The Distracted Wanderer

One of the things that I've learned during my wanderings is that when I see a sign that simply declares one word like "Eat" or "Diner" in big neon letters, there's a darned good chance that the eating establishment nearby is going to be serving up good, simple food like mom used to make at reasonable prices. Such is the case with the neon "Diner" sign above as beneath it you'll find one of the best reasons to wander up to Portland, Maine! The Miss Portland Diner is a product of the Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company (later simply the Worcester Lunch Car Company) that was founded in 1906 by Philip H. Duprey and Irving M. Stoddard. Named for the city in which it was based, the company built 651 dining cars between 1906 and 1957, beginning with Serial Number 200 and continuing through 850 as when a car was remodeled, it kept its original production number. Known for their exceptional level of craftsmanship with the s...

Believe it or not, I think I'm finally going to be able to wrap up the posts on our New Hampshire/Maine vacation that my mom, Jamie, and I took over two months ago!   And look, I managed to write less than 20 posts about a 5-day vacation - it's an almost-Christmas miracle!  A word of warning, though - being that this is my last post it's also going to be a rather lengthy one as I've got several lighthouses to share with you and you know me, I tend to blather at the keyboard and go on and on and on.  I'll try to be succinct, though - honest! So, our last day in Maine (which was actually on October 10th) found us heading back down the coast in the direction of Connecticut and home but along the way we were going to be in search of several of the most photographed lighthouses in Maine with the first stop being at Fort Williams Park at Cape Elizabeth just south of Portland.  The park is the home to Maine's oldest lighthouse and extremely popular tourist attraction...