Welcome to my 2+ month late recap of the latest 50 marathons 50 states adventure! The Maine Marathon took place on October 1, 2017 in Portland, ME. About 95% of the time when people ask me about this trip, they hear Portland and zone out for the next syllable. It takes a few moments before they realize I'm not talking about the hipster capital of the hipsterverse.
I've been meaning to visit Maine for some time as I know somebody out there (shoutout to Anonymous McGee). Maine lived up to my expectations of good beer, good food, and good people.
The Food
When I travel I try to eat all the local food that I can. Pictured right is the regional soda Moxie, and a Whoopie pie. The former tastes like a bitter version of a root beer, while the latter tastes like a hostess cupcake.
And yes, of course I had the lobstah! I had both the ME and CT style lobstah roll from the Bite into Maine food truck. I'm not going to pick a side but I will say that the Maine style is usually what I think of when I order a lobstah roll.
Sadly, I missed out on the bluberries, fiddleheads, Maine baked beans, and brown bread (in a can!). I'm not going to be sad about it since my last dinner included foie gras (suck it CA ban).
The Booze
Maine Beer Company is making such big waves in the craft beer community, that I've heard of their Lunch and Dinner IPAs all the way across the country. The equivalent here would be Pliny the Elder and Younger.
I had a flight of all of the beer they currently have on tap and every single one was good to great! The wife is not a fan of most IPAs, but she was able to enjoy several of these beers which is a testament to their level of brewing prowess.
The next day we visited Allagash Brewing Company, best known for their Allagash White. Oddly they didn't sell any beer for on site consumption, they simply gave away one flight per person.
My favorite of the flight was the Allagash Curieux. I've had this beer twice before, but this was the first time I've had it this fresh and it was fantastic (wonderful, the best you've ever seen).
Our last stop was Foundation and Austin Street Brewery. The beer wasn't too memorable here, but it was still fun to stop by.
Foundation had a few games including Exploding Kittens pictured here. Austin Street had a giant Jenga where I dominated and remain the undefeated champion of the marriage.
The Race
Temperatures were on the cooler side and absolutely perfect for race day. My first race in a new pair of running shoes was great success.
I ended up finishing right under 5 hours. Not my best, but this is my first race under 5 hours in 3 years! That's something to be proud of at least.
Man, look at this guy hogging the camera.
The End
It would be a shame if I didn't mention the Maine accent! In a nutshell, it basically sounds like Peter Griffin. A softer Boston accent if you will. Despite Portland being Maine's most populous city, it really had a small town / rural feel to it.
As far as it is, New England has been great to us. We hope to make it out there again in the near future so I can stalk Stephen King and check out his house in Bangor.
