhaps beyond) I will be posting a photo of a Buy Local business. Support your local retailers!

Black & White Image Pain

Sunday is a slow day around here...

Here comes the sun

This creative stairway is in the West End:

Paint Squared - Daily Paintings

Are you familiar with local artist Elizabeth Fraser? She runs Paint Squared: Daily Paintings & Pet Portraits and lives in Portland. Each day she paints and then posts the results on her site. Each painting, usually on a 5 X 5 canvas, is available for purchase and you have probably seen her work at local art & crafts events. A lot of her paintings are of Portland streetscapes which are quite beautiful. I am a fan, so you might want to check out her work as well!

Here is a sample:
So in conclusion, take a look at her site every once in a while. I certainly admire people with artistic talent, especially people who use it to artistically interpret Portland.