Are you proud of this food? Liz? No, m M. To help us better understand the unique culinary habits of Manners, we enlisted our own Liz proven. Sure. She's an editorial assistant Thrillist and she grew up just outside of Portland. But it does remind you of home, right, it does for sure. She was nice enough to send me a care package with some select regional delicacies. Liz, I want to start off with this soda. I've heard of this one, but I've never tried it, Moxi soda. Yes, and we definitely need to start with moxie. When you think of main specific foods other than lobster and blueberries, moxie is the one thing that comes to mind. Okay, are you a fan of moxie? I am not. It kind of tastes like black licorice, and I think it's just like an acquired taste. It's feel like a cult favorite thing. So there's like a huge following of people who swear by moxie. There are even different like festivals and events that are all about moxie, so people really get into it. Okay, despite everything you said, which kind of made me not want to drink it. I have to say, I don't. I don't hate it. It definitely has a little bit of that bitterness back in your throat that reminds me of a cough syrup. It kind of tastes like after you drink in the growny and you burp and then you can kind of taste in the grown Yes, I know what that is like. So another thing we have these are called need hands. Yeah, it's kind of like a Mound's candy bar. So it's like has the coconut and like dark chocolate coating over it, but they have potato in them. Potato. I think that the potato is just kind of a binding agent to like hold this thing together, So it like gives a little bit of starchiness and just helps it come together in this little candy bar shaped exactly. I was expecting more of that than what this is, which is just like a Moulin's bar, but somehow worse. Uh, no offense to name. We're getting off on the wrong foot here. Okay, So I'm a hot dog connisseur myself, so I'm excited about this. We have some red snapper hot dogs and they look a lot like regular hot dogs, except they are true to their name, very very red. Yeah, So I um. I wrote a story about red hot dogs for Thrillless site, and I talked to one of the owners of W. A. Beans and Sons, which is the last company making these red hot dogs in Maine, and he kind of chopped it up to just a marketing ploy and he said that they died them red because they wanted the product to stand out on the shelves. Well, it tastes like a normal hot dog, but I feel like it's a little crispy right skin. The thing that makes red hot dogs different is they have the natural casing that they die red, but it's like a natural lamb casing that has a ton of collagen in it, which is why when you bite into it, you get that brunch. That's the snap, right. Is that why they call them snappers? Yes. In terms of the Portland you grew up with compared to what Portland is like now, what are the biggest differences? You know, what do you see and what do you feel when you come back home. It's such a popular place now and people really have such a huge interest in it and it's a top travel destination and it was never like that when I was growing up, I couldn't wait to leave and just really wanted to move to a big city. And now looking back, there's so much there. Portland has this really incredible inventive food scene, and the restaurants are some of the best in the country, and there are bars that could compete with some of the top cocktail bars in New York. There's also a lot of cool like art that's popping up, and there's just a lot more to the city than these stereotypes that may come to mind for people. On this episode, we're digging into some of the themes Liz mentioned. We're gonna talk about why Portland has become one of the pre eminent horace destinations in America and some of the things that immediately come to mind when you think about me and you know, lobster beer, more lobster. But we're also going to profile one of the country's most interesting museums which you can find in Portland. And here from a few people who have moved from bigger cities to Portland over the past year. They might actually convince you that Portland isn't just a great vacation spot, but also an ideal place to relocate to especially if you like medicinal tasting sodas and violently red hot dogs with natural casings. Well, here's a moxi toast, Liz, thank you for walking me through some of this stuffy cheers. It's cheers. I'm Will Fulton and this is thrillest Explorers, So aside from Stephen King, who did not answer our calls. By the way, lobster is Maine's most famous export producer. Me A Fasque spoke with someone who catches lobster for a living, one of the few women working in the lobster fishing industry. Here's the story. Um, I don't mind the wind and the rain and the snow. I've kind of always been a thrill seeker, so I mean that that works in my favor in this line of work. Um, it's definitely a dangerous job. Krista Trip is one of Maine's third generation lobster fisherman. So, my grandfather was a lobsterman. He was the first in our family. My dad followed in his footsteps. My uncle. My Janet even worked on the back of my grandfather's boat. And she's basically been out on the water her whole life. Yeah, yeah, Well, I started on my dad's boat when I was about eight. When other kids were learning to ride bikes, Christa was catching lobster. I always loved going out, you know, on the boat, you know, seeing the sea creatures come up in the traps, and you know, just watching my dad um work with his stern man, and I just was always an awe. I just loved it since the day that I that I went first, and by high school, when some of her peers might have been flipping burgers or working at the gap, Christa was captaining her own boat, hauling in hundreds of lobsters in a day's work. And then after that, you know, I worked several other jobs. I worked on an urchin dragging boat for a winter, which was really cool, really fun. But my heart was always in lobstering. So as soon as I got that captain's license, I bought my grandfather's boat. So I've been doing it again since then. Oh and just to state the obvious here, Chris's early success in the industry isn't the only reason her career is notable. Lobstering is definitely male dominated. There's about four percent of the entire lobstering population here in the state of Maine that are women. So, I mean, it's definitely hard being a woman in a male dominated industry because you don't really have that same connection that you know, males have with each other. They're not going to like share fishing secrets with you. Um, you're kind of on your own when it comes to figuring some stuff out. But despite some unfortunately predictable male toxicity, she's been able to figure it out through time and effort and a little bit of help from her family. They passed down a couple of family secrets. I think that they wanted to make sure that I was really my heart was really in it. I mean, I'm still learning. I talked to someone and you know, they'll share a secret and I'm like, you know, I think about it and I'm like, wow, you know, like that makes sense. You're right, there's many signs and many cues, but you just have to have a feel for what the lobsters are doing. And for christa lobster is just inseparable from main culture. For example, our family, when we have a get together, we always have like this big cook out on the beach with lobster. The seagulls are always swooping down and getting them usually, But it's definitely the culture around here. People come here from all around the world to eat main lobster right because they do say it is the best tasting lobster in the world. A lobster rollism must have. Everywhere you go, they make it a little bit different, you know, like someone will make it with just mayonnaise, or someone will make it with butter, someone will make manis. She has high hopes for the