Portland

Maine's working port city, and my first taste of the cold-water coast.

Old Port — Oysters and lobster. Maine's cold water gives them a brinier, firmer character than Gulf or Pacific ones.

Shopping streets — Found "Life is Good" here and loved it — spent over an hour picking. (It's actually a Boston-area brand founded in 1994, just with a huge presence here.) I bookstore-hopped and picked up more mini-prints, and noticed a ton of sewing, knitting, and sock shops — a real regional tradition tied to Maine's 1780s textile mill history.

Portland Head Light — Learned why Portland became a major port: a deep, ice-free harbor. The light was commissioned by George Washington himself in 1791.