This week, Alex and I will be driving up to Maine for a looong awaited mini-vacation. We'll be staying in Bar Harbor for two nights and Portland for one. Since my only real experience with the area up until this point has been through cats, Lobster rolls, and books about blueberry picking, I would love to hear if you guys have any suggestions as to what we should see/where we should shop/what we should eat (!!) We'll be hiking around Acadia National Park and hopefully be hitting up at least one lobster pound--but are there any great secondhand stores, cozy cafes, or historic light houses we can't miss? And that goes for anywhere along the route up north too, we'll be passing through Boston and a bit of New Hampshire as well. Thanks in advance for any advice! And yep, I'll be taking photos like crazy :n D
(photo found via the LIFE Archives)
16 comments:
You might want to check out the Antique Market in Cambridge...five floors of secondhand to soak in! http://marketantique.com
Urban Renewals and Boomerang are a couple places in the Boston area for a more thrift store experience.
I live in Cumberland Maine (near Portland) and you should check out the vintage clothing shops in the Portland area, there's a lot of great ones. Try Material Objects; I got an 1800s dress there for $20.
the Portland Architechural Salvage is a fun place to look at cool old stuff: http://www.portlandsalvage.com/
and lunch + local beer at Duckfat in portland is alwayst a must do!!
have a great time in Maine and away from the city! v
I really want to visit Maine one day. I hope the weather is nice there! Can't wait to see your photos.
If the part of New Hampshire you're going through is near Portsmouth (& it probably is if you're taking 95), the downtown area is really cute to walk around in.
As far as Maine goes (my beloved home/current state), I haven't been to Bar Harbor in years, but if you go through Camden on your way, it's worth a stop.
Portland-wise, you'll find a lot of awesome stuff just wandering around the Old Port. I'm eating ice cream as much as possible right now, so... Beal's is tasty & Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream is also grand (there's one in Bar Harbor too) and so is Willard Scoops (that one is out in South Portland)...if you like vinyl you could go in to Enterprise Records. & my sister & are basically 7 years old at heart, so we always go into Treehouse Toys. Finally, if you like cooking/ cookbooks- you should go to Rabelais. Honestly (sadly) I think Portland is rather lacking clothing-shopping-wise.
If you've never been and have any interest at all in L.L. Bean, the headquarters is pretty awesome, just as a unique experience of sorts. Freeport isn't that far from Portland (& is probably on the way to Camden), plus - it's open 24 hours (I've been there at like 2am multiple times... in late December madly Christmas shopping with my mother). There's always people there. You can look around and say - "Is this really a giant fish tank full of trout? Is this really an enormous small-elephant-sized bean boot?"
Also - it's lovely to walk around Portland Head Light (lighthouse) right next to Portland in Cape Elizabeth.
Have an awesome time!
Places to eat in Portland:
- Bar Lola (I love this place and the couple who own it)
- Otto's Pizza (mashed potato pizza)
- Local 188
Places to shop in Portland:
- Ferdinand
- Free St & Commercial St have good window shopping
- Lots of vintage shops on Congress by Maine College of Art.
Galleries all up and down Congress.
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One of my favorite things about Maine is just driving around through old New England towns. Rt 1 is pretty built up, but Damarascotta is one of my favorite towns (although Camden is nice). If you are there (Damarascotta), look up Round Top Ice Cream Stand or Pemaquid Point.
However, going inland, towns off of 95 & 295 are usually fun to drive through and walk around for photos, even if there isn't a lot to "do." A convenience store and an old church, that's pretty much it. So if you have time on the way from Portland to Bar Harbor, drive around.
It sounds so dreamy! Can't wait to hear all about it! And photographs too please!
x
www.lostinthehaze.com
have an amazing time. i look forward to the photos. :)
Have fun guys and take care of yourselves :) We'll be waiting for the photos
So cool, have fun!
http://sweetharvestmoon.blogspot.com
Not sure where exactly you will be driving through New Hampshire, but if you are able to drive through the White Mountains at all, it is just simply beautiful. There are lots of fun things to do there...The Flume is my favorite and it is probably open now(although if you plan to go, i would suggest calling or checking there website which i will link you to). It is a rather short (couple hour), easy hike through the woods that takes you through a gorge with a beautiful waterfall that you climb old wooden stairs to the top of. There is also a covered kissing bridge :) http://www.nhstateparks.org/explore/state-parks/flume-gorge.aspx
As far as Portland goes, hands down, best thrift store in the city = Encore. Here is a little article on it (http://www.bluevelvetvintage.com/vintage_style_files/2009/07/24/encore-vintage-clothing-in-portland-maine/ ). The lady that owns it knows everything about every item in that place...the hats are my favorite!
Maine is also great for antique stores. Here is a link to a bunch of antique shops ( http://www.antiquing.com/me.htm ).
If you're going to be in Bar Harbor, you must go to Reel Pizza! It is a cinema that also makes delicious pizza with local ingredients, an array of choices, vegetarian and vegan friendly.
The best part is that they don't have regular theater seats, they have antique couches and giant chairs to sit in instead :) And the movies are all fun foreign and indie films. It is located right downtown ( http://www.reelpizza.net/index.php )
If you want pizza in Portland, my vote goes out to flatbread Co. All local, organic ingredients, wood fired, on the water (literally), amazing weight staff, incredibly atmospheric--and it smells just like maine should smell. You'll know what I mean if you go there. There are Flatbread Co's in other states I do believe, but I still think it is very "Maine".
I'm 25 and I've lived in Maine my whole life--those are some of my favorites! :) I cant wait to see what you do!
i just found your blog and i am loving it so much. have a great time on your travels!
finally hatachi
I don't have any suggestions but I hope you post some more Maine pictures! The Life one is great :)
I can't offer anything up, but from the other comments Maine sounds amazing.
I really like that Life photograph - the reflection looks like an oil painting.
ooh! so thats where you went! i went there last summer, stayed in bar harbor too. the national park is so beautiful! and there are plenty of little thrift shops on the road into bar harbor, so i hoped you found some!
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