It’s very rare that I take advantage of work holidays and actually travel. I get easily stressed out with crowds and traffic. (Lol – do you sense a theme in my posts?) Despite the long car ride (4 1/2 hours!), I am very glad I gave myself a 5-day long weekend for Labor Day. Plus, I upgraded to a new car a few months ago, so driving wasn’t as bad as I thought.

This year, my sister booked a cozy Air BnB in Portland, ME for our whole family to stay at. Located in the East Bayside neighborhood, we were very close to breweries and a stone’s throw away from downtown Portland. I think one of my favorite things about Portland was how walkable it was. I tend to plan my trips around eating, so having the exercise is nice.

Day One:

This was mostly a travel day. I started on the road early with my Donut Delight iced coffee in hand to get to my sister’s house. From there, we loaded the car, the kids, and the dog and started our adventure to Portland for the weekend. Going there was surprisingly a breeze. We only made one pit stop and we barely hit any traffic.

We had initially planned day one to be a chill-out-do-nothing day, but we all ended up having more energy than expected. So, we unloaded the car, freshened up, and made our way downtown. Man, oh man was I hungry from the drive. We thought it’d be a good idea to just grab a bunch of snacks to munch on before dinner.

First stop – Mr. Tuna. At first, I didn’t really know what to expect. The brick and mortar of Mr. Tuna is located in this very, very sad market space and I didn’t know if that would have correlated with its taste. We had grabbed a few hand rolls to try. We chose the hamachi with shishitos, cilantro, and shallots; the salmon toro with wasabi, shiso, and cucumber; and the spicy scallops and crab with cucumber and tempura flakes. I loveeee scallops, so the last roll was my favorite!

Next up – Holy Donut. Holy Donut is definitely one of those staples in Portland, ME. They have very unique flavors for sure and they are made from Maine potatoes!. We got a half a dozen to try. What I love about this place is how careful they are with allergies. My niece has a nut allergy and they ended up re-packaging our box because a possibly-nut-contaminated donut was not in a separate bag. We got the dark chocolate coconut, maple bacon, coffee cake, blueberry lemon, honey lavender, and the dark chocolate sea salt. I think my favorite was the honey lavender donut. But then again, lavender anything makes me happy.

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For dinner, my sister and I headed to Izakaya Minato. Looking at the menu, it seemed like a good spot with unique dishes. Plus, it was very close to where we were staying.

To start, we had the sake mizuna salad (with wild salmon, daikon, mizuna, and ume shiso dressing). Though not a salad I’d usually go for, it was very refreshing. After that, we ordered the beef yukke (rare beef & avocado tartare with red onions, raw quail yolk, and spicy Korean sauce), udon vongole (udon noodles with clams, yuzu kosho, garlic and sake), and the age ochazuke (fried rice ball in fish broth, topped with ikura).

All were interesting to say the least. The beef yukke was essentially an Asian twist on a beef tartare. We weren’t big fans of the udon. They are not the noodles that we are used to. It reminded us of linguine. The age ochazuke was another interesting dish. Love the concept of a fried rice ball, love the concept of fish broth. Combined together? Eh, not so much. This one had its hits and its duds. We’ll stick to izakayas in New England (ahem, Kawa Ni).

Day Two:

Another day of venturing around downtown! While my sister and her family were getting ready to start the day, I headed out on my own early. I grabbed a matcha latte from LB Kitchen and cozied up at a table with a book. When all the kids were ready, we met up and headed downtown.

Our plan of the day was to hit up Tandem Coffee Roasters to get some baked goods and coffee to go. We’re strolling along, breathing in the fresh Maine air, and really hyped to try a new place. We get there and the line is absurd. We’re talking out the door, wrap around the parking lot busy. Remember what I said earlier about the crowds? Yea, no thanks.

Ok – detour. Let’s go find more donuts to eat our feelings in. On our trek back to the downtown area, we stopped at Hifi Donuts. In my opinion, this place was better than Holy Donut. The dough wasn’t nearly as heavy and also I love a good cake donut. AND THEY HAD LEMON POPPY SEED DONUTS. I know I said I love lavender earlier, but my love for lemon poppy seed is even greater.

