WEBVTT - Portland: Pizza Party 0:00:15.316 --> 0:00:22.796 Pushkin Southwest again with the Southwest. Who knows their cardinal 0:00:22.996 --> 0:00:26.676 directions when they're visiting a town. They should change these 0:00:26.756 --> 0:00:29.876 voices like they should get like actors to Oh my God, 0:00:29.916 --> 0:00:37.996 imagine Jeremy Irons giving a direction that sounds that came 0:00:38.036 --> 0:00:41.116 too quickly, Danielle, imagine Jeremy Iren't telling you what to do. 0:00:45.236 --> 0:00:49.436 This is not lost. I'm Brendan Francis Newnham, an audio 0:00:49.516 --> 0:00:52.996 journalist based in New York. That's Daniel Henderson. She writes 0:00:53.036 --> 0:00:57.036 for Hollywood. Each episode, I go someplace with a friend 0:00:57.076 --> 0:00:59.596 to make a travel podcast, and to really get a 0:00:59.596 --> 0:01:01.916 sense of that place, I try to get invited to 0:01:01.996 --> 0:01:12.796 someone's home for dinner. Today's destination Portland, Maine. If there 0:01:12.876 --> 0:01:17.156 was a list of cities on the most lists, Portland, 0:01:17.196 --> 0:01:21.156 Maine would be on top. It's on Voter's Best Places 0:01:21.196 --> 0:01:24.076 to Travel in twenty twenty list, US News and World 0:01:24.116 --> 0:01:27.956 Reports Top twenty five places to Live list, Bonapati's Top 0:01:27.996 --> 0:01:31.556 Restaurant town list, and it's on my list of places 0:01:31.556 --> 0:01:33.476 I'd go if I gave up life in the Big 0:01:33.476 --> 0:01:39.196 Apple as a kid, I vacationed in nearby Cape Cod 0:01:39.756 --> 0:01:42.716 so I find the rugged new England coastline oddly soothing. 0:01:43.196 --> 0:01:47.036 Plus the whole area feels so appealingly literary to me, 0:01:47.676 --> 0:01:50.196 and not just because it has great turtleneck weather, but 0:01:50.356 --> 0:01:54.236 because it's been home to eb White, Thurreau and Henry Longfellow. 0:01:54.556 --> 0:01:56.436 And as someone who wish to see Rote Moore and 0:01:56.636 --> 0:02:01.676 definitely like Sacca turtleneck, I dig that. So we're at 0:02:01.676 --> 0:02:03.516 this lighthouse, We're on this kind of you know, it's 0:02:03.516 --> 0:02:06.956 a it's a there's pathways and cliff walks and you know, 0:02:07.116 --> 0:02:11.556 jagged rocks meeting the ocean and waves crashing against them. 0:02:11.996 --> 0:02:14.916 The water's bonkers today. It's really violent out there. It's 0:02:14.996 --> 0:02:18.076 really churning out there today. I'm gonna go over there 0:02:18.076 --> 0:02:19.596 because I feel like I can get a good Instagram 0:02:19.596 --> 0:02:22.516 shot over there. I mean, this is I don't know 0:02:22.516 --> 0:02:26.236 why influencers aren't coming here on mat Danielle and I 0:02:26.276 --> 0:02:29.276 are on Cape Elizabeth, an outdoor area at the entrance 0:02:29.316 --> 0:02:32.236 of Casco Bay, the body of water Portland sits on. 0:02:32.876 --> 0:02:37.156 It's blustery, drizzly, overcast, and the sky looks like an 0:02:37.156 --> 0:02:43.676 oyster show. Portland, by the way, named after Portlandia, which 0:02:44.036 --> 0:02:46.716 is not an Old English word that means satirical sketch 0:02:46.756 --> 0:02:49.796 show about hipsters. But it is an old English word 0:02:49.876 --> 0:02:53.876 that means land across the harbor, so I'm supposed to 0:02:53.876 --> 0:02:56.436 meet him under the lighthouse. I feel like it's kind 0:02:56.436 --> 0:02:58.916 of like a detective story, like a Graham Green story. 0:02:59.636 --> 0:03:01.676 Being that the coast and literature are two of the 0:03:01.716 --> 0:03:04.076 main things that attract me to Portland. I thought we 0:03:04.116 --> 0:03:06.676 started our trip with the combination of the two. So 0:03:06.756 --> 0:03:09.876 I invited a local poet to me this year. There. 0:03:09.876 --> 0:03:17.916 He is Steve Idea Danelle. When I first got here, 0:03:17.956 --> 0:03:20.436 I thought, Gee, this is really crowded for this time 0:03:20.476 --> 0:03:22.236 of year. But then when I saw the waves and 0:03:22.276 --> 0:03:24.196 all that, I figured out that's probably why is it 0:03:24.276 --> 0:03:27.196 not always this dramatic here. It's not like this every day. 0:03:27.796 --> 0:03:29.676 I don't know. I've been here from New York City. 0:03:29.676 --> 0:03:32.996 I'm like, oh, beautiful, Maine, it is utiful. I agree. 