The gulls set the tone right from the Ocean Gateway terminal: Portland has remained a working port. Lobster traps are stacked on the wooden wharves, boats come in with the tide, and the 19th-century red brick warehouses, saved from demolition, now house one of the most renowned food scenes on the U.S. East Coast. The Old Port begins five minutes' walk from the gangway; few ports of call get you to the heart of things so quickly.

The Old Port, cobblestone by cobblestone

Between Commercial Street and Fore Street, the cobbled streets line up bookstores, coffee roasters, craft breweries and converted ship chandlers' shops. The smell of coffee mingles with that of the tide, and every street corner reveals a hand-painted sign or a century-old shopfront. It is a neighbourhood to be savoured slowly, lobster roll in hand: the city has made it its specialty, served on a buttered, toasted bun, from the humblest counter to the most sought-after tables.

The Munjoy Hill observatory

Climbing Congress Street eastward, a curious octagonal wooden tower rises at the top of Munjoy Hill. The Portland Observatory, built in 1807, is the last remaining maritime signal tower in the United States: from up there, merchants were once alerted to the arrival of their ships by means of flags. The guided tour leads to the top, from where the view takes in Casco Bay and its scattering of wooded islands. Just below, the Eastern Promenade unrolls its gently sloping lawns toward the sea, perfect for a break.

Winslow Homer and the Maine painters

At the end of Congress Street, the Portland Museum of Art holds a remarkable collection devoted to the artists who defined the image of Maine: Winslow Homer and his raging seas, as well as Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and the American Impressionists. The main building, designed by I. M. Pei's firm, converses with fine neighbouring Federal-style houses. An hour is enough for the essentials; enthusiasts could stay all day. Along the way, Congress Street crosses the Arts District, with its student cafés and murals, a chance to take the pulse of local life far from the wharves.

Portland Head Light, the 1791 sentinel

You cannot leave without seeing the most photographed lighthouse in New England. About seven kilometres from downtown, in Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, Portland Head Light has watched over the entrance to the bay since 1791. Its red-capped white tower, set on a promontory of dark rock battered by the swell, alone justifies the short trip by taxi, shuttle or organized excursion. The park's trails follow the cliffs and offer one viewpoint after another.

Distances from the ship

At departure, the city recedes in the low-angled light, steeple by steeple, wharf by wharf, and the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse sends its signal to the ship as it has for more than two centuries. Portland leaves that particular taste of ports that have never stopped being ports: you will come back, if only for another lobster roll.