Sonya's Blog - Day 114 - Old Port, Portland

Sonya’s Blog - Day 114 - October 14th - Old Port, Portland, Maine

Blake and I went out to the Farmer’s Market in Saco this morning to check it out. It is on Wednesday and Friday mornings. When we got there it was only two people that had booths set up. It was good enough for us, because one had local, organic vegetables and the other had free range eggs. We bought what we needed and headed back to the RV.

The kids had stayed at the RV to get school work done and were working away when we got back. They both needed help with some stuff so we got to work with them.

After lunch we hopped in the truck and drove to the Old Port in Portland. It was a busy place because there was a cruise ship in town. There were a lot of vendors set up on the streets and people milling about. We walked up and down the wharf, where there is a piece of the Berlin Wall, so we took a picture:

We then walked around the Old Port and checked it out. It was part of the Freedom Trail for runaway slaves trying to get out of the United States. There was an organized system set up in Portland to help the slaves find freedom. We then walked among the streets and popped in and out of a few stores. There were some cobblestone streets and lots of old buildings. We popped into a Fish Market off the wharf to check it out. They sure had a lot of fish:

After we were done exploring the Old Port we wanted to head to Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. They have a museum there and you can learn about the United Society of Believers (Shakers) and their history. I checked their hours before we headed out that way and, unfortunately, the museum closed on Columbus Day (our Thanksgiving). So we will not be going there, which is too bad because they have an interesting history. This village was established in 1783 and is the only active Shaker community left in the world, which is not surprising because they believe in celibacy for all members as sex is the root of sin. So there is no marriage in the Shaker communities and it is hard to grow without offspring. They relied on new converts and back when they were first established they took in many orphans and raised them, they then gave them the choice when they turned 18 to stay or go. At some point in history religious organizations were prohibited from adopting orphans. Year by year their numbers got smaller and community after community shut down (there used to be 18 active Shaker Communities in the States) and now there is only one left with about 10 members. It would have been neat to visit the community.

We drove to the Victorian Mansion, but it was also closed for the day:( I guess we should have done that first and then looked around Old Port. We decided it was time to head back and start on supper instead.

Isaac is cooking supper tonight and he wants to make everyone an Elvis Burger (a burger with peanut butter and jelly on it). I told him that I only wanted a taste of my burger to be that way, because I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about it. He made the burgers, you should have seen his face when I told him he had to use his hands! We have made burgers many times, but I guess he has never watched the actual process. He did it and was pretty proud of himself. He then cooked them (with Blake’s help) and washed and cooked the potatoes (and mashed them too). He did a good job and the burgers were good. I didn’t love it with pb&J though, so I made the rest of my burger the traditional way.

After supper we had a fire and then watched an episode of Corner Gas.

Sonya