I was looking for a fall color trip but this turned out to be a fabulous food trip with a little fall color.
When I asked D.B. Sutton where to go for fall color, he suggested Portland, what flight to take, a couple of hotels, a few restaurants, and sites to see. That’s what I did. Frontier offers really low prices and a non-stop flight to Portland. But it leaves at 6:30 am. I stayed at a hotel near the airport the night before (October 17), getting up at 4 am to get the 4:30 shuttle to the airport instead of getting up at 3:30 to leave from here.
I did get a pretty good view with fall color coming into Portland.
At 8:30 October 16 I was in Portland, checked in and explored The Press Hotel. At 11, I met up with the Land, Sea to Fork Food Tour which started at Union restaurant in my hotel. There were a dozen in our group. At Union restaurant, we had a delicious fish chowder with clams, hake, smoked trout, coconut milk, lemongrass, and lime leaf.
Then to a Middle Eastern restaurant, Evo Kitchen, where we had an excellent potato dish.
And then to Solo Italiano for pesto and one big noodle.
Then to Portland Pier and Luke’s lobster for perfect little lobster rolls.
At the pier, Bryce told us a little about Maine lobsters.
View from the upstairs back porch of Luke’s.
I took a big bite before remembering to take a photo.
Next, to Mami for Japanese-style street food. We had an unusual but tasty dish with skate, daikon, and red onion.
Our final stop was Piccolo, an Italian restaurant, for ricotta cake with a sweet pudding.
I really enjoyed the 3-hour lunch. It was a perfect way to start my visit. The food was all very good, it was a beautiful day, and I got a good introduction to getting around Portland. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped for ice cream.
After a nap, I headed out for an early supper at Central Provisions (it gets dark around 6). I loved the bone marrow toast with fontina, horseradish crème and red onion marmalade. I had planned to also order sea trout crudo but instead tried the special of venison tartare with beets. I didn’t care for the venison and wished I’d ordered the trout.
Wednesday night a nor’easter hit New England. In the middle of the night I could see the wind whipping the trees and rain coming down in sheets. The winds in Portland, 62 mph, were the 9th strongest on record for October 16. Two of the tours I had scheduled were cancelled due to the wind, Land and Sea Duck Tour Historic Adventure and Portland, Maine City and Lighthouse Tour.
Thursday, it stopped raining but was grey and windy. I had a wonderful breakfast at the Union in the hotel: smoked salmon on pumpernickel toast with hard boiled egg, pickled onion, and capers, followed by a half order of vanilla brioche French toast, local maple syrup, whipped butter, and grated cinnamon.
After breakfast, I walked to Portland Museum of Art. The special exhibit was works by Wyeth. I was surprised by the beautiful paintings. They did not look like Wyeth. Halfway through the exhibit I realized they were not done by Andrew Wyeth but were done by his father, N. C. Wyeth. I had wondered why he went by the name Andrew.
The Children’s Museum is right next to the Art Museum, so I looked in there. There were lots of kids in there enjoying the many activities.
A bowl of Union chowder was a perfect lunch on a chilly, windy day.
For supper at Eventide Oyster Company, I wanted to order both lobster stew and a lobster roll but I knew I couldn’t eat much so I settled for the stew because I’d never had lobster stew. The lobster in it was good, but it had more broccoli and sweet potatoes than I needed. I wish I’d gotten the roll instead. What a busy place that is! I sat at the end of the bar, the shucker put plates of beautiful raw oysters right next to me for the waits to pick up. Next time I’ll try some oysters and the lobster roll, their specialties.
Friday morning’s late breakfast at the Union was red flannel hash, corned beef, onions, fingerling potatoes, local beets, slow-poached eggs, and rye toast – enough for four!
I didn’t feel like going anywhere after I checked out so I just sat in the lobby and read and had a Maine crab roll before leaving for the airport.
The trip home was uneventful and I was home around 8 pm. I hope to go back to Portland but next time I’ll aim to go when the weather is a little warmer and the days a little longer. And next time I hope to see my cousins who are in the area.
I really like the city. It reminds me a lot of Asheville – really good food in interesting restaurants, people there seem young, there’s a lot of beautiful art around, you can see a lot just walking. There aren’t many traffic lights. Drivers just stop when they come to an intersection if someone is walking into it.
Our food tour leader said that Portland is the top restaurant city in the US. I just found this Washington Post ranking of the 10 best and sure enough, Portland is ranked #1 (in 2015). I also found Zagat’s 30 Most Exciting Food Cities in America 2017 which ranks Portland #27 and Asheville #30.
I was pleased that I could get everything in my backpack, including a jacket, rain jacket and bulky warm wool sweater.
