Virtually Gina

After several months of having lived in the extremely suburban Jersey Shore region, a visit to this hip urban New England city felt like a breath of fresh air for my soul.

I loved the silhouette created by this couple against the backdrop of an urban scene in the bright afternoon sun.

Passing a children’s boutique, I was poignantly reminded that my nephew Robbie would be turning six in a few weeks and I had no idea what to get him. 

I took delight in the surreal effects created by the sun’s glare reflecting off a store window where inside, a sales clerk changed a lightbulb above a mannequin.

I passed an inspirational sign outside a church in the Old Port neighborhood that made me want to cheer: “Yasss, girl. Yasss!!!” p.s. Don’t judge my spelling. I’m trying to be cute.

Sure it was April 10th, but the trees were bare and the air was chilly. Welcome to Maine, people!

The shadows of bare tree branches graced the cobbled sidewalks of Old Port, a fashionable neighborhood in town.

An imaginative window mural outside a comic book store in Old Port.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was built in the 1860s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Church Doorway

Light and shadows on Fore Street, a few blocks north of the Portland Harbor.

The rear view of Central Provisions, one of Portland’s hottest restaurants.

Central Provisions received a prestigious James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2015. Here is the establishment’s interior, captured just before the Sunday brunch rush.

Coffee, anyone?

Portland’s City Hall was constructed around 1910. The building is made of granite and takes up most of a city block.

Colorful buoys adorn the fence in front of the house where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow grew up (now a museum).

This statue,  commissioned for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, was created by Portland sculptor Victor Kahlil. The work pays homage to Maine’s many fishermen who make their living by the sea.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this virtual stroll through downtown Portland, Maine.