INSPIRED STORIES AT HOME AND AWAY • Postcard No. 005

Postcard From Portland

“In Maine, there is a deeply ingrained sense that you can always get a little more use out of something.”- Tim Sample

To touch down in the historic port city by the sea is to tap into a low hum of energy, to feel some kind of buzzing excitement in the salty air. Not the electricity of a big city nor the castaway elation of an island escape, this is a subtler, meatier kind of attraction; the kind that comes from spending time in a community of people who, not to put too fine a point on it, are carving their own way. There is, as the humorist Tim Sample puts it, an endearing practicality underscoring the day-to-day, a simplicity that is as much the reason for the Maine aesthetic as the result.

At every turn down Portland’s cobblestones, another study in self-determination seemed to greet us. It was not the absence of an appreciation for the beautiful or delightful. To the contrary, Angela Adams’ nature-inspired homegoods, Portland Trading Co.’s curated corners, The Press Hotel’s typewritten nooks and Eventide Oyster Co.’s restorative flavors are just a few examples of a sweeping reverence for the good life. It felt like a collective belief in a sort of manifest destiny, the ability to drive a new way forward in a place that feeds and accepts and encourages and is proud of its creative class. Not a puritanical stripping down, but rather an understanding that internal fortitude is strong enough to serve as a foundation. Portland is not merely a destination en route, but a partner in living out the journey, duck boots tied tight, lungs filled with mountain air.

With love from Maine land,
Katie

PORTLAND, MAINE

GATHER’S GUIDE

  • STAY
  • DINE + DRINK
  • SHOP
  • UNWIND
  • EXPLORE

STORIES AWAY

  • JAUNT
  • LOCAL GEM
  • GET TO KNOW
  • WHAT TO PACK
  • ESSENTIAL MOMENT

STORIES at HOME

  • HOME DECOR
  • FOOD RECIPES
  • DRINK RECIPES
  • LOCAL FINDS
  • THE GATHERING