I highly recommend this marathon, - Pick up packet expo was…read morea little sad - The race itself was perfect, which matters the most. The amount of spectators was consistent and the crowds enthusiasm, support, and smiles were overwhelming. - Even though I did not PR in this race, probably because I wanted to be careful, but I did do one of my top three times ever. - The post race series was contagious in finding loved ones after the race was extremely easy compared to other faces that I've participated in. There was an amount of alcohol for the spectators and race finishers to indulge in the local breweries of the Portland area.

Just completed the 2013 edition of the Maine Marathon on Sunday, 10/6/2013. It was an epic…read morechallenge for me, since I was coming from Hawaii to attempt this epic feat. This was state #39 and lifetime #61. The Maine Marathon is one of the larger marathons in Maine, although there are a handful of others within the state. I chose this race because it paired up with the New Hampshire Marathon the day before. I could get 2 states in one weekend and it would stretch my travel budget further this way. Its a crazy goal and ambition, but what a crazy adventure to be had! While the finish line was very bittersweet for me, I could not have pass up this opportunity to visit Maine and have a lobster roll as well. Most people fly into Boston Logan international airport and drive 1 1/2 hours on I-95. Portland, ME has its own regional airport as well, but it may be more pricer, but most major carriers do service this regional New England hub. The Maine Marathon expo and packet pick up was held at the Sullivan Gym on the campus of the University of Southern Maine in Portland. It wasn't particularly large, but it wasn't small either. You could get in and out within 10 minutes, if that. It was a bit of a challenge finding parking for the expo, being out of Towners, but we got it. There also was a half marathon event and a marathon relay too, so that added a lot of people cheering at some points along the course. The expo was held on Saturday and early packet pick up from 5:30am to 7:30am on race morning, if you need it. Plus, the expo arena had a restroom too. There is an early start for those participants who expect to finish over 6 hours, which I did since I was doing New Hampshire the day before. The course itself starts at the University of Southern Maine and runs out to the surrounding neighborhoods of Portland. This course has its share of hills and then some. Basically, this course is an out and back course, with a small mini out and back section of its own as well. There is a couple scenic points along the course, overlooking a lake or a large water source. Majority of the course, you are running in Portland's rural neighborhood. The race is chip timed, with timing mats at the start, half way, and at the finish. For an out and back course, I would have thought one at 20 miles would be there to curb cheating. Weather can be a hit or miss here, but me and the Marathon Maniac / 50 State Marathon Club family, two running clubs which I am proud to be apart of, were ecstatic to be here participating once again. Weather this year was a good 50 degrees and never really warmed up significantly to the upper 60's. It was great to have reached the finish line and claim Maine for my 50 states and hope to return someday to Maine for more sightseeing, since it was just a quick trip up here for the marathon itself. Overall, this race is well run and well marked course. Being that it was an out and back, sometimes, it can be a drag seeing the same things twice, but it turned out pretty good. Only good things about this course and I would do this one again for Maine sometime down the road. Run more! B+

It has to be difficult to be the Portland Expo building. You're over a hundred years old, and maybe…read morearen't as cool as some of the other venues around town, or are rockin' the best amenities in the world, or get the chance to host the hippest events, or are even located in a trendy neighborhood, but you're there. Ever present. Doing the dirty work that makes our great city keep on keepin' on. So, hats off to you, Portland Expo. Thanks for being a really excellent polling place. And for being a great spot for our high schools to play and graduate. We appreciate the Red Claws and the Maine Roller Derby. Sometimes you get boxing or beer festivals, comic or mom and baby expos, home shows or car shows; that's pretty badass how you cater to just about every demographic. And Snoop Dogg? Remember that? Whoa. The point is, in the words of Billy Joel: don't go changing to try and please me; you never let me down before." Everything's changing these days, technology is making things speed up at an insane rate, and everyone's trying to top everyone else. But you do you. It's worked for over a century, and - while your parking can be annoying and your bathrooms not always the cleanest - we're always going to need a place like yours to do the normal things, the every day things, the nitty gritty things.

Clean, organized. Food is not badly priced. Most items are $5 or less. French fries, nachos,…read morepopcorn $3. Beer is $5 for domestic Budlight. $6 for Microbrews. Plenty of toilets. They also utilize the restrooms from the SeaDogs stadium when needed.

