Maine Musings: Lighthouses

LIGHTHOUSES

Maine is home to more than 70 lighthouses, nearly all of them built in the 19th century. That number is not surprising when you consider the state’s rocky coast which zigs and zags in and out creating harbor after harbor, some very narrow.

I’ve been pondering why lighthouses have such an appeal and why we like to visit them.  I certainly don’t have a definitive answer, but perhaps it’s partly history and partly the novelty.  Lighthouses are generally old and they remind us of a time when seafaring, sans GPS, was dangerous and fraught with potential peril.  There is also the novelty of contemplating living in a tower at the edge of the sea—isolated and possibly lonely with only immediate family for company.

Over the years, we have gazed upon, but not visited up close, The Cuckolds (1892, 1907), off Cape Newagen at Southport, and Hendricks Head (1829, 1875) on the other end of Southport at the mouth of the Sheepscot River. The Cuckolds Light is now a fancy inn containing two suites.  You can stay in one or rent the entire island (both suites) for a different kind of getaway that includes boat transport to and from the lighthouse!

Cuckolds Light (www.lighthousefriends.com)
Cuckolds Light (www.lighthousefriends.com)

 

 

Hendricks Head from commons.wikipedia.com
Hendricks Head (commons.wikipedia.com)

Last summer, we took a boat out to Burnt Island in Boothbay Harbor to tour that lighthouse and its keeper’s house.  This 1821 lighthouse with adjoining keeper’s house stands tall on a small patch of green. Local folks purchased it several years ago and created an education center.  They now offer occasional tours for the public as well as overnight programs for school kids.

Burnt Island Light from www.lighthousefriends.com
Burnt Island Light (www.lighthousefriends.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While in Portland several weeks ago, we explored Fort Williams Park with my cousins and paid homage to the iconic Portland Head Light, which dates to 1791 and guards the Portland Harbor. It’s a lovely park with native plantings and tables for picnics on the grounds.

Portland Head Light
Portland Head Light

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week, we finally (I say finally since we’ve been coming to Maine a long time) drove over to the next peninsula and down to Pemaquid Point to visit the Pemaquid Point Light. This lighthouse was commissioned by President John Quincy Adams in 1826, opened in 1827, and then due to defects was re-built in 1835. In good weather, its light can be seen from 14 nautical miles away.

Pemquid Point Lighthouse from www.ighthouseratings.com
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse (www.ighthouseratings.com)

You can climb a winding narrow staircase to the top of the tower and also tour a small museum in the light keeper’s house.  In the museum we saw models of fishing boats, tools and nets for fishing, an old-fashioned lobster trap and a series of lobster buoys strung up high along the wall. Fourteen lighthouse keepers served this lighthouse until it was automated in 1934. The rocks on this stretch of coast are particularly dramatic and you can understand why ships ran aground and appreciate the critical importance of the light.

Were my mother still around, I would have mailed her at least one postcard from this summer’s explorations.  She appreciated architecture and was particularly interested in lighthouses and suspension bridges.

Maine Musings: Food, Film & Finch

After the intensely bright hot Florida sun, mid-coast Maine’s gray skies, cool temperatures, and spotty rain showers yesterday were a relief. Portland on Friday before the cloud cover was weakly warm with enough sun to say summertime. Thanks to my cousins, we visited the iconic Portland Head Light for the first time after lunching at the Good Table in Cape Elizabeth.

Later we meandered the cobblestone streets of Portland’s Old Port browsing in familiar and new shops from the Paper Patch to Abacus to Sherman’s Books, all the while hearing in the background the screechy honk of the ever present seagulls.  I know there are seagulls on other shores, but they always seem particularly present here.

PORTLAND DINING

Dining in Portland was also a taste treat! The restaurant scene has expanded, and the city has been featured in every food magazine I know. We enjoyed dinner and the ambience at Vignola one night and had a superb meal the next in the back room known as David’s Opus Ten.  Plain David’s, the front of house, was crowded and noisy so we were glad we had opted for the small back space with its short menu of small plates. Especially noteworthy were the butter poached lobster on a crispy risotto cake, the tuna tartare, and the Serrano ham and manchego cheese plate with mellow warm black olives.

AT THE MOVIES

Earlier in the week, we went to see “Testament of Youth.” This new film, based on Vera Brittain’s 1933 memoir of the same name, is a grim and unvarnished depiction of the horrors of war, in this case WWI.  Some of you may recall that Masterpiece Theater did an adaptation of this work some years ago.

The film draws a stark contrast between the exuberance of youth and young love in the green English countryside and at university before the war, followed by the dirty gray and brown of death and destruction on the battlefield in France. Brittain left university to sign on as a volunteer nurse. This was a romantic, idealistic time and I don’t believe as many youths today see war as quite the adventure these men did.

WHAT I’M READING

Of course, I had to read Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman. I read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school (haven’t re-read it, I regret to report) and saw the film so for me Gregory Peck will forever be Atticus Finch. That said, Watchman is a worthwhile read. The writing is enjoyable, there are some touches of humor,and one gets a different picture of Maycomb, Alabama.  I found it to be a coming of age story for Jean Louise (aka Scout). At 26, one might say she is a bit old, after having lived in New York for seven years, to become disillusioned with her father, but so be it.  Other than that, she is quite believable and carries the book. Henry, her putative fiancé, is a bit flat.  Calpurnia, their servant, is a warm and sympathetic character while her uncle Jack, an eccentric doctor, provides counterpoint to her father. Atticus is here, but is no longer the perfect man and perhaps as a segregationist more realistic for the times.

Note that there are no photos this time due to a less reliable Wifi signal which I hope gets better!