In Search of Lobstah in Portland Maine…

Our quest while in southern Maine was to find some delicious lobstah! Just up the road from our park in Saco is Portland Maine which of course we had to visit as well. Portland is a large city with a very popular waterfront. It felt very touristy along the waterfront and as such parking was $5 per hour but just a few blocks removed from the waterfront we found free two hour parking.

Since Sharon and I were mostly interested in a good urban hike parking away from the waterfront was no problem. We were also in search of some lobster to take home. First up was a visit to the Visitors Center on the waterfront where a nice gentleman guided us to a few places to see such as the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow house built in the 1780’s and he pointed out a fish market where we could purchase some lobstah!

Portland is a very walkable city with a nice vibe and some interesting architecture. We wish the visitor center would have had a self guided walking tour but since they didn't we took it upon ourselves to walk all over Portland. We did find the local fish market in town but these lobster come from a different socioeconomic class than we do. So we finished up our walk and on our way home we discovered Allagash Brewery which luckily for us actually gives away four free samples of their beer since they don’ t sell it by the glass. Score!!!

After enjoying some tasty samples we drove home along the coastline via Old Orchard Beach still a little disappointed at the price we found lobster to be back in the city.  Old Orchard Beach was quite the touristy town which surprised me as I was hoping to find a nice and quiet little Maine town full of fishermen. No Lobstah here!  Happily, though as we were driving home Sharon spotted a small sign that said Sam's Lobster so we turned down the small side road where in about a block or two we saw a guy sitting in his yard next to a his small shop.

Here we met Sam who is the owner/fisherman who told us all about the lobstah around here. Inside the shop were large tanks containing all sizes of live lobster! He was very friendly and helped us pick out a couple of beauties to take home. Once home the poor soles took their last swim in our lobster pot and became a real Road Treat and a very tasty dinner for the two of us. YUM YUM!!!

Our last day we spent some time bike riding on the Eastern Trail Bike Path which is a 65-mile section of the East Coast Greenway connecting Kittery to South Portland Maine. Of course we didn’t ride all of it but we did enjoy a nice leisurely bike ride along a beautiful and well laid out trail. Afterward we visited another local brewery thus calling our visit to southern Maine a wrap…

NOTE: We are still in Exeter NH and will head south in a few days…