Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tuesday Snapshots

 Some random snapshots around the area....

Scaffolding on the old New England Telephone & Telegraph Company building, now occupied by Fair Point:


1 2 3


Dark and Stormy:

Monday, November 29, 2010

Monument Square, Late November

These are from Saturday, when there was a brief snowfall in town.


Free horse and wagon rides depart from Monument Square through December 20th:

Sunday, November 28, 2010

More Paint on the Wall

This is a pictorial update to this previous post about the mural on the side of Joe's Smokeshop on Congress Street:


And this is a picture-worthy shack in the parking lot on the other side of the building in the above picture:

Friday, November 26, 2010

'Tis the Season

 This is Emerald City, located at 611 Congress Street in the State Theater Building. I hear it's a good place to start the holiday season shopping.


If you are around town today, the annual tree lighting in Monument Square is at 5:30pm, it's a good event for the family. Also in Monument Square, the Public Library will be having an open house from 3-6pm.


Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving Jog

There was some sort of road race in town this morning, I think it was this annual Thanksgiving Day 4-miler. Looks like a good way to keep warm out there!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Thomas Block

Thomas Block, the curving brick building, during a recent evening:


And a bit further down Commercial Street, Portland Lobster Company (everyone takes a picture of the sign):


Monday, November 22, 2010

New Port

Hampton Inn construction continues on the corner of Franklin Street and Fore Street. I like the green look:


View from up above, looking into the sun as most of my photos are:


Sunday, November 21, 2010

Silver Street

As I've mentioned in the past, I enjoy spotting old street signs around town, such as this Silver Street sign in the Old Port:



Friday, November 19, 2010

Flashback: November 2008/2009

Hard to believe that November is more than half over. It's time for a quick look back to Novembers past at Portland Daily Photo:

Way back in 2008:

2009:

PHL, circa 2009:


Back to present time, I'd like to say hello to anyone visiting the blog while looking for information about the "Tracing the Fore" sculpture on Fore Street that will be moved elsewhere. As a result of the Press Herald story about this yesterday, a good number of people searched the internet for more information or possible photos of the artwork and ended up here. This post from October had 104 views yesterday. Thanks for visiting, come again!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

More

Some more photos from my recent trip to the Portland hinterlands (not literally), around Woodford's Corner.  This first one is looking up Coyle Street. The house at the end of the street, which is on Beacon Street, always catches my eye.


Pawn Shop on Forest Avenue. Anyone know what the "R" in the circle at the top of the facade is in reference to? I'm pretty good at logo recognition so I'm assuming it references a long-gone brand of some sort that used to be sold in the building.


And Timeless Treasures is nearby, nicely complementing the Pawn Shoppee.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Woodford's Corner Dining

I was out in the Woodford's Corner area last weekend. It's rare for me to venture outside of the peninsula with my camera so I had to take some photos. Here are a couple of picks for dining options at the corner.

Big Sky Bread Company is a bakery at 536 Deering Avenue, located in an old firehouse. Check out some reviews at Urbanspoon. They also have a location in the Public Market House in Monument Square and peddle their goods at local supermarkets.  I enjoy their English muffin bread products.


And the Bayou Kitchen is located across the street from Big Sky, at 543 Deering Avenue. I've never been but the menu looks tasty and it has a solid rating at Urbanspoon.


Monday, November 15, 2010

Volunteer Around Portland - November 2010


Welcome to this installment of  Volunteer Around Portland, a somewhat regular series that takes a quick look at some volunteer opportunities in the Greater Portland area. Here are some that caught my eye:

LearningWorks After-school Volunteer - Link - LearningWorks is a great organization that serves young children, at-risk youth, and low-income families in Androscoggin, York, and Cumberland counties. They are looking for volunteers to work with schoolchildren in their branch on Brackett Street. 

Volunteer Walking Tour Guides - Link - Greater Portland Landmarks is accepting volunteers to provide tours in the summer and fall seasons in the following areas: Homes of Portland's Golden Age (State Street and High Street), Old Port Tour, East End/Munjoy Hill Neighborhood. 

Senior Housing Community Volunteers - Link - Seventy-Five State Street is a vibrant community for the elderly in downtown Portland and they would be happy to have a few new volunteers to assist with various activities. 

Polar Express Help - Link - The holidays are fast approaching. This annual event at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad is looking for storytellers, actors, food service help, gift shop assistance, decoration, technical assistants, and more.


And as always, check out idealist.org, volunterrmaine.org, or just do a Google search for volunteer opportunities.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Missiles over Portland?!

I think I captured a missile on camera this morning! First in Los Angeles and now in Portland, these are dangerous days. This object in the sky clearly can not be identified. I left messages with the local Coast Guard branch and the FBI but they have not returned my calls yet. I will keep you updated on the situation. So far, all signs point to this object as being a missile of some sort.


A closer look at the missile: 


Friday, November 12, 2010

Something To Do: Southworth Planetarium

This post is filed under the label "Something To Do." Every now and then I may post about something which can be done in Portland. Today's thing to do is to visit the Southworth Planetarium, on the USM campus. Although it doesn't look like much from the outside, it is a reputable place inside and as far as I know it is the only planetarium in Portland. It has been with us since 1969 and attracts over 18,000 visitors a year. With a variety of programming for children and adults, it's an affordable place to go. Check out their website for more info.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Tree Watch Thursday

This tree is in Deering Oaks, so I assume it is an Oak Tree. It's harder to tell without any leaves to look at. 


Happy Veteran's Day to our country's service members and families. The PPH has a list of local Veteran's Day related events

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

I have an interest in urban development, so here are some recent (within the last few weeks) photos of the construction project at the former Jordan's Meats site. This will be a 122-room Hampton Inn Hotel and there will be some condominiums on the top floor. The Sebago Brewing Company restaurant will be moving in on the ground floor from their current location down the street. This building has been going up fast, and I believe it is topped-out in these photos. Expected completion date is by summer 2011.



Also, for anyone interested, you may have seen the widget on the right side of the page for the Portland Daily Photo facebook page, feel free to 'like' it if you like it. I also have a twitter account here which is used mainly to tweet a link to each of my daily photo posts (it tweets automatically whenever I post). 

Monday, November 8, 2010

Reconstruction

It's always nice to see an old building like this being renovated, as opposed to torn down.


Edit - This is a picture of the building I took in June...


Sunday, November 7, 2010

Windshield Reflections

This is an ugly parking garage, but I like the reflections from the cars inside. Looks kind of artistic.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Familiar Scenes


I've been trying to get some autumn-themed photos before it becomes winter. Here are a few from Deering Oaks recently: