May 2010 Remember this summer? The one that hasn’t happened yet? We do, thanks to the new Zoltar fortune-telling machine we’ve just purchased (wishful thinking) for our Portland Magazine headquarters at 165 State Street. With the help of a roll of quarters and the...
April 2010 In Charlotte, North Carolina, iconic examples of urban signage aren’t simply pointed to and admired–they’re being registered as historic landmarks. “We feel like protecting things that make Charlotte unique is important,” Diane Althouse, executive director...
February / March 2010 Out of the ashes, new ideas bloom. Here in Portland, we’re famous for rising like a phoenix after being burned by the British in 1775 and reduced to embers by errant fireworks in 1866. And I believe we’re going to be better still after recovering...
WinterGuide 2010 If you want to see stars, really see stars, you need a place of enchantment "with no stray man-made light," according to the star-gazing site allroutes.to/thestars. No "light pollution," as they're calling it now. A spot where you can take the long...
December 2009 I love the story of the People of the Dawn mooning Giovanni da Verrazzano’s ships as they first sailed down our wild coast in 1524 to document their own claim of having ‘discovered’ Vacationland. After all, Verrazzano was From Away. But a few centuries...
November 2009 The amazing thing about this issue featuring the 10 Most Intriguing People in Maine, which we at Portland Magazine nickname the “People” issue, is what happened this year after we sifted through the many recommendations for entries that came in from...
October 2009 “I remember that autumn when the fallen epileptic maple shuddered in pain by the road. My world died then with the maple’s first convulsion.” The world-class author of these lines was brilliant, funny Leonardas Andriekus (1914-2004), the former poet...
September 2009 At certain glittering moments in its history, Portland steps into the spotlight and presents her best face worldwide. Like the time Lucky Lindy addressed thousands at Deering Oaks after his solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, or when Portland...
July / August 2009 On September 12, 52 select lighthouses in Maine will fling open their doors to visitors, courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard. No word if they’ll be serving wine and cheese. It is a sort of amnesty for those of us who have already broken into...
Summerguide 2009 So many of us return to places in Maine in search of a childhood lost. But if we're lucky enough to find these precious spots, are the experiences recapturable, or do they disappear like reflections in a lake? It's late at night. I'm writing this with...
