Portland on Casco Bay is small, as cities go, and you are always within the sound of seagull’s honk, even in the center of town. Portland is also Maine’s largest city and one that has gotten a lot of attention in recent years for its food and restaurant scene. In the Old Port and the Arts District in particular, restaurants of all cuisines are nestled midst smart and stylish little shops selling everything from summer fashions to Swiss watches, toys, Himalayan salt blocks, Stonewall Kitchen jams and spreads, as well as Maine-made pottery and ceramics. In addition to a plethora of seafood options, you can find Indian, Japanese, French, Mexican and Italian food and more.
In our walk around after arriving, we did a lot of just wandering and I took the opportunity to capture some of the more intriguing shop signs and windows and other street art.
Yesterday we did a power walk along Fore Street all the way up the hill to the Eastern Promenade, a beautiful green area at the end of the peninsula that is Portland. Stunning views of Casco Bay from Fort Allen Park and all along the promenade with a number of walking or biking trails for those who are serious. 
This is also the location of Munjoy Hill, a now hip residential area. After sitting on a bench (not this lovely porch, alas) and gazing at the bay, we walked to Congress Street and began our descent back toward downtown.
Along the way, we stopped for cappuccinos and a shared ginger cookie at Hilltop Coffee, an inviting café near Spoon where we enjoyed lunch last year.
Continuing on, we spied the Eastern Cemetery which had a sign offering a tour at 11:00 am. It being just about that time, we crossed the street and met the guide, part of an organization called Spirits Alive. This is Portland’s oldest cemetery and was in use for more than 200 years from the 1600’s until the 1880’s. More than 4,000 graves are here and the headstones tell a remarkable story of military heroes, veterans of wars up to and including the Civil War, and even a bank robber or two.
Our guide was knowledgeable and a strong advocate of Spirits Alive’s mission to research the gravestones and to preserve them in their original state as much as possible. As you can see, it’s a lovely setting. The red brick building was once a school and is now low income housing. The monolith marks the Alden family plot and recognizes naval hero, James Alden, in particular. The grave stones are mainly white marble, which doesn’t weather well over the long term, and slate which is gray and dark in color.
After all that wandering about, we needed lunch. What would a first full day in Maine be without a lobster roll? Not good. We returned to Gilbert’s, a very casual place on the waterfront, and home of a good roll. Here’s my first one of the season!
