Yay! I'm very fond of my beautiful coastal city of Portland, Maine. Born and raised here, Portland has broken my heart and brought me back to life many times. @lyxzen @rambo @missy
Let's start with some history, shall we? Portland was founded on July 4, 1786 by white British men. The city seal depicts a phoenix rising from ashes, which aligns with the city's motto, Resurgam, Latin for "I will rise again." The motto refers to Portland's recoveries from four devastating fires. Portland, Maine was named for the English Isle of Portland and the city of Portland, Oregon was in turn named for Portland, Maine. (Yet y'all get the cool PDX nickname and everyone forgets about us!) In 2013, the census was 66. 318 (though I swear I'm forever running into ex lovers!) In 1851, Maine become the first state in the nation to ban alcohol! Things sure have changed, thank the gods. In 2015, according to the Brewers Association, Maine ranked 6th in the number of craft breweries per capita with 52 breweries. Don't forget the 24 wineries! Portland is definitely a wet town; we love to get lit.
Portland is a peninsula, AKA the view is always amazing! I can go to any number of beaches every day! I'm definitely a mermaid when warmer weather rolls around (June, July, August is all we get!)
The arts are a HUGE deal in Portland whether it is theater or photography or enormous murals. There tons of art gellerys and the first friday of every month is the art walk where everyone piles in the streets and hob nobs with artists while drinking free wine the galleries give out. There is also THE WORLD'S ONLY CRYPTOZOOLOGY MUSEUM here! It's super neat and you can have your picture taken with Sasquatch! The Maine College of Art located in Portland is a pretty big deal too. Lots of handsome young hipsters!
Movies shot in Portland: Thinner, The Preacher's Wife, The Man Without a Face, Message in a Bottle
We have minor league baseball (Portland Seadogs), hockey (Portland Pirates), basketball (The Red Claws) and roller derby (The Port Authorities, The Calamity Janes, and R.I.P. Tides)!
FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD! Portland ranks among the top U.S. cities in restaurants and bars per capita. According to the Maine Restaurant Association, Portland is currently home to about 230 restaurants. Portland has developed a national reputation for the quality of its restaurants and eateries. In 2009, Portland was named the "Foodiest Small Town in America" by Bon Appétit magazine, and was featured in the New York Times as a food destination. Portland is home to a number of microbreweries and brewpubs, including the D. L. Geary Brewing Company, Gritty McDuff's Brewing Company, Shipyard Brewing Company, Casco Bay Brewing Company, and Allagash Brewing Company. Portland is the birthplace of the "Italian sandwich". Southern Maine's signature sandwich, it is called simply "an Italian" by locals. Italian sandwiches are available at many stores, but most famously at Amato's Italian delicatessens, which claims to have originated the sandwich. I know there are a few local chefs here who are up for James Beard awards this year!
Portland has two gorgeous hospitals, one of them is a level one trauma center that I had the pleasure of training at during my surgical tech program. Maine Med is such a lovely building ripe with history; I just love all the photographs there of nurses and doctors from way back in the day.
Let's talk about people from Portland! OK of course the master of horror, Stephen King! Shit, we adore him. Mr. King now resides in Bangor, Maine which is two hours north of here in a very spooky looking house with a BADASS fence with bats on it. Kevin Eastman the co-creator of TMNT, Bebe Buell, model and musician extraordinaire, the beautiful Anna Kendrick, Mr. Judd Nelson from "The Breakfast Club", Ian Crocker (Olympic swimmer and totally cute).
The music scene!! I cannot even tell you HOW MUCH talent Portland has as far as music goes! Incredible singers and bands in every genre. Any night of the week you can walk into a bar and see a band and chances are they will be very decent. Geno's Rock Club is one of my favorite haunts, if you're looking for a dark bar with bottled PBR and punk bands playing, this is the place for you. Or you can try Blue, Portland's jazz club. Or check out the House of Music (H.O.M.E.) for anything from open mic right to some crazy reggae band. We also have three larger venues for big national bands: The Cross Insurance Arena (everyone stills calls it the Civic Center though) Port City Music Hall (where I saw Reel Big Fish a few months ago) and the State Theater (where the SG Blackheart Burlesque have performed!) There is also an enormous pier gazing right into Casco Bay where they put on shows during the summer (In June I'm seeing Matisyahu and 311!) Right now, Portland rapper Spose is getting some good spotlight, his fourth album came out last year. I'm loving his latest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Pzwx_40Vo
Well kids until next time....
xoxoxoxo
P.S. come visit anytime! we legalized weed!
