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Portland Attractions


mirrajay

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We will be in Portland as part of our Canada/NE cruise in October and so far know that we will be taking a trolley tour that will take us around Portland and up to Portland Head Light. It is one of those hop on/hop off tours and one of the stops is the Portland Public Market. It sounds cute, but when I went to the website, it looks like its more of a place to shop for fresh foods and not much else. Not so cute! Anyone been there, is it worth a look see?

 

It also stops at the Portland Museum of Art, which I have no interest to go in, but does anyone know if there is anything around there that might be worth hopping off the trolley for?

 

We will be done with Portland Head Light at 1:30 at the lastest (if we sleep in), and we are going to go to late lunch/ early dinner at DiMillos (around 3:00, I'm guessing), but clearly have a few hours to kill before and after we eat (we depart at 6:00pm). Any ideas??

 

Thanks!

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We were on a cruise last September that stopped in Portland. We were supposed to be going to Bermuda but there was a hurricane so we were rerouted. We found out on Saturday where our cruise that left Sunday was going. Needless to say we were not prepared for the ports. We didn't know anything about Portland and just got off the ship and started walking. The first thing we came across was a small gauge railroad. Our son (3 at the time) loves trains. We took a ride on it. It went along the water for a while and then came back. Probably 30-45 minute ride. After that, we just strolled around the town. There were a lot of cute little shops to look around in. We didn't go to the public market that you asked about. It sounded to us like a farmers market where you buy produce and such, but I do not know that for sure. We ended up eating lunch at a Chowder house type place along the water - don't remember the name. Walked around a little more and headed back to the ship.

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Mirrajay, the Portland Public Market was designed as a small scale Seattle market. Yes, there are fresh foods, but it is also a great place to grab a good lunch with it's variety of fresh and ethnic prepared foods. The building is made of wood and has unique ceilings. As for the art museum, how long does it stop for? There is an LL Bean outlet store less than a block away. Let me know if I can be of further assistance. BTW, I do not have anything to do with any business in town, but enjoy helping folks out who are visiting the city that I am proud to call home.

 

The chowder house I believe is Gilberts and it is very good. The Maine Narrow Gauge Rail Road runs daily till Oct 15. It is a non profit endeavor and they hope to expand as money and zoning allows.

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Thanks Crystall and rfische - I absolutely love Pikes Marketplace in Seattle b/c they have food as well as arts and crafts kind of things. Maybe I will check out the Portland version and see how it stacks up :)

 

The trolley schedule is a little confusing - I think if we get off, we are stuck wherever we get off for an hour and a half until the trolley comes back around the big loop it runs on, so I guess if we get off at the Market, then that will fill up all the time we had to kill before we go to our dinner/late lunch. Is there anything else around the Market that we might want to check out?

 

Thanks again!

Carey

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Thanks Crystall and rfische - I absolutely love Pikes Marketplace in Seattle b/c they have food as well as arts and crafts kind of things. Maybe I will check out the Portland version and see how it stacks up :)

 

The trolley schedule is a little confusing - I think if we get off, we are stuck wherever we get off for an hour and a half until the trolley comes back around the big loop it runs on, so I guess if we get off at the Market, then that will fill up all the time we had to kill before we go to our dinner/late lunch. Is there anything else around the Market that we might want to check out?

 

Thanks again!

Carey

The trolley tour that we did was just a 1.5 hour "tour" with narration that did go out to the Headlight and then we purchased an optional harbor tour that was wonderful with the same company.. about $20 total. Had great lunch outside the by the water (seafood chowder and lobster rolls :p ), took narrow gauge railway and still had time to wander around and enjoy POrtland.. very walkable city...http://www.marinerfleet.com/ is company we did tour/harbor cruise with

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The reason I have not responded is that we are able to walk most of the route of the trolley except for Portland Headlight. There is not much in the immediate vicinity of the market unless you walk a block to Monument Square. This is the "center" of town and all sorts of people congregate here. Across from the monument is our public library which is pretty decent for a small city. Most of the tourist stuff is concentrated around the Old Port.

