Pet Supplies Maine Article

GIVE ME A GOOD LITTLE WALKING CITY, one that's blessed with historic charm but not too cute. Throw in some uneven brick sidewalks, a few cobblestone streets, a museum or two, and I'm in heaven.

Portland, its colorful past cast in red brick, was custom-made for exploring on foot. From my base at the Holiday Inn By the Bay, I could walk two blocks to Congress Street, the heart of downtown, or trek downhill to the Old Port area, the city's tourist magnet.

Just out the door, mansions, stone churches, and vintage row-houses lined the shady streets. The window of my room provided waterfront panoramas, and I could hear squawking seagulls through the glass.

Though filled with many points of interest and plenty of ambience, Portland doesn't abound with nationally recognized landmarks. With the pressure off, that makes Portland a fun place to discover and casually soak up the flavor of coastal New England. Compact, friendly, and low-key, the city never overwhelms.

Located in southern Maine, about two hours north of Boston, the city in recent years has made headlines as a hip, youthful place that claims to rank only behind San Francisco in restaurants per capita. Portland consistently makes those "most livable places" lists, boasting a strong sense of entrepreneurship and thriving cultural scene. There's definitely a buzz here.

A bit rough-hewn but surprisingly sophisticated, Portland has a distinct personality--the word "funky" is often used. The lifestyle is healthy, but, as one writer put it, "not too granola." Hard to pigeonhole, it's not comparable to any other city I can think of.

For a good overview of this seaside settlement, climb 106 steps to the top of the Portland Observatory in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood. From its open-air deck, the octagonal, red-shingled structure, built in 1807 as a maritime signal tower (not a lighthouse) and the last remaining one in America, affords vistas of the harbor and island-studded Atlantic Ocean. Exhibits shed light on Portland's early days, when ships sent timber and fish to the Caribbean and returned with molasses, sugar, rum, and coffee. Portland today is the East Coast's second largest oil port.

Visitors flock to the Old Poll, a revived warehouse district. On land sloping to the waterfront, granite-trimmed red-blick commercial buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries house one-of-a-kind shops, cutting-edge bistros, brewpubs, music clubs, and coffeehouses with couches and computers. Sections of some streets retain their thick granite cobblestones and curbs. Old-time lampposts enhance the nostalgic aura. (An 1866 fire devastated much of the Old Port, but a rebirth soon followed in grand Victorian style.)

A derelict area after World War II, the Old Port sprang to life in the late 1960s and early '70s when artists recognized its potential and set up loft studios in the aging buildings. In 1987 the Maine National Guard Armory became the 95room Portland Regency Hotel. Buildings in Portland have to be recycled because of strict preservation laws.

You can spend a leisurely afternoon poking into Old Port shops that purvey everything from antiques and books to pet supplies and fancy kitchenware. Much of the retail activity is clustered along Commercial Street, which runs along the waterfront, and streets up the hill. Some boutiques are tucked in little alleys.

For a peek into the soul of Portland, cross Commercial Street and take a stroll along the piers, dominated by marine industries rather than tourist spots. You'll encounter fishing vessels, fish markets, and stacks of lobster traps and buoys.

On the Working Waterfront Tour, a one-hour guided walk, we learned that new development must be marine-dependent or at least marine-related. The long rows of gray-shingled condos were built before waterfront zoning codes.

Our guide took us to a lobster-packing company on Union Wharf, where we learned how the prized crustaceans are processed. We also got the lobster-catching lowdown, with insights on the best bait and how the traps work, from Lucky Catch Cruises, which offers lobstering adventures in Casco Bay.

Passengers on these 90-minute cruises (Memorial Day to Columbus Day) can haul their own traps, rubber-band lobsters, and buy their catch for the wholesale price. Aprons and gloves are provided. (Maine claims almost 90 percent of America's lobster catch.)

Depending on the cruise departure, traps are hauled at various locations, including next to the granite walls of Fort Gorges and Fort Scammel, both from the Civil War; Portland Head Light, Maine's most famous lighthouse: and Seal Rocks, an island with a colony of harbor seals.

The lobsters can be packed for travel, shipped home, or cooked at the pierside Portland Lobster Company restaurant. On warm days, diners take advantage of the outdoor deck. The menu also lists clam cakes, fried scallops, lobster and crab rolls, and lobster stew.

Casco Bay Lines and other operators offer a variety of narrated sightseeing cruises that take in the forts, lighthouses, islands, and wildlife. Or tag along as a passenger on the three-hour mailboat run to five islands within the Portland city limits.

Peaks Island, a 15-minute ferry ride from the mainland, is the most populated, with 800 year-round residents, 3,000 in summer. Tours to Eagle Island feature the summer home of Arctic explorer Admiral Robert E. Peary, a Portland native. To navigate the harbor at your own pace, consider renting a kayak.

Docked in Portland on certain days from May to October are mega-ships of Holland America, Cunard, and other lines that operate itineraries with port calls in New England and Atlantic Canada. The Scotia Prince, a cruise ferry that carries up to 1,000 passengers and 200 vehicles, offers 11-hour overnight voyages from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, from April to November. Besides saving vacationers 1,500 miles of roundtrip driving, the ship offers live entertainment, a casino, fine dining, a massage spa, and private cabins.