0:03:34.476 --> 0:03:38.836 My name is Steve Latreelle, and I present myself as 0:03:38.876 --> 0:03:44.236 an existential entity in the early twenty first century. That's 0:03:44.276 --> 0:03:47.036 what I do. I do poetry. You're born and raised here. 0:03:47.276 --> 0:03:49.916 Why why did you stay in Portland? Well I didn't. 0:03:50.036 --> 0:03:53.156 I actually left and went out to San Francisco because 0:03:53.196 --> 0:03:55.436 there was a lot of people of my generation doing that. 0:03:56.116 --> 0:03:58.676 I traveled around and then came back to me because 0:03:58.716 --> 0:04:01.156 I couldn't find a place that I liked any better. 0:04:01.436 --> 0:04:04.476 So the lighthouse, Yeah, is that too obvious a symbol 0:04:04.516 --> 0:04:08.596 as a beacon for people to come from coming to Portland, Maine? 0:04:08.636 --> 0:04:11.556 And yeah, I would say it's yeah, yeah. I guess 0:04:11.596 --> 0:04:14.036 the short answer as yes, you've been a line through 0:04:14.076 --> 0:04:17.196 it with Red pen Well. Yeah, you know the lighthouse, 0:04:17.956 --> 0:04:23.276 Longfellow's House, the taide House, the museum about those are 0:04:23.276 --> 0:04:27.476 probably the top four or five, you know, spots where 0:04:27.516 --> 0:04:30.516 people coming from away want to go. I wonder it 0:04:30.516 --> 0:04:33.756 seems like Portland is there's a lot of arts flour 0:04:33.836 --> 0:04:37.636 share there are for a small city. We're very fortunate 0:04:37.676 --> 0:04:40.676 to have some wonderfully talented people, not just writers, but 0:04:41.116 --> 0:04:45.196 musicians and painters. Maybe we can have you read some 0:04:45.196 --> 0:04:49.796 of your poems. This poem is entitled coming to the four. 0:04:51.516 --> 0:04:54.876 How often I have looked to see this river in 0:04:54.956 --> 0:04:59.396 it's moving toward this harbor from a hillside down across 0:04:59.516 --> 0:05:02.796 this river's mouth, one can see the scope of it, 0:05:03.556 --> 0:05:07.476 how it opens out and curves around behind the small 0:05:07.596 --> 0:05:14.556 squad lighthouse. Wow, it's beautiful. That is beautiful. Even though 0:05:14.636 --> 0:05:17.636 you are an existential being, you're also a poet. Laureate, 0:05:18.036 --> 0:05:20.396 I was the poet Lauria to Portland. How does that happen? 0:05:20.476 --> 0:05:22.796 What is what are the steps that do you submit yourself? 0:05:22.836 --> 0:05:24.676 Do you ask me if I would be that? And 0:05:24.756 --> 0:05:30.876 I agree, special license plate or something? No? No, But 0:05:31.036 --> 0:05:32.836 it wasn't honor, you know. I mean, to be honored 0:05:32.836 --> 0:05:37.196 by the city was nice. And you know, my teacher, 0:05:37.556 --> 0:05:40.836 my mentor was the late Robert Creeley, Bob Creeley. I 0:05:40.836 --> 0:05:43.076 always just to tell me, Steve, the only reason to 0:05:43.116 --> 0:05:45.476 make a poem is because you have to, you know 0:05:45.476 --> 0:05:46.996 what I mean. I mean, I do this. I get 0:05:47.076 --> 0:05:48.396 up in the middle of the night and run down 0:05:48.476 --> 0:05:50.596 stairs to write three lines because it occurs to being 0:05:50.596 --> 0:05:53.396 in a moment of whatever to do so. And that's 0:05:53.436 --> 0:05:55.996 really it, I mean. And that's if you can take 0:05:56.156 --> 0:05:59.836 that from the activity, then then you're okay. But if 0:05:59.836 --> 0:06:02.156 you're looking for more than that, you could get into 0:06:02.196 --> 0:06:04.676 deep waters. I do a investion to make Portland kind 0:06:04.716 --> 0:06:07.996 of does reside as a plan by in my head 0:06:08.116 --> 0:06:12.356 because because I can't afford anything in New York in Brooklyn, 0:06:12.356 --> 0:06:15.436 people fantasize about moving to Portland. It has become this 0:06:15.516 --> 0:06:18.156 