A haiku... Dear…read morePortland Sea Dogs It will always be Hadlock Love, your loyal fans (Because Yelp is telling me I need more characters. Taken from https://www.portlandmaine.gov/1173/Hadlock-Field: "Named after long time Portland High baseball coach Edson Hadlock Jr., Hadlock field is a 7,368 seat classic minor league baseball stadium that was renovated in 1993 and boasts great site lines and an intimate atmosphere that brings the fans right into the action. The stadium has been compared to Camden Yards in Baltimore for its brick façade and old-style feel... " A feeling I know many of us hope we don't lose.)

Always a fun time to watch the Seadogs at Haldock field. The staff is usually friendly and…read moreaccommodating too. Prices for food and merchandise are not too bad. We love supporting this establishment and our local team.

Ok, I love free stuff. I mean, if you don't, you're probably a bit of a weirdo…read more.. As I was running the shipard half the following morning, I only had a few beers at the festival but the tunes were great and the vendors were fun and full of knowledge! I'm pretty sure I walked away with five new coozies and a whole lot of coupons and stickers! I'll be back next year!

Epic fest. Tons of sponsors. Good music. Nuff saidread more

Title: Maine Brewer's Festival…read more Location: Portland, Maine Number of craft brewers in Maine: Over 50 Number of Brewers at this festival from Maine: About 10 Cost: About 60$ a person I was super excited to try out this event. I love Maine, I love beer, and I love trying out new things... This should have been a huge win for me, but I wasn't sold. For 60$ I was expecting a much bigger turnout from the local crowd, but upon arrival I realized that only the bigger names in Maine craft brewing were there: Shipyard, Baxter, Gritty's, and Allagash (to name a few). Then you had Long Island (NY), Massachusetts, and New Hampshire represented. Strange. With all the micro breweries in Maine why are we inviting other states to the "Maine Brewers Festival"? There must be some politics behind this event. There were a few gems. The Ginger Libation and the Boom Sauce were nice surprises. Full disclosure, I scored some free tickets and was able to get in early. This was key. If I had had to wait in lines at the beginning of doors opening, I would have been very sad. If I had paid for this event at all, I would have been very sad. I won't go back unless my luck continues with free tickets. I can go out, in Portland, to the breweries on any other day, spend less than 15$ and try just as many, if not more, types of local brew. The variety would be better, there would be more options for food along the way and I wouldn't be in a sweaty gym with 500 people with pretzel necklaces... Although I may wear a pretzel necklace to some other event because I love pretzels. Save your money. Go to breweries on a Saturday with your friends and then grab lunch in town. Ps. DO Be on the lookout for that Ginger Libation deliciousness at RSVP!

This year I felt the brew fest was not as organized as pervious festivals. Not all of the brewers…read morewere from Maine breweries, very disappointing. That's the point - MAINE BREW FESTIVAL = MAINE BREWERS. Additional out of state breweries are fine but not the point. There were some critical in Portland and in Maine Brewers missing. Bissell Brothers and more were not here. Very disappointing. The locals are the reason I come. It was great to have Saco, Maine represented by Hidden Cove - excellent beer and I had not heard of them until now. A baby brewing company established in the past two years. The t-shirts from the company "Live ME" in my opinion, should all be sewn in Maine or New England (or at least the US) and printed in Maine. Some were made in the US, but not all. The directory printed by the MBF was disappointing. The booths had numbers but not prominent signs to indicate the company so in some cases you didn't know which line you were in. Very discouraging. I do not care for IPAs and stood in line at a brewery I was not familiar with only to find nothing other than IPAs available. :( Points of pride: a little addition of different types of "brews". Ginger brew, mead and ciders. Well done. A food truck, add more! Points to improve: have at least 95% Maine breweries. Do not advertising breweries that were NOT IN ATTENDANCE. Improve labeling of booths: as shown by pics. Improve accuracy of lists breweries and beers, label breweries with coordinating booth numbers. It's hard to tell where you are unless the signs are high above the tables. If it is Maine Brewers week and the Brew Fest is competing choose a weekend that is not competing - PLEASE! Overall it's a good time. The music is not always my first choice but the website didn't give details about the music either. The Brew Fest needs to invest more in LOCAL music that appeals to more people, have the fest during a weekend without as much competition and get it together a little more. So that's my opinion. For year 23 I hope LOCAL is the theme and as much as possible is from Maine, New England and the US. Truck food is good, spread it to the parking lot? Good luck in 2016 and I will attend hoping for Fests more similar to the mid 2000's. Cheers!

