Picnic with history

A lovely picnic spot, you would say, right? And it certainly is! But that's not all you get at Fort Allen Park on the Eastern Promenade in Portland, Maine. It's practically oozing with military history information!

Just take a look at the handy sign on the left (click to enlarge). Wow! Revolutionary and 1812 War stuff, Civil War stuff, Spanish-American War stuff, and a monument to some seriously impressive World War II stuff. 

I'll show you the individual monuments and artifacts from each of these conflicts below. But first you can admire the late afternoon sun on Casco Bay in the picture above. Something about the light at this time of day, at this latitude, makes the water so amazingly, magically, blue. Like, the bluest blue you can imagine!

But now, on to the history.

There is another very useful sign that enumerates the various forts that you can see, or almost see, from this vantage point. 

Early in the nation's history, this area was not only a major industrial area, but also a strategically vital port. Plus, it's the closest our territory gets to those European powers we weren't completely sure bought into our independence. Hence, these fortifications, many of which were built, as you can see, around 1812, when these worries burst into conflict.

Some were also erected during the Civil War, but the main attraction in the park with regard to that war was this:

It was the site of a massive reunion of Grand Army of the Republic vets, which must have been an impressive gathering. (I left the gorgeous Eastern Prom houses in the background of this shot for your enjoyment  ) 

Moving on to 15 or so years after this reunion, we have this impressive piece of artillery:

What's most notable about this gun is where it came from: the Maine...yes, the "Remember the Maine" Maine! But wasn't the Maine sunk, historically astute readers might ask? Of course it was, but somehow this piece of it got recovered. As this plaque verifies:

But I personally don't think this is the most impressive informational plaque in the park. My vote goes to this one:

The Portland isn't here, and actually doesn't exist any more. But the mast you can see on the left in the picture at the top of my post is from it. And in the plaza where it's displayed are some informational panels describing this ship's remarkable record in WWII. Just take a look at those battles listed on the plaque above. I mean, it was everywhere in the Pacific war! All the big battles, for sure. Then to top it off, while the surrender that happened on the Missouri is the famous one, the Portland accepted the surrender of an important naval base at Truk, in the Carolinas, at the same time.

The city of Portland has every right to be proud of its namesake vessel, don't you think?!

Working vacation

 

Of course, when your working vacation happens in a place like this, it can hardly be called working. Especially when you know that at home heat indexes are well into triple digits!

Yes, more work was needed at our Colorado cabin. And more work was accomplished! Just take a look at the rainfall beautifully beading on the newly re-sealed deck!

Even more impressive, I think, was the transformation of the much-weathered railing. You might remember my railing tales from a post from several years ago. Well, lots of sun and snow can really do a number on even the most carefully painted surfaces. Here's a look at one of the worst sections, after some serious scraping...

...and then after priming and repainting—doesn't it look almost brand new?!

(If you look closely at the rear of the top photo you'll see our old DirecTV dish, which friend Garry—who was indispensable in all this work, BTW—thanks so much!—was able to take down, only after we'd both bonked heads on it more than once. And why, you might ask, did we cancel that service? Hint: it wasn't just because the dish was a head-cracking hazard. Because we have good internet in the valley now! Thanks to the ring of satellites put up by someone I'd rather not mention. But they sure work wonderfully, so that we can stream, email, chat, and do everything else we used to have to go somewhere else to do.)

Another reason the "working" part of the vacation was only partly accurate is that there were often afternoon showers, which makes this kind of work impossible. So we really only had to work half days, leaving the afternoons for lazing about, reading, and enjoying displays like these:

Here's a closeup of an even more impressive example of refraction:

Pretty sweet, eh? And the best part is that soon after arriving back home to the sauna of San Antonio, I was able to escape it again for a while. In a completely different direction! I'll tell you about that next time.