If you build it, I will take pictures of it

Renovations continue on the Abyssinian Meeting House on Newbury Street, looking good!

Abyssinian Meeting House

 The Hampton Inn/Sebago Brewing Company/Portside Residences building on the corner of Fore and Franklin:

Hampton Inn

 Some steel has begun rising on the Oak Street lofts site:

Oak Street Lots

State Pier in July

A few more photos from the State Pier last weekend:

Bike on Pier

Love on Bench

Reader Photo: Marine Rope

Here is a recently submitted reader photo that  goes along with my photo posted earlier today:

Marine Rope, by Ross Duplissis (rcduplissis on Flickr) 

Nice shot, Ross! You can check out more of his photos here and join the Portland Daily Photo flickr group to submit your own photos of Portland to be shared here. 

Docked

A small boat parked at the State Pier

This is Portland not Boston

 Seen in Monument Square.

Skylined

Here are a few recent skyline shots from the USM parking garage looking towards the peninsula. I had the idea of going back up here after I mentioned in my post about the top 5 places to photograph the Portland skyline that I hadn't taken any night shots from here in a few years. Feel free to click on the photos for a larger view.

Skyline over I-295

Skyline and baseball game at Deering Oaks

Not an Entrance

Rear entrance of a building at Thompson's Point

Back side of a building that fronts York Street

Last First Friday

Here are a couple of photos of the most recent First Friday in Portland. The first photo s at Congress Square. I like the addition of arts & crafts vendors on this stretch of Congress Street and think it would be great if they came out every Friday. 

Vendors also gather in Congress Square Plaza/Park to the left of the above photo, in front of the Eastland Hotel.

A street performance a little bit further down Congress Street. Not sure if this band has a name, feel free to leave  a comment to this post if you want to name them.

For more info about First Friday, check out the official site here. The site provides event listings, maps, and a list of participating galleries/shops/restaurants/etc. See you at the next one on August 5th!

Of Bricks and Birds

Bricks on Wharf Street:

A friendly bird, likely enjoying Portland's pedestrian and bird-friendly sidewalks and public spaces:

Thompson's Point

Here are some 'before' photos of  Thompson's Point.  This piece of land sits behind the Portland Transportation Center (Amtrak and Concord Coach Lines) and adjacent to I-295. It has been an industrial site for many years and is the spot of the planned "The Forefront" development. The Forefront will involve a new arena for the Maine Red Claws basketball team, a hotel, convention center, and office space. If  you  want  to check out the area for yourself, Portland Trails has a trail around the point which also links easily to the Fore River Parkway Trail and the Stroudwater trails. 

5th of July

I feel obliged  to post a photo from last night's fireworks in Portland. The weather was terrific and the fog wasn't too much of  a hindrance to the fireworks display. I think the event was a success and a good birthday  party for the country.

4th of July

I don't think I posted this yet. I couldn't find any recent photos that specifically relate to Independence day, but this photo was from around Memorial Day and was taken across from the Regency Hotel in the Old Port.

Here is the site with all the details about the stars and stripes spectacular fireworks event in Portland tonight.