I am not a runner, but was willing to try with this event. Wow was it fun!…read moreIf you are self-conscious about running in public, like I was, this was the perfect event - you can hide behind the complimentary beard and hat while wearing the really cool red pullover they give you at registration. Registration is easy and to avoid the crowds, they had a couple of times you could pick up your stuff inside the mall at the Bon-Ton entrance. The varying ages and fitness types made this race fun and just inspired me to keep running. There is music and people cheering you along the way, including my husband :) It is a relatively flat course, which made it pretty easy. Toward the end they have an m&m station and a water station and a cookie station. As much fun as it seems to have treats along the way, if you are trying to run the course....stay away. I have a hard time saying no to candy, but next year (yes next year :) ) I will stay clear. Other great features....there were reindeer at the starting line and a ton of port-a-potties. They take your photo at the finish line! It is available for purchase, but even if you don't want to buy it, it is still pretty cool to see it. I didn't stay for my free beer, but perhaps I will next year. It was a fun race all around for walkers and runners. If you can finish 5K in under 2 hours...you will be fine. Try it, especially if this is your first race.

The 2015 Santa Hustle New England Charity is Easter Seals. THIS IS AWESOME and near and dear to me…read more They also had Toys for Tots boxes for donating toys. Even cooler! They offered two 8 hour windows for early pick-up times at Bon-Ton for shirt, beard, hat, and bib. This was helpful since I had to drive 40 minutes to get there the morning of and didn't want to try to factor in wait time for my stuff. The location was conveniently located right off the interstate at the Mall and even though parking was intense, but well managed and plentiful. The race starting & finish line was large blow-up arches that was hard to miss. There was a large blow-up Santa and snowman, along with real reindeer's, and hanging frames to get pics behind for all your viewing, group shot, and selfie taking pleasures. There was also Christmas music at the start and finish. It really got us in the mood, along with the 300 Santa's milling around. The pre/post race snacks were plentiful. There were tables loaded down with bottled waters, bananas,and granola bars. During the race there was also an M&M station and a cookie station to help get that sugar level back up. Yum! Both half marathon and 5K started promptly at their stated times. They also had "corral" stations for different paces. I liked this because sometimes people think they are a lot faster or slower than the people around them, which quickly leads to Running of the Bulls. I have seen these races, it's not fun. I really enjoyed this race for what it stood for. Bravo!!I feel like it is a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season with giving to others, uniting as a very large group of well dressed Santas, and remembering to stay active. What I hope to see in the future is more music along the way. The beginning and end were so jammed packed with Christmas music that the in-between felt so quiet and separate. My thoughts were to have some "elves" stagger themselves throughout the race with the same Christmas music station playing on some portable device. If anything, at least at the cookie, water, and candy station.

All the craft beer is old and you can taste it. Many of them aren't even refrigerated…read more Then their bottle machines won't accept about 40% of your bottles. The guy with a beard at the counter is rude if you hand him a bunch of slips instead of one. I took the time to bring my bottles to friendly's instead of Clink. Did my best with months worth of bottles to get as few slips as possible but still ended up with about 6-7. The beared, greasy, smug guy, with a jerky condescending smile at the counter doesn't care that I'm supporting his business and tells me he expected me to pre-sort my bottles before coming here! And that I have a whole five seconds of not putting a bottle in before it prints a ticket. I wondered if it actually was a pain for him but watched him at the counter and all he had to do was scan each ticket with a scanner gun. It took him 2 seconds. He actually expected me to pre-sort my bottles to save him two seconds?! Also this is the only liquor store I've been to that won't let you buy beer singles. Can't elaborate enough that no matter what beer it is it's going to be super old. RSVP and Hop and Vine put this greasy dirt hole to same. It's also the only liquor store in Maine I've seen the police at regularly. This places should be named: "Greasy and Rude's, 1-2 year old Beer! No Singles allowed!"

Friendly Discount has helpful staff that are knowledgeable and want to help their customers…read more There's a good selection of the usual beer, wine, liquor, and smokes. But also what seems like an always growing selection of vape products, glass, and roll your own. Plenty of snacks (with lots of kinds of candy if you're looking for that). Their prices are fair for where you're shopping.

Palace Playland is a seasonal amusement park located in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It has operated…read moreon the same site since 1902. It's a great place to bring the kids and the amusement park is surrounded by restaurants and local businesses. Palace Playland is located directly on the waterfront, across Maine State Route 9 from the Old Orchard Beach family vacation.

Fun amusement park outside with a lot of vendors for fried dough, ice cream, and even Chinese food…read more It was lots of fun. The whole family went and we just walked around and explored. You can put credit on the card to use towards rides or games in the arcade