The Maine Event

     I know I said Vermont was next, but we switched the days up because it's supposed to rain all week, and most of our Maine plans were outdoors. We got on the road right after school on Monday. I was surprised how quickly we crossed the state border, less than an hour. It's only about an hour and a half from our temporary camp in NH to Portland, ME, where we spent the day. We stopped at the first of two tolls to pay up, but the car in front of us had paid our fee! I'm not sure how New Englanders got the reputation for being rude. Maybe it's the straightforward communication that puts southerners off, but I have only encountered the most friendly, helpful people here.

    We started out in downtown Portland at Longfellow Square, the center of which is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's former home, now a hip music venue. I can't help but think he would like that, knowing the arts still spring from his memory.

     The 19th century architecture downtown is a treat. Loved all the fall tinted ivy climbing up the buildings.

     Our history and science are based on our travels this year, and we are never short on new things to learn about. Maine gave us lots of geography terms to learn/ review: Cape, bay, bluff, precipice, gulf. We got to see all of these land/water formations first hand and on the map. After seeing Longfellow's former home, we read "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." That led to a history discussion about the Revolutionary War. I know of a Revolutionary War Museum nearby we may need to visit now. We are also looking at the critters that dwell in the rocky seacoasts of New England and the Atlantic Ocean. Each question or theme we happen upon builds upon the last. Traditional, classroom, sequential learning is thorough, but much of it is temporarily memorized and then quickly forgotten. What a waste of everyone's time. I wouldn't want to do school like this forever, but it is a refreshing break from traditional studies.  I'm a believer in inquiry-based learning. (I'm also a believer in suck-it-up-and-memorize-your-multiplication-tables.) But learning does seem to make more sense, and students form more real life connections when learning takes place within a meaningful context.

    Next we visited Cape Elizabeth. I've always had this romantic, idealized notion of New England. Maybe its Norman Rockwell's fault. I don't know, but I really almost cried when I saw the Portland Headlight. It symbolizes so much, not just to this region, but to me, to this trip. We spent several hours here, walking the trails along the bluffs above the Atlantic, exploring the rocky beaches, seeing the sites. It fed my gypsy soul.

 

The Goddard Mansion is a quarter mile or so from the Portland Headlight, also in Ft. Williams Park. The mansion was originally built as a single family home in 1858, but taken over by the Army in 1898 and converted to enlisted quarters. An NCO club was opened in the basement. Bet the wives LOVED that.

     We ended the day at the Portland Lobster Company, because you can't visit Maine without sampling the lobstah and chowdah. I had the lobstah roll. So, so, so, so good!

Our lobstah buzzer

    I'm sure there's no less than a zillion poems about lighthouses. I'll spare you . . .
It's all about Vermont tomorrow.