I was lucky enough to take a few vacation days in Portland, Maine last week. It's a great town filled with friendly, smart people, lots of art galleries, and funs stuff to do. It lives up to its reputation as the San Francisco of the East Coast, though I still prefer the real SF.
There were a few really great places I want people to know about:
Mexicali Blues is a clothing and odds and ends store in the port area near the water. My girlfriend was in heaven visiting Mexicali as they had a ton of great clothes and accessories. She actually got 3 different random things she has been talking about wanting for a long time, a totally hip punk rock style fanny pack/ utility belt, a bunch of felt flower rings and hair clips, and a beautiful silk wraparound sari.
The Flatbread Company is a pizza place on the water with great all-organic ingredients. Really tasty, and the place has a wonderful vibe. If you go there on a Tuesday, part of the money you spend goes to benefit various charitable causes.
Treehouse Toys on Exchange Street has a ton of great toys with lots of unusual offerings like puppets, wooden toys, and educational toys for kids. Further up exchange street, there is a gallery called Edith & Edna (51 Exchange Street) that has a lot of stuffed animal artists. Wonderful stuff. They even have a variety of crafting workshops they teach there. You can reach them at 207 776 8578 to find out if there are any classes going on when you'll be in town.
One of the nice things about Portland is it's small enough to walk around the entire city in a few hours. I highly recommend walking along the water to the east side of town and hiking up the trail through the park on that side of town.
Anyway, if you've never been, consider visiting Portland for a day or so. It's really a fun town and a very relaxing place to spend a few days.