Tag Archives: Royal Caribbean

Fall Foliage Cruise — Portland Fall Foliage by Tour Boat


Portland fall foliage by boat

Of all the fall foliage stops we made this voyage, Portland displayed perhaps the most stunning colors. Maybe even more so than what we witnessed in Bar Harbor.

Portland fall foliage by boat

But more on those spectacular colors in a moment. First, a couple more lighthouse shots, including another view of Portland Head Light:

Portland Head Light and light keeper’s house

And another lighthouse I’ve not yet shown to you. Visible in the distance from Portland Head Light, to the east northeast, is a lonely lighthouse that appears to sit all alone out in the Casco Bay. Just east of Cushing Island lies uninhabited Ram Island. Extending south from Ram Island is a quarter-mile series of rocky ledges. To the southeast, hidden beneath shallow water, is Witch Rock, and to the south lies Jordan Reef. All three pose hazards to ships entering and exiting Casco Bay for Portland. Indeed, in February of 1900, the steamship Californian ran aground here, endangering her 21 passengers and crew. Thus was born the need for a lighthouse seemingly in the middle of nowhere. This is the Ram Island Ledge Light (1905), which as you can see from the image below can be quite dramatic even in relatively calm seas:

Ram Island Ledge Light

Now let’s turn our eyes back toward dry land and enjoy those stunning Portland fall colors:

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Fun Photo Friday — Portland, Maine Part 1


Guiding Light

Here is Part 1 of two Portland Fun Photo Fridays:

Old Portland in Mural

Yellows on Blue

Sailing ‘Round the Spring Point Ledge

“Four Zeroes on the grill; One behind the wheel”

Sentinel

Surrounded by Color

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Fall Foliage Cruise — Portland Lighthouses in Casco Bay


Portland, Maine by sea

Just off Commercial Street, Portland, just past the Portland Lobster Company (pictured below) down where you can catch the Cushing’s Island Ferry is the place where we boarded our afternoon boat tour from the Portland Discovery Land and Sea Tours.

Portland Lobster Company, Commercial Street, Portland

As our tour boat headed onto Fore River and into Casco Bay, one of the first sights of interest pointed out to us was Portland Breakwater Light, also called the Portland Bug Light. This is a smallish lighthouse of a design knows as a caisson, sparkplug, or bug lighthouse, hence the ‘Bug Light’ name. Portland’s Bug Light dates back to 1875.

Spring Point Ledge “Bug” Light

Next up, a little farther to the east of the Bug Light is another sparkplug-style lighthouse, the Spring Point Ledge Light built in 1897:

Spring Point Ledge Light

If you wait until you round that lighthouse you’ll get a better image of it:

Spring Point Ledge Light

South of Spring Point Ledge are the remains of Fort Preble, which served as an Army fort from 1808 until 1950. Today Fort Preble sits on the campus of the Southern Maine Community College.

Remains of Fort Preble (1808-1950)

This next lighthouse you’re recognize from Monday’s article. It’s the Portland Head Light, and I timed it just right to catch the beam from the lighthouse’s Fresnel lens.

Portland Head Light shining bright

This week and next Fun Photo Friday I’ll present some Portland favorites, and next Monday we’ll continue with this boat tour with an emphasis on fall foliage colors. Until then, I’ll leave you with these boat tour images:

Portland, Maine

Portland fall colors

Portland, Maine

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