Why Portland, Maine?

I’ll be completely honest, Portland, Maine was just a convenient flight destination for us to get to New Hampshire for our leaf-peeping adventure, but what’s funny is that I actually ended up liking Maine better and I wish we would have had more time to explore! We flew from Memphis to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Portland, Maine, which was about an hour away from our final destination of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Before this trip, I really didn’t know anything about Maine except the stereotypical lighthouses and rocky cliff-sides.  From the moment we got off the plane I was blow away by how beautiful this part of the country is and couldn’t wait to explore for the short 24 hours that we would be there before driving to New Hampshire.

Hat | Coat | Jeans | Loafers | Suitcase | Carry-On Bag

Flying into Portland was really easy.  The Portland airport is just small enough where it’s easy to get around, there aren’t any lines, and people were very friendly.  We were able to quickly get our rental car and be on our way – I’d say the whole process from deplaning to getting our luggage and rental car only took about 30 minutes.

Sweater | Skirt | Boots

Freeport, Maine: Haraseeket Inn

After driving around Portland for a bit we drove the 30 minutes north to Freeport, Maine, a quaint and charming little town that is known for its outlet malls and LL Bean Headquarters and flagship store.  I’m not really sure why I chose Freeport for our one night stay in the Portland area, but we were very pleased with the town and thought there was plenty to do and see.  Everything was within walking distance from our Inn and we enjoyed walking to get coffee and shop.

We ended up staying at the Haraseeket Inn which was centrally located right in the middle of town near all of the shopping and restaurants.  The Harraseeket Inn is a family owned, 93-room luxury inn located in Freeport, Maine. The hotel features two great restaurants, the Broad Arrow Tavern and the Maine Harvest Dining Room, twenty-three fireplaces, an indoor heated pool, and select pet-friendly rooms.  Perhaps my favorite thin about staying at the Haraseeket was the afternoon tea from 3-4pm where you can choose from several hot teas and delicious pastries and finger foods.  Overall we loved this Inn and got a really good vibe the entirety of our stay – we would definitely go back!

Friday morning I ended up meeting my long-time internet friend Courtney from Mrs. Coco Wyse Blog for coffee and shopping.  We perused the outlet stores and enjoyed the cafe in the LL Bean Flagship store.

LL Bean Duck Boots

LL Bean Flagship Store Experience

I was excited to get a pair of duck boots from the LL Bean Flagship store.  I think doing this is a fun experience for anyone and you get to have a souvenir that will make you always remember Maine! Everyone working in the flagship store was so knowledgable about the shoes and loved making something as simple as buying a pair of shoes a unique and memorable experience.  The flagship store is open 24/7, which is crazy to me, and my sales associate said people actually do come in to shop in the middle of the night.  I chose the classic duck boots that insulated with Gore-Tex so they will keep my feet extra warm in the winter months.  I tried to get Rob to get a pair of duck boots but he said they just weren’t his “look” LOL.

Portland Head Lighthouse & Cape Elizabeth

If you do one thing in Portland, I would highly recommend driving over to the Portland Head Lighthouse and taking in all of the sights on your drive.  We drove by some of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever seen and most of them lined the rocky cliffs and beaches that run up to the lighthouse.  The lighthouse is open from dawn ’til dusk, so keep that in mind if you plan on going in the late afternoon.  We got there around 5pm and they were already starting to shut down shop with certain parts of the lighthouse.  There were several people still walking around and taking professional photos.  You can actually walk around several sides of the lighthouse and see several vantage points, so there are ample opportunities for photos.  There is even a little gate you can open and go right down onto the rocks and to the beach if you really wanted to, but since it was freezing and the waters looked a little rough, we opted to just stay on the rocks.

Where We Ate

Since we were only in the Portland area for a hot second, we didn’t get to experience as much of the food as I would have liked, but we did get a couple of great meals.  The night we arrived we were starving and after just leaving the lighthouse I made Rob google to find us a really good restaurant.  He ended up finding this cute little neighborhood spot called Tipo that served Italian and wood-fired pizzas.  I think we had the best service from a waitress that we’ve ever had before at Tipo.  Everything we had was so delicious and the salads were so fresh it tasted like they had just picked the greens right before they made them!

For coffee and breakfast we ventured to Tandem Coffee (the Anderson Street location) and enjoyed lattes and cinnamon rolls.  We ended up getting 5 cinnamon rolls because we knew we were about to be on the road for a couple of hours.  I’m so glad we got those cinnamon rolls because we ended up devouring all of them on our car ride to New Hampshire.

Overall Impressions

I know we were only in Maine for a short 24 hours, but I was very impressed and now I am dying to go back!  There are so many parts of Maine that we didn’t get to see like the Bar Harbor area and Acadia National Park.  I also really wanted to go to Kennebunk but we didn’t have time.  Have you been to Maine and if so, what were your thoughts?