The Girl and I knew that if we were going to take a trip to coastal Maine, at least one lighthouse had to be on the to-do list. We decided on the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth.
The town owns and operates Head Light now. There is a little museum and gift shop attached, but they were closed for the season. Fort Williams Park is right next to the light house, so if you go, you can check out the light house and then take a hike, stroll, trippy trop {whatever floats your boat} through the 90 acre park. I imagine in the summer it would be a great place to have a picnic.
The construction of the lighthouse began in 1787 with just $750 start-up. The U.S. government took over the management of all lighthouses in 1790 and allotted an addition $1500 for it to be completed. I’m sure that was a ton of money back then.
There are actually two towers, but only the Eastern tower is still active. The other tower was sold to a private party in the 1970’s. Um, how cool would it be to live in a lighthouse?! Seriously, there are a million different ways to live life, and I am pretty sure I want to try at least 250,000 of them before I die. I wonder if the HH would let me add buy, renovate, and live in a lighthouse on the East coast? Somehow, I think it would be a tough sell.
Though the city has owned the lighthouse since 1990, the U.S. Coast Guard manages the foghorn and lights.
Maine. I LOVE YOU!!!!!
~Mavis
Elise says
What a great trip!
I just HAD to share this with you: There is a lighthouse in the San Francisco Bay that has a Bed and Breakfast!
http://www.ebls.org/
I’ve never been, but it sounds SUPER cool, and right up your alley 🙂
Julie says
Since you’re in WA, you ought to head out to my hometown (Sequim, WA) and sign up to be a keeper of the Dungeness Lighthouse! They’ll let you stay in the lighthouse for a week, it would be such an awesome experience!
Info here if you’re interested: http://newdungenesslighthouse.com/keeper-program/
Debbie says
ABSOLUTELY Awesome! Vacationing in a lighthouse would be an awesome adventure. The you visited in Maine looks like a real charmer.