25th Anniversary at Portland, Maine

1hb Ogos 1982 tarikh keramat dimana berlangsungnya penyatuan dua hati, dua jiwa & dua keluarga dari Selama, Perak & Kuantan, Pahang. Tak ku sangka pulak ulangtahun perkahwinan yang ke-25 ini kami raikan di Portland, Maine. May we have many more good and happy years together...The first thing we did upon reaching Portland was looking for the Visitors Bureau. It's like our own Tourist Information Centers (TIC) of Tourism Malaysia - formerly known as Tourist Development Corporation(TDC). http://www.tourism.gov.my/. Hoping the same goes with all our TICs, Visitors Bureau has tons of information in the form of brochures, gifts as well as helpful personnels. They even have an on-line research center (PC with an internet access); limited to 5mins per visitor, when the place is packed. We were introduced to the Lighthouses of Maine - 60 lighthouses altogether marking its shoreline. West Quoddy Lighthouse, the eastern most lighthouse in the United States, marks the point where the sun first rises each day in this country. Cape Neddick Lighthouse, better known as "Nubble Light," and Portland Head Lighthouse are two of America’s best-known and most visited as well as most photographed lighthouses. We were there at Portland Head and I think I am beginning to get 'hooked' on lighthouses; - love their architecture and history as well as them functioning as 'guiding light' to ships in the ocean, not to mention those ship-wrecked! Double click on the images to get a better view.

The park neighbouring Portland Head is very well maintained & we saw a few big, white tents which signified a wedding reception was coming up. Imagine getting your vows made, or merely just getting your tummy full with friends and family in the cool, ocean breeze with the sound of crashing surf. Angin sepoi2 bahasa dan ombak memecah pantai! Can't help putting that in...he..he.. It would be nice... well, unless it rains!

Since it was almost dinner time we headed for the Lobster Shack - very well recommended by the Visitors Bureau, Boston's Chronicle and the internet! - at Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth just 8 miles south of Portland. The queue was unsurprisingly long but the children were well occupied playing on the rocks of the rocky beach below. Anyway, our Lobster Dinner was well worth the wait! The park was named for the two 1828 lighthouses located at the end of Two Lights Road. One is still a working lighthouse, though not accessible to the public, and the other is now a private home.
A view of one of the Two Lighthouses from the Lobster Shack.

Ram Island Lighthouse off Portland Head.
Portland, one and a half hour from Boston is Maine's business, financial and retail capital and the largest city in the state. Seascapes and cityscapes blend harmoniously in Portland, perched on a peninsula, jutting out into island-studded Casco Bay.Double click on the map of Maine to get a better view of where Portland is located.
Ranked nationally as one of the ten safest and culturally most fascinating US Cities, Portland sees 3.6 million tourists who visit each year. Statement ni di ambil dari Portland's website.. he..he.. A view of the rocky coastline below the Lobster Shack restaurant.


One of the restaurants at OldPort Harbour in Portland..
Overall, it was a quick one day tour of Maine, which we glad we made this summer..