like ideal of like, oh, just if I can make 0:06:18.196 --> 0:06:20.236 it there, my life will be calmer. We'll be able 0:06:20.276 --> 0:06:22.596 to raise my children with fresh air. Right, you talk 0:06:22.636 --> 0:06:24.436 to the people that have been here for generations in 0:06:24.476 --> 0:06:27.276 the way that comes up as gentrification because it is 0:06:27.316 --> 0:06:32.116 so beautiful and so livable that people are coming from 0:06:32.116 --> 0:06:37.236 places that are a lot more expensive to live in 0:06:37.476 --> 0:06:40.076 and you know, livable, but not to the same pace. 0:06:40.276 --> 0:06:43.796 So just one last question, so longfellow. I think his 0:06:43.916 --> 0:06:47.196 first collection was called The Seaside and the Fireside. Yeah, 0:06:47.196 --> 0:06:49.276 I think you're right. I'm not I wouldn't swear to that, 0:06:49.276 --> 0:06:52.436 but that sounds right. What is your fireside life like 0:06:52.476 --> 0:06:54.156 in Portland? Like? What do you do at the after 0:06:54.196 --> 0:06:56.836 you're writing your poems? Because part of our our show 0:06:56.876 --> 0:06:58.676 ideas we go to these places, we meet people, but 0:06:58.716 --> 0:07:00.436 to get the real sense of place, we need to 0:07:00.476 --> 0:07:03.996 break bread with them, right right, Well, you know the weekends, 0:07:04.036 --> 0:07:05.916 I generally I got a little cabin I go to 0:07:06.116 --> 0:07:08.556 So Okay, so no we can't. We can't have a 0:07:08.596 --> 0:07:14.276 dinner party your house. See no next game though, alright, check, 0:07:14.356 --> 0:07:18.676 all right, I'll take it with bad weather in the 0:07:18.676 --> 0:07:20.836 forecast for pretty much our whole visit. I have a 0:07:20.876 --> 0:07:22.756 feeling I'm going to leave town with a lot of 0:07:22.876 --> 0:07:27.636 uncash rain checks. I was into Steve's that we didn't 0:07:27.636 --> 0:07:31.996 get to say. He was wearing a rich mustard corduroy 0:07:32.116 --> 0:07:36.876 jacket so sweet, Doc ciders, an incredible tweet hat, a 0:07:36.996 --> 0:07:40.836 gold hoop earring, one singular, I know, just a little 0:07:40.916 --> 0:07:44.036 rock and roll, long, long gray hair, like if Bernie 0:07:44.076 --> 0:07:46.836 Sanders grew out his hair. Oh he did well in 0:07:46.916 --> 0:07:49.956 San Francisco in nineteen sixty seven. Right, don't people become 0:07:49.996 --> 0:07:52.836 poets to get laid like in the sixties. Maybe at 0:07:52.836 --> 0:07:54.756 the sixties. You really didn't have to do much. In 0:07:54.756 --> 0:07:58.036 the sixties to get laid. They invented the pill and 0:07:58.076 --> 0:08:02.276 it was over. As we're getting ready to leave, a 0:08:02.396 --> 0:08:05.516 shiny object in the distance catches my eye. It's a 0:08:05.596 --> 0:08:08.276 vehicle with a clapboard sign out front and a crowd 0:08:08.316 --> 0:08:13.876 of people. My stomach growls, and I decided to investigate. Okay, 0:08:13.876 --> 0:08:17.036 so there's a little lunch truck and there's a bulletin 0:08:17.116 --> 0:08:19.556 board covered in plastic. With all this praise given to 0:08:19.556 --> 0:08:22.476 this lobster stand number one lobster role in America according 0:08:22.476 --> 0:08:25.716 to BuzzFeed. Number one food truck in America according to 0:08:25.756 --> 0:08:29.196 The Daily Meal. And on the menu there are main 0:08:29.276 --> 0:08:32.356 lobster rolls and then we got main style, which is 0:08:32.396 --> 0:08:36.116 mayo and fresh chives. Connecticut style just warm butter. There's 0:08:36.116 --> 0:08:39.436 nothing more Connecticut than I've heard. There's warm butter things, 0:08:39.476 --> 0:08:42.836 no spices. Hey, how are you doing? All right? Can 0:08:42.916 --> 0:08:45.796 we get too? I'm gonna get a main style lobster role. 0:08:46.156 --> 0:08:48.436 Also a main style lobster role please? And can is 0:08:48.436 --> 0:08:49.956 there a way to make the lobster role to go? 0:08:50.316 --> 0:08:52.836 Is that? Oh? Sure, yeah, we can pack it to go. Okay, yeah, 0:08:52.876 --> 0:08:55.276 lobster role to go. And that's how