Problem Accessing url to wordpress

I’m working on Mac osx 10.6.8 with MAMP installed as my localhost.
I was able to install WP and create a user name and password but I can’t access the url that gets me going in WP. I use the localhost:port/the directory I placed my wp files in.
I keep getting error messages in Safari and Firefox.
I tried many versions of urls, cleared cache and reloaded. No amount of trying is helping.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.