Sunday, August 11

Where We Went/What We Did

L.L. Bean: Two years ago on our first trip to Maine, we went to the flagship L.L. Bean store, and we wanted to go back again this year. It’s a fun store to walk around, and there are two other stores on the campus: L.L. Bean Home and Bike, Boat, and Ski. Josh ended up buying a new rain jacket, and my plan was to buy a Boat and Tote and have it monogrammed. 

I ended up getting a medium-sized tote with long navy straps and had “book bag” monogrammed on it. Prior to going to Maine, I looked online and mocked up what bag, font, and color I wanted so I already knew what I wanted. This location has monogramming in-house, so I picked the bag I wanted and got a monogram form to fill out. Once I paid for the bag at check-out, they brought it down to monogram and said I could pick it up in about two hours. 

After lunch, Josh and I headed back to L.L. Bean to pick up my bag. It was ready and just what I wanted! It’ll be used for more than just books, especially when we travel, I can use it as my personal item on flights. 

Sherman’s: This bookstore was just down the street from L.L. Bean, so we stopped by after picking up my tote bag. I randomly found the Portland location two years ago and when I saw the Freeport location was close to L.L. Bean, I wanted to swing by. I got Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins (for 40% off the hardcover option they had in the store); I read it last year from the library and absolutely loved it.

The woman at the register got a kick out of my “book bag” tote since I told her I didn’t need a bag to put the book in—I had my new tote!

What We Ate

Lunch: Maine Beer Company. Luckily Maine Beer is a five-minute drive from L.L. Bean, so it worked out for when we had to head back to pick up my tote. I made a reservation online for us on the covered patio, and it was a great choice because there were a bunch of doggos out there with their humans. 

Josh and I got flights and split a margherita pizza. When we were paying at the bar for our drinks and food, the guy behind the counter said that they don’t accept tips but anything extra would be donated to an environmental cause the brewery supports. Josh asked why no tips, and the guy said that they get paid a better wage, have good insurance, and are treated more like employees instead of servers. We were both pretty impressed with that, and I left an extra “tip” toward the cause.

Out on the patio, we made friends with a black lab who was sitting at the picnic table behind us. Oh, and the beer and pizza were really good, too.

Dinner: made at the trailer. Josh’s mom offered to make us all dinner for our last night, which was really nice. We had grilled chicken, salad, rice, and veggies and ate outside on the back porch.

Other Notes

In the little area next to KPort Bagel, there’s a charm bar shop that opened up recently. I think I knew about it when we went in July but didn’t include it on our things to do. Well, I guess the shop went viral on TikTok and when we were having our bagels, we saw a line forming outside the shop way before it opened for the day. Maybe I’ll stop by next year once the hype dies down and see what it’s about.

Overall Notes From the Trip

We were so sad to leave Sunday night to come back home—and I hate unpacking after vacation. Aside from the lobster roll incident, the trip was a lot of fun, and I love going to Maine with Josh. He’s been going there since he was born, so I know it’s special for him to go and spend time up there. And I like tagging along.

Depending on the trailer schedule and my vacation time, we might go up one last time together in September. The trailer is seasonal—May to October—so this would be our last trip for 2024 before closing. We’ll see! If not, I definitely got a good Maine fill from our two trips this summer.