A Musician's Travels

Rainy and foggy days in Maine are magical. With a soft mist gently blurring the edges of the water and trees, the rugged coastline looks like an impressionist painting. The tangy air smells briny with a hint of wood smoke on chilly days and seagulls cry plaintively overhead.

We enjoyed a few days of cool temperatures along with brilliant sunshine. On the third day of our Portland, Maine foodie adventure, we woke to cloudy skies and rain. The drizzly day was perfect for exploring the quaint streets of Portland.

After a quick walk on the beach near our lodgings in Scarborough, we headed off for a visit to the excellent Standard Baking Company on Commercial Street in Portland. This is the bakery that supplies the delicious crusty sour dough bread served each evening at Fore Street, which happens to be located one floor right above the bakery!

A line of eager customers stood patiently outside the bakery in the rain!

When it was finally our turn to enter the bakery, we were met by the enticing aroma of freshly baked bread, sweet pastries. chocolate, butter and coffee. I wanted to look at and taste everything; it was hard to make a choice but I ended up with a walnut cranberry scone, a fougasse coated with black sesame seeds and a raisin pecan bread.

With our treasures in hand, we walked a few blocks, avoiding puddles on the cobblestone streets, to Le Roux Kitchen– one of my favorite cookware stores. After happily perusing the well stocked and cheerful store, we decided to visit The Portland Museum of Art, an excellent small museum. One of our favorites was the artwork of Louise Nevelson, an American artist who lived from 1899-1988. Nevelson was born in the Ukraine and grew up in Rockland, Maine, not far from Portland.

Best known for her stark and imposing painted wooden sculptures, we enjoyed observing the striking contrast from one of her earlier works painted in 1933 titled, “Still Life”.

We had a lovely light lunch at Boda, a cozy Thai restaurant just down the street from the museum. For our next activity, we decided to treat ourselves to foot massages at the Astrea Spa located in the charming contemporary hotel, Longfellow Hotel. The experience was heavenly with just the right level of indulgence for our rainy day in Portland!

After our relaxing foot massage, we had a few hours before our dinner reservation at the Greek restaurant Magissa. We decided to explore historical Munjoy Hill, a charming residential neighborhood that was a once a gritty working class neighborhood. Munjoy Hill is reached from Congress Street, the main street that winds through downtown Portland. Congress Street becomes quite hilly, driving up the hill on the right hand side is the Eastern Promenade with expansive views of the harbor. At this point, the rain was only a light drizzle and we set out to explore the neighborhood.

As we walked slowly up the hill, we saw a large shaggy blonde retriever sleeping in the window of a tiny jewelry store. He seemed so comfortable and cozy; we felt as if we were beckoned inside. the dog happily wagged his tail as we entered the store. Willa Wirth’s jewelry was creative and beautiful.

Across the street was a tiny Cafe, Double Great Coffee; we enjoyed late afternoon decaf lattes with a shot of chocolate.

Here is an excerpt from Down East Magazine about the history of Munjoy Hill:

By Sara Anne Donnelly
Photographed by Ted Axelrod

[C]aptain Lemuel Moody was one of Munjoy Hill’s first prospectors. At the turn of the 19th century, the aging Moody quit his work as a sea captain after he was kidnapped and held briefly by pirates, bought a large tract of land about halfway up Munjoy Hill, and relocated his family there. Few back then would have braved the stink from the docks or the odor of the cow pastures blanketing the Hill. And it wasn’t exactly the safest spot to wander around after dark, given its nearness to the rowdy waterfront. But Moody saw nothing but opportunity.

In 1807, he capitalized on the Hill’s panoramic view by building what would become one of Portland’s most iconic landmarks — the 82-foot Portland Observatory tower at Congress and North streets. Three times a day, Moody would tromp up the 103 stairs to the lantern to peer at the ocean with his telescope suspended from the ceiling. Merchants paid Moody to keep an eye on the horizon for incoming boats so they could gather the men necessary to unload when they docked. For a fee, Moody would raise a merchant’s flag atop the Observatory when he saw one of their ships.

The business was lucrative, so Moody launched a couple of spin-off ventures. On his property at the base of the tower, locals could visit a dance hall or a bowling alley. And if they wanted a trip up the tower, Moody would accommodate them — for a fee. “A charge of 15 cents is made for the privilege of viewing the harbor and surrounding country,” wrote Moody contemporary John Neal, “and no person who has made the investment has reason to regret it. There is no point in Maine where the view of sea or land is more delightful.”

The view from Moody’s tower, now owned by the city and managed as a historic attraction by Greater Portland Landmarks, is no less delightful today, though the fee is somewhat steeper. On a recent icy afternoon, Observatory docent, Hill resident, and self-proclaimed lover of Portland Jeanne Bull peers at the Fore River, cloudy and dark with cold, through a clear spot in a frosted tower window. Bull likes to come up here and look at every angle of the view she can. It relaxes her. Mount Washington to the north, the Fore to the south, Casco Bay to the east. Her attention this day is closer to home. She presses one gloved fingertip to the glass.

“Can you see that green house there?” she says, pointing toward Atlantic Street, where she has lived since 1991. “That was a little two-story home. An older gentleman lived there. He was a widower, raised his children, whatever. And when he passed away a couple of years ago, his family jumped on that like white on rice. They totally rebuilt that house, popped the roof off, put that third story on.” Bull pauses. “And then . . . ” she scrutinizes the dense block of tenements and houses in her neighborhood below, “and then . . . they sold his driveway! So now there’s, like, eight units there, where before it was one little house!”

We headed back down Munjoy Hill to find Magissa, a new Greek restaurant in the East Bay section of Portland that started out as a popular food truck on nearby Peak’s Island.

The sky had become dramatically grey and dark and a stiff wind was picking up from the water. We parked our car a few blocks from the restaurant, walking very quickly to our destination- just as we were seated, the sky opened up with a huge torrent of rain. We shared a frosty glass of sour cherry limeade and watched the storm safely from our seats!

Our light meal included a mezze platter with roasted vegetables, marinated chickpeas, tzatziki, fresh hot toasted pita along with tender and flavorful chicken souvlaki. A salad with sweet and colorful summer tomatoes with pickled onions was the perfect accompaniment.

We ended the meal with a slice of Ouzo Cake with ouzo poached Maine blueberries, white chocolate and tahini cream and candied fennel seeds- one of my favorite desserts on the whole trip!

On our last morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at the Higgins Inn– the sun had returned; there was time for one last walk on the beach.

Weeks later, I am happily daydreaming about memorable dishes from the trip. There were so many; here a few favorites:

Roasted carrots with complex layers of flavors and textures from Twelve.

The bread course with toasted sourdough bread served with whipped charred scallion butter at Twelve. With a glass of crisp white wine, the carrots and bread could have been a complete meal!

Pan seared day boat scallops from Fore Street with parsnips, roasted spring onion and green garlic vinaigrette.

Pan seared cod loin from Fore Street with Kennebec potatoes, roasted scallion, ginger and miso butter with lobster pan sauce!

All in all, a wonderful trip!!

AND: Here is the “Tree of the Week”!

ENJOY THE REST OF THE SUMMER!!