Having dropped off the kids at day camp, we drove to Portland, ME. Living in Pennsylvania, this is the furthest north we've been in the U.S. so we thought we might as well. Unfortunately, we got lost a bit. From Bartlett to Portland you take Route 25 most of the way. We wanted to head straight for the harbor.
Once there, we parked the car and got on the first boat trip we saw. On vacation, timing is everything and we ran with tickets in hand before the small boat sailed off. I'm sorry, but I can't remember the name of the boat, but it was 90 minutes of knowledgeable and interesting stories about Portland harbor. The highlights were the Portland lighthouse which graced the cover of my AAA Maine Tourbook and an up-close look at a group of seals.
On land again we looked for a place to eat lobster. Why else would someone go to Portland? When in Rome... The obvious place was DiMillo's which is a ship restaurant. It's huge. A street hawker told us that you can get lobster anywhere and steered us to a hole in the wall two blocks down. We sat in the back outside where there was an outdoor deck. My wife had a lobster with the works and I had a lobster roll with huge onion rings. We split a seafood chowder in a bread bowl which was out of this world. My lobster roll probably had as much meat or more than my wife's lobster so while I was finishing my onion rings, she was still trying to get at the meat. So a word to the wise, get the lobster roll. Sorry but I can't remember the name of the chowder house.
We jumped back in the car and were an hour late getting the kids. Thank goodness the camp counselor was gracious. My advice is to go very early and stay very late. There was so much more to see. I hope we get to go back soon.