Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens are fantastic! We’ve been two or three times in the past year. And I am not really interested in taking pictures of plants.

I don’t know what these plants are. We have them in the yard here too, and the neighbor and I used to cut them down to get to the grass they were growing out of, but when we realized how fantastic looking they were we gave up on the grass and let them grow.

We have a lot of Japanese Barberry in the yard, so I can’t say whether this is not an invasive plant species. I like Japanese Barberry too!

The railroad trestle over the Presumpscot River’s no longer used for rail traffic, but it was modified at some point with a grim looking (my opinion) pedestrian walk way.

The railroad trestle over the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine.

The next day’s photo shows the pedestrian walk way added to the railroad trestle. This woman, the two kids, and the photographer were not risking their lives walking on the old rail part of the bridge.

I’m always anxious, probably more than I need to be, about taking pictures of people.

Should I tell them they’re going to be in my picture? If I tell them before I take the picture I’m certain that’ll always make the picture I want impossible. Do I tell them afterwards and risk their being upset or, even worse, asking for the film?

Portland plans to fix this bridge in Deering Oaks Park in the Parkside neighborhood downtown. They should!

Deering Oaks Park is a significant city landmark: It was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, better known for Central Park (NYC) and Franklin Park in Jamaica Plain in Boston.

River Trolley Park was an urban park on the banks of the Presumpscot River open at the beginning of the 20th Century. There was a casino and an open air theater. A streetcar ran from Portland’s downtown up Forest Avenue to the park.

There are detailed stories, and timelines, of Riverton Trolley Park here, here and here. Some of these links have pictures showing how the park used to look.

Portland Trails has made walking trails on the site of the ruins on both sides of the Presumpscot River.