A Local’s Guide to Portland, Maine and Beyond

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Guests usually come to Portland, Maine, for the primary time as a result of they wish to spend a summer season weekend in a quaint metropolis by the water, or as a result of they’ve heard concerning the metropolis’s superlative seafood (80 % of america’ lobster comes from Maine). Seduced by the simple entry to nature and relative affordability, many return for longer stays and even for good. Between 2020 and 2022, Maine’s inhabitants had the best proportion enhance of any New England state.

However Maine’s desirability is nothing new. Artists, artisans and writers have lengthy gravitated to the state; they established an artwork colony with two colleges of portray in Ogunquit, on Maine’s southern coast, within the first half of the twentieth century, and the Haystack Mountain Faculty of Crafts on Deer Isle, which was based in 1950, continues to attract instructors and college students from world wide. Extra not too long ago, the state’s artistic spirit has resulted in a dynamic meals scene. Flip down any one in every of one in every of Portland’s cobblestone streets and also you’ll discover extra high quality eating places and bakeries (of each the old- and new-guard varieties) than you would possibly count on in a spot with simply 68,000 year-round residents. The identical is true simply northeast of the town, within the mid-coast area, particularly within the city of Rockland — a simple and scenic 90-minute drive away — which has a burgeoning meals and artwork scene on monitor to rival Portland’s.

Kazeem Lawal, the proprietor of the clothes and accessories retailer Portland Buying and selling Co., moved from New Jersey to Portland 14 years in the past, and has witnessed its stratospheric progress from a small port city to a vacation spot metropolis. “It’s a bit just like the Brooklyn of 20 years in the past, with previous and new coexisting,” he says. “and it’s persevering with to develop and evolve, as all cities ought to and do.”

Right here, Lawal and three different Mainers share their favourite spots in and across the state’s largest metropolis.

Alex Day, a co-owner of Loss of life & Co. cocktail bars (with areas in New York Metropolis, Los Angeles, Denver and Washington, D.C.), moved to Portland in 2019.

Lily King, the novelist, has lived in Portland since 2002.

Kazeem Lawal, the artistic director of the clothes and accessories retailer Portland Buying and selling Co., moved to Maine in 2009.

Toshiko Mori, the architect and principal at Toshiko Mori Architect, divides her time between New York Metropolis and a house on an island in Maine’s Penobscot Bay.

“Earlier than my husband and I moved to Maine, we examined out all of the lodging choices in Portland. I just like the AirBnBs in Munjoy Hill, but when going the resort route, The Francis is my favourite spot — comfy, centrally situated, tastefully curated, and the house of one in every of Portland’s coziest eating places, Wayside Tavern.” (Rooms from $129 an evening) — Alex Day

“Finest Bower is a recent guesthouse on the prime of Munjoy Hill with six heat, pretty rooms and rotating artistic endeavors by artists-in-residence. Blind Tiger within the West Finish, whose billiards room was as soon as a prohibition speakeasy, provides extra luxurious; and out on Chebeague Island there’s the magical Chebeague Island Inn, the place drinks and dinner are served on its wraparound porch.” (Rooms at Finest Bower from $165 an evening, two-night minimal; Blind Tiger, from $259 an evening; Chebeague Island Inn, from $219 an evening) — Lily King

“I favor new motels, and the Cover Portland Waterfront is 2 blocks from downtown. Spring for a room with a view of the water, and plan on a drink on the rooftop bar.” (Rooms from $199 an evening) — Kazeem Lawal

“In Rockland, 250 Fundamental is extraordinarily pet-friendly. The resort offers canine treats from Loyal Biscuit Co., an important pet provide retailer that’s simply down the road. Rooms are easy and comfy, with harbor views and wonderful espresso from its neighbor Rock Metropolis Espresso Roasters.” (Rooms from $169 an evening) — Toshiko Mori

“Smalls, a tiny neighborhood cafe-bar and provide retailer within the West Finish, cranks out a number of the greatest espresso and small plates round. On lazy Sundays, I cruise by for a cappuccino, then stroll as much as Zu Bakery for a textbook croissant. And J’s Oyster is the proper mixture of old-school allure, a enjoyable staff and scrumptious seafood that couldn’t be more energizing.” — A.D.

“It’s arduous to eat a nasty meal in Portland. Dok Mali is my present favourite restaurant. Opened lower than a yr in the past by the chef and proprietor Nonglack Thanephonesy, [this Thai restaurant] is new sufficient which you can nonetheless get a desk in excessive season. I’m totally hooked on her drunken noodles.” — L.Okay.