future, especially in regards to the industry becoming more inclusive. When I was younger, I you never saw a woman on the back of a boat, but now there's you know, definitely more women getting involved. And they probably just like the money number one, the environment number two, and uh number three. They probably thrill seekers like I am. So one time I came in. It wasn't supposed to be as bad as they said it was supposed to be, but the wind came on quite quickly. The waves had just been building so much, and I had to like climb up over the the waves that were coming in at me from the south and I was heading west. So it was just really scary, really hairy situation. I mean it was it was really hard for me to to turn my boat around. But I mean that's how fishing is, you know, it's it's just kind of a gamble. You know. Lobstroumen from Maine are definitely proud of what they do. There's a lot of pride that comes with this line of work because it is hard work. It's hard labor, and you know, people are going out there every single day and all kinds of different weather, you know, catching this fresh product for the world to eat. So definitely a lot of pride around here when it comes to the jobs that we do. If you want to know how to make your own lobster roles at home or anywhere, I guess, check out the Lincoln our description. We have a great article written by Liz Prominuer. Alright, onto our next segment, which explores the spookier side of Portland's Maine. Hello, hey, Lauren, this is well from Thrill List. Correct everyone. Lauren Coleman is the founder of the world's only cryptozoology museum, which is objectively one of the most interesting places in town. Okay, so my first question, what is cryptozoology? Cryptozoology is a study of hidden or unknown animals. The main motivation and mission are defined those species, the giant squid, you know, copy. All of these kinds of things are new to the landscape of zoology, and it he really comes about by listening to indigenous people, putting all of that information and evidence together and saying, just a new creature. Is this a hoax? And it's a possible regular animal that's being misidentified. The International Cryptozoology Museum is the culmination of strange picture. It's an odd chance cryptis and creatures from all over the world WATA monsters and my collecting, investigating writing in cryptozoology since nineteen sixty I would go all across the country to Scotland's in Mexico, to virgin Islands, investigating different things, and I pick up artifacts, I pick up pieces of evidence. They became overwhelming as far as being in my home. So finally in two thousand and three I founded the museum. Right now, ours is the only cryptis reology museum in the world, and we're very proud of it. Lauren, why did you want to dedicate so much of your life to the documentation and in some ways the celebration of cryptids. Well, I grew up being very interested in animals and in non fiction mysteries. And then in nineteen sixty I saw a movie, a Japanese movie by the director of Shiro Houndu, and it was called Half Human. It was actually about the Yettis in Asian mountains. I went to school the next week and interviewed various teachers of mine. I said, what, what's this whole thing about the yetti and they said, they don't exist, Leave me alone, get back to your studies. So, of course I was very curious and found out very quickly there was bigfoot reports in the United States, lockdesk, monster reports, there was all kinds of things that weren't being explained too well. I started writing articles about it, and once you write articles, you write books. But I also started collecting things. What are some of the exhibits in the museum that you are most proud of or people really get excited about when they're visiting. Well, the museum, of course, is filled with all kinds of different cryptives. At out front there's a ten foot tall carved Bigfoot and people are very happy. We have a lot of Minnahuni material from the Hawaiian Islands. We have a life size motan and life size podactyl as A learned from the out the whole area of they and dictate mature examples from the YETI xli sized version of the Dover demo artifacts with tall Texan German replica on bixit cast and desn't are so YETI cast. Wow, you just listed a whole bunch. Can you tell us about a few of your favorite Maine centric cryptids ones that you you might find in Maine or some legends in Maine. One of the most novel ones is what's called the specter moose. During the eighteen hunters there were many reports of giant white moose. They were about fIF taller than the regular moose, and they became so popular that you would have hunting Matt Jans talking about the spectr moose. But it is something that I found evidence down through the years that people are still seeing a large white moose. There's also a different variations on the window Go, which is a micmac An Indian name for Bigfoot. In the East, the wind to Go are a little more aggressive than the out West versions of Bigfoot. They don't like dogs, They attack people. There's mystery sharks, there's two serpents reports. You also have reports of giant snakes. We have reports a couple of years ago of the ten foot long giant snake. Two police usters actually saw it swimming across the river here and it had a beaver in its mouth, So people all of a sudden took it very seriously. Lauren, you know, I think this is a big question and I want to get your take on it. And I'm sure you've thought about this a lot um, But what do you think it is about these regional creatures, these cryptids that continues to captivate the imagination of so many people for hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of years. Well, most people's lives are very boring. I mean generally, we all have to work, we all have to eat, we all have to do a certain amount of things that just keep us going. And crypto tourism has become very popular in recent years. You're looking for footprints of cryptods, or you're hunting big foot, or you're you know, taking a boat trip or a ferry trip and you're looking for a sea serpents or like bonsters. That becomes very exciting as be mentioned to your life. That really is very engaging. People love that we're still a need for people to use their mind in a very creative way. Most definitely really my last question because I marked out a note you said you were describing the the yetty or or the Bigfoot statue, and you said it it almost looks like a real Bigfoot, or it's supposed to. How do you determine that? Well, we know that there are real fighting. As soon as the cryptod is captured and verified, we lose that species to crypto zoology, and it jumps over that barrier to zoology. So you know, a new monkey was discovered last year, there was a new ber found in Central Park, there was a new crayfish found in a river in Tennessee. It was all used to be cryptids, So that's real. The only reason I talked about our model of the big Foot in the museum is it looks like what people are saying is real because it it's at all always five pounds. It's completely covered with the muscocks and furs, so that looks exactly like what people are just traffing. But I know it's not real because we know that it's a constructive taxis ermy model. This was a really enjoyable conversation great. I really, I truly enjoyed it. Yeah. Well, you know, cryptal zoology is very much about education and entertainment, and I tried to convey that that's kind of what we're about too, you know, learn about a city, but have fun along the way. Lauren, thanks so much. I really appreciate your time. Thank you. It was great. Ye y. If you want to visit the museum, check out the link in our description for up to date info on hours and COVID nineteen restrictions. All right, we're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back beer stick around. All right. I'm Jeremy and I'm married