Portland, Maine (First time in a real bed in over 10 days!)

On the way down to Portland from Acadia, I stopped at Booth Bay Port to grab a snack and see what the town was about - very similar to all the other port towns.  We stopped here at the lobster wharf where lobstermen unload their finds and its served up compelely fresh.  You can order Lobster here and they will ship it anywhere right off the boat.  I grabbed some seafood chowder and O and i sat on the deck and watched the lobstermen. 


The Lobster Wharf



My friend Danny at work said I was going to meet a lobsterman and never come home.   I figured this was my one chance ; )   I always pictured lobstermen to be big burly men with beards and raincoats (some image from a movie, I'm sure).  But the only ones I saw looked barely old enough to drink a beer.  Interesting.  I bet lobstermen would have some good stories.  But I met no lobsterman.  Sorry Danny... looks like its not in my cards this trip : )  I did; however, really enjoy my chowder!  It was very fresh.

We got to Portland around 5:30 ish and checked into our Motel 6.  I gotta say - these Motel 6's are really interesting.  My room appears to be decorated in the style of 1985 and the TV is bolted to the plywood "desk/dresser".   Quite the fancy livin it is.  Guess I've gotten used to nicer hotels for work.  But hey - they allow dogs for no extra charge!  and my rate was under $50.  So I should be very happy with this Back to the Future themeland I am sleeping in.  I did bring my own blanket and pillow, though.  I don't know how many times this coverlet has been washed since the 80s.  Bleh.  Anyway - after settling in and catching up on my bloggin - I drove down to the Old Port area downtown to see what it was all about.  I think after being in Bar Harbor-Portland isn't quite as cool as I had hoped.  Stores were mostly closed and bars and restaurants kinda spread out.  I think it was just being back in a larger city that was hard for me.  Being in these nice little small towns has really spoiled me.  This place didn't have the same friendly feel that the other towns had.  That being said - size wize - it was pretty cool compared to Knoxville.  They have all kinds of cool restaurants. I even saw an African grocery store.  Thats pretty cool.  Seems to have a lot of variety.  We ended up eating at an Irish Pub and heading back to the hotel.  Not a crazy night for the worn out travelers.  Things are definitely winding down on this trip!

In the morning we got up late and went back downtown to see what the place had to offer in the daylight.  It was a much different scene, for sho.  It took me a bit to figure out the parking situation.  I actually pulled into a parking garage that charged $25 PER DAY to park.  PER DAY.  I hit the reverse rather quickly and pulled out of that joint.  I looked back to see if I was just seeing stuff - but no.   Fortunately the street spots charge by the quarter and we eventually found one of those.   We hit a few dog-friendly shops and ate at Flatbread where we ate a really, really good gluten-free pizza.  I had to pay an extra $4.50 to have a gluten free crust.  kinda crazy - but it was definitely worth it.  For those who don't know - GF pizza typically tastes like cornchip tissue paper or carpet.  Or like you are eating a pizza stone.  But this crust was actually almost like real pizza crust!  It was great!!  I also drank a warm lemonade with a bit of maple syrup added for flavor.  I'm not a huge lemonade fan, but it was pretty freakin good.

After the pizza I decided I had had enough of the city and found the nearest public beach.  It was very windy and chilly (high was supposed to be around 64, but it felt much chillier than that on the beach).  We found a nice spot on a nearly empty beach (with just one crazy sunbathing lady and the occasional dog walkers) and i sat down to finish the book I've been reading (Little Bee - if you haven't read it - its very good-very deep).  It was a lazy, relaxing afternoon.  Very good to be near the ocean! 

Oreo was pretty excited because it was a leash-free beach... She was such an awesome dog - she just layed with me on the towel the whole time.  She occasionally went and met the dogs that passed by.  I think she enjoyed herself : )

After the tide came in and the chill got to me (and I finished my book), I got bored and didn't know what else to do, so I decided to go explore some local thrift stores.  I figured I could get cool Maine stuff at rock bottom prices.  Plus its just fun to see what kinda stuff you can find in these places...like the t-shirt that said "Fresno State Cow Tipping Team" or "Screw Vintage...this shirt is from the future".  I actually did find some super cool tees that i did buy.  I also got a pair of shorts for a dollar, a Maine sweathirt for $5 and some other crap I didn't need.  But atleast it was super cheap crap I don't need...  I picked up some good thai food after this and went back to the hotel to organize all the crap i already had.  When I get home I'm having a yard sale : )