DiMillo's Floating Restaurant, a landmark on Long Wharf since 1982, is a converted car ferry that played a major part in making the waterfront an inviting place to visit. Every table has a view, and there's an outdoor deck. Besides seafood, DiMillo's serves steak, chicken, and Italian dishes. The place is enormous.

RiRa's, a waterside restaurant with an Irish flair, has an antique bar imported in pieces from the Auld Sod and a second-floor dining room overlooking the port. Irish beers on tap include dark creamy stouts like Guinness and Murphy's. A pint of Guinness also makes the appetizer list. RiRa's version of shepherd's pie contains not only ground beef, vegetables, and mashed potatoes but Guinness and tomato sauce as well. The Irish soda bread comes with Guinness butter, and there's Guinness gingerbread for dessert.

At just about every Portland restaurant you can wash down your meal with locally produced microbrew beers. One of the most popular brands is Shipyard, which gives tours of its waterfront brewery daily from May through December. Aromas from the brewery tantalize cyclists on the nearby bike path, a route that also offers whiffs of a sewage plant and the B & M baked beans factory.

Downtown's Portland Public Market, an airy glass-and-timber building, is a showcase for purveyors of Maine's agricultural and marine bounty. On the mezzanine level are places to sit and eat, plus a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen where chef-instructors conduct cooking classes and offer samples from Maine recipes.

Besides seafood, market vendors sell artisanal breads, pies, jams, maple syrup, flowers, Maine wines and beers, and seasonal produce, such as wild or cultivated blueberries. (Maine is America's No. 1 blueberry producer.) You can pick up elk and buffalo meat at The Game Table.

The downtown retail corridor along Congress Street encompasses the Arts District, which includes performing arts venues, contemporary galleries, museums, and the Maine College of Art. Music, dance, and theater presentations draw crowds to stunning Merrill Auditorium.

The Portland Museum of Art, housed in a striking building designed by . Pei Associates, displays paintings by Maine artists Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth, plus other American and European masters. Next door is the hands-on Children's Museum of Maine.

Down Congress is the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, the childhood home of 19th century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The brick mansion, built by Longfellow's grandfather in 1785, is part of a one-acre campus that includes the Maine Historical Society Library, changing exhibits at the Center for Maine History Museum, and a peaceful garden.

To feast on lavish Victorian architecture and interior design, also drop by Portland's other must-see museum house, Victoria Mansion, on Danforth Street. Tours focus on the carved marble fireplaces, ornate plasterwork, frescoes, stained glass windows, freestanding mahogany staircase, and elaborate wood paneling of this palatial brownstone built in 1859 as a summer home for Ruggles Sylvester Morse, who made his fortune as a New Orleans hotelier.

Downtown has a human feel, and no building is taller than 15 stories. For fine views in a classy setting, go the rooftop lounge atop the 13-story Eastland Park Hotel, a 1927 landmark that has been restored to its original grandeur.

Since three department stores left more than a decade ago, Congress Street has seen a renaissance with an influx of specialty shops, cafes, and arts-related businesses. One visitor favorite is . Bean, the mail order outfitter based in nearby Freeport, Maine. What's refreshing is that you don't see the overly familiar chain stores--with the exception of a Starbucks Coffee and Coldstone Creamery--found in most other downtowns. (The big national names hang their signs in South Portland's enclosed, 140-store Maine Mall, the largest shopping complex in the state, and nearby mini-malls.)

To really prove you were in Maine, make a trip out to the affluent community of Cape Elizabeth (10 minutes from downtown) and take some pictures of Portland Head Light, Maine's most photographed--and oldest--lighthouse. (You've probably seen it on calendars.) Rising above the surf at Fort Williams Park, the 80-foot conical tower of white fieldstone and brick, commissioned in 1791 by President George Washington, still shines its beacon (now automated) at the entrance to Portland Harbor. A museum in the former lighthouse keepers' quarters chronicles the history of the noble landmark and nearby fort.

Maine is home to more than 60 lighthouses, seven alone in Greater Portland, including three in Cape Elizabeth. Also in Cape Elizabeth is Crescent Beach State Park, a family fun spot with a mile-long stretch of sand. Beaches in South Portland, Scarborough, and other towns within easy driving distance also provide startling contrasts to images of Maine's rockbound coast.

Guided canoe tours at Maine Audubon's Scarborough Marsh Nature Center spotlight wildlife at the state's largest salt marsh, an estuary where several rivers meet and mix with saltwater from the ocean. You might spot a snowy egret catching fish or a cormorant drying its wings. Also offered are birding walks and canoe rentals.

Not far from the coast are the forest-covered White Mountains of southwestern Maine, where pleasures range from skiing to moose-watching. The city's promotional slogan, "Everything Maine," reflects its enviable location in one of America's most fabled vacation states.

Contact: Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland, (800) 306-4193 or (207) 772-5800; .com.