 

Now, if the weather is nice and you are up for a walk, there is a commuter ferry that runs very frequently to Peaks Island. This residential is in the city limits with public access to the water. Portland and Maine is filled with mom and pop sandwich/grocery shops and there is one on the island. Order a Portland Italian sandwich made on a large hotdog roll with ham, cheese, sliced green pepper, onion, Greek Olive and tomato covered in oil and sit on a beach. Geez, I'm getting hungry.

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If you like shopping, then the tour to Freeport to see LL Bean and many other stores is nice. Make sure you get back for the bus about 15 early and stop in Ben and Jerry's for a cone for the ride!

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Thanks for the info everyone - I just got off the phone with the folks at Mainely Tours and they said that they suggest to not hop on and off on cruise days b/c the tours are usually sold out and you will not be able to find a seat if you get off and then want to get back on. Thats kind of a bummer, but thats alright. We will just play the rest by ear.

 

I will be doing too much shopping in NYC the day before our cruise to have any money to be able to do a lot in Portland! :p

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Oh thanks for that tip - I would have never thought about making reservations there. I will be sure to do that!

 

I cant believe that looking at my countdown clock there are only 56 days to go - when you start with 210, its so nice to see a much smaller number! :)

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SteveK51 and rfischei-

 

you both mention LL Bean. We are planning on getting an Enterprise rent a car for the day we'll be in Portland (10 Sep). I'm thinking about driving to Freeport for the outlet there- but I get a little nervous going that far afield when we have a 5pm sailaway.

 

Is the outlet in town almost as good as Freeport? I really only have interest in LL Bean, we've got lots of outlet stores similiar to the Freeport stores close to where we live....but no LL Bean! (which I love their stuff)

 

I realize that Portland is a walking city, but my DH has an arthritic hip and can't walk long distances hence the rent a car. Any suggestions/input on what we could do with the car that includes at least some time for me at "the mother ship" LL Bean? Will parking downtown be a complete nightmare?

 

any and all thoughts appreciated. Although we live in La Center, WA, we fly in/out of Portland, OR (30 miles away) so- this will be our first visit to the OTHER Portland! We're looking forward to seeing your beautiful city.

 

thanks in advance.

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LLBean is a little less than a 30 minute drive from Portland. If it is the Enterprise location in Portland on Marginal Way, they are right next to the interstate which will take you almost to LLBean's door. If you get off the Desert Road exit, you will find a whole lot of outlet stores and LLBean will be down about a mile, after most of the stores. If you go to the next exit, you will come out just on the other side of LLBean. There really are no other outlet stores closer to Portland.

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The main LL Bean store is the attraction with its trout pond in the middle. Though prices may seem high, what they sell is of the highest quality and they back it up with thier warranties. Sierrachik is right about the drive being short and traffic should not be a big problem.

 

The brewery tour is at the Shipyard Brewery, a large microbrew here in Portland. Never took the tour myself, but I hear it is interesting. Very easy walk from the Maine State Pier.

 

If there is anyone interested in lighthouses, there are three you can walk right up to but not in within a fifteen minute drive of downtown.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We went on the trolley tour with Mainely Tours last October and really enjoyed it. http://www.mainleytours.com It was cheap(I think only $13) and there was a coupon on the website that I printed and took to help me remember the address etc. It was about an hour and was very relaxing way to see Portland and a lighthouse. You could only get out for about 5 minutes at the lighthouse though due to parking problems there. Afterwards we explored the town on foot(easy to do if your ok walking uphills) and hit the spots of interest to us. We climbed the observatory for a few dollars and had a great view of the city and the cruise ship. Portland is a great town just to wander around in. Lots of nice shops & places to eat. I don't think I would have even wanted to hop off the trolley if it had been available.

Have fun I think that was my favorite port on that trip.

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