Tag: Winter

Summer, Winter, Spring, Fall:After a day of shopping and walking the chic waterfront, nights out in Old Port are great for kicking back, cutting loose, or getting down with the girls! A plethora of bars and restaurants: guaranteed to be the scene you and your crew are looking for. From upscale fine wining and dining, to pizza, pubs, pool tables or just a lot of PARTYING, the Old Port is the place to be. A perfect area to come with the girls whether it’s a weekend away, a fun night out, or a last glimpse of life as a bachelorette! As Maine’s shopping mecca, the center of the social scene, and the hub of cute men, Old Port Maine is the place for fun for all the ladies.

Summer, Winter, Spring, Fall:Portland is Maine’s place for a sensible bar scene or a rowdy night out. The multi-faceted downtown area is full of restaurants, pubs, bars, and clubs, certain for a night to remember (or forget)! With over 40 clubs and pubs, this city can handle a party. If you’re looking for a wild night of drinking, dancing, and mingling check out the Asylum, Big Easy Blues Club, Blackstones and Bull Feeney. Want to have a few with pals, Dogfish Bar and Grille, Gritty McDuff’s and Breakaway Restaurant and Lounge are the places to be. There’s plenty more… Whether you’re a Mainer kickin’ back, or a visitor looking for the best place to get rowdy, you can find it in Portland.

Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall: While in Portland, head on over to Fore Street in the Old Port and enjoy some Black Fly Stout or Portland Headlight Pale Ale at the original Gritty McDuff’s. When Grittty’s opened its doors in 1988 it was the first brewpub in Maine dating back to the days of prohibition. Gritty’s has since been at the forefront of the microbrewery business throughout Maine and has learned to craft some very tasty beers a long the way. A diverse dining menu offers everything from barbeque and burgers to seafood entrees and shepherd’s pie. Gritty’s brewpubs can also be found in Freeport, Maine and most recently in the revitalized waterfront area in Lewiston and Auburn, Maine along the banks of the Androscoggin River.

Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall: Bradbury Mountain State Park is open to visitors year round and offers adventures for every season. One of the best times to hike the park and short summit is in the fall, when the leaves are changing, and all the migrating birds show up. Bird watching enthusiasts can hike the short summit of Bradbury Mountain and check out all the migrating eagles, hawks, ospreys and other species as they soar through the sky riding the thermals. Bradbury Mountain State Park is one of the lone parks in southern Maine to have “shared use” trails. The trails can be used by mountain bikers, horseback riders, and even snowmobilers. Take the family on a great bike ride in the summertime or gear up when the weather turns colder and rent snowmobiles or snow shoes to explore the park. Campsites are available if you’d like to make it a weekend getaway. On a clear day at Bradbury Mountain, you can even see the ocean off in the distance.

Summer, Winter, Spring, Fall: Last Sunday I decided to take an unusal roadtrip which would include three very important stops…breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was not just any trip because I decided to do a tour of some of the local diners along Maine’s Route One. Anxious to start, I head out early on my way to Wells where I would sit down with the locals and tourist alike to enjoy an authentic diner style breakfast. The Maine Diner on Route One in Wells offered the goods I was looking for, homestyle cooking for cheap. The waitress delivered eggs and hash, a side of homefries, toast and hot coffee, nothing beats the taste of diner food especially for breakfast. The restaurant was full of people waiting to enjoy the same fare and the waitstaff buzzed around the room at a frenetic pace. With over 4 million customers served you can understand why… Pointing my car North on Route One, I headed for Brunswick where the Miss Brunswick Diner awaited. Now some folks think they have found the perfect lobster roll but, until you have had one here you are missing out! A perfectly toasted roll filled with pure lobster meat and just enough lettuce to give it some color, even the locals love these. Heck on a slow day, they sell between 20 to 30 so they must be doing something right. After enjoying lunch and enjoying the river walk path along the Androscoggin, I hopped in my car and this time headed east toward Waldoboro, home of the famous, Moody’s Diner. Now Moody’s has been serving diner fare for over 75 years and has become a Maine icon. Some of their recipes have been published in Gourment magazine and they’ve even recieved awards from the Culinary Hall of Fame but, there is nothing pretentious about this place at all. They have survived by serving simple, good food at a reasonable price. After enjoying a good ol’ fashion cheeseburger complete with fries and a chocolate shake I decided to indulge in a slice of heaven. Moody’s is famous for their pie and after one bite you’ll know why. So the day was done and I was ready to head home but, one thing is for sure, if you are looking for a way to spend a day then taking a ride along Route One and enjoying these great diners may be just the thing. Either way, you end up with a day full of good food and great memories.