PORTLAND is the most populated city in the state of Maine and is located on the northeast coast of the U.S.A. During our brief stay in Maine, we knew we had to visit Portland to give us a contrast to Old Orchard Beach where our motel was.
Early on the morning of Saturday August 3, 2024, for the first time, Uber let us down: it said ‘no drivers available’ so we sought out the unusually named BSOOB Transit bus. The online timetable was confusing - it wasn’t clear if we could easily get back to Old Orchard Beach - but we took a chance and while the bus was 20 minutes late, it got us comfortably to Portland in 45 minutes for only $2 each. A bargain and the ride was only 15 minutes longer than by Uber.
Upon our arrival at Portland, next to Back Cove, a large tidal basin, we were greeted with a man begging on the Interstate 295 exit ramp. He approached cars while holding a sign saying: ‘Down on my luck. Please. Everything helps. Thank You and God Bless’. A sad sight and we wondered if this was indicative of Portland. It transpired that it wasn’t.
We arrived at Portland City Hall and explored the immediate area, enjoying a mooch inside the TARDIS-like ‘Fun Box Monster Emporium & Coast City Comics’ on Congress St., a geeky store where we picked up a few comics and collectibles, before continuing with our walk down to the waterfront.
Holy Donuts had come to our attention online as a place to sample Maine’s potato doughnuts and it didn’t take us long to find the one by the wharfs and piers (see review of The Holy Donut). We enjoyed our wares sat in the sunshine at Long Wharf next to a segment of the Berlin Wall - of all things!
Maine has many other favorite staples, including lobster, blueberry soda and whoopie pies, and as we stood marvelling at the ginormous Emerald Princess cruise ship at the Maine State Pier, we worried we wouldn’t find anywhere stocking the latter two. However, right in front of us was the Vina Ann’s concessions hut which just so happened to sell both!
In our excitement we forgot how much they both cost (possibly $5 each) but we bought them there and then and tucked in. The blueberry soda was just what we needed in the 28° C heat (it felt much hotter). The whoopie pie had a surprising flavor and after a couple of enjoyable bites, decided to save it for later as we were still full of the Holy doughnuts.
The rear of the Harbor Fish Market buildings stood out for two reasons: firstly by the racket of the gulls hanging around for a free feed and then secondly by the smell. This didn’t deter us, however, as we enjoyed watching the seabirds sunning themselves and squabbling over fish scraps. We ventured into the market and it was fascinating to see all the fresh seafood on offer. Interestingly not all of it was from Maine, with some coming from far away coastal states.
Fed and watered at the nearby Porthole Pub (see separate review), our limited time at Portland was soon over and we concluded our 3 mile walk back at City Hall.
Ubers back to Old Orchard Beach were coming in quite pricey, while the cheap Amtrak train (at around $4) was timetabled at an inconvenient time and with the station some distance away. We therefore took another chance with the BSOOB Transit bus. We paid another $2 each and as we got moving realised the reason the timetable had mislead us earlier was because it did a loop around the city centre.
So it all worked out in the end and we got to visit Portland for the day for only $8 in total!
We are so glad we took the chance to see a very contrasting side of coastal Maine - and escape from the grumpy seasonal staff at Old Orchard Beach.
📌 PORTLAND, MAINE - AUTHENTIC BY NATURE
🌐 www.visitportland.com
See all our Maine photographs in a special album on our Facebook page >>> P&K USA
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