Liking Portland

Since we were vacationing in Maine with two restless young people, we thought it might be nice to check out the big city in that part of New England, and I think A in particular was interested being the hip girl that she is. We spent the day in Portland and found it to be a pretty cool and hip town. It was an enjoyable day, especially dabbling in the foodie scene, of which I was not really clued into. I'd been to Portland a couple of times but didn't really spend a lot of time there, so this time we decided to walk around and explore.

First off, Portland is different than Burlington, being bigger and more interesting/eclectic, though more urban, as well. It has a New England hippie vibe, and there are shops and restaurants everywhere, not to mention young and hip people inhabiting the streets. We really liked it, though it was cold and dreary the day we were there. With phone in hand, A targeted certain stores that interested her, and she also helped us to find a place to eat.

In fact, the foodie scene was alive and well over there, and the choices were interesting and extensive. We just touched the surface of it, and felt like it was worth revisiting at a later date, and with more time. Consulting our food muse Yelp, we had lunch at Asmara, an Eritrean restaurant that got good reviews. Not to sound too ignorant, but the food reminded me of Ethiopian food that I've had in New York, though I have to confess, I was not thrilled with Asmara because the food was mediocre, the portions were small, and the prices high. Three strikes and you're out. Maybe I'm just not accustomed to African food, but it just didn't do it for me. They serve the dishes on a big platter on top of traditional African bread call injera, which is made from teff flour. I actually like the bread a lot, and thought of trying to make it, but that's a topic for another date.

You eat the food with your hands, and I'm fine with all of that, but the dishes we got were pretty plain. It looked impressive on a big dish, but I came away dissatisfied and still hungry. N agreed with me, while the women in our group (i.e., mom and A) liked the place. Maybe guys just need more food.

Afterward we continued walking around and stopped at a food court where we got some non-dairy, ice cream that doesn't use refined sugar, if you can believe that. The place is called Sticky Sweet, and the ice cream is made from coconut milk and cashews, sweetened with coconut sugar. I have to say, it tasted great, and I'm an ice cream fanatic. We all tried different flavors, and they all tasted great, though I was partial to mine, the local latte. To add to the enjoyment, the woman working behind the counter was really enthusiastic and clearly proud of her product. You gotta love that, it left us with a warm fuzzy feeling as we left.

We didn't spend too much more time in Portland, but as I mentioned, would love to come back again and do some more exploring. It's really not that far away, and there is much to do up there, including surfing. We'll wait for warmer weather on that one.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Daniel Garrido for the pic.