Kate, and we moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Portland, Maine. We moved to Portland in May. We lived in Brooklyn, and we had our first baby in March, just days before the COVID lockdown. So it was a pretty terrifying experience giving birth in Manhattan and the news changing rapidly every day. We had just had enough of the city. We weren't from there, we weren't tried and through New Yorkers, we knew it was time limited and the time felt up. So we decided that we're gonna with some world. We found a place site unseen and we just did it. We packed up our baby dog and we brooked it to Portland and we in here ever since you were in the organ Mons total during pandemic. I'm just saying about highs are running and you know, I couldn't take a mask at at any point because they're just crowd to people. But man, it's just like there's so much space. I feel like we're constantly finding new places to explore, beaches and trails and force. It's just amazing. We've been to the main beer company a couple of times in in Freeport, which is so cool and has great beer, great pizza, and not always felt really really safe because you just don't have the crowds like you have in New York. I mean not being said, we do still live in a city like lost places. We're not living out like on a farm somehow. A lot of people are moving here from places like New York. So if somebody was moving here from New York, I would say it's a super different lifestyle. There are parts of Portland's that are much more I mean, I don't want to say Brooklyn. So there are definitely neighborhoods where it's much more apartment tea and you can walk to tons of bars and restaurants and you know, get the old sport really easily. It's not going to be the same lifestyle, but I think for us it's better. Jeremy and Mary Kate called into our hotline one eight three pod Baby to share their story about relocating to Portland. You can call that number two and leave us a message. We'd love to hear your best travel stories and we might even play some on an upcoming show. If you know even a little bit about craft beer, you probably know that Maine is basically the dry hopped mecca of East Coast brewing. Some local breweries of note include Bisto Brothers, Lone Pine, Rising Tie, and perhaps most notably, Alagash. We spoke with Naomi neville of Alagash about their beer, the city, and what craft beer means the Portland overall. I'm Naomi nevill Um, the sales director at Alagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. Craft beer is such a huge part of the culture here. Poland isn't a huge city, but for not a huge city, has a lot of breweries of capita. I think, honestly, I mean, we got some of the best beer around. Maybe I'm biased, but it's touch to compete with Portland and Maine. Craft brewery Alagash was founded in by Rob Todd, who is an owner founder brewer. There are plenty of good breweries in the state of Maine brewing English and Scotty tails. At the time, he really wanted to do something completely different and he fell in love with Vieto Garden and decided he wanted to try his hand at growing a Belgian stall white beer. Al Gash White is a flagship beer. This beer we've got a brood and still our most popular to date. It's well of our business. I think it's just very refreshing and it's one of those viets that you can just keep pretending to. I think the advantages of Poland and particularly Maine as a whole is it is just such a great place to live, and it really attracts people that you know, they've got a little bit of an edge to them because the winter is gonna be really brutal and really long, and so you know, it attracts people that are kind of like Sitalists and like to make their own things like can their own foods, threw their own beer, make their own bread like It's very much like that kind of attitude up to main there is a huge sense of community and camaraderie. Whenever you go to another brewery that row wants to buy you bear, you know they're happy to have you in that space. And all the breweries just add to the draw of Paul the Maine because you know, you can really come and sample so many different biers, so many different breweries that different cultures. It's really interesting that the more we add, the more people come and the more they enjoy it, and it just seems like better for everyone. We'd see a ton of different people come through outdoors, a lot of different ethnicities, cultures. Um. Yeah, you know, there are definitely a lot of efforts being made right now. A lot of people that made Black is Beautiful flaboration via this year, which are doing incredibly well. UM. So we are trying to encourage diversity and definitely inclusiveness and just sure that we have something for everyone when they come in. UM so that everyone feels welcome and everyone could enjoy the bather word. Poland has changed so much. If we're talking about the bar and restaurant scene that has exploded over twenty years, and then also um Cultural University as well. We have a decent ish im. Then we're population up in Portland, which has been really creep for our city and our state, bringing more voices to the table and just making us more of a well rounded out of city. I'm gonna be totally biased in this, but I do think that a stop. But again, it is an essential part of a church in Potland. It's a great atmosphere when you come to the brewery. It's funny when you bring people through the brewery and they say, why is everyone so happy here? We currently have a drive through for b which is pretty cool. It's just like you drive up to a plast pager restaurant and you press the endcom and someone that takes your order, you peep read and you drive off and get your v So that's pretty very different to anything we've ever done before. The facility isn't an industrialisting, but it's also surrounded by food truck says music. It's a destination outside of paren really and when you visit us, you can visit by other brewer reason starving at the same time, so everyone should stop by say hello. It's been way too long. If you want to find out more about Portland's craft beer destinations, we have a link in our description that will illuminate and hopefully inebriate you as well. Next up, we have Mindi Fox. She's a Portland based food writer in New York Times bestselling cookbook author. She's gonna tell us about some of her favorite restaurants and bars in town, and also some outdoor activities. You know, if you ever get sick of eating and drinking for some reason, here's our call. So mindya. Learning about Portland over the past couple of weeks, one thing is really evident to me, and it's that manners and people in Portland love to eat, they love to drink, and they're really proud of the food that comes out of Portland's and of Maine. You know, in terms of other cities that you've lived in or worked in, how does Portland's food and drink scene compare. Yeah, the food scene here has been explosive. It's been amazing for many years. I mean, Portland is a small city. I have lived in really big cities that I've lived in New York City, for many years I lived outside of Chicago. For many years I lived in Paris. One of the things that I say about Portland is there are things about it that reminds me of all those places, but you know that there's this much quality and the volume of it in a city as small is I think, what is one of the things that makes the Portland dining scene really exciting and unique? From your perspective? What are some examples of essential restaurants or essential eating experiences in Portland? Okay, so let's look at a restaurant called four Street. It's in a high ceiling brick wald would beam clad warehouse overlooking the historic Old Port and they are known for their huge open kitchen and it's it's kind of dark and romantic. The longer you have lead time to make a reservation for this place, the better. And then we have incredible oysters