“In order for you the Ferrari of lobster rolls, go to Eventide. The buns are steamed, the lobster meat is doused with brown butter, reservations are extraordinarily restricted and after they let you know how lengthy the await a desk is, you’ll in all probability cross out. Go early, put your title in after which spend the hourslong wait exploring. If lobster’s not your factor, the fish and hen sandwiches listed below are additionally poppin’.” — Okay.L.

“Leeward, a restaurant with Italian-style seasonal meals, focuses on pasta, however the menu additionally highlights native seafood, akin to Maine bluefin tuna crudo with pickled rhubarb, or a cucumber salad with smoked eel, sumac and fried capers that’s contemporary and earthy.” — T.M.

“A brief stroll from our home, the Fore River Sanctuary, a collection of climbing trails meandering by way of forests and marshland, is a beautiful retreat from the hustle of city. I like ranging from Jewell Falls and wandering towards the Fore River. The deep banks as you close to the tip are the remnants of an 1800s canal that related Portland to Sebago Lake.” — A.D.

“Board a ferry on Industrial Road and go to any of the Casco Bay islands. Or, if you wish to see all of them, guide a ticket on the mail boat. It runs 3 times a day (at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and three p.m.) and the experience takes two and a half to a few hours. Soak up all of it: the groups engaged on the boat, the fisherman navigating their boats in Portland’s harbor, the fantastic thing about Maine’s rocky coast.” — Okay.L.

“The Farnsworth Artwork Museum in Rockland has an in-depth assortment of works by [19th- and 20th-century] Maine artists, together with Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth and Louise Nevelson, in addition to the work of younger modern artists. Throughout the road (behind Atlantic Baking Firm, which makes a superb apricot-pistachio cookie) is the Heart for Maine Up to date Artwork, housed in a constructing I designed. It has momentary exhibits of labor by artists residing or related to Maine, together with Reggie Burrows Hodges and Lois Dodd.” — T.M.

“I can lose an hour on the knife and kitchenwares retailer Strata flipping by way of books, admiring delicate Japanese glassware far too skinny for my clumsiness or — as one ought to do right here — speaking with the fantastically educated and pleasant employees concerning the store’s large assortment of culinary knives, largely crafted by Japanese smiths. I’ve but to persuade my husband {that a} knife-sharpening workshop is a suitable date evening.” — A.D.

“For antiques, drive 20 minutes north to Cabot Mill Antiques in Brunswick, which is a multidealer antiques mall in an previous mill constructing. Or drive out to Arundel, to the Arundel Vintage Village. At each locations, you’ll discover issues which might be arduous to come back throughout in most huge cities.” — Okay.L.

“I consulted the procuring knowledgeable in my life, my daughter Eloise King-Clements. She says Blanche + Mimi has one of the best quilts ever, just like the block-printed ones made out of mushy cotton.”
— L.Okay.

“In Rockland, Trillium Soaps is a family-owned small-batch producer of handmade soaps subtly imbued with the perfume of nature present in Maine. My favorites are the pine, Maine seaweed, black rosemary and orange calendula soaps, and I can’t dwell with out Trillium’s gardener’s cleaning soap, which has poppy seeds and cornmeal as an exfoliant, calendula petals, geranium and cedar oil to maintain your fingers mushy after gardening. The shop additionally carries vintage farm baskets, ceramics and linens.” — T.M.

“One of many causes I moved to Portland is the comfort of our little airport. It hardly ever has a T.S.A. line of greater than a pair individuals. However within the busy summer season months, when flights get atrociously costly, I fly out and in of Boston’s Logan airport. I’m usually fairly skeptical of taking a bus, however the Harmony Coach arrives proper exterior baggage declare and heads on to Portland [a two-hour trip], and on the way in which again, it drops you proper in entrance of safety. It’s low-cost, clear and has very pleasant drivers and Wi-Fi.” — A.D.

“Carry a guide. Sooner or later, even on probably the most dazzling summer season day, you’re going to wish to curl up on a hammock or porch swing or window seat and skim. I don’t know if that feeling is within the water or the air, however it’ll overtake you. In case you get a foggy day or two, you would possibly want a number of books. Be ready.” — L.Okay.

“The very best occasions to go to are June and September. June is verdant, with wonderful flowers, together with lupine and lilacs, and it’s strawberry season. The air is obvious and funky and also you’ll be right here earlier than the vacationers hit in July and August. In September, there’s the biggest natural farming honest, the Widespread Floor Nation Honest, and the Camden Worldwide Movie Pageant, one of the best documentary movie pageant — and it’s much less crowded, and the climate is nice for crusing.” — T.M.