Forty foot Bar at the New “Scales” on the Portland Waterfront.

Grandeur of the Seas Arrived in Portland This Morning and Will Depart for Bar Harbor & Nova Scotia Tomorrow. It’s an Eight Day Tour of the East Coast.

Former Governor of Maine Joe Brennan Walking on the Eastern Promenade Today.

The Harbor Side of Scales  is Composed of  Small  Windows – Providing Lots of Sunlight – a Much Needed Commodity During the Maine Winter.

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 2,407)

For those who have been anticipating the opening of “Scales” a new seafood restaurant on Commercial Street – well, you will have to wait a little longer than you might have hoped. It appears that a December opening is more realistic, but not a certainty, than any date sooner than that.  There’s still a long way to go as you can see from photos taken today. It will be open for lunch and dinner and will give stiff competition to the nearby DiMillo Restaurant and   Boone’s Restaurant. (The latter is owned by the controversial Chef Harding Smith.) Scales is located in a new building at 68 Commercial Street. (Between Dry Dock and RiRA.)

The new seafood restaurant, owned by Dana Street, of the revered “Street & Co.” in the Old Port, will seat about 200 people. During a self-guided tour, mhn.com saw that  the water side wall of the building is made entirely of small windows that give the interior a very light, bright and inviting inside. (See photo below right.)  The bar, to be 40 ft. long, will be made of cement, when completed. There is a very large kitchen at the street side of “Scales.” (A retail fish market will be located at the water end of 68 Commercial Street.) “It’s not a part of the fish that I am looking for, but I might give it a try anyway,” joked Sean St. Louis-Farrelly, Portland.

Walking on the Eastern Promenade today as he often does, was former Governor of Maine Joe Brennan (D). He served as Governor of Maine from 1979 until 1987. An attorney, he was also an AG.  A Munjoy HIll native son, he lives close to his childhood roots. “I think Donald Trump is an entertainer, but he’s not my choice for President,” said Brennan grinning.

The Old Port area of Portland was bustling with sightseers – many coming off the cruise ship “Grandeur of the Sea – a cruise ship carrying 2,000 passengers and a crew of 790.  This season there will be more cruise ships than last year – a real boon to stores in the Old Port.  There will be 51 ships arriving in September and October. (See above right photo.) Visit the city’s webpage – portlandmaine.gov – for more details on the cruise ship season.

It was a beautiful day for whatever you had planned outside.

(editor’s note:  For newbies in the area, please feel free to visit two previous articles on Chef Harding Smith here in this blog:  They are Post # 2,156 dated August 22, 2014 and prior to that one Post # 1,493, dated August 8th, 2013.)