Thursday, February 28, 2013

Stairway to Snow

The steep steps of the Civic Center, looking towards the Time & Temp Building and Monument Square. 

And on an unrelated note, I once again have a photo on the front (and the back too, this year) of the annual Office Market Survey by CBRE | The Boulos Company, Portland's leader in commercial real estate. You can view the document in PDF form on their website if you are curious. The Office Market Survey gives an in-depth analysis of Greater Portland's real estate market plus predictions on where its heading.


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Enter Here

A vintage entrance sign on an old brick building off of Park Street.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Monday, February 25, 2013

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Building Boom

For a city of its size, Portland is doing quite well in the real estate department. Here are the major projects now under way around the peninsula. These photos were taken this morning, so pardon the overcast sky.

123-room Canal Plaza Hotel on Fore Street, includes some retail space on the corner of Union and Fore Streets.




The Bay House Condominiums in the Eastern Waterfront neighborhood:




131-room Courtyard by Marriott plus apartment residences and a restaurant on Commercial Street


Danforth on High residences on the corner of (any guesses?) Danforth and High Streets.  You can see the recently completed Elm Terrace across the intersection. 



The $40 million renovation of the Eastland Park hotel into a Westin property is still underway. Shown is this photo is part of the expansion to the "Top of the East" restaurant and lounge area. 



Phase one of renovations to the Civic Center, involving a new entrance and administrative offices on Free Street.



Friday, February 22, 2013

Who Will Stop the Snow?

Yes, I am still posting photos from the blizzard that happened like a month ago...

Monument Square,  Blizzard.

Congress. 
State Theater




Thursday, February 21, 2013

Rope

Looking through a rope ladder next to the Back Cove trail. The rope ladder and a few other obstacle course objects were placed here last year through a federal grant to help promote the city's anti-obesity efforts. 

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Shade of Blue

I was recently uploading and editing some photos from October. Here's a keeper from the Eastern Promenade: 


Monday, February 18, 2013

Sunday, February 17, 2013

A Lingering Snow

More photos form last week's blizzard, due to popular demand:

No Left Turn

Trashcan-level snow

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Winter Market

Locally grown and produced foods are available year round in Portland, and during the winter months you can get them at the appropriately named Winter Farmers' Market. The winter farmers' market is indoors at the Maine Irish Heritage Center at the corner of State and Gray Streets from December to April each year. 



Friday, February 15, 2013

Two Hearts

Just a couple more Valentine's Day photos from Congress Square:




Check out a few other people's Valentine-related photos: Map & Menu, In the City, Shannon Bryan, and Samuel Cousins.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Bandit of Valentine's

The famed Valentine's Bandit was out and about last night, marking their 37th year of service in hanging hearts around downtown Portland on Valentine's Day.

Outside of the Portland Public Library
On the window of Material Objects

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Shoveler

One of my favorite shots from the recent blizzard, taken on Wharf Street:


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Exchange Street Slope

As it turns out, Exchange Street makes for a nice skiing area during a blizzard. 




Monday, February 11, 2013

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Nemo the Blizzard: Round 3

The snow has stopped falling and the wind has subsided but there are many more photos to share. These two photos are from Friday, the first day of the blizzard:

Dog and Man crossing Congress Street.
Pedestrians waiting to cross High Street.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Nemo the Blizzard: Round 2

Welcome to day two of Snowstorm Nemo. As of 2pm today, the Bangor Daily News is reporting that Portland received 31.9 inches of snow, which is a new record, and a crazy amount of snow. Due to the wind gusts there are some spots around town that have almost no snow and other spots that have more than the official snowfall total.

An apocalyptic Congress Street.

Bikes and Plows

Compact(ed) car parking

A windswept Longfellow Square.
Stay tuned for more shots in the coming days, I don't want to post all my storm photos at once.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Nemo the Blizzard: Round 1

The blizzard known as Nemo (it's going to take a while to get used to naming snow storms) arrived in Portland early this morning. My workplace closed at noon today, so I was able to spend a few hours wandering around town this afternoon, a rare treat on a week day. If all goes as predicted, we might end up with something like two feet of snow by this time tomorrow. With that being said, here are a few photos from today.

Moulton Street

Fore Street, at Boothby Square

The steps of the First Parish Church on Congress Street. 

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Portland is for Lovers

Since Valentines Day is next week, now is the time to start planning. And if you are celebrating this holiday then you might as well do it locally. Here are some ideas:

Locally made Valentines Card for the lumberjack/lumberjill in your life, from Bitches & Beehives:




Check the Valentines Day specials at several fine restaurants over at Portland Food Map:




You can try to snag one of the gigantic heart banners that will inevitably be put up by the infamous Valentines Bandit. It would make a good decoration for any (large) room:


I hear flowers are a good gift, and there are several fine florists around town. I recommend Sawyer and Company at 737 Congress Street because I have a picture of their charming store:


Lastly, chocolate is always a good idea. Unless your Valentine doesn't like chocolate, in which case you should buy him or her some other type of candy at Old Port Candy Company