Maine: Welcome to Vacationland!

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How can you not love a place that actually calls itself “Vacationland” on its license plates?

We started our tour of New England’s coast with a visit to Portland (the first of our 4 “port” destinations), and found our time in Maine extremely relaxing. (I suppose that it helps when the main items on your tourist “To-Do” list are eating and drinking!)

As our first order of business we drove to the Portland Observatory (the last original maritime flag tower in the US) for a bird’s eye view of the city. As a bonus, our $6 also bought us an incredibly long and exhausting tour of the tower by the local volunteer-tour-guide Brad who provided us with all the ammunition that we would need for jokes over the next few days. (Although Brad was far and away the worst, we would later discover that the shopkeepers, salespeople, and waitresses were all talkers in Portland.)

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Heading into town we stopped at J’s Oyster bar for some local beers, oysters, and lobster rolls (essentially a hot dog bun stuffed full of lobster meat) and walked around the very charming downtown area. (Technically I believe it was “Old Portland” -- an area full of cobblestone streets, boutique shops, and ice cream parlors.)

After a while we decided to drive out to the Portland Head Light, a super-famous lighthouse nearby. Highly recommend the cliff walk leading up to the lighthouse -- fabulous view of the lighthouse against the ocean.

Before
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Once we’d taken our fill of pictures, we drove back into town for the fireworks. We shared a huge bread-bowl of clam chowder at Gilbert’s Chowder House and made the long walk up the promenade to stake out a spot. It was there that we learned the secret to making a fortune in Portland: Fried Dough. I cannot emphasize enough the dedication with which a Portlander will wait in line for a $4 piece of fried and sugary goodness. (And you have to love the candor of the name -- they’re not trying to hide anything here!) There were maybe three or four stands at the top of the hill, each of which was making a killing with lines that stretched on and on! Eric and I joined the fun and waited about 35 minutes ourselves for some fried dough just to see what all the fuss was about. Though I’m not sure it’s worth the wait, I’d definitely recommend it. (Side note to all my friends at General Mills: there are fried dough stands in Portland that are blatantly ripping off the Pillsbury Dough Boy equity (see attached picture). We, uh, might want to get on that…) Then we watched the fireworks over the backdrop of Portland’s sailboat-filled Harbor. Happy 4th of July!

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The following day we made a short 30 minute drive down to Kennebunkport, popular beachfront weekend retreat and site of President Bush Sr.’s summer vacation home. Unfortunately for us, it actually WAS a weekend (and a holiday weekend at that!) so we (the dedicated tourists) were effectively swarmed by the weekend“fly-by-night” variety. After days of having attractions to ourselves we were a bit annoyed to have to share, but we made due ;)

In Kennebunkport we signed up for one of the numerous Lobster Cruises and got some experience pulling up lobster traps and holding live lobsters. We also got a look at the Bush estate. (But the really fun sighting came right after dinner!)

President Bush Sr.
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After the cruise Eric and I walked to Arundel Wharf to eat dinner out on their deck. We ordered two huge lobsters and dug into them with uninhibited enthusiasm. (Lobster claws were flying, there was butter everywhere -- it was great!) Just as we had cleaned up, the ex-President pulled up into the harbor alongside the restaurant deck, Secret Service in tow! Not everyone noticed him on his way in, but as he came back out on his fishing boat we all got up to wave and say hello as he cheerfully waved back. Now, those of you reading this blog may be aware that Eric and I are not the biggest fans of the Bush dynasty, but we have a much more positive opinion of Bush Sr. than we do of W. and we definitely appreciate the significance of the office. So all in all, an awesome celebrity sighting!

Before
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After dinner we checked out a local beach. I found a huge clam in the sand and banged it open on a nearby log to check for a pearl, but alas, none to be found. Ah well. After a quick stroll on the beach in the picturesque New England town, it was off to New Hampshire!

Of all the port destinations that were to follow, Portland was really the most laid-back, wholesome, and uncontaminated city that we visited. Eric and I both agreed that we would probably return back there if we were ever looking for a peaceful New England getaway.