Our last port of this cruise was Portland, England. Portland Harbour is one of the largest man-made harbors in the world. The harbor was made by the building of stone breakwaters between 1848 and 1905. From its inception it was a Royal Navy base and played prominent roles during the First and Second World Wars; ships of the Royal Navy and NATO countries worked up and exercised in its waters until 1995. The harbor is now a civilian port and popular recreation area and was used for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Portland has many connections to the war, and specifically to D-Day. In 1944, thousands of American troops left the Isle of Portland in the English Channel en route to the Nazi-occupied beaches of Normandy. Today, that island is home to a D-Day visitor centre.
The centre features an impressive array of original WW2 artifacts, weapons and wartime vehicles, including a full-size replica Spitfire, a Bofors 40mm gun and even a restored Sherman tank. To enhance the D-Day experience, they actively encourage the visitors to handle the weapons, climb on their vehicles and even dress up in authentic WW2 uniforms.
Jeremy and my brother Mark had a lot of fun at the centre and they were like two little kids on Christmas morning with all the toys they could play with. I think they were the most excited to go inside the tank.
We then walked along the river walk past the Portland Castle and checked out the harbor.
We then walked to the Portland Beach. The beach didn't have sand, but rocks and it made to protect the town from the breakwaters. We had drinks and a snack at a local pub at the end of the beach. Jeremy ordered Whitebait (fried young fish) and smelled so bad, I don't think he liked eating it.
We explored more of the town on the way to the bus stop.
We then took the bus to Weymouth, a seaside resort. Weymouth Harbour is home to a commercial fishing fleet, pleasure boats and private yachts,
Due to a medical emergency, we were not able to leave the port on time. After the cruise passenger was loaded on an ambulance we were able to leave the port. As we were pulling out of the port, a cannon went off three times and we had a beautiful sunset. What a nice surprise to start our last night of the cruise.
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