we lobster roll 0:08:56.236 --> 0:09:04.196 Oh god, yeah with you. Lighthouse lobster rolls were one 0:09:04.236 --> 0:09:06.836 stop away from a Portland, Maine hat trick, and the 0:09:06.876 --> 0:09:09.276 place we're going it also starts with the letter L. 0:09:09.876 --> 0:09:14.236 Two of them. In fact, we're eating a lobster roll 0:09:14.556 --> 0:09:17.716 in the parking lot of ll Bean. We're a peakmane 0:09:18.236 --> 0:09:21.876 and I'm wearing boxer shorts with lobsters on them. That's 0:09:21.876 --> 0:09:23.436 a little too much about I don't have I don't 0:09:23.436 --> 0:09:28.836 wear boxer short yep. We're visiting the ll Bean factory 0:09:28.836 --> 0:09:33.556 and outlet. Mm hmm, how is it there's and short 0:09:33.596 --> 0:09:36.196 for decent. I feel like we're like degrading the lobster 0:09:36.236 --> 0:09:38.876 a little bit here, you know what I mean. It's 0:09:38.876 --> 0:09:41.916 like drinking champagne, like while watching football or something like that. 0:09:42.076 --> 0:09:44.876 It seems kind of wasteful, or maybe it's on brand. 0:09:47.556 --> 0:09:51.436 This is like going to the Vatican for preppins here. 0:09:52.716 --> 0:09:56.476 Literally have you told me as a teenager? But I 0:09:56.476 --> 0:10:00.436 would be visiting LLL Bean in any capacity I would 0:10:00.476 --> 0:10:03.716 not fully do. I get what Daniels saying. LL Bean's 0:10:03.756 --> 0:10:08.276 preppy outdoor gear hasn't always been my style either. I 0:10:08.276 --> 0:10:12.596 could rock that fan, I think, but who knows. If 0:10:12.596 --> 0:10:15.036 I moved here, maybe I can make sensible clothing work 0:10:15.036 --> 0:10:17.956 for me. Come like in these shoes right here. I'd 0:10:17.956 --> 0:10:20.236 fill my fanny pack with pencils and a notebook to 0:10:20.236 --> 0:10:22.596 write down my thoughts, a tobler own bar for what 0:10:22.676 --> 0:10:25.276 I'm feeling peckish, and a jaunty kerchief for when the 0:10:25.276 --> 0:10:28.596 wind picks up or if I find myself feder remote 0:10:28.596 --> 0:10:31.356 wine bar and need a flash of style. But my 0:10:31.436 --> 0:10:33.596 shopping would have to wait, because when we asked to 0:10:33.636 --> 0:10:36.356 record in the store. Lll Bean's PR team one up 0:10:36.436 --> 0:10:40.316 to us and invited us to visit their testing center. Hi, 0:10:40.436 --> 0:10:45.116 how are you? They call it the smash lab. My 0:10:45.156 --> 0:10:49.436 mind immediately pictured a Hadron collider where monogrammed totes are 0:10:49.516 --> 0:10:52.796 slammed together at high speeds. So we decided to check 0:10:52.836 --> 0:10:56.636 it out. So we're walking into an actual lab for 0:10:56.916 --> 0:10:59.876 I just get your name and your title first, Tom 0:10:59.956 --> 0:11:03.676 Legley Research and Testing Laboratory ll BEAN or a lab coat? 0:11:03.756 --> 0:11:05.796 Is that an ll BEAN lab cut? No? This is 0:11:05.836 --> 0:11:09.116 a standard laboratory lab coat found on all around the world. 0:11:09.236 --> 0:11:11.156 Are you guys going to move into the lab code market? 0:11:11.996 --> 0:11:14.316 Not that I know of right now? Okay, So what 0:11:14.396 --> 0:11:16.316 goes on in here? Like? Why do you have to 0:11:16.316 --> 0:11:19.396 test everything up? So the reason that we test everything 0:11:19.556 --> 0:11:22.196 is we want to meet the expectations of our customers 0:11:22.236 --> 0:11:24.076 to come out with a quality product that's going to 0:11:24.156 --> 0:11:27.316 meet their daily needs in the real world. You said 0:11:27.316 --> 0:11:32.676 that perfectly. It's almost like you said that before. Actually, 0:11:32.756 --> 0:11:36.236 I'd love to break things that would be the precursor 0:11:36.316 --> 0:11:38.476 to this. Can we can you show us a test here? 0:11:39.076 --> 0:11:44.436 So this is a buckle for our wax canvas cotton collection. 