July 2021 Portland Maine

 We were headed to the East Coast for a wedding so we decided to fly in a few days earlier to revisit Portland, Maine, We originally went on our honeymoon. We flew into Boston and then took the train. We had a bit of an amazing race moment when we realized we might be able to catch an earlier train. It was very fun and we made it. 

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Portland Waterfront. It was a such a great location and the staff was terrific. We took a recommendation from Glenn's brother and headed to Novare Res Bier Hall. It had a great outdoor deck with picnic tables.  Then, we headed back toward the waterfront to visit Liquid Riot brewery. We snagged a table on the back deck overlooking the water. I really liked their jackfruit bao buns. 

We headed back to the hotel bar for a night cap. There we heard about this secret bar called Lincoln and how much bartenders hate being asked about their favorite lobster roll. 

For Day 2, Glenn had figured out a fun beer tasting route. We had a breakfast sandwich and coffee from Speckled Ax.  then, we headed to a  delicious brunch at Central Provisions. The pea salad special was so good - we ordered two. 

Then we hit the breweries. Austin Street Brewery and Rising Tide Brewery are conveniently right next door to each other. Rising Tide had a live band. 

On our way to Maine Craft Distillery, we had to stop at Portland Zoo. We really thought it was a Zoo. It's a bar. 

Our afternoon ended with a tour around Portland on a vintage fire truck. 

We grabbed a quick dinner at Elevation Burger. 

On Monday, we boarded the ferry to Peaks Island. 

We had a great lunch at The Inn on Peaks Island. The seafood chowder was terrific. We toured the Fifth Maine Regiment Community Center.  Maine's Fifth Regiment in the Civil War bought land on Peak's Island. Over time, the regiment would come back as a reunion and build out the land. 

We headed back to the dock to meet up with our golf cart tour. It ended up being just us. We got a chance to circle the land and learned so much about the history. I found it so interesting that the island was a fort during the first World War. The installations aren't protected so people build houses right on top of the old forts. 

We had a great pizza dinner in the harbor at the Flatbread Company. 

Tuesday was lobster day! We started with a great coffee and donut at Hi Fi Donuts. We had a great meal at High Roller Lobster Company. I had lobster on a stick and Glenn opted for a lobster roll. 

Then we headed to what was our favorite brewery of the trip: Oxbow. We tried every beer on the menu and I loved them all. 

We had a quick beer and delicious haddock bites and a great view at Luke's Lobster Company. 

We had originally planned to take a lobster cruise out of the harbor in the afternoon, but the thunderstorm chased us away. The Captain was kind enough to give us a little info about lobsters and how Maine fisherman lead the way in preventing overfishing. 

Then, we dashed through the flooded streets to Gritty McDuff's pub for an average dinner before heading back to the hotel. The highlight was the salt and vinegar chicken wings. 

Wednesday, we started the day with a trip to the Big Foot museum. I love a weird museum. It delivered with several personal collections of big foot related items. I especially liked the beer can collection. 

 

Then, we spent most of the day enjoying the sunshine, good food, and beer list at King's Head Pub. 

We decided on fancy dinner so we headed to Street & Co. for a lovely meal after grabbing some oysters at a restaurant by the docks. 

Thursday, it was time to head back to Boston. Glenn did a load of laundry and then we had to rush to the train again. We could not get a cab or Uber. The hotel general manager went to get the hotel shuttle for us and had one of the staff drive us to the train station. 

Once in Boston, we checked into The Godfrey Hotel Boston. We walked down to a great Asian restaurant for a late lunch. We walked down to Faneuil Hall and enjoyed a beer. Then, we walked back to the hotel. We had some great cocktails at French Quarter. Then, I had a great turkey burger at Back Deck. 

The next morning, we headed out on the Metro to meet up with Laurie and Kate.