September 26, 2017. Portland, Mount Desert Island, Acadia National Park, ME.

September 26, 2017.  Tourtillotts in Portland, Mount Desert Island, Acadia National Park, ME.  We finished the 1600-mile drive from home to Portland in three days.  We arrived Thursday and used Friday to scout the lighthouses near Portland.  There are 6 within a 20-mile stretch.  

The Tourtillotts arrived on the Norwegian Dawn early Saturday morning.  We drove to Fort Allen Park where we saw Fort Gorges in Casco Bay and our first two lighthouses, one of which is called "The Bug."  Fort Gorges, built from 1858 to 1864, was never put into service and no troops were ever stationed there. According to the signs posted in the park, advancing military technology, including iron clad ships and long range guns, made the fort obsolete before it could be used.  The bandstand pictured above was built in the 1890s.  It has been extremely well maintained.  I saw somewhere that there would be a concert in the park next week.  I assume the bandstand will be used then.  
   We then cruised the cobblestone streets of old Portland before driving to Fort Williams where Portland Head Light is located.  Portland Head was commissioned by President George Washington in the early 1790s, making it one of the oldest lighthouses in the US and one of the first commissioned by the new federal government.  Prior to ratification of the Constitution, lighthouses were built by the individual colonies or states.  Locals refer to Portland Head as the mother of lighthouses in New England.  It is extremely well maintained.  Local lore has it that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a native of Portland was inspired to write his poem, The Lighthouse, on one of his frequent walks from town to the lighthouse.  The stone monument has a portion of the poem:

"Sail on!" it says, "sail on, ye stately ships!
  And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
  Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!"

Longfellow's home is preserved as a museum in Portland.  We didn't visit the home though we were close to it.

When Annie and I visited the lighthouse on Friday, the Hurricane Jose-driven waves were crashing into the rocky shore, sending geysers of foamy white water more than ten feet into the air.  It was an impressive display of nature at her most active.  By Saturday, Jose had moved east into the open Atlantic, leaving little evidence of his power and force at the lighthouse.  

After visiting the lighthouses, we drove the 30 miles to Kennebunkport. Kennebunkport, you will recall, is where the summer home of President George H. W. Bush is located.  You will also recall that Annie and I have actually been in the home, along with others, as guests of the President and Mrs. Bush.  They could not have been more gracious during our brief visit.  The main house is augmented by six or more other large homes for members of the Bush family.  All are protected by a Secret Service gate and guardhouse.  The entire compound is on a rocky cliff on the Atlantic.  

In late October of 1991, when Mr. Bush was President, the home was severely damaged by a North Atlantic Storm which sent waves three stories high crashing into the structure.  The storm swept away furniture, books, photographs and family memorabilia, leaving ankle-deep mud on the first floor of the home.  The storm was the last gasp of Hurricane Grace and battered the compound with 70-mile per hour winds.  Obviously, the home has been restored.  I could not find an estimate of the cost, but it must have been in six figures.  

After dropping the Tourtillotts back at the pier, we drove to Mount Desert Island on Sunday. We walked along the streets of Bar Harbor before moving into our home for the next week. Monday, we toured Acadia National Park where the last five pictures were taken. 

Acadia was the first national park east of the Mississippi.  Its most prominent feature is Cadillac Mountain.  Cadillac is just over 1500 feet above sea level and it is drivable.  During certain seasons, depending on the earth's orbit around the sun, it is the place where the morning sunlight first touches the United States.  There is a stunning view of the town of Bar Harbor and the many islands which surround it.  

We happened onto a couple, William and Norma, from Yorkshire, England, while walking around the top of Cadillac.  They were a very nice, very talkative couple.  They, of course, spoke with distinctive British accents.  They said that Acadia reminded them of Yorkshire. William offered to take our picture and it appears above.  In the distant background you can see Bar Harbor.  

That's it for today.  In the days ahead, I want to go back to Bar Harbor so I can show you some pictures of the quaint town.  We also want to go two hours north to visit Campobello, the site of Franklin Roosevelt's two-thousand acre summer retreat.  Campobello is actually in Canada, so we'll have to show our passports to see a place owned by one of America's best known and admired - and despised by some - Presidents.

Until then, Gooday.