Welcome to Maine! When you cross the border from New Hampshire, that’s what the sign says: “Maine – the way life should be.” The license plates read VACATIONLAND across the bottom, and so it should be unsurprising that we’re now nursing soft focus daydreams of having a tiny seaside ranch there one day. It’s absolutely beautiful.
The coast is a little more violent and perilous, the way I like it and am used to and it should be, but there are so many lighthouses to hold fast to if you’re more the landlovin’ type. We pulled off the 93 to forage for a late lunch in the Yorks and Ogunquit area after getting a little bit lost and ending up in Essex, where we made an obligatory stop at an antique shop (and OMG we have to go back there ASAP so much good stuff).
Ogunquit reminded me a little bit of Guerneville, in terms of being a quaint little gay refuge from the city, except of course it’s right on the coast instead of hugging a river. We were starving and there was a wait for a table on the water, but with the Atlantic heaving in the thick mist just a few feet away, the time flew.
The fog was so different from ours back home, as well! Meatier, more dense, and somehow diffused at the same time. Nothing like the billowing kind over Twin Peaks every day, though perhaps it changes at different times of the year. I would very much like to observe this and get back to you on that, whether you care to know or not.
Some roads are little more than cement strips lined with rocks and then seawater on both sides, and when the mist is heavy, with your windows down and the roar of the ocean rushing in, punctuated by actual spray from the waves, you feel the balance of your tiny, precarious life, nestled warm and luminous like a pearl. It gave M the creeps and I, the fool, was utterly titillated. Lunch was great and we wasted no time in getting back on the road to get to our final destination of Portland, ME.
Let’s get the outfit malarkey out of the way. I was wearing a cozy cotton dress by Orla Kiely, with a vintage belt, my newer Dooney & Bourke bag, slouchy socks and a pair of oxblood riding boots from Juicy Couture. My horse-y bracelet and necklace are Low Luv x Erin Wasson, the gold chain bracelet is from JewelMint, and the leather and gold bracelet is from Lori’s Shoes.
M is wearing her black Dockers with a Polo Club button-up (she thinks), and her trusty Mark Nason boots. I included the petite’s boots – scored at a yard sale out here – and her Affirmation Ring from Kiss My Ring in Berkeley, CA. It says From one petal to the next… and we got it for her 5th grade graduation, right before moving on up to Junior High!
Once we arrived in Portland and checked in to our awesome hotel right in the heart of the Old Port District, we landed right inside an adorable cupcake shop called East End Cupcakes. Their sign boasted that they’d been on Cupcake Wars, so we had to try it out. They had awesome art on the walls (pictured above).
Our next stop was to a gorgeous men’s shop called Joseph’s. Aren’t the brick walls and exposed wood beams awesome? It used to be an old warehouse, built in the early 1800s, but has since been renovated (obviously) and the store’s two floors house everything from denim and casual to suiting and sportswear. They, too, had some pretty excellent art on the walls, or beams, rather. It was so much fun to watch M run around like a kid in a candy store, and she’s still very pleased with her haul from there!
We spent the rest of the evening just kind of meandering around, doing a little shopping here and there, taking a little break to enjoy some pre-dinner champagne at the hotel bar, and eventually at an incredible meal – and I mean really, really outstanding, easily one of the top three meals we’ve had on this coast since moving here – at Local 188 in the Arts District. A perfect day for the start of a love affair with another New England state!
Signing off with some stellar foliage for now, more on lovely Maine later!
XOXO,
FFAF