0:11:45.676 --> 0:11:48.396 So all of our snowshoes will go in here, put 0:11:48.436 --> 0:11:54.836 a sunflower shower head over it. Our tent poles, ice 0:11:54.876 --> 0:12:01.396 skates ave into a solid black of ice. We will 0:12:01.436 --> 0:12:03.756 then bash that out with a hammer. Are you saying 0:12:03.796 --> 0:12:05.596 I get to bash it that with a hammer? Okay? 0:12:05.716 --> 0:12:12.116 Yea yeah, yeah you go get a yeah. When is 0:12:12.116 --> 0:12:20.196 your appointment with your therapist? Again? Kind of therapist I'm 0:12:20.276 --> 0:12:22.476 used to makes me line a couch and blame my 0:12:22.516 --> 0:12:24.556 parents for why I can't even commit to buying a 0:12:24.556 --> 0:12:27.676 house plant. But here, when things get stressful, like say 0:12:27.716 --> 0:12:30.476 a moose steps in your subaru, you can just bash ice. 0:12:31.276 --> 0:12:33.716 But then what how do you unwind if you're not 0:12:33.716 --> 0:12:36.716 wound up? So tom like after you're smashing things all 0:12:36.796 --> 0:12:39.916 day like what happens pint of beer? But Danielle and 0:12:39.956 --> 0:12:42.796 I are here through Saturday, and so if we were, 0:12:42.916 --> 0:12:44.436 you know, we think the real way to get to 0:12:44.436 --> 0:12:46.436 know places maybe to like get invited into someone's home 0:12:46.436 --> 0:12:47.836 and have a meal, Like what are you what are 0:12:47.876 --> 0:12:50.996 your plans this weekend? Oh? I'll have to get back 0:12:50.996 --> 0:12:52.956 to you. Are you just saying though, because you're press 0:12:52.996 --> 0:12:54.996 guys in the in the room and you're afraid to 0:12:55.356 --> 0:12:57.116 Oh no, I'll get back to you. Trust me. How 0:12:57.156 --> 0:13:00.636 that right? So far over two in the dinner party count. 0:13:01.676 --> 0:13:04.196 After our visit to Smash Lab, Danielle and I are 0:13:04.196 --> 0:13:06.956 ready for nap Lab, but we've got places we need 0:13:06.956 --> 0:13:09.076 to be, so we stopped for coffee at a spot 0:13:09.156 --> 0:13:11.676 everyone told us we had to try happily enough for 0:13:11.676 --> 0:13:15.756 a duo like ourselves. It's name, it's Tandem. Got is 0:13:15.756 --> 0:13:19.276 a line? I do wait a line for coffee? Forget that? 0:13:19.796 --> 0:13:21.716 Did it come with a hand job? Do you look nice? 0:13:24.116 --> 0:13:26.836 There's literally like a corner shop right there. Let's get 0:13:26.836 --> 0:13:28.676 coffee there. I don't know what I mean. Let's not 0:13:28.796 --> 0:13:35.076 be crazy. It wasn't Tandem's fault. They were popular. The 0:13:35.076 --> 0:13:38.236 crowds are the sort of thing we'd come here to avoid. Fortunately, 0:13:38.516 --> 0:13:41.756 like any Hiptown Worth, it's pink Himalayan ce salt. Portland 0:13:41.756 --> 0:13:44.516 has a ton of good coffee shops to choose from. 0:13:44.516 --> 0:13:50.796 All right, coffee shops. We're going to coffee by design, 0:13:51.556 --> 0:13:59.356 double espresso, cortados, a small cappuccino. Where you guys from 0:13:59.916 --> 0:14:03.236 in New York? Your biggest nightmare is Portland. We're here, 0:14:05.236 --> 0:14:11.236 we're hearing, we're buying condos. We're here to raise around, 0:14:11.316 --> 0:14:13.996 So what are you guys hardcasting for? We visit town 0:14:14.476 --> 0:14:16.396 and then we want to learn about the place, but 0:14:16.476 --> 0:14:21.636 by avoiding the tourists spots head on and maybe getting 0:14:21.636 --> 0:14:23.756 invited into someone's home to eat dinner. So do you 0:14:23.796 --> 0:14:26.316 guys know a dinner party later? If you find out, 0:14:26.396 --> 0:14:29.436 let me know. I'm also like, I do shaman work, 0:14:29.956 --> 0:14:32.156 so then I'm like, I do my I have pet sitter, 0:14:32.796 --> 0:14:36.236 I sling shots during the day. Whoa, it's a way 0:14:36.276 --> 0:14:38.596 to go. It's fun. Should we get your name where 0:14:38.596 --> 0:14:42.556 you work? Or like, yeah, my name full name, Brendan Thorpe. 