Portland, the last stop in Maine

When we got to our campsite on Thursday and setup we did our usual reconnaissance to see where we needed to be the next day.

I wanted to start researching in the Maine Historical Society Library downtown and Bruce was deciding what he would do with the dogs. We talked about taking them to a doggy daycare place, but there really isn't one near where we are camping. One we liked was already booked for the weekend and the one they recommended was way too far away and involved having an interview session prior to acceptance. We decided not to put them through that this time. We found a Trader Joes not far from the library so replenished our wine cellar before heading back to camp.

Friday was not a very productive day as far as research goes. I had most of the same info that they had and didn't find a whole lot of new stuff. I did get an obituary for Bruce's gg-grandfather, John R. Heseltine, who died in Boston in 1890. That was a surprise and it gave me a few clues for when I get to Boston.  My friend Linda came through again with some section letters and lot numbers for the Evergreen Cemetery in Portland for Bruce's ggg-grandparents plus some other family members so that would be another day's adventure. After my session, Bruce picked me up and we got some lunch and then drove to Freeport

which is one big outlet mall headed by LL Bean's flagship store, a bike, boat and ski store, and a home store. Lots of restaurants and specialty shops. Decided to come back on Saturday. It was way too hot to search the cemetery so do anything else outside. It was 98 degrees which is very unusual for Portland.

Saturday we headed to the cemetery in Portland. It definitely wasn't hot any more as it had begun raining the night before and was still drizzling off and on. The high was predicted to be only 69. So it was good weather to be outside and we got a little wet. The cemetery was huge and the office was closed, but outside there is a map showing all the section letters so we could at least know where to start looking.

We started with Charles T. and his wife Rhoda in Section D and were rewarded pretty quickly. We found Charles, Rhoda,

their son Daniel C., their daughter Rhoda and her husband Lysander Philbrook, 

and some others. Took pictures and moved on to Section O and then Section D. In all we found 11 graves and now have sources verified. It was a very gratifying day!

These are not all direct relatives and I'll have to do more research to see where they all fit into the big picture. For now I'm claiming them as ours!

We drove back up to Freeport and ate lunch at Linda Bean's Maine Kitchen...lobster and mac and cheese, and a lobster salad. Hey, we're in Maine! What else should we eat??

Do you know what a Lobster Pound is? How about a Cattle Pound? Well, I didn't know what they were until we came here. Think Dog Pound. A Lobster Pound is where they keep the lobsters alive before they sell them either alive or boiled. Most of the lobster restaurants advertise that they are also lobster pounds.

A Cattle Pound is a place where stray cattle are kept until the owners come and bail them out...a lot more like a dog pound. But the concept is similar.  The owners had to pay a fee which was in pounds, or poundage.  Hence the term "pound".

Bruce discovered a Garmin-labeled building between Portland and Freeport and investigated. The building has a huge globe of planet earth that rotates slowly and looks like a satellite view of earth's continents. Garmin purchased this company and their GPS technology.

The rotating apparatus for the globe.

Tomorrow we head for Boston and will be staying at the Hanscom Air Force Base campground north of Boston. The campground has a first-come, first-served policy so we are hoping that they won't be full. They have about 67 sites. We can stay up to 14 days, but are hoping to get researching and touring done in just a few. Watch for the update.