The Real Portland Tour

04/27/2025

Some good stories recently…today I had a father and son (pictured) take my tour because the son was a winning contestant on The Price is Right and his prize was a trip to Maine! As part of the package, the travel agent booked them on The Real Portland Tour. Earlier this week, I had two friends from Texas book with On a Whym travel agency, where you don’t know where you are going or what you are doing until the day of your travel. They were told they were going to Portland, Maine and were booked on my tour. Lastly, I recently had a couple from Portland, North Dakota take my tour. They decided last minute to choose another Portland to visit, so they booked a trip to Portland, Maine. I had never heard of Portland, North Dakota so I did a little research. It turns out one of the first settlers there thought it was in between Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon so it was named Portland, North Dakota. Always fun hearing the story of folks from different places finding my little tour here in my hometown of Portland, Maine

04/19/2025

On this day 250 years ago, my 5th great grandfather Captain Isaac Davis was shot at the Old North Bridge in Concord, MA, becoming the first officer killed in the Revolutionary War. In honor of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Dirigible Brewing Company in Littleton, MA released their Captain Isaac Davis Brown Ale. I had a chance to visit the brewery this past winter and I bought a bunch of cans to bring home. I figured what better day than today to enjoy the beer with my dad, Bob Isaac (named after the captain) in honor of our ancestral Captain!
The Minute Man Statue in Concord depicts Isaac Davis, and his statue is pictured on the can, as well as his famous quote when he led the Acton Minutemen to the Old North Bridge in Concord on April 19, 1775 - “I haven’t a man who is afraid to go!”
Last evening at 6pm the Old North Church in Boston, and many other churches across the country, rang their bells to commemorate the 250 anniversary of the American Revolution. I had the honor of being asked to ring the bell at Woodfords Church in Portland.
Also pictured is a photo of when my father and I were invited down for the Isaac Davis Trailmarch on Patriots’ Day in 2015, and a photo of my grandmother, Arlene, sitting in the Davis family pew (pew #34) in the South Solon Meeting House in Solon, ME at my wedding years ago. Her maiden name was Davis, and she was one of the closest living descendants to Captain Isaac Davis before she passed away. The platform for the pulpit in the South Solon Meeting House was built by Captain Isaac Davis’s grandson, Asher Davis, in 1853.
Captain Isaac Davis was a farmer and gunsmith. His son, Ephraim Davis, was given a tract of land in Solon, ME in honor of his father dying in battle. Ephraim moved to Solon, where generations of my father’s family settled and worked as farmers. My dad was eventually born on a farm in Solon, and was given the middle name Isaac.

Portland’s own Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was most likely referring to Captain Isaac Davis in his lines from Paul Revere’s Ride, where he writes: “And one was safe and asleep in his bed,
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.”

On the pedestal of the Minute Man statue in Concord is the following quote from Emerson’s Concord Hymn:
“By the rude bridge that arched the flood/ Their flag to April's breeze unfurled/ Here once the embattled farmers stood/ And fired the shot heard round the world.”

04/10/2025

Looking forward to this event on Monday, come on by and say hello

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Join us for our second History Happy Hour next Monday April 14 at 5:30 p.m.! Every month we visit a local spot to bring history buffs together for casual conversation. This month we'll be at Sagamore Hill Lounge with Derek Meader, Owner/Operator of The Real Portland Tour, see you there!

04/01/2025

Frankly speaking it was a lil chilly this mornin’ so I didn’t have to time to grill the folks as to whether they knew they were parked on the site of the old Jordan’s Meats hot dog factory, but as I rolled by I relished the irony

03/28/2025

Happy to say I came outta winter hibernation today and started tours for yet another tour season! I had a chance to visit the Key West Lighthouse this offseason which was a lot of fun, but it’s always nice to be back touring around my hometown. Even though the temp today felt a little different than in Key West…

03/14/2025

Nice little drive up the coast today. Been talking about the monument dedicated to our donut inventor (Captain Hanson Gregory) on my tour for years, sometimes folks think I’m joking when I tell the story, so I stopped by the monument today to take a picture for proof, also walked out to the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, and even had time to pop in Moody’s diner for some pie. Great day to be there as it’s 3.14 (Pie Day), so I had a peanut butter cream pie in the diner and took a big slice of apple to go - another fine day in Maine!

02/12/2025

It was nice to see the South Solon Meeting House featured on NEWS CENTER Maine 207. It was a memorable day getting married there years ago, standing on the platform for the pulpit built by Asher Davis in 1853, and also having my grandmother sit in pew 34 during the ceremony, the original Davis family pew. It goes back to my very great grandfather, Captain Isaac Davis, who was the first officer killed in the Revolutionary War. His son was granted a tract of land in Solon, Maine where the meeting house was eventually built.

The South Solon Meeting House was built in 1841, and artists added fresco art in the 1950s

12/26/2024

Nice day for a hike up Bradbury Mtn with my backup tour guide

08/19/2024

Big thanks to Chuck and Linda (the couple standing beside me) for once again taking my tour. They’ve toured with me so many times over the years I’ve lost count! Today they brought their friends from Arizona

07/22/2024

It was great to have some folks from Fargo, ND on the tour today! I was in Fargo way back in 1995 when I was on the first Maine baseball team to make it to the American Legion World Series…some longtime locals will remember that!

05/30/2024

Great to have some folks on the tour today from the other Portland. No, not the one in Oregon…the one in Texas!

04/01/2024

Nice to be out touring again for another season!