No Playing After 8PM

A few more photos from the South Portland side near the Casco Bay Bridge:

"No playing after 8PM." But is there a time when one can play again? 

Looking back towards Munjoy Hill and the Portland Observatory.

Reader Photo - February 2012

"Nothing Beats the Real Thing," by Irjaliina Paavonpera [flickr]

For this reader photo we have a photograph by Irjaliina Paavonpera of the sign for the venerable Porthole Restaurant on Custom House Wharf. Check out more of Irjaliina's photography over here on her Flickr. Thanks for sharing!

Not a Bridge to Nowhere

Towards Portland's West End. 

Looking back towards a portion of South Portland.

Grand Trunk & Steamship Offices

Former Grand Trunk Railroad and Steamship offices on the corner of India and Commercial Street.

Wishcamper Art

Some artsiness on the facade of the Wishcamper Center at the University of Southern Maine.

Maine State Pier In January

Some photos around the State Pier taken in late January:

Empty Benches.

Local wildlife.

Hook.

Pier view.

Beauteous Bayside

A section of the Bayside Trail

Looking back towards downtown from near where the first photo was taken. 

Restaurant

The Old Port Tavern's neon sign. 

Fort Allen Park

Some views of Fort Allen Park on Munjoy Hill. Check out some of the renovation plans of the park here, on the website of the Friends of the Eastern Promenade. 

The Track Stops Here

End of the Narrow Gauge Railroad tracks along the Eastern Promenade. Full-size trains used to cross this bridge back in the day on the way to points north. The swing bridge in the distance has been out of service since 1984 per this informative wikipedia page about the railroad history of Portland. 

The Great Lost Bear

The signage for a restaurant known as The Great Lost Bear, a "Portland institution" since 1979. It is located at 540 Forest Avenue. According to their website, they have an impressive 69 taps with over 50 craft beers from the Northeast and fifteen Maine microbreweries. 

And this is not related to the Great Lost Bear, but is somewhat nearby on Forest Avenue. 

Deering Oaks Bridge

The bridge in Deering Oaks on a quiet winter day (earlier today). I might have to try taking this one again in the summer. It would be great to capture people walking on the bridge as well but it might be awkward if I'm standing on the railing like this and holding my camera in the air. 

Schwartz Building

A silhouette of the Schwartz Building (1920) in Congress Square. This is one of the few photos of mine that I actually didn't edit at all, except for resizing. Per this article in the Forecaster from December, the apartments in the building will eventually be brought up to code and on the market again and the ground floor space on the corner may also include a restaurant. 

Flashback - February 2011

Here are some photos taken last February that I posted on this blog. You can check out the full February 2011 archives here. And as always, you can view the full archives of this site by scrolling down this page until you see the "blog archive" section in the right column.

Widgery Wharf

Eastern Cemetery

One City Center Snow Shoveler

Snowy Monument Square Skyline

Middle Street

Shadow Tree

Shadows along the McLellan House (1801) on High Street, which is part of the Portland Museum of Art. 

Occupy My Heart

Occupy heart in Congress Square, spotted Saturday night (not part of the Valentines Bandit's work).

Not the Front Entrance

In honor of the upcoming Maine Restaurant Week, which runs from March 1-10, 2012, here are some semi-creative Portland restaurant photos. The common theme of these photos is: "Not the front entrance." It's interesting that these different restaurants look almost identical from the back, mostly because of the old brick buildings they inhabit. 

David's Restaurant, 22 Monument Square

Five Fifty-Five, located at.... 555 Congress Street. 

Trio of restaurants on Middle Street: Ribollita, Duckfat, and East Ender. 

Enterprise Records

Enterprise Records is an LP-only retail store founded in 1987 and is located at 650 Congress Street.

Unoccupied Lincoln Park

You have likely heard by now that Occupy Maine, one of the longest running occupations, was peacefully evicted from Lincoln Park this week. The last holdouts stayed until Friday and along with public works removed nearly all traces of their encampment from the park. It will be weird walking by here and seeing a lonely park again. Occupy Maine will continue to exist, and per a recent press release by the organization: "We vow to continue to practice a more just way forward; to practice direct democracy until all people who suffer under the power elite know that a new world is possible. We will not lose sight of what brought us together." Here are a couple photos from the park taken late last night:

An Afternoon Moon

The moon has been making some beautiful appearances lately. These two photos are from last weekend and were taken in South Portland near where my recent skyline photos were taken. 

Beyond a Rocky Coast

Some skyline photos across the harbor from South Portland's Ferry Village neighborhood:

Towards the Old Port

Towards Downtown/Arts District area

Where Have All the Boats Gone?

Empty docks along the South Portland waterfront. 

Shine On

Part of the Casco Bay Bridge's pedestrian infrastructure. Stay tuned for more pics from Portland's southern neighbor.

Blue Lobster Urban Winery

Current view 

As revealed over at Portland Food Map, "Blue Lobster Urban Winery" will be moving into this cool space at 61 India Street. A little presentation of the wine bar's business plan is online here. It looks like this will be a great addition to the area and maybe it will encourage more indoor/outdoor restaurants, at least during the warmer months. Here's a sketch of the site from their business plan:

Back side of the building. The adjacent empty lot, formerly the site of the Village Cafe, was planned to be The Bay House condominiums. Not sure about the status of that now. 

Alternate view from the front. 

Stately City Hall

The top of Portland's City Hall last night, in black and white. 

Here's the color version in case you were curious.

On Carroll Street

Some beautiful old buildings on Carroll Street in the West End.

Mitten

(Lost?) Mitten in the West End.

Three Things on a Boat

You may recall some of my photos from last November that were taken aboard a Casco Bay Lines cruise.    The reader-submitted photos from David, posted earlier this week, inspired me to go back and edit a few more of my photos so here they are. As I've said before, I only end up posting a small percentage of the photos I take, so maybe this will be a more common feature where I go back and pick out some of the photos that got left behind. It's funny how some photos, like the ones below, didn't "make the cut" the first time around but when I viewed them with fresh eyes they seemed to be work editing and sharing.

Life Saver.

Throw me a Rope.

Bollard.