PORTLAND, Maine

Our visit to Portland was mainly a logistical convenience. Free Amtrak tickets and very economical rental car out of Portland made for a pleasant way to skip the NY and Boston traffic. Since we'd been on a long-weekend in Portland a few years ago we knew we didn't want to stop in for long. On our last trip we stayed at an Inn a mile and a half from the Old Port section and as we began our ascent home one night I saw the entrance of a lovely Inn on Milk street and said, "Next time we come to Portland we're staying there." So we did! The Portland Regency - a spa hotel renovated in an old Armory - is two blocks from Commercial Street (the waterfront) and centrally located in the Old Port section which is filled with shops, restaurants and cobblestone streets. We didn't venture beyond a five block radius.

Prior to our trip, Downeast Magazine featured Portland as a culinary destination so we tore out the pages and planned to treat our palates. But after two weeks of hiking and having only packed two pair of jeans, we didn't feel quite presentable for a fine meal. So we circled 'round the same establishments we'd enjoyed on our last trip. 

Gilbert's has the best chowdah (which I haven't actually tried) and packs in tourists and townies so we started there. Though our server said, "Don't even try to come here in summer. You can't get in." Then we popped over to The Standard Baking Company to pick up treats for the next morning's breakfast. Next was J's Oysters for dinner. This place is a true dive but the oysters are $12 for a baker's dozen. We started with two dozen then finished off with a pot of steamers. Margaret, our server, invited us back in February when the oysters are free at Happy Hour. Hmmm. (I recently read an article suggesting vegans partake in oysters because the food oysters eat is so low on the food chain eating them is akin to eating a vegetable.)

The last - and most entertaining - stop on our Portland grazing tour was The Chocolate Bar Cafe which is located in an alleyway lined with brick buildings now converted to restaurants. There were only a few patrons so we made fast friends and actually were delighted to see the best art exhibit of our Maine trip - Absinthe Spoons. The designs were beautifully crafted and Adam, one of the artisans, stopped in so we had him model his spoon for us.

Portland has a small-town feel to it and the people are warm and welcoming. The waterfront has slowly been a little gentrified but for the most part it retains the raw, roughness of an old-style port city. The Casco Bay Ferry line shuttles students and commuters on multiple-daily trips across to six nearby Islands. On our last trip we visited Peaks Island (fun and tourist friendly) and Great Chebeague Island (entirely residential - we walked five miles before finding the one place open for lunch). This area of Maine is nice but it doesn't have the dramatic cliffs we encountered farther north. Our stop in Portland served as a good transition point from solitude to city-life.