OT upcoming Trip to Maine

StillSmoken · June 2016

My wife and I are planning a trip at the end of this month to Maine. It will be 4-5 days. Most likely flying into Portland Maine. I work for the airlines, so it depends of the flights. Haven't spend much time in this part of the country. We will be renting a car and wanting to travel up north and then the coast etc. Loop back to Portland. Our objectives are as follows: Eat as much lobster as possible, drink while not driving the car, and seeing some cool sites. Hiking etc. Hotels will be booked on the fly probably night of. We like dive spots, but aren't afraid to drop some coin on a nice meal. Might even camp out one night as well. Thanks for all the suggestions in advance.

Kevin

BYS1981 · June 2016

Allagash brewery would be on my list.

dmchicago · June 2016

If you find yourself near Searsport, go to Youngs Lobster Pound.

Walk the tanks and have a fresh lobster experience you'll love!

Jstroke · June 2016

I second that motion*^^^^. Very nice.

dmchicago · June 2016

dmchicago said:

If you find yourself near Searsport, go to Youngs Lobster Pound.

Walk the tanks and have a fresh lobster experience you'll love!

I found some pics...

dmchicago · June 2016

In Portland:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/8j/h95nfiacbfq0.jpg

StillSmoken · June 2016

@dmchicago thanks for taking the time to post. Place looks cool!

dmchicago · June 2016

StillSmoken said:

@dmchicago thanks for taking the time to post. Place looks cool!

Dive bar: Rollie's in Belfast, near Searsport.

Quick story:

After lobster at Youngs, I drove around to find a bar to have a few pops.

Found Rollies. Went in and typical NE baaaaaaar.

Sat at the baaaaaaar and the Bruins were on the TV. This is before I became a Hockey fan.

Guy on the next stool is right outa NE central casting. Great guy, great accent!

We start talking, he asks me about hockey. Tell him I know very little.

he spends the next 2 hours explaining the finer points. What a defenseman does, a forward, etc. Then explains how "shifts" work. Who knew they changed players so quickly?

Anyway, I'm hitting Makers and he's hitting beers. I gotta drive to Portland in the AM so he gets up to go have a smoke outside.

I wave the bartender over and pay my tab as well as his.

Bartender tells me that the guy is a regular who is down on his luck and he'll really appreciated it.

Cool!

I head out, see him smoking and thank him for all the knowledge and tell him that karma is coming his way.

Get in my car and head to my hotel.

I am now a huge hockey fan, thanks is part to this guy.

Gotta love getting to know the folks at the bar!

StillSmoken · June 2016

Great story!

Foghorn · June 2016

BYS1981 said:

Allagash brewery would be on my list.

This beer cannot be overemphasized. Especially the Curieux. Ask anybody who was at the Salado afterparty.

Acn · June 2016

Belfast is a great little town. Camden is one of my favorite spots too. I highly recommend Primo in Rockland ( http://www.primorestaurant.com), if you go there plan on getting there early so you can walk around their garden and to visit the pigs and chickens that'll be dinner in a few weeks.

Acadia National Park is great, but try to get inland too - Baxter State Park is gorgeous, they're trying to turn land around it to another National Park. You can beat your rental car on the Golden Road, and get to the Debsconeag Ice Caves (http://www.5lakeslodge.com/katahdin-hiking-icecave.asp) I've been there and it's been 90 degrees outside, but you climb down into the caves and see a foot of snow and ice remaining in July and you'll be able to see your breath.

If you go to Acadia, the Trento Bridge Lobster Pound is nice, you'll pick out your own lobster, they'll cook it and bring it to you. A stop in Freeport is always nice, the LL Bean flagship store is an experience. I haven't been there, the Maine Beer Company (http://www.mainebeercompany.com) has a tasting room in Freeport, and @eggcelsior and i would probably argue that their stuff is at least as good as Allagash, maybe better.

I'm sure I'll think of more, you can message me with more details and questions if you'd like - I was born there and lived there until graduating from college. My dad still works for the state department of travel and tourism (if you stop at one of the rest areas on I-95 near Bangor, you'll probably meet the strange old Yankee).

Carolina Q · June 2016

If you make it to Freeport, LL Bean is open 24 hours a day with free coffee after midnight. They sell fishing licenses too if you need one. But Freeport is nothing like it was back in the 70s when I first visited. Bean was a big old rickety barn-like structure where Leon Leonwood Bean invented his boots and was really they only thing in town. Except the awesome sandwich shop that used to be just down the street. Now, Freeport is just one big outlet mall.

I don't remember when, but on a later trip, we were driving along Rt 1 through Freeport, following a bucket loader that was lugging some huge unidentifiable "thing". We were headed for LLB and as it turned out, so was he. This was during a MAJOR expansion/remodeling job they were doing. Turns out the "thing" was the fake waterfall that was being installed at the main entrance to the store. Don't know if it's still there.

One thing to remember... you can't just drive up the coast. Pemaquid, Bar Harbor, Boothbay, etc, are all MILES from any main road and you can't go from one to the other. Beautiful places, but you can't get theah from heah. A'yuh, it's true.

NC_Egghead · June 2016

Back in an earlier life, I used to travel from NC to Maine at least 2x a month. My customer was LLBean. They are all great folks, by the way. Anyways, if you find yourself in Portland, please, please go to Gilbert's Chowder House. It's just a little dive but they have THE best chowder or, rather, chowdah!

OT upcoming Trip to Maine

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