# @kirstenalana on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/B2O1LsnBgan
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/2429538-kirstenalana-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/83277dd4ed.jpg
- **Posted:** 2019-09-10T13:05:37.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Kirsten Alana (@KirstenAlana) — https://gondola.cc/KirstenAlana

## Caption

Portland, Maine was founded as, and still is, a port city. You can see its connections to seafaring in most of the obvious ways you will see in any city on the water but sometimes the evidence of history is a little harder to spot. In this area of the Old Port in particular, you have to look high up at the building on the far right to see the doors that were once used for offloading cargo from ships. There was a door for low tide and a door for high tide and where I stood to take this, the water would have been over my head at almost any time of day before the land was eventually filled in and a more modern port added. It’s that connection to the ocean that really sets this Portland apart from the one I know a bit better on the West Coast. (Which is weird since I was born and raised on the East Coast. Then again lots of my life is weird.) Anyway, that’s where the most obvious differences may end for some and after that, there are actually more similarities than differences. I think! Chief amongst them that “Portland, Oregon's founders were two settlers from New England: Asa Lovejoy of Massachusetts and Francis Pettygrove of Maine. Both men wanted to name the new port city after their respective home cities—Lovejoy for Boston and Pettygrove for Portland, Maine. The men flipped a coin to decide [in 1835], and the rest is history.” — words in quotes from @smartertravel since I thought their succinct version of the story was the best one I found online. But I heard it first from Bob at @visitportland.
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Both cities also have a heart for the environment, a link to nearby outdoor adventures, a healthy art scene, universities, lots and lots of breweries and so much to keep your mouth and stomach super happy on the food front. The latter two which we discovered thanks to tours with @mainebrewbus and Bryce of @mainefoodforthought. I’m hungry just recalling all that we learned. When was the last time you wanted to eat your way through a whole city?! 🍴#UnscriptedMaine #VisitPortlandME #PortlandMaine #PortlandME #oldportportland #historiccities #mainelife #maineland #mainetheway #lovemaine #exploremaine #scenesofnewengland #mainevacation

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## Tags

lovemaine, unscriptedmaine, historiccities, maineland, visitportlandme, mainevacation, oldportportland, scenesofnewengland, portlandme, mainetheway, mainelife, portlandmaine, exploremaine

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