and seafood everything from Jay's Oyster, which is just like kind of a salty o g coastal New England spot, to even Tide, which their take on the lobster roll is on a soft steam bun with brown butter. So they're kind of doing their own thing with iconic New England Fair. And then there's a brand new restaurant on the Portland dining scene that's called Helm. It's a beautiful oyster bar and b stroke gorgeous space, grown up but not too serious. Ray Crudeo's beautiful salads oysters. They also do a little turf, including the best short ribs I've had in a long time. If ever, I did want to mention a hidden gem, it's called Session on Kitchen. This is a kind of quiet, small, incredibly good, classic sessuan restaurant with just fiery food and gracious, freely welcoming service. We talked a little bit about craft beer in Portland's what are some of your favorite bars in the city. In terms of bars, there's a place called Novara Race. It is a beer centric place, but it's not the craft brewery local. They have indoor and outdoor seating. They have rotating taps and bottles from international small crafters. Um For cocktails, Hunt and Alpine is one of my favorite cocktail bars. They have a really great selection of cocktails that are different but not too crazy. There is a restaurant here called Scales on the Waterfront. It is an impressive, beautiful space with high ceilings and big windows that look over onto the pier. The bar is this long. I wish I could tell you because the metric would be fun. But how many lobster roles do you think end to end? Three hundred? Three hundred? Okay, that was a lot more than I was expecting. You have your oysters not on a platter or plate, but right there on the crushed ice, right on the bar. You know, Media, I know that you are in the food and drink space primarily, and there is a ton of food and drink to enjoy in Portland, But I'm wondering outside of that, you know, in terms of activities, whether it's hikes to go on or museums to visit. You have a favorite non food and drink related experience in Portland. Yes, there are so many great things to do here in South Portland, which is just across the bridge, there's a bunch of cool places to check out, rocky coastline areas to walk in, great ocean views, and you can check out some iconic lighthouses over there. We have incredible art in Portland, and we have a world class art museum called Portland Museum of Art. And then if you're a book worm. We have a lot of really great independently owned bookstores. I do tend to end up at Print Bookstore. And while you're at Print, if you need a coffee, there's a really, really great little coffee shop that's one of my day's near Print, which is called Little Woodfort. Do you have any hotel recommendations or even neighborhoods? Yeah, okay, you can't go wrong in any neighborhood. Anywhere you stay, you can walk easily to anywhere you would want to go. In terms of hotels, there are two places that I really really love. There's the Press Hotel, which is called the Press Hotel because it is in the old Portland Press Herald building and has maintained kind of a little bit of a journalism vibe. And then the Francis. It's a boutique hotel that opened up in a couple of years ago in a beautiful classic brick building from the late eighteen hundreds, and I think you're really going to love this. It is across the street from one of the city's best bakeries called Tandem, so you can roll out of bed and you know, the drinking coffee and eating a slice of Brianna Holtz pive or breakfast or get a biscuit sandwich or have a great scumb like that. It's kind of a good combo. I kind of want to just close up by asking you, um, a question that I asked a lot of people. What is it about Portland's that you love? Well? Okay, So we have an incredible community of people here who are aware and caring and enthusiastic and creative and community minded. This is a place where you have great food, You have great culture and art available. There are little theaters here, you know, playhouses. The nature is beautiful and inspiring and all around us. Um, and we have great coffee. Okay, I like that last point. This is uh this I have. I am really sold on Portland as a destination and uh I hope that when it's safe, we can insidle up to some restaurant bar and have a few martinis and yeah, talk a little more about Portland in real life. I really look forward to that. Will thank you so much. I am excited for you to come to Portland. Me too, Me too, Well, thanks, Vittie. Okay, So pick up some of Mindy's books and follow her on Instagram for a lot of food picks and a little slice of Portland's life. Links to both are in our description. Hi, my name is Maggie and I moved to Portland, Maine from Chicago in October for a new job opportunity and a chance to be a little bit closer to family on the East Coast. I would say it was probably last spring. You know, my partner Mike and I we put together a list of ten medium sized cities. If we weren't going to live in Chicago, which has been home to both of us for so long, where would we go? And I put Portlands on the list. I grew up in New Hampshire that I actually never visited Portland's um. But we've been looking to get a little bit closer to my family on the East Coast, so now is the time. So we kind of just went for it, packed our bags and moved halfway across the country without really knowing what we're stepping into. We have absolutely left out. From the time of year we relocated in the fall, the colors were spectacular. There was no better way to be introduced to this city. I'm I'm so blown away by the specialty shops and individuals who start shops based on such passion projects. I mean you walk down our streets and they're an amazing artisan night shop, and then next to that is the fantastic Cristian shops and all these places they kind of make their own hours and people show up because everyone is so committed to local commerce here. You know, you just don't see big back stores in the Portland area. It's so charming and sometimes we just kind of have to pinch ourselves to think, like this doesn't really seems real. It seems like a movie set. But it's one of those cities that for anyone who might be yearning for great restaurants, cultural activities, true community and spirit, and are certainly really truly has that, and I feel like it's a great stepping stone. Is a community for someone who isn't ready to say goodbye to a city but also wants that outlet of nature and smaller town connection and knowing your neighbors. It's very small town without kind of that that overwhelming feeling. All right. That was another New Portland resident who shared their story on pod Baby, our travel hotline. Remember when you're done listening, you should call into We really want to hear your best travel stories and we're going to share some in an upcoming episode. We have one more quick break, but then we'll be back to wrap things up. Stick around all right. That doesn't for us for this week, But if you're still listening, either you fell asleep or you really like the show, so please leave us a five star review. It really helps. And check out thrill us new podcast through this weekend, Guide to NYC, which is exactly what it sounds like. It comes out every Thursday and it's all about the things you can do in New York City where you can get the best takeout from the best outdoor bars. It really comes in handy. Check it out. Okay, big thanks to the podcast dream Team editor and producer Jake Rasmussen, Mia Fask, Jim Demico, Megan Kirsch, Brett Kushner, Emily Felt, and from I Heart Radio man Gueskudor. You made it to the end, so I will leave you with a fun fact. Portland, Oregon was actually named after Portland, Maine. The city was founded by two people from New England. Francis Petty Grove want a coin toss and decided to name the city after his hometown Portland, Maine. Okay, see you next week. Bye.