0:14:42.716 --> 0:14:47.116 I work at Coffee by Design on Congress Street. Alternate Brendon, 0:14:47.876 --> 0:14:53.716 I'm Brendan. I'm your Brendan Doppler. This is what If 0:14:53.756 --> 0:14:57.276 I lived in Portland? Would I be a shaman? Probably not? 0:14:57.996 --> 0:15:00.796 The only spirit world I interact with involves three parts gin, 0:15:01.036 --> 0:15:05.876 one part driver muth olives. Please, then who would I 0:15:05.956 --> 0:15:08.956 be if I lived here? My Brendan doppelgangerre exuded a 0:15:09.116 --> 0:15:12.156 sense of calm that was enviable calms in short supply 0:15:12.156 --> 0:15:14.756 Where I come from? New York, after all, is the 0:15:14.956 --> 0:15:17.756 city that never sleeps, a motto that sounds exciting in 0:15:17.756 --> 0:15:21.476 your twenties, but later sounds like a warning. A city 0:15:21.516 --> 0:15:39.636 that occasionally sleeps is what I'm looking for. Newly caffeinated 0:15:39.796 --> 0:15:42.596 Danielle and I stroll Congress Street, one of the city's 0:15:42.596 --> 0:15:50.916 main thoroughfares. It's packed with cafes, buskers, and bookstores. This 0:15:51.156 --> 0:15:54.076 is like that bad bookstore that you use. Bookstore smells 0:15:54.076 --> 0:15:56.716 a little musty and dusty, has lots of treasures hidden 0:15:56.716 --> 0:15:58.556 in here. This is the kind of bookstoere you find 0:15:58.556 --> 0:16:00.756 thinks that you weren't intending to find where you kind 0:16:00.756 --> 0:16:04.036 of you come in and see what's here, and we 0:16:04.076 --> 0:16:06.956 will always walk out with something that you never expected 0:16:07.076 --> 0:16:10.956 to find. Let's go me, let's come. He should be whispering. 0:16:10.996 --> 0:16:13.196 Why are we whispering. It's not a library, it's a bookstore. 0:16:13.996 --> 0:16:21.516 Why are you needed to meet you? Michelle, daniel My 0:16:21.596 --> 0:16:23.916 name is Michelle Seulier, and I own the Green Hand 0:16:23.956 --> 0:16:26.676 Bookshop in Portland, Maine. I'm looking at all these Stephen 0:16:26.716 --> 0:16:30.276 King books, which makes sense. He's one of your native authors. Yes, 0:16:30.396 --> 0:16:32.396 we've got to stock a lot of King. We're in 0:16:32.396 --> 0:16:34.916 a stew in King country. I'd nearly forgotten that the 0:16:34.996 --> 0:16:37.676 King of Horror hailed from here. Yeah, of Portland's a 0:16:37.676 --> 0:16:40.916 great town for books. We have three used bookshops and 0:16:41.116 --> 0:16:44.476 three new bookshops, all in the downtown area, and they 0:16:44.516 --> 0:16:47.676 all do their own thing and they all do Yeah. 0:16:48.116 --> 0:16:50.076 I guess well, because we're all still open. Ye know. 0:16:51.196 --> 0:16:53.876 Chell not only sells books, she wrote one. It's called 0:16:53.996 --> 0:16:57.276 Strange Maine, and it's about all things strange in Maine. 0:16:57.556 --> 0:16:59.956 Probably could have guessed that. Why do you think there 0:17:00.196 --> 0:17:03.316 is a conglomeration of eccentrics and in Portland? I think 0:17:03.436 --> 0:17:08.276 Maine has a tradition of encouraging individual thought and also 0:17:08.596 --> 0:17:11.756 encouraging privacy, so you're allowed to do the things you 0:17:11.796 --> 0:17:15.716 do and kind of grow and cultivate them yourself without 0:17:15.716 --> 0:17:18.036 a lot of people pushing on you if you figure 0:17:18.036 --> 0:17:20.116 out a way to do it on your own. So 0:17:20.276 --> 0:17:23.276 are you you're closing down soon? Or what time? I am? Yeah, 0:17:23.316 --> 0:17:27.156 six o'clock is closing time. Okay, get a drink with us? 0:17:29.316 --> 0:17:36.276 Are yeah? Which are we going out? Oh? We're gonna 0:17:36.276 --> 0:17:38.396 go out the door and then we'll head to the left. Okay, 0:17:39.116 --> 0:17:41.676 so we're going to bow Bow. Where is that a 0:17:41.676 --> 0:17:44.276 relationship to your Oh, it is a hot skip and 0:17:44.316 --> 0:17:47.596 a jump. You're almost there. You can practically smell it. 0:17:48.556 --> 0:17:51.636 The sidewalks feel eerily empty for a Friday night. At 0:17:51.636 --> 0:17:54.716 the same time, every few buildings there's a restaurant filled 0:17:54.796 --> 0:17:58.596 with people. Portlanders take food seriously, and as someone who 0:17:58.596 --> 0:18:01.436 knows they're Taijin from Tartar, I have to admit it 0:18:01.516 --> 0:18:03.116 might be part of what made me