June 25 to June 28, 2026
Jane, Donna (from our Norway cruise December, 2025 and Roseville, MN) and her friend, Karen from St. Paul, MN
Flights on American from DAB to Charlotte to Portland, Maine; and back again. Met Jane in Charlotte
Sitting in the Charlotte airport waiting for Jane to appear.
The shirt was specifically for this trip and I wonder if I’ll ever wear it again.
Wow! This is the Portland, Maine airport and there were a lot of stuffed wild animals.
After we got our rental car, we drove to a parking lot in downtown Portland to catch a city tour on a tram. For parking, you sign up online and pay via your phone. It was $40 for three and a half hours.
What we were going to find was that Portland is a very expensive tourist town and everything seems to be $40. LOL.
From our tram tour, I do recall hearing most of the entire city of Portland burned down and the council people were smart enough to require that new homes be made of brick.
It’s a very beautiful little town with lots of hills and runs along the Atlantic Ocean.
It is quite an artsy town and very lgbtq+ friendly.
Before our tour we went into a small cafe to buy a potato donut and a bottled water. $14.00 later, I was eating a pitifully dry donut. We weren’t even sure if they grew potatoes in Maine.
Our tour took us to one of 57 lighthouses located in the state of Maine.
I thought I had visited this lighthouse before; but apparently I was thinking of Peggy’s Cove lighthouse, which may be in Canada.
I felt the weather was chilly as can be seen by my outfit; The others didn’t seem to think so, they were coming from Minnesota and South Carolina.
I would have liked to climb up to the top of this Lighthouse for a little exercise; but it didn’t happen. I don’t think it was allowed anyway.
There was no end of talk about going to the LL Bean store, which originated in Portland. I was going along, to go along, since I don’t wear anything sold in an LL Bean store. But the others were very disappointed in the fact the clothes were extremely pricey.
We did find our lobster roll next door — to the tune of $31!
Yes there was a nice amount of lobster, but it was cold, and it wasn’t all that great. The only thing they want to know when you order a lobster roll is “Butter or Mayo?”. The correct answer in Maine is “butter”.
Much of their livelihood is catching Maine lobsters. They are very proud to explain to you that every Maine citizen is allowed to catch four a lobsters without a permit, as long as they are eaten by friends and family.
This was a big excitement at the airport in anticipation of eating a lobster roll. What we later figured out was the owner of LL Bean had a granddaughter who started her own company called Linda beans.