Are you proud of this food? Liz? No, m M. To help us better understand the unique culinary habits of Manners, we enlisted our own Liz proven. Sure. She's an editorial assistant Thrillist and she grew up just outside of Portland. But it does remind you of home, right, it does for sure. She was nice enough to send me a care package with some select regional delicacies. Liz, I want to start off with this soda. I've heard of this one, but I've never tried it, Moxi soda. Yes, and we definitely need to start with moxie. When you think of main specific foods other than lobster and blueberries, moxie is the one thing that comes to mind. Okay, are you a fan of moxie? I am not. It kind of tastes like black licorice, and I think it's just like an acquired taste. It's feel like a cult favorite thing. So there's like a huge following of people who swear by moxie. There are even different like festivals and events that are all about moxie, so people really get into it. Okay, despite everything you said, which kind of made me not want to drink it. I have to say, I don't. I don't hate it. It definitely has a little bit of that bitterness back in your throat that reminds me of a cough syrup. It kind of tastes like after you drink in the growny and you burp and then you can kind of taste in the grown Yes, I know what that is like. So another thing we have these are called need hands. Yeah, it's kind of like a Mound's candy bar. So it's like has the coconut and like dark chocolate coating over it, but they have potato in them. Potato. I think that the potato is just kind of a binding agent to like hold this thing together, So it like gives a little bit of starchiness and just helps it come together in this little candy bar shaped exactly. I was expecting more of that than what this is, which is just like a Moulin's bar, but somehow worse. Uh, no offense to name. We're getting off on the wrong foot here. Okay, So I'm a hot dog connisseur myself, so I'm excited about this. We have some red snapper hot dogs and they look a lot like regular hot dogs, except they are true to their name, very very red. Yeah, So I um. I wrote a story about red hot dogs for Thrillless site, and I talked to one of the owners of W. A. Beans and Sons, which is the last company making these red hot dogs in Maine, and he kind of chopped it up to just a marketing ploy and he said that they died them red because they wanted the product to stand out on the shelves. Well, it tastes like a normal hot dog, but I feel like it's a little crispy right skin. The thing that makes red hot dogs different is they have the natural casing that they die red, but it's like a natural lamb casing that has a ton of collagen in it, which is why when you bite into it, you get that brunch. That's the snap, right. Is that why they call them snappers? Yes. In terms of the Portland you grew up with compared to what Portland is like now, what are the biggest differences? You know, what do you see and what do you feel when you come back home. It's such a popular place now and people really have such a huge interest in it and it's a top travel destination and it was never like that when I was growing up, I couldn't wait to leave and just really wanted to move to a big city. And now looking back, there's so much there. Portland has this really incredible inventive food scene, and the restaurants are some of the best in the country, and there are bars that could compete with some of the top cocktail bars in New York. There's also a lot of cool like art that's popping up, and there's just a lot more to the city than these stereotypes that may come to mind for people. On this episode, we're digging into some of the themes Liz mentioned. We're gonna talk about why Portland has become one of the pre eminent horace destinations in America and some of the things that immediately come to mind when you think about me and you know, lobster beer, more lobster. But we're also going to profile one of the country's most interesting museums which you can find in Portland. And here from a few people who have moved from bigger cities to Portland over the past year. They might actually convince you that Portland isn't just a great vacation spot, but also an ideal place to relocate to especially if you like medicinal tasting sodas and violently red hot dogs with natural casings. Well, here's a moxi toast, Liz, thank you for walking me through some of this stuffy cheers. It's cheers. I'm Will Fulton and this is thrillest Explorers, So aside from Stephen King, who did not answer our calls. By the way, lobster is Maine's most famous export producer. Me A Fasque spoke with someone who catches lobster for a living, one of the few women working in the lobster fishing industry. Here's the story. Um, I don't mind the wind and the rain and the snow. I've kind of always been a thrill seeker, so I mean that that works in my favor in this line of work. Um, it's definitely a dangerous job. Krista Trip is one of Maine's third generation lobster fisherman. So, my grandfather was a lobsterman. He was the first in our family. My dad followed in his footsteps. My uncle. My Janet even worked on the back of my grandfather's boat. And she's basically been out on the water her whole life. Yeah, yeah, Well, I started on my dad's boat when I was about eight. When other kids were learning to ride bikes, Christa was catching lobster. I always loved going out, you know, on the boat, you know, seeing the sea creatures come up in the traps, and you know, just watching my dad um work with his stern man, and I just was always an awe. I just loved it since the day that I that I went first, and by high school, when some of her peers might have been flipping burgers or working at the gap, Christa was captaining her own boat, hauling in hundreds of lobsters in a day's work. And then after that, you know, I worked several other jobs. I worked on an urchin dragging boat for a winter, which was really cool, really fun. But my heart was always in lobstering. So as soon as I got that captain's license, I bought my grandfather's boat. So I've been doing it again since then. Oh and just to state the obvious here, Chris's early success in the industry isn't the only reason her career is notable. Lobstering is definitely male dominated. There's about four percent of the entire lobstering population here in the state of Maine that are women. So, I mean, it's definitely hard being a woman in a male dominated industry because you don't really have that same connection that you know, males have with each other. They're not going to like share fishing secrets with you. Um, you're kind of on your own when it comes to figuring some stuff out. But despite some unfortunately predictable male toxicity, she's been able to figure it out through time and effort and a little bit of help from her family. They passed down a couple of family secrets. I think that they wanted to make sure that I was really my heart was really in it. I mean, I'm still learning. I talked to someone and you know, they'll share a secret and I'm like, you know, I think about it and I'm like, wow, you know, like that makes sense. You're right, there's many signs and many cues, but you just have to have a feel for what the lobsters are doing. And for christa lobster is just inseparable from main culture. For example, our family, when we have a get together, we always have like this big cook out on the beach with lobster. The seagulls are always swooping down and getting them usually, But it's definitely the culture around here. People come here from all around the world to eat main lobster right because they do say it is the best tasting lobster in the world. A lobster rollism must have. Everywhere you go, they make it a little bit different, you know, like someone will make it with just mayonnaise, or someone will make it with butter, someone will make manis. She has high hopes for the