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For lunch, we went to Eventide Oyster Co. From what I hear, this is another Portland staple. We went by the hostess table and dropped our name. The wait was about 45 min – 1 hour. At least with this spot, you can leave your number and they will text you when your table is almost ready. We got sat at an outdoor table and ordered oysters almost immediately. I’m not a huge raw bar fan, but I knew I needed to slurp down some oysters as they passed by to go to other tables. They just looked so fresh! And guess what? They tasted as good as they looked. We also got the New England Clam Bake to share. You honestly can’t go wrong with seafood at this spot (or Maine, in general).

After our meal, we walked more downtown and explored the shops. As a treat for the kids for being so patient with us all day, we stopped by Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream. Naturally, I needed a cone for myself too. Exploring and eating all day is a tough job! It must have been my lucky weekend because this shop also had lemon poppy seed on their menu. I ended up with a 1/2 scoop of blueberry buttermilk and 1/2 scoop of lemon poppy seed berry swirl.

Considering we picked at so much stuff here and there during the dinner, none of us were really hungry for dinner. We ended up at Oxbow Blending and Bottling for a late night outing. To be honest, we chose this spot because there is also a DuckFat Friteshack here. Also, what goes better with beer than some fries fried in duckfat (and also topped with more duck)? You probably already could tell, but yes. The fries were AMAZING.

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Day Three:

We went to Standard Baking Company and Two Fat Cats. Both places had lines but they moved quickly. From Standard Baking Company, we picked up a few loaves of bread, cookies, brownies and croissants. My favorite pick from here was the chocolate chip walnut cookie with sea salt. The loaves of bread weren’t anything notable. (Though, I think I am mostly just spoiled by Wave Hill Bread in Norwalk, CT.) We picked up a mini peach pie from Two Fat Cats, which was very good. I loved the pie crust on it!

The plan for the rest of the day was to relax. We drove to the Portland Head Light and went to Willard Beach. At the Portland Head Light, we munched on some lobster rolls from Bite into Maine. We tried the Maine style, Connecticut style, and wasabi rolls. Of course, the Connecticut style was my favorite. I mean…lobster doused in butter. Need I say more?

As for dinner, we cooked at the house. The night before, my parents, my sister, and her family also drove up to Portland to join us at the house. So, being 7 adults, 3 kids, and a baby, it’s a little harder to go out and eat stress-free. Luckily, there was a Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods nearby.

Day Four:

Coffee, coffee, coffee. Need me some coffee. I’ve been sleeping on the couch the whole trip. I’d stay up late and get woken up by the natural early birds of our household. As a result, I escaped to Tandem Coffee again. This time, I went right when they opened. I was told a fellow CT blogger (Hi Marissa!) that the coffee was worth the hype and boy, was she right. Not only was this great coffee, but their biscuits steal the show. In this visit, I got a latte, a loaded biscuit (butter and jam), and a savory biscuit (cheese, hot honey, and black pepper). Surprisingly, I enjoyed the loaded biscuit more than the savory. Looking back, it’s probably because there’s more salt flakes on the loaded one! I also love a good salty/sweet combo.

I was refueled and headed back to the house to wait for everyone to get ready. On today’s agenda was shopping (LL Bean flagship store and outlets), Wild Root Kombucha, and fresh seafood for dinner.

The kombucha place was great. I love the decor. The outside was lined with a wall of succulents. The kombucha itself was really good too. I ordered a flight with mint, watermelon, raspberry, and blueberry. I loved the mint so much that I bought a 4-pack to go. However, I haven’t drank any of it since I’ve been back… This booch has some booze in it. Yes it is 1% ABV, but that is enough to activate the Asian glow and make my cheeks rosy.

Our fresh seafood was from Harbor Fish Market in downtown Portland. They have a huuuuuuge selection of seafood to choose from. Our original idea was to do a lobster bake, but we didn’t have the right pots/pans or tools with us to do so. Instead, we bought the freshest and biggest scallops we’ve ever laid our eyes on. Paired with some two buck chuck and mushroom risotto, this was a family dinner to remember.

Day Five:

The trip was sadly coming to an end. We needed to pack up and head back on the road by noon. Our last food adventures consisted of going back to Holy Donut for a half dozen donuts to-go and another trip to Tandem Coffee for caffeine and biscuits.

Takeaways:

• A trip back to Portland, ME is a must. There are a bunch of food places and breweries that I didn’t get a chance to try
• Eventide Oyster Co, Tandem Coffee, and Hifi Donuts are my top 3 spots from this trip
• Take advantage of work holidays and travel more