We arrive into Portland at u.00am. It’s wet, but warm. It’s a funny morning as 670 of us need to get cleared through immigration before being let loose in the USA.
We have an assigned time, so plan our morning around being ready for that. A quick breakfast. Eggs and porridge. Then some reading as we wait our turn.
At 9.30am our deck, six, is called. We check out off the ship and are ushered by crew and immigration officials to a hall where four booths are waiting to process passengers. It’s quick and smooth and we are through in under ten minutes.
We grab a map from the local visitor centre. We decide to wander through the older part of the city. There isn’t much to see. The city feels industrial, with little green space and street after street of ordinary office buildings.
After a while walking around we decide to head back to the ship.
For a change the weather is good, so we decide to play the Insignia Olympics. We are the only competitors. Mardi wins gold in the table tennis, beating me 14-12. We then head off to golf. After nine holes Michael was 3 under. Mardi shoots 1 over, but did also get a hole in one. But she still loses. The final event is the bag toss. Mardi wins this event 2-0and celebrates her victory in fine style. Michael has to pack up.
After the games, lunch is in order. Today we sit out side on deck 9 and enjoy a burger and hot dog. My burger is wagyu and lobster. Mardi has a traditional hot dog.
After lunch Mardi reads and I go for a six kilometre walk along the shoreline. The walk takes me along the small gauge rail line. A seemingly disused line that once serviced the port. I wander past modern galvanises metal wharves with moored yachts, boat repair yards and the stumps of long since gone ghost wharves. Each stump poking out of the water standing in readiness for another chance to hold a walkway or wharf above the water. Their splintered and weathered tops in no condition to do anything yet stand as a reminder of what was once here.
Further down the shoreline is a beach. Families and their loyal pooches frolic in the sand and paddle at the water’s edge. The dogs eagerly chasing sticks and balls, impervious to the icy water as they launch themselves in to retrieve their toy of choice. I stand and watch for a while. The yelping of the excited dogs and laughter of the children is intermittently interrupted by the light swell as it washes onto the sand. The endless swish and swoosh is rhythmic in nature, mesmerising me as I lean on the fence. I stand, stretch, take some photos and continue my journey. As I reach the end of the path, I turnaround and start the walk back. My ship looks like a q0 foot tinny from this distance.
The sun hangs lower in the sky as I return, the balmy afternoon slowly gripped by the cooler sea breeze as I walk. The autumn leaves rustle around me. They are certainly using the train tracks as the wind whips hundreds of them, chasing them down the track in an autumnal swirl. They rush past me, daring me to quicken my pace to stay ahead of the cold. I don’t take the bait, instead, I continue my laconic walk, defiantly denying the cold its chance to bit into me.
I arrive back on the ship and greet Mardi. A warming hot chocolate does the trick as I sit and rest. Is been walking for 90 minutes.
We attend the afternoon trivia. We score 7 again. And although we know male seahorses carry their young, we don’t know who Fidel Castro overthrew.
Trivia concludes and we get stuck into Mensa before dinner.
The dining room is our choice again. New selections every night, served in a fine dining style. The staff are also awesome.
The show tonight is Gatsby’s. A 1920s romp through prohibition and glorious music and attire of the era. Then it’s off to bed. Boston tomorrow.