future, especially in regards to the industry becoming more inclusive. When I was younger, I you never saw a woman on the back of a boat, but now there's you know, definitely more women getting involved. And they probably just like the money number one, the environment number two, and uh number three. They probably thrill seekers like I am. So one time I came in. It wasn't supposed to be as bad as they said it was supposed to be, but the wind came on quite quickly. The waves had just been building so much, and I had to like climb up over the the waves that were coming in at me from the south and I was heading west. So it was just really scary, really hairy situation. I mean it was it was really hard for me to to turn my boat around. But I mean that's how fishing is, you know, it's it's just kind of a gamble. You know. Lobstroumen from Maine are definitely proud of what they do. There's a lot of pride that comes with this line of work because it is hard work. It's hard labor, and you know, people are going out there every single day and all kinds of different weather, you know, catching this fresh product for the world to eat. So definitely a lot of pride around here when it comes to the jobs that we do. If you want to know how to make your own lobster roles at home or anywhere, I guess, check out the Lincoln our description. We have a great article written by Liz Prominuer. Alright, onto our next segment, which explores the spookier side of Portland's Maine. Hello, hey, Lauren, this is well from Thrill List. Correct everyone. Lauren Coleman is the founder of the world's only cryptozoology museum, which is objectively one of the most interesting places in town. Okay, so my first question, what is cryptozoology? Cryptozoology is a study of hidden or unknown animals. The main motivation and mission are defined those species, the giant squid, you know, copy. All of these kinds of things are new to the landscape of zoology, and it he really comes about by listening to indigenous people, putting all of that information and evidence together and saying, just a new creature. Is this a hoax? And it's a possible regular animal that's being misidentified. The International Cryptozoology Museum is the culmination of strange picture. It's an odd chance cryptis and creatures from all over the world WATA monsters and my collecting, investigating writing in cryptozoology since nineteen sixty I would go all across the country to Scotland's in Mexico, to virgin Islands, investigating different things, and I pick up artifacts, I pick up pieces of evidence. They became overwhelming as far as being in my home. So finally in two thousand and three I founded the museum. Right now, ours is the only cryptis reology museum in the world, and we're very proud of it. Lauren, why did you want to dedicate so much of your life to the documentation and in some ways the celebration of cryptids. Well, I grew up being very interested in animals and in non fiction mysteries. And then in nineteen sixty I saw a movie, a Japanese movie by the director of Shiro Houndu, and it was called Half Human. It was actually about the Yettis in Asian mountains. I went to school the next week and interviewed various teachers of mine. I said, what, what's this whole thing about the yetti and they said, they don't exist, Leave me alone, get back to your studies. So, of course I was very curious and found out very quickly there was bigfoot reports in the United States, lockdesk, monster reports, there was all kinds of things that weren't being explained too well. I started writing articles about it, and once you write articles, you write books. But I also started collecting things. What are some of the exhibits in the museum that you are most proud of or people really get excited about when they're visiting. Well, the museum, of course, is filled with all kinds of different cryptives. At out front there's a ten foot tall carved Bigfoot and people are very happy. We have a lot of Minnahuni material from the Hawaiian Islands. We have a life size motan and life size podactyl as A learned from the out the whole area of they and dictate mature examples from the YETI xli sized version of the Dover demo artifacts with tall Texan German replica on bixit cast and desn't are so YETI cast. Wow, you just listed a whole bunch. Can you tell us about a few of your favorite Maine centric cryptids ones that you you might find in Maine or some legends in Maine. One of the most novel ones is what's called the specter moose. During the eighteen hunters there were many reports of giant white moose. They were about fIF taller than the regular moose, and they became so popular that you would have hunting Matt Jans talking about the spectr moose. But it is something that I found evidence down through the years that people are still seeing a large white moose. There's also a different variations on the window Go, which is a micmac An Indian name for Bigfoot. In the East, the wind to Go are a little more aggressive than the out West versions of Bigfoot. They don't like dogs, They attack people. There's mystery sharks, there's two serpents reports. You also have reports of giant snakes. We have reports a couple of years ago of the ten foot long giant snake. Two police usters actually saw it swimming across the river here and it had a beaver in its mouth, So people all of a sudden took it very seriously. Lauren, you know, I think this is a big question and I want to get your take on it. And I'm sure you've thought about this a lot um, But what do you think it is about these regional creatures, these cryptids that continues to captivate the imagination of so many people for hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of years. Well, most people's lives are very boring. I mean generally, we all have to work, we all have to eat, we all have to do a certain amount of things that just keep us going. And crypto tourism has become very popular in recent years. You're looking for footprints of cryptods, or you're hunting big foot, or you're you know, taking a boat trip or a ferry trip and you're looking for a sea serpents or like bonsters. That becomes very exciting as be mentioned to your life. That really is very engaging. People love that we're still a need for people to use their mind in a very creative way. Most definitely really my last question because I marked out a note you said you were describing the the yetty or or the Bigfoot statue, and you said it it almost looks like a real Bigfoot, or it's supposed to. How do you determine that? Well, we know that there are real fighting. As soon as the cryptod is captured and verified, we lose that species to crypto zoology, and it jumps over that barrier to zoology. So you know, a new monkey was discovered last year, there was a new ber found in Central Park, there was a new crayfish found in a river in Tennessee. It was all used to be cryptids, So that's real. The only reason I talked about our model of the big Foot in the museum is it looks like what people are saying is real because it it's at all always five pounds. It's completely covered with the muscocks and furs, so that looks exactly like what people are just traffing. But I know it's not real because we know that it's a constructive taxis ermy model. This was a really enjoyable conversation great. I really, I truly enjoyed it. Yeah. Well, you know, cryptal zoology is very much about education and entertainment, and I tried to convey that that's kind of what we're about too, you know, learn about a city, but have fun along the way. Lauren, thanks so much. I really appreciate your time. Thank you. It was great. Ye y. If you want to visit the museum, check out the link in our description for up to date info on hours and COVID nineteen restrictions. All right, we're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back beer stick around. All right. I'm Jeremy and I'm married