want to come here. 0:18:03.836 --> 0:18:06.676 All right, we are at bow Bow here. You say 0:18:06.716 --> 0:18:10.996 that again. We're here at Bowbow. Awesome. I'm very excited 0:18:10.996 --> 0:18:20.476 about dumplings. Food. There's I also have cocktails and beer 0:18:20.556 --> 0:18:23.676 and specialist for your guys. Excellent, thanks a lot, thank you. 0:18:24.196 --> 0:18:26.236 I know. Embarrassed, is said, I don't even I don't 0:18:26.316 --> 0:18:29.436 drink beer and Maine. Every two where we go, they're like, 0:18:29.476 --> 0:18:32.116 there's a great brewery on the corner. Yeah, they're all 0:18:32.156 --> 0:18:33.916 about do you think I could live here even if 0:18:33.916 --> 0:18:36.476 though I didn't drink beer? Would I get excluded? Okay, 0:18:36.636 --> 0:18:41.836 you drink cocktails? Yeah, yeah, you're golden. We keep winding 0:18:41.916 --> 0:18:45.756 up on those top lists of cities, and it's there's 0:18:45.796 --> 0:18:48.356 no turning the tide. At this point, I was in 0:18:48.436 --> 0:18:50.116 my shop. It was a couple of years ago now, 0:18:50.276 --> 0:18:52.836 but I was talking to somebody and they were like, yeah, 0:18:52.916 --> 0:18:55.116 you know, I just moved here from Brooklyn recently, and 0:18:55.236 --> 0:18:57.276 so we're kind of trying to get the hang of everything, 0:18:57.596 --> 0:19:00.316 and some person who's for the rack of the shop 0:19:00.356 --> 0:19:02.756 stuck their head. I was like, oh my god, me too, 0:19:02.956 --> 0:19:04.836 I just moved here from Brooklyn. And then somebody else 0:19:04.876 --> 0:19:08.356 and me too, Oh my god. It's like, oh no, 0:19:08.716 --> 0:19:11.076 my aunt tire shop. I'm not gonna lie. I mean, 0:19:11.116 --> 0:19:13.556 I live in Brooklyn and this has been kind of 0:19:13.556 --> 0:19:15.276 a plan B in the back of my head. The 0:19:15.276 --> 0:19:17.076 flip side is that your that funny story you're talking 0:19:17.076 --> 0:19:19.996 about your shop. It's like he's like, me too, me too, 0:19:20.116 --> 0:19:22.196 me too. But then you're as a store owner. You 0:19:22.236 --> 0:19:25.596 have three customers there that are giving you money. Can 0:19:25.636 --> 0:19:28.596 we get another order of the bulgogie? And another order 0:19:28.596 --> 0:19:32.436 of the slaw? Another slaw, another bulgogie? So what is 0:19:32.476 --> 0:19:37.396 love and dating light here? That's a difficult question to 0:19:37.476 --> 0:19:40.836 me because I've been married for a long time. But 0:19:40.956 --> 0:19:44.596 I would say that I think it's difficult. I've always 0:19:44.596 --> 0:19:49.156 been astonished by Portland's little pockets, So Portland I kind 0:19:49.156 --> 0:19:52.036 of compare it to like a you know, a little 0:19:52.076 --> 0:19:55.076 furry rodents who have all these little warrens and dens. 0:19:55.516 --> 0:19:58.516 And so everybody's burrowing in and creating these little warrens 0:19:58.556 --> 0:20:01.596 and doing all their little projects in their different little dens. 0:20:02.156 --> 0:20:05.276 And it's not until like something happens accidentally, like somebody 0:20:05.316 --> 0:20:08.076 busts through all of their den and it's like, hey, 0:20:08.076 --> 0:20:10.596 what are you doing in here? Then you find out 0:20:10.636 --> 0:20:13.156 like there's people right next to you doing really similar 0:20:13.196 --> 0:20:15.276 and interesting things that you didn't know about at all. 0:20:15.436 --> 0:20:20.516 You're a bunch of Nerdsland. Yeah, yeah, Portland is packed 0:20:20.556 --> 0:20:26.756 up with nerds, nerds and metal heads and artists, and yeah, 0:20:27.596 --> 0:20:29.916 we all like to do our own things. But what 0:20:29.956 --> 0:20:33.756 if one's own thing was learning about other people's things. 