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November 17, 2005
A walk along Casco Bay
This past weekend, we visited our son and his fiancée in Portland. It was not quite Indian summer, but as we walked the streets in light jackets, we felt the sun on our faces. On Sunday we window-shopped and stopped at Emerson’s, a store with books, old maps and prints. Then we headed for the waterfront.
A walking and biking trail rims the peninsula along Casco Bay. You leave the restaurants, bars, fisheries and lobster pounds in the wharf area and soon encounter less dense residential areas. A narrow-gauge railroad track runs beside the trail, and the train that runs on it stops at a railroad museum. On this fine day, men were hauling yachts and lesser craft out of the water for storage.
Before long, in some stretches, the built universe fell away, and it was possible to regard the elements with few distractions. Two old forts lie in the harbor, the Homeland Security of a past age. The bay itself was still, not at all like the rock-crashing symphony that enthralled the aged Winslow Homer and other artists out along the coast.
As we reached the tip of the peninsula, we looked uphill to East Promenade. Beyond the grassy expanse of a park where a young man was struggling to launch a kite decorated with the skull and crossbones, the rooftops of large houses all in a row peeked over the horizon. The scene beckoned us upward. Walking along the promenade itself, we satisfied our curiosity about the grand old New England houses to our right and the panoramic view of the bay to our left. As is our habit, we stopped to read the historic markers, including one on a bench, a memorial to a man who loved to sit on that spot and take in view.
Our son pointed out the widow’s walk on one stately mansion; on another, he showed us where the widow’s walk had once been. I wondered if it had been removed because it outlived its usefulness or because a new owner disliked its morbid connotation. Or maybe the elements blew it ro ruin.
Soon we were headed down the hill and back into town. It was a long, lovely walk, and it made me think about our hometown, Concord on the Merrimack.
The river is accessible in some places in Concord, and there are walks along it. But these are nature trails. Because an interstate highway runs between downtown and the river, you could walk down Main Street and never know Concord was a river town (or an old railroad town, for that matter). The idea of creating river access from downtown has been mentioned during long-range planning sessions for highway expansion, but it seems impractical.
Our walk in Portland reminded me of the great benefit of connecting a city’s commerce, history and living space with its natural environment.
Of course, that was only one thought as we rested our tired bones in a seafood café. Another was whether memories of this stroll in the sunshine would carry us through winter.
Posted by Mike Pride at November 17, 2005 08:43 AM
Comments
Anyone who's lived outside of New England for even a short time can perhaps better appreciate the unique, historic beauty of its coastline, and even its old mill cities. Your essay captures the interplay between the built and natural worlds of the region wonderfully, Mike.
People in Concord would be wise to honor the Merrimack and its historic links to downtown by re-creating easy public access to it.
Here in the West, assets such as the Merrimack River and Concord's historic buildings would be celebrated, protected and promoted.
Jim Graham, Salt Lake City
Posted by: Jim Graham at November 17, 2005 12:57 PM
Hi Mike -- Just wanted to say hello and that I've been enjoying your blog. I've been in Portland for the past year, and you're right, the paths along the water are great! Take care ...
Posted by: Sarah Quinn at November 18, 2005 12:27 PM
So is this the unofficial meeting place for Monitor alumni?
This post reminded me why I moved to Portland three years ago and why now, after having moved just north to Bath, I miss it. Generally speaking Portland residents are damn proud to live there. I've always attributed that sense of ownership to the people's connection to a vibrant downtown, the working waterfront and recreational areas like the East Promenade. Bath residents remain disconnected from the city's fortuitous perch on the Kennebec River. Too bad. The city has a rich maritime history thanks to Bath Iron Works, but today's shipbuilders, who work their shifts inside BIW's iron gates and monolithic metal warehouses, don't enjoy the symbiotic relationship with the city as, say, Portland's lobstermen do. The waterfront on the north end of town has the best chance to join hands with the rest of the city, yet developers have recently proposed a project featuring a 95-foot condominum building flanked by two 75-foot structures. That vision seems to resemble Boynton Beach, Fla. more than it does Portland. Like Bath, Concord will never enjoy the same geographical advantages of the Forest City (let's face it, Casco Bay is pretty tough to beat), but there has to be a way to reestablish its roots to the river. The city and its residents will certainly be better for it.
Posted by: Steve Mistler at November 21, 2005 04:17 PM