Back to the Past!

Portland, Maine was the predominant reason we decided to come to Maine. John’s mom, Mildred (aka Billie) Rosenberg Bromberg was born and raised in Portland. Her dad died when she was about 8 years old. So we decided to come to Portland to learn about her and her ancestry.

After we finished our shopping in Kennebunkport we drove north to Portland. We had to wait a couple of hours until our apartment was ready, but it was worth the wait. We had been upgraded to a 2 bedroom apartment and we used the second bedroom to store stuff…..but it was a nice, large apartment belonging to the Docent’s Collection.

We were tired so we ordered Chinese food delivered. It was nice to sit and watch TV and eat.

In the morning we went to Deering High School from which John’s mom graduated in 1939 as salutatorian of her class. He got her transcript and screen shots of her 1938 and 1939 yearbooks. In her senior year in interscholastic debate she was voted the outstanding speaker in the State of Maine. She graduated Wellesley College as a Wellesley Scholar in 1943, married John’s dad, and spent the balance of her life in Dallas.

Now it was time for a food stop…..or two! More lobster, more clams and some awesome gelato.

John next stopped at the Portland Room in the Portland Public Library while I stayed in the car. He copied info about the Rosenberg family from a bunch of books.

Next we drove by the offices of the Rosenberg Brothers real estate business. (Samuel and Jacob Rosenberg, John’s grandfather and great uncle), 85 Exchange Street.

Okay, that is enough family history for a moment. Since it was another sunny and beautiful day, we had booked passage on a sailing trip on the schooner Windjammer. It was great!

Smaller but similar.

We decided afterward to go check out the home of Samuel and Ida Rosenberg at 50 West Promenade. At first no one answered and John took some pictures. Then I waved down a car getting ready to turn in and it was one of the owners. David Fenton (nee Finkelstein) and partner Kathryn have lived there for 10 years and were thrilled to visit with us; they learned a lot and so did we! Plus they were fun and interesting to talk to.

David was 86, a high school dropout, Brown University magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, a race car driver, owner of Ferrari dealerships. He has a residence in New Zealand, 2 former wives and, by his account, numerous girlfriends. He was an interesting and entertaining guy.

Wonderful sunset as we left!

We went to dinner at High Roller Lobster Company……where we ran into a bride who was having her reception on the back patio!

That finished off a full and fun day! John decided in the morning that he had to go to Standard Bakery……where there was a long line. He waited.

Now it is Saturday, and we then went to the Victoria Mansion. It was built in 1858 to 1860 at a cost of $100,000 for the Robert Morse family, farmers from rural Maine who made a fortune managing hotels in New Orleans and retired in Portland. It is a fabulous and well maintained home.

I couldn’t go upstairs but I took lots of pictures from the iPad furnished to me.

We stopped for lunch at Bite Into Maine located in Allagash Brewery. Yet another lobster roll and a lobster BLT.

We went to see the Portland Museum of Art. It is a lovely, small museum. The first image was on the back door of the restroom; I had seen various versions of this several times in Maine and think it’s interesting that the state is so focused on this — interesting and good!

And the outdoor sculpture garden:

We stopped for one more ice cream. And then picked up salami and cheese to eat in the room.

We did one more bit of research. We had discovered the day before that Samuel had had four homes built together. One for his eldest son Jesse, one for his brother Jacob and one for Jacob’s son Julius. They are in a row with one across the street. The builder was John Burroughs who was a prominent builder of the time.

We had one more day in Portland before heading north. We drove by the old synagogue downtown(which was no longer in use) and then new synagogue in the suburbs hoping maybe we could learn more about John’s maternal grandfather who was instrumental in founding the old synagogue in 1904 — but it was closed. So we took pictures, including one of a hostel next to the old synagogue that amused me.

Our last landmark to visit in Portland was the Portland Head Light. It was bustling with visitors. And it was a beautiful sight on a beautiful afternoon.

One more wonderful and ridiculous clam dinner. And then a photo of the art in the lobby of our building.

On Monday morning we set off for points north.

See you there,

Beth