0:20:33.756 --> 0:20:36.956 Nerds by definition, are single minded people obsessed with the 0:20:37.076 --> 0:20:41.156 non social pursuit, whereas I am single mindedly obsessed with 0:20:41.236 --> 0:20:45.596 the social pursuit dinner parties. Well, Michel, thank you so 0:20:45.676 --> 0:20:48.356 much for meeting up with us. I'm sharing your knowledge 0:20:48.356 --> 0:20:51.876 of Horland. That's my pleasure. We're here for like two 0:20:51.916 --> 0:20:55.836 more days. And one of my strategies for getting you 0:20:55.876 --> 0:20:58.316 no place is trying to like not just go to 0:20:58.356 --> 0:21:01.596 the Taurus spots and like maybe even like get into 0:21:01.636 --> 0:21:04.996 someone's world and so what what what do you guys? 0:21:05.036 --> 0:21:08.276 What are you doing tomorrownight? Like what's going on? Well, um, 0:21:08.476 --> 0:21:12.636 Saturday day is kind of wide open. One never knows. 0:21:13.476 --> 0:21:15.156 Can we stay in touch with you and maybe we 0:21:15.236 --> 0:21:18.636 could begin to hang out again and maybe break bread 0:21:18.836 --> 0:21:21.796 with some of your cohorn Yeah? Absolutely, really that would 0:21:21.796 --> 0:21:23.996 be amazing. Okay, so we'll check in with you in 0:21:24.036 --> 0:21:27.276 the morning, Thank you so much. With our dinner party 0:21:27.276 --> 0:21:30.036 plans set in motion, we said bye bye to Booboo 0:21:30.276 --> 0:21:33.796 and drove drove back to our lodgings. Back in our 0:21:33.836 --> 0:21:36.436 rented den, I thought about what Michelle said about Brooklyn 0:21:36.476 --> 0:21:39.196 Knight's cropping up in her shop. Did the B in 0:21:39.276 --> 0:21:42.196 my plan B stand for basic? Was my attraction to 0:21:42.196 --> 0:21:44.916 Portland the result of a true yearning for quieter life? 0:21:45.476 --> 0:21:47.436 Was I just another Brooklyn Knight checking out the next 0:21:47.436 --> 0:21:51.196 buzzy thing? These questions ping ponged in my mind until 0:21:51.236 --> 0:21:59.356 finally I went night night. The next morning, I woke 0:21:59.436 --> 0:22:02.356 up for Danielle to meet with someone who definitely didn't 0:22:02.396 --> 0:22:05.556 move to Portland because it was trendy. Her name Decca 0:22:05.636 --> 0:22:09.796 Dlac Brendan nice to meet you. Decca is this mind 0:22:09.876 --> 0:22:12.236 refugee who came to me in ten years ago and 0:22:12.316 --> 0:22:15.156 recently became the first black woman in Muslim elected to 0:22:15.156 --> 0:22:18.316 the South Portland City Council. We met up outside an 0:22:18.316 --> 0:22:20.916 old maritime signal tower that overlooks the city. She said, 0:22:20.956 --> 0:22:23.236 we can pretember on top because we're outside. In their birds, 0:22:23.916 --> 0:22:27.636 Decca were her job the color of autumn orange, yellow, red. 0:22:28.116 --> 0:22:31.436 It was almost as bright as her constant smile. How 0:22:31.556 --> 0:22:33.476 was it when you first arrived here that first winter? 0:22:33.636 --> 0:22:36.356 How did you adapt? It was really scary. It was 0:22:36.476 --> 0:22:40.956 very scary. It was very very white. Everything was white. Yeah, 0:22:40.996 --> 0:22:43.756 and even my children had a cultural shock because they 0:22:43.756 --> 0:22:46.436 were born and raised in this country. But yet they 0:22:46.476 --> 0:22:48.876 get used to the South. In the South the world, 0:22:48.956 --> 0:22:51.436 they have you know, African American friends. Yeah, and when 0:22:51.436 --> 0:22:54.436 they came here, actually we lived in Lewiston, where has 0:22:54.476 --> 0:22:57.916 a large number of Somali community. And my oldest who 0:22:57.956 --> 0:22:59.876 was twenty six now, said Mom, what are the old 0:22:59.956 --> 0:23:02.716 black people? And I said, look around, you know, just 0:23:02.796 --> 0:23:05.196 how all African. He's like, no, no, those are your people. 0:23:05.676 --> 0:23:08.316 I'm talking about the African American people sometimes go to 0:23:08.356 --> 0:23:10.356 Boston so that they can see other folks who are 0:23:10.756 --> 0:23:14.236 African Americans. I'm just feeling better that way. So so 0:23:14.276 --> 0:23:16.796 when you say white, you mean not just the snow 0:23:16.876 --> 0:23:21.476 that's everywhere you're talking. This is like an we kind 0:23:21.516 --> 0:23:25.076 of go back and forward. Vermont, Okay, So who is 0:23:25.076 --> 0:23:28.996