Page 217 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

So we set off on a long weekend in Maine, primarily
to pig out on lobster. We would spend part of the time
on a small island and a couple of nights in Portland, a
huge foodie scene with 450 restaurants. I don’t think
there’s a dining establishment in Portland that doesn’t
serve Maine lobster – either whole or as lobster rolls
or lobster salad. You can try lobster ceviche, lobster
Newberg, lobster thermidor, lobster scrambled eggs,
lobster pasta, lobster bisque, lobster lasagna, lobster
mac-and-cheese, and lobster bisque.
We chose lobster salad at Di Millo’s, a former car
ferry permanently tied to the dock. To get there, we
walked along the waterfront which had three pieces of
the Berlin Wall on display. Lunch was on the restau-
rant’s spacious outside deck overlooking Casco Bay.
Here, we sipped wine and watched the boats and fer-
ries leaving or docking.
Our hotel, the Portland Harbour Hotel, was only two
blocks away, perfectly located right in the center of Old
Port. Portland is an idea town for walking. The streets
– some of them cobblestone – are filled with authentic
candy shops, one-of-a-kind boutiques, jewelry shops,
wine stores, cheese stores, galleries, vintage clothing
stores and craft beer distilleries. Portland also has
17 microbreweries which means 25.5 breweries per
100,000 people, the highest rate per capita of any city
in the country. After lunch, we ordered a beer flight
at a hip microbrewery called Liquid Riot, Maine’s first
brewery/distillery/micro bar with both bottled and on-
tap brews. Then we entered the Harbour Fish Market
where fresh lobster meat is $45.95 per pound.
Normally, when I travel, I plan in advance the places
I want to visit. But on this trip, besides Portland and
two nights on the island, we let our feet take us wher-
ever they wanted. And that’s how we discovered The
Portland Museum of Art, which happens to be Maine’s
largest and oldest public art institution, founded as the
Portland Society of Art in 1882.

Price of fresh lobster meat at Har-
bor Fish Market. Right: Harbor Fish
Market on Custom House Wharf,
Portland, Maine

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