Kate, and we moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Portland, Maine. We moved to Portland in May. We lived in Brooklyn, and we had our first baby in March, just days before the COVID lockdown. So it was a pretty terrifying experience giving birth in Manhattan and the news changing rapidly every day. We had just had enough of the city. We weren't from there, we weren't tried and through New Yorkers, we knew it was time limited and the time felt up. So we decided that we're gonna with some world. We found a place site unseen and we just did it. We packed up our baby dog and we brooked it to Portland and we in here ever since you were in the organ Mons total during pandemic. I'm just saying about highs are running and you know, I couldn't take a mask at at any point because they're just crowd to people. But man, it's just like there's so much space. I feel like we're constantly finding new places to explore, beaches and trails and force. It's just amazing. We've been to the main beer company a couple of times in in Freeport, which is so cool and has great beer, great pizza, and not always felt really really safe because you just don't have the crowds like you have in New York. I mean not being said, we do still live in a city like lost places. We're not living out like on a farm somehow. A lot of people are moving here from places like New York. So if somebody was moving here from New York, I would say it's a super different lifestyle. There are parts of Portland's that are much more I mean, I don't want to say Brooklyn. So there are definitely neighborhoods where it's much more apartment tea and you can walk to tons of bars and restaurants and you know, get the old sport really easily. It's not going to be the same lifestyle, but I think for us it's better. Jeremy and Mary Kate called into our hotline one eight three pod Baby to share their story about relocating to Portland. You can call that number two and leave us a message. We'd love to hear your best travel stories and we might even play some on an upcoming show. If you know even a little bit about craft beer, you probably know that Maine is basically the dry hopped mecca of East Coast brewing. Some local breweries of note include Bisto Brothers, Lone Pine, Rising Tie, and perhaps most notably, Alagash. We spoke with Naomi neville of Alagash about their beer, the city, and what craft beer means the Portland overall. I'm Naomi nevill Um, the sales director at Alagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. Craft beer is such a huge part of the culture here. Poland isn't a huge city, but for not a huge city, has a lot of breweries of capita. I think, honestly, I mean, we got some of the best beer around. Maybe I'm biased, but it's touch to compete with Portland and Maine. Craft brewery Alagash was founded in by Rob Todd, who is an owner founder brewer. There are plenty of good breweries in the state of Maine brewing English and Scotty tails. At the time, he really wanted to do something completely different and he fell in love with Vieto Garden and decided he wanted to try his hand at growing a Belgian stall white beer. Al Gash White is a flagship beer. This beer we've got a brood and still our most popular to date. It's well of our business. I think it's just very refreshing and it's one of those viets that you can just keep pretending to. I think the advantages of Poland and particularly Maine as a whole is it is just such a great place to live, and it really attracts people that you know, they've got a little bit of an edge to them because the winter is gonna be really brutal and really long, and so you know, it attracts people that are kind of like Sitalists and like to make their own things like can their own foods, threw their own beer, make their own bread like It's very much like that kind of attitude up to main there is a huge sense of community and camaraderie. Whenever you go to another brewery that row wants to buy you bear, you know they're happy to have you in that space. And all the breweries just add to the draw of Paul the Maine because you know, you can really come and sample so many different biers, so many different breweries that different cultures. It's really interesting that the more we add, the more people come and the more they enjoy it, and it just seems like better for everyone. We'd see a ton of different people come through outdoors, a lot of different ethnicities, cultures. Um. Yeah, you know, there are definitely a lot of efforts being made right now. A lot of people that made Black is Beautiful flaboration via this year, which are doing incredibly well. UM. So we are trying to encourage diversity and definitely inclusiveness and just sure that we have something for everyone when they come in. UM so that everyone feels welcome and everyone could enjoy the bather word. Poland has changed so much. If we're talking about the bar and restaurant scene that has exploded over twenty years, and then also um Cultural University as well. We have a decent ish im. Then we're population up in Portland, which has been really creep for our city and our state, bringing more voices to the table and just making us more of a well rounded out of city. I'm gonna be totally biased in this, but I do think that a stop. But again, it is an essential part of a church in Potland. It's a great atmosphere when you come to the brewery. It's funny when you bring people through the brewery and they say, why is everyone so happy here? We currently have a drive through for b which is pretty cool. It's just like you drive up to a plast pager restaurant and you press the endcom and someone that takes your order, you peep read and you drive off and get your v So that's pretty very different to anything we've ever done before. The facility isn't an industrialisting, but it's also surrounded by food truck says music. It's a destination outside of paren really and when you visit us, you can visit by other brewer reason starving at the same time, so everyone should stop by say hello. It's been way too long. If you want to find out more about Portland's craft beer destinations, we have a link in our description that will illuminate and hopefully inebriate you as well. Next up, we have Mindi Fox. She's a Portland based food writer in New York Times bestselling cookbook author. She's gonna tell us about some of her favorite restaurants and bars in town, and also some outdoor activities. You know, if you ever get sick of eating and drinking for some reason, here's our call. So mindya. Learning about Portland over the past couple of weeks, one thing is really evident to me, and it's that manners and people in Portland love to eat, they love to drink, and they're really proud of the food that comes out of Portland's and of Maine. You know, in terms of other cities that you've lived in or worked in, how does Portland's food and drink scene compare. Yeah, the food scene here has been explosive. It's been amazing for many years. I mean, Portland is a small city. I have lived in really big cities that I've lived in New York City, for many years I lived outside of Chicago. For many years I lived in Paris. One of the things that I say about Portland is there are things about it that reminds me of all those places, but you know that there's this much quality and the volume of it in a city as small is I think, what is one of the things that makes the Portland dining scene really exciting and unique? From your perspective? What are some examples of essential restaurants or essential eating experiences in Portland? Okay, so let's look at a restaurant called four Street. It's in a high ceiling brick wald would beam clad warehouse overlooking the historic Old Port and they are known for their huge open kitchen and it's it's kind of dark and romantic. The longer you have lead time to make a reservation for this place, the better. And then we have incredible oysters