By John and Sandra Nowlan
Special to the Journal Pioneer
A shopping trip to Bangor and coastal Maine has been a Maritime tradition for decades. Now that the Canadian dollar is at a premium it makes even more sense to head south for a few days of shopping and sightseeing.
With the addition of the huge Bangor Mall, with its Macy’s, Sears, J.C. Penny and other big box stores, shopping in Maine’s second-largest city has become quite sophisticated. Many visitors shop exclusively at the Mall but with limited time, we wanted to check out alternatives.
Like many Canadians we were curious about Target, soon to replace many of our Zellers stores. Bangor has a giant one, just off Hogan Road, near the Bangor Mall. A bit more upscale than Wal-Mart, Target features wide aisles, good prices and an outstanding array of choices. It’s easy to spend a lot of time there.
The Broadway Shopping Center, just south of Hogan Road off Interstate 95, dates from 1968 and was Bangor’s first mall. Its main attraction now is a TJ Maxx discount fashion store.
Slightly farther down route 95 is Union Street and the Airport Mall, the first enclosed shopping centre in Bangor. Usually overlooked by visitors, it has four stores worth a visit. Marshalls is similar to Winners, just bigger. The Ocean State Job Lot store is great fun, filled with wonky, one-of-a-kind and very cheap surplus merchandise while a giant Dollar Tree store still sells everything for just a buck. A large Hannaford’s grocery store anchors one end of the mall.
Bangor has not yet attracted a five-star accommodation property, but there are plenty of good chain hotels adjacent to Interstate 95. One of the newest is the Courtyard by Marriott, just off Hogan Road on a quiet side street. Modern and convenient with a high-tech lobby and comfortable rooms, it proved to be ideal for us.
Many Maritimers remember Miller’s Restaurant in downtown Bangor. It provided what was believed to be New England’s biggest self-serve buffet. Quantity over quality. Miller’s is now gone, but there are still plenty of food choices including the usual chain restaurants.
We like to try something different when we travel and found Fiddlehead Restaurant downtown on Hammond Street, located in an old furniture store with brick walls and highly polished wood floors. With just 46 seats it’s an intimate and imaginative place featuring tasty food with hints of the chef’s Asian background. The signature cocktail is an extra spicy Bloody Mary, rimmed with Cajun salt and topped with pickled fiddleheads. Hot but delicious.
It doesn’t take long to drive south from Bangor to Freeport, Maine, and many visitors do it just to experience L.L. Bean, the giant outdoors retailer that began in tiny Freeport a hundred years ago. It now has a global empire with more than $1.5 billion in annual sales.
The massive flagship store that dominates Main Street is open 24 hours a day, every day (it’s interesting to note that the doors don’t even have locks on them). It’s really a series of giant stores, each with its own specialty. Nearby is the L.L. Bean Outlet Store, featuring discontinued and heavily discounted merchandise. The Bean stores have attracted many other brand name outlets, each wanting a piece of the constant retail action.
Freeport is also fortunate in having a wonderful place to stay. The Harraseeket Inn is located just two blocks north of L.L. Bean and offers 84 beautifully furnished rooms, all with comfortable beds (including soft, 600 thread-count sheets) and many with Jacuzzis.
A complementary full breakfast and afternoon tea (lots of fresh fruit, scones, cookies and sandwiches) make the experience very special. The two restaurants, The Broad Arrow Tavern and the more formal Maine Dining Room, feature fresh, local products and are supervised by a very talented chef, Eric Flynn. We enjoyed some of the best cuisine we’ve ever experienced in the U.S. including a prize-winning lobster chowder, fresh halibut (delivered every day) and an imaginative four-course lobster tasting menu.
Before we left the Harraseeket, we enjoyed their famous Sunday Brunch (just $25) with heaps of steamed lobster, tender prime rib, a crepe station, fresh salads, caviar and an array of decadent desserts. A great ending to a perfect stay.
If you have time it’s worthwhile driving up US 1 from Freeport to enjoy the scenic small seaside towns for which Maine is famous.
We passed Rockland and Rockport, with their large and perfectly kept homes and then stopped for lunch in Camden (at Marriner’s – generous portions of lobster and other seafood), its picturesque small harbour filled with sailboats and other craft.
Summers on the Maine coast attract a lot of tourists but the pace of life remains gentle and peaceful. Just a short drive from Prince Edward Island, it’s New England at its finest and worth a few days or a weekend, especially this time of year.
John and Sandra Nowlan, former Island residents, are travel and food writers based in Halifax.
If you go:
The Canadian Border Services Agency allows $50 worth of duty-free goods (no alcohol) after a 24-hour stay in the US. For a 48 hour trip, each visitor can return with $400 worth of goods (including 1.14 litres of spirits or 1.5 litres of wine)
Maine Sales tax is 5%
Courtyard by Marriott in Bangor: www.roomstays.com/hotel/73369
Fiddlehead Restaurant in Bangor: www.thefiddleheadrestaurant.com
Harraseeket Inn in Freeport: www.harraseeketinn.com
