Photo of the Day (10-21-09)

by Jamie Rhein on

There are some photographs that are the stuff from which novels are made–or if not a novel, a mighty fine short story–possibly written by Annie Proulx or Alice Monro. This stunning shot taken in Maine by justin fain is one of them. There’s a moody quality to the lighting and the colors that immediately drew me into the scene. Although the shot is absent of people, except for the lone boat in the distance, their presence is felt.

The question is, would the story be a romance or a horror story? Would anyone be killed? Is the person who lives here waiting for someone who is lost at sea? Is there a happy ending? Oh, I hope so.

If you have a shot that’s captured your imagination, send it our way at Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool to capture ours. It might be chosen as a Photo of the Day.

*I think the lighthouse in the photo is the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, near Portland.

U.S. News: Best (healthy) place to retire

by David Breisch on

Wonderful exercise options, a robust, eco-friendly economy, and beautiful vistas give Portland, Maine what U.S. News & World Report calls the “best healthy place to retire.” (And after reading the article, it doesn’t sound like a terrible place to vacation, either.) Here’s just a few of the reasons why.

  • A multitude of ways to stay in shape. Portland’s proximity to both the water on one side and mountains on the other side give it a unique combination of sports and leisure activities. You won’t find such diversity except in maybe Hawaii or another tropical island – and there, you can’t go skiing in the winter. In addition to these naturally-occuring events, Portland has done an excellent job developing a world-class park and urban trail system.
  • Environmentally-friendly living. Named on of the greenest cities in America by Organic Gardening magazine, Portland residents pride themselves on living as much of a carless life as possible. Portland’s downtown area is extremely compact, making your weekend errand run or touristy souvernir trip a little bit less about driving from strip mall to strip mall and a little bit more about exploring interesting storefronts.
  • Easy to get around. Portland runs a modern and popular public transit system, so it’s pretty easy to ditch your car altogether. If you are going to (or coming from) somewhere a little further away, join one of the other 45,000 people that ride Amtrak’s popular Downeaster each month. The Downeaster provides five daily round trips to/from Boston with easy connections to New York City and Washington, D.C.

“New” Delta Still Blames “Old” Weather

by Iva Skoch on

It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend with a group of dear friends in Maine. It sure didn’t start out that way…

On Friday afternoon, we get to JFK airport to be told by a Delta representative that our flight was canceled.

“The weather,” says the rep as if that answers everything.

“The weather? Why don’t you just wait for the weather to get better rather than canceling?” I say.

“I don’t know. It’s the pilot’s decision,” she says.

“It seems odd. It is gorgeous in New York, Boston and Maine,” I say.

“Sorry. The computer says the weather is bad.” Says the rep. She was done with us. No offer to put us on a different flight, compensate us, nothing.

Well, if the computer says the weather is bad, then it must be bad. Still, something tells me that “the computer” also finds it convenient to cancel flights and then blame the weather to avoid having to compensate travelers. This is not the first time Delta has been accused of doing this.

I will spare you the details of our adventurous trip up to Maine but I will mention that they finally put us on an alternative flight to Boston instead (somehow, the weather for that flight was OK) and a shuttle from there to Portland, ME. Needless to say, the weather was great throughout this entire trip.

I was shocked how poorly Delta treated us. They basically kept saying “Well, it’s the weather, there is nothing we can do.” I know for a fact that there are things they can do. So can I. Never flying Delta again is step one. (Unless, of course, I get a personal apology letter from Delta’s CEO, like Bruce Nussbaum from Business Week did. Yeah, right.)