Portland, ME

We went to Portland, ME early this summer. It was freezing. I ended up buying a beautiful knit sweater at an artists market. Well, Tyler bought it for me! We did our usual walking tour and went around the whole city.  Hot Supper was one of our favorite stops. Great atmosphere and amazing food. Tiny little place, we were so lucky to grab a booth at the window. Beer on tap and some interesting finds. The menu was small and creative and hit the spot with everything we tried. We recommend anything with duck! 

We also found a great co-op that had a wonderful selection of cheese when you first walk through the door. None of it is prepackaged. You can get it cut to any size you want. They had beautiful local blue cheeses and stinky cheeses and you name it. We loved the availability of local cheeses, that we could try any one, and that they were all cut just for us from the original block.

Around the corner inside the store was one of the best selections of beer we've ever seen in such a small space. It was actually even better curated than some of the bigger stores we've gone to. We love our beer and were excited to see new things to try and our old favorites, along with hard to get reserves. The best part was that the clerk drew us a map so we could get to the beer garden down the street. We love a beer shop that shows us how to get to more beer!

On our continued walk we came across this bait shop. We walked in to be greeted by a case of live bait, and around the corner the shop man tying flies. Small local shop, still tied their own flies, and didnt tell us to buy the most expensive thing there. It was great to poke around, and I will have to get pictures of fly baits up here sometime. I am facinated by them. I'd really like to frame rows and rows of the different kinds around the house. Each one is meticulous and colorful and artful in of itself.

 I love taking photographs of mass

The bar we were lead to - Novare Reis beer café -
was amazing. Over 2000 bottled beers on tap.
German style seating, so everyone sidled up on
benches. We sat at the bar and marveled at the beer
list. It was actually really overwhelming. I tried
something new in kind of a close my eyes and point
kind of way. I could see how you'd be drawn
to your standbys if you didn't have something
specific in mind. You could definitely trust your
bartender to recommend though! 

We ended up at a small Irish bar and
gorged ourselves on more food. Lots
of mixed and layered beer options. This
was not my usual black velvet. And
really, nothing can compare to a bv,
but I tried something new. I bet
in Portland these glasses are hard to
get rid of! Shipyard Export is one of
my all time favorites.