Congress Street # 2

Coming off Munjoy Hill  Congress Street intersects with the start of Washington Ave and the northern exit from the peninsula.  Here at the corner of Mountfort and Congress Streets sits the Eastern Cemetery, one of Portland's earliest.

Congress St. at Washington Ave.

& the Eastern Cemetary

From this corner Congress Street has collected in the last 30 years 1st junk shops, then second hand stores, followed by antique shops & bookstores. In the last few years a yarn shop, a weaving studio & several hair salons have opened and now young artists are finding studio and gallery spaces.

KnitWits window reflects the Eastern Cemetary

Eliphants warm interior

Etz Chaim Synagogue

the bus stop at Congress & India

What might just become Portland's next must eat restaurant, "figa"(249) has been busily taking shape behind brown papered windows for the past weeks.  Bookending all this to the north are the Snug at (223) an Irish Pub and the North Star Cafe at (225) featuring an eclectic mix of live music, poetry and tango;  housed in two halves of a former strip joint and to the south, Angela Adams Designs at (273), in the old Tommy's Hardware building across from India Street.

the window at Angela Adams

Draw a circle a quarter mile wide and  you'll find Portland's largest cathedral, a second catholic parish church, two old jewish synagogues, the Abyssinian Meeting House, built in 1828 by Portland's  black community and part of the Underground Railway. This area, formed the heart of the old Italian, Jewish neighborhoods. You'll also find the the old Grand Trunk railway terminal, which connected Maine to Canada, sitting beside Casco Bay, the largest deep water port on the east coast, which connected Maine to the world in the days of clipper ships.  Today you have "The Cat" called by the Discovery Channel one of the world's 10 super ships, connecting Maine to the Canadian Maritimes, docking at the new Ocean Gateway Ferry Terminal and every summer and fall, thousands of cruise ship passengers disembarking at the Maine State Pier.
A great little guide "East End Shops" can be picked in many of the establishments or online at
http://eastendshops.com/

Sweet Marguerites

{ A note: today I was at the press conference for the 2nd annual "Harvest On The Harbor", billed as Maine's Premier Food & Wine Experience and from the line up of chefs and exhibitors this 3 day event has a good chance to live up to its' billing!  It will be held on the water at the new Ocean Gateway from October 22nd -24th.  Opening the festivities on thursday will be The Grand Tasting, featuring nearly 100 different wines, beers and spirits complementing 20 award winning chefs' signature canapes!

tasty morsels from The White Barn Inn

http://www.harvestontheharbor.com/landing-page }
If you can't make this savory event, you'll be able to see it as I'll blog it daily! Provided of course I survive!

Congress Street #1

Where it all begins!

This is the 1st in a series of posts, "Congress Street" which will take a look at Portland's longest street. Starting on the Eastern Prom overlooking the waters of Casco Bay, it travels along the spine of the peninsula before dipping down passed the ever growing Maine Medical Center complex and running onto the mainland proper where it heads out Rte 22 towards Gorham and Buxton. This nearly five mile route is a mini tour of Portland itself starting at

Casco bay it passes thru both residential and downtown areas of the city, Monument, Congress, Longfellow & Bramhall Squares, the Museum, some of th

e cities best restaurants, two fire stations, a hospital, numerous churchses,  three graveyards, two bus, a train station and the airport.

Rising from the prom Congress Street maintains a residential flavor crossing ten streets and reaches North Street at its highest point. A small arts district has sprung up around the arts center with several quiet restaurants and an upscale market.

North Street runs to the western edge of the hill and overlooks the newly resurgent Bayside, Interstate 295 and Back Bay itself and beyond to the neighborhoods of mainland Portland laid out in an arch from North to South. The intersection of North and Congress Streets houses the Munjoy Hill fire station and the old Observatory, now a tourist attraction, but once used to follow the comings and goings of a busy commercial port filled with clipper ships, bringing goods from across the seas. From here Congress Street looks down the Hill to Washington Ave, India Street and the Old Italian neighborhood before crossing Franklin Street Arterial.

 

Portland Observatory, 138 Congress St. tel 774-5561

Rosemont market on the Hill, tel 773-7888 

Lawrence art Center, www.stlawrencearts.org

Willa Wirth Silver Design, 99 Congress St. www.willawirth.com

Bar Lola, 100 Congress St, tel 775-5652
Blue Spoon, 89 Congress St, tel 773-1116
The Front Room, 73 Congress St, 773-3366