Blogs from Portland, Maine, United States, North America
Whoopie Pies and Diners Dive-ins and Drives
Published: October 13th 2011North America » United States » Maine » Portland
October 10th 2011
Final day... boy what a quick trip this was... it seemed like just yesterday that we checked in... but I guess that's what weekend getaways are all about... activity filled and quick to end.... We had breakfast again in the lobby before checking out. Same stuff, still good. After breakfast, we hit the road. The game plan for today.... head into Old Port in downtown Portland, then head to airport for home. We parked the car along commercial street and walked around Old Port for a bit. Not much happening. Saw a cruise ship, went into a public market, saw few boutique shops, etc.... Portland is famous for their Whoopie pies, so we decided to try some. Bobby Flay had a Whoopie Pie throwdown with the Cranberry Island Kitchen... which just happens to be in Portland. ... read more
October 9th 2011
Day 2 began with an 8:00 breakfast meet up. Embassy Suites offered breakfast buffet everyday. So after everyone's allotted 30 minute morning time was completed, we headed downstairs to begin our day. The breakfast set up was very good. There was scambled eggs, home fries, sausage, bacon, french toast, fresh waffles and made to order omelets. All very good... all eaten = too full yet again. After breakfast, we headed out to Freeport. Freeport, ME was about 30 minutes away from Portland and was where the flagship LL Bean store was at; it's opened 24 hours and it had the big LL Bean boot in front. It was also the place where there were more outlets.... Yay for more outlets. We hit the LL Bean outlet, AF, North Face, Patagonia, and J. J. Coombes. Because we ... read more
The Portland trip that became the Foodie tour
Published: October 13th 2011North America » United States » Maine » Portland
October 8th 2011
So the morning started with an early morning (by Sherry standards) start. Mary, Aunt Sue and I headed off to BWI to catch a 9:20 flight to Manchester, NH. I ran about 5 minutes behind and we needed to make a pit-stop at my Aunt's house, so that meant that Betsy had about 30 minutes of Betsy time before we all met up. It was about an hour flight from BWI to Manchester. So we got to Manchester about 10:30ish. We got our rental car and we were off. We decided to take the more scenic more coastal road to Portland. So Mary took us along Route 1, but before we made it to Route 1, we saw Kittery Outlets and we had to stop. Who could refuse??? Kittery was in the town of York and ... read more
September 26th 2011
We set a wakeup call for 7 am; drink our coffee on the balcony as we arrive in to the Portland, Maine harbor. It is so, so beautiful….a little cooler but still warm…but an absolutely beautiful sunny day. We ran upstairs for some fruit and cereal and then back to the room for showers. Our plans today are to take a bus tour through Portland then to Kennebunkport. This is truly a beautiful place. The leaves are only just beginning to change so our timing is off, which is impossible to predict. They have had a warm summer and fall. We drove through Portland and stopped at a beautiful lighthouse that still has a lighthouse keeper on our way to Kennebunkport. We arrive in Kennebunkport and have lunch overlooking a harbor: Shipyard Pumpkin Head Ale and ... read more
First week in the USA! Calais, Bangor & Portland.
Published: October 3rd 2011North America » United States » Maine » Portland
September 4th 2011
We walked over the very short bridge, set our phones back an hour and walked into the customs building next to the road on the other side with much apprehension. Thankfully we were greeted with "Hi!" "Hello!" "Come on in!" by the 3 US border security guards inside. Their first question was "Where are you going?" To which I answered "......America...?" much to their amusement. Not really sure what they wanted us to say! After a few quick questions about where we were from, the explanation of our route and paying of the $6 visa waiver fee, we were in after an unexpected quick and painless border cross. We headed to a diner just across the border to have some lunch after spending most of the morning eating nothing due to pre-border nerves! As we had ... read more
May 17th 2011
Accepted Day Hello! Let me give you a little background information on how I got this great opportunity. In the Spring Semester of my Senior year at the University of Maine I attended the Engineers Week, Boston Career Fair. My mother and I drove down in February to see if I could land myself a job in Boston. Let me inform you we did make a stop in Freeport, ME and got a great new pair of shoes. The career fair started and I made my rounds to the companies booths. After leaving my resume with what seemed like 100 tables I finally was ready to leave. I walked past the Rensselaer booth and a man grabbed my arm. He introduced himself as Rob Sheftel, he was the enrollment manager for RPI. He began to ... read more
February 8th 2011
Snow in Maine delayed our trip to Israel. Our flights were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday and then Dad could not get us on another flight until today. (But another storm was on the way!) Our friend Susan Poulin drove us to the Portland Jetport. We flew to Newark NJ. We had to go through special security in the waiting area to get on the plane to Tel Aviv, where the airport is in Israel. The flight was very long... over 10 hours! We arrived the next day at 9:30am. We rented a car and drove to Be'er Sheva, which is at the top of the Negev Desert. It is very different. I have hardly had any sleep since we left. Our apartment (they call them "flats") is really nice. We have a balcony that looks ... read more
Week 1 of USA Trip & The Arrival
Published: August 6th 2010North America » United States » Maine » Portland
August 9th 2010
:) WEEK 1 BLOG WRITTEN UNDER ARRIVAL......... ARRIVAL And so after a 7 1/2 hr, quite pleasant flight filled with so so many films, TV shows and games we arrived in Newark Airport, just outside New York. Like any other airport its big and expensive, we walked around for a wee while getting our bearing and trying to find a place to eat that would work with my Dairy Intolorence, most of the places are big fast food, greasy eateries, the people serving in them are quite large people which for me makes it quite funny, its almost an advertisement 'eat here if you want to end up Huge like me', so if you watching your waistband this certainly acts as a great deterrent. We found a place called 'Greenleaf's Grill' at the food court,... wow, ... read more
June 2nd 2010
June 1st is my brother-in-law’s 50th birthday. When I first met Tom I had little faith that he would ever reach this milestone. A charming and reckless youth with a proclivity to tempt fate his longevity was questionable at best. I knew this as I had walked a parallel path at the same age and beyond. But like other men of good fortune we married women armed with common sense and the ability to instill the same in their spouses. Our marriages were life-altering events which we did not appreciate at the time. Patiently our wives made sure that we did. He is now busily occupied with being a great Dad and a productive worker. A steady and sane existence. I woke early and put the finishing touches on Tom’s birthday card. When I planned my ... read more
Maine Line to New England Color
Published: October 11th 2009North America » United States » Maine » Portland
October 11th 2009
We are off to the often overlooked state of Maine and perhaps greater New England.. We are flying into Boston, and driving up through New Hampshire, perhaps to Vermont, and on to Maine. I was in Maine before, as a company I worked for, had an office in Augusta when we administered the state Medicaid drug program. I also stopped here on my first big trip in 1971 to Europe, in Bangor, to refuel. It was a real thrill (ha ha). It was basically an old airplane hangar with a small snack bar, and a big fuel truck. The capitol of Maine is Augusta. The state animal is the moose, and the state bird is the chickadee. Maine has 5500 miles of coastline, and about 2000 islands off of its coast. But it has only 1.2 ... read more
