LOCATION: Portland to Freeport
APPEARING:

Usualy I wouldn't show you something like this but... I stayed at a Comfort Inn in Portland - Mohammed Atta stayed here the night before 9/11.

Portland City Hall.



Old Customs House.



A number of major cruises dock in Portland.



















Wadsworth-Longfellow House.



Portland Observatory.













Eastern Promenade.





Portland's dock area is a clearing house for lobster and other sea faring animals.













Portland Head Light.









Desert of Maine.

















L.L. Bean Factory outlet.







Freeport Harbor






Day two started in Portland, or well, just outside of it at a Comfort Inn. After I booked the place earlier on Monday, I asked Scott Baker, a former Portlander about the hotel; "Hope you don't get the Atta suite," he said. "Huh?" I asked. "Dude, you know who stayed there right? Mohammed Atta was there the night before 9/11." Interesting. In the breakfast room, some yokel was mouthing it off in his phone while donned in his NASCAR jacket…

Portland is one rocking city if I say so myself. It feels like one big version of Boston's North End. A lot of classic charm, at an approachable size. Lobster is synonymous with the state and Portland's dock area has a number of locations to buy and ship them home, or for consumption on the spot. The Portland Lobster Company is a decent place for seafood, but a little too slick and touristy.

I ventured into the city's "suburbs" - The Eastern Promenade and The Portland Observatory are definite things to check out on a journey there.

Heading to the south a little to Portland Head, is one of New England's more picturesque light houses. I can't say I'm an avid light house seeker, but having seen nearly ten or so this summer - I'd put Portland Head on the top of my list. By default it seems, lighthouses tend to be in scenic areas.

Driving northwards, to Freeport, a oddity in terrain, the Desert of Maine is a swath of glacial silt miles away from the ocean, that was uncovered earlier this century by a farmer who failed to rotate his crops. Now the sand stretches for a couple hundred acres and can be as deep as 90 feet. Almost at the level of roadside oddity - it is an interesting sight to behold and the tour is amusing.

Freeport is the home to L.L. Bean. Leon Leonwood Bean built an industry out of supplying Mainers waterproof boots - now it's a fashionable outdoor wear apparel line. The factory store is open 24 hours a day. I would be tempted to see who is around at like 3 a.m. buying some random piece of outdoor gear.

From there it was one mad, four hour long dash up to Bar Harbor in "Down-East" Maine. I think I pulled into some random motel around 12:30 for the last room in Ellsworth.