and seafood everything from Jay's Oyster, which is just like kind of a salty o g coastal New England spot, to even Tide, which their take on the lobster roll is on a soft steam bun with brown butter. So they're kind of doing their own thing with iconic New England Fair. And then there's a brand new restaurant on the Portland dining scene that's called Helm. It's a beautiful oyster bar and b stroke gorgeous space, grown up but not too serious. Ray Crudeo's beautiful salads oysters. They also do a little turf, including the best short ribs I've had in a long time. If ever, I did want to mention a hidden gem, it's called Session on Kitchen. This is a kind of quiet, small, incredibly good, classic sessuan restaurant with just fiery food and gracious, freely welcoming service. We talked a little bit about craft beer in Portland's what are some of your favorite bars in the city. In terms of bars, there's a place called Novara Race. It is a beer centric place, but it's not the craft brewery local. They have indoor and outdoor seating. They have rotating taps and bottles from international small crafters. Um For cocktails, Hunt and Alpine is one of my favorite cocktail bars. They have a really great selection of cocktails that are different but not too crazy. There is a restaurant here called Scales on the Waterfront. It is an impressive, beautiful space with high ceilings and big windows that look over onto the pier. The bar is this long. I wish I could tell you because the metric would be fun. But how many lobster roles do you think end to end? Three hundred? Three hundred? Okay, that was a lot more than I was expecting. You have your oysters not on a platter or plate, but right there on the crushed ice, right on the bar. You know, Media, I know that you are in the food and drink space primarily, and there is a ton of food and drink to enjoy in Portland, But I'm wondering outside of that, you know, in terms of activities, whether it's hikes to go on or museums to visit. You have a favorite non food and drink related experience in Portland. Yes, there are so many great things to do here in South Portland, which is just across the bridge, there's a bunch of cool places to check out, rocky coastline areas to walk in, great ocean views, and you can check out some iconic lighthouses over there. We have incredible art in Portland, and we have a world class art museum called Portland Museum of Art. And then if you're a book worm. We have a lot of really great independently owned bookstores. I do tend to end up at Print Bookstore. And while you're at Print, if you need a coffee, there's a really, really great little coffee shop that's one of my day's near Print, which is called Little Woodfort. Do you have any hotel recommendations or even neighborhoods? Yeah, okay, you can't go wrong in any neighborhood. Anywhere you stay, you can walk easily to anywhere you would want to go. In terms of hotels, there are two places that I really really love. There's the Press Hotel, which is called the Press Hotel because it is in the old Portland Press Herald building and has maintained kind of a little bit of a journalism vibe. And then the Francis. It's a boutique hotel that opened up in a couple of years ago in a beautiful classic brick building from the late eighteen hundreds, and I think you're really going to love this. It is across the street from one of the city's best bakeries called Tandem, so you can roll out of bed and you know, the drinking coffee and eating a slice of Brianna Holtz pive or breakfast or get a biscuit sandwich or have a great scumb like that. It's kind of a good combo. I kind of want to just close up by asking you, um, a question that I asked a lot of people. What is it about Portland's that you love? Well? Okay, So we have an incredible community of people here who are aware and caring and enthusiastic and creative and community minded. This is a place where you have great food, You have great culture and art available. There are little theaters here, you know, playhouses. The nature is beautiful and inspiring and all around us. Um, and we have great coffee. Okay, I like that last point. This is uh this I have. I am really sold on Portland as a destination and uh I hope that when it's safe, we can insidle up to some restaurant bar and have a few martinis and yeah, talk a little more about Portland in real life. I really look forward to that. Will thank you so much. I am excited for you to come to Portland. Me too, Me too, Well, thanks, Vittie. Okay, So pick up some of Mindy's books and follow her on Instagram for a lot of food picks and a little slice of Portland's life. Links to both are in our description. Hi, my name is Maggie and I moved to Portland, Maine from Chicago in October for a new job opportunity and a chance to be a little bit closer to family on the East Coast. I would say it was probably last spring. You know, my partner Mike and I we put together a list of ten medium sized cities. If we weren't going to live in Chicago, which has been home to both of us for so long, where would we go? And I put Portlands on the list. I grew up in New Hampshire that I actually never visited Portland's um. But we've been looking to get a little bit closer to my family on the East Coast, so now is the time. So we kind of just went for it, packed our bags and moved halfway across the country without really knowing what we're stepping into. We have absolutely left out. From the time of year we relocated in the fall, the colors were spectacular. There was no better way to be introduced to this city. I'm I'm so blown away by the specialty shops and individuals who start shops based on such passion projects. I mean you walk down our streets and they're an amazing artisan night shop, and then next to that is the fantastic Cristian shops and all these places they kind of make their own hours and people show up because everyone is so committed to local commerce here. You know, you just don't see big back stores in the Portland area. It's so charming and sometimes we just kind of have to pinch ourselves to think, like this doesn't really seems real. It seems like a movie set. But it's one of those cities that for anyone who might be yearning for great restaurants, cultural activities, true community and spirit, and are certainly really truly has that, and I feel like it's a great stepping stone. Is a community for someone who isn't ready to say goodbye to a city but also wants that outlet of nature and smaller town connection and knowing your neighbors. It's very small town without kind of that that overwhelming feeling. All right. That was another New Portland resident who shared their story on pod Baby, our travel hotline. Remember when you're done listening, you should call into We really want to hear your best travel stories and we're going to share some in an upcoming episode. We have one more quick break, but then we'll be back to wrap things up. Stick around all right. That doesn't for us for this week, But if you're still listening, either you fell asleep or you really like the show, so please leave us a five star review. It really helps. And check out thrill us new podcast through this weekend, Guide to NYC, which is exactly what it sounds like. It comes out every Thursday and it's all about the things you can do in New York City where you can get the best takeout from the best outdoor bars. It really comes in handy. Check it out. Okay, big thanks to the podcast dream Team editor and producer Jake Rasmussen, Mia Fask, Jim Demico, Megan Kirsch, Brett Kushner, Emily Felt, and from I Heart Radio man Gueskudor. You made it to the end, so I will leave you with a fun fact. Portland, Oregon was actually named after Portland, Maine. The city was founded by two people from New England. Francis Petty Grove want a coin toss and decided to name the city after his hometown Portland, Maine. Okay, see you next week. Bye.