TOMFORD

How is Portland Maine in the winter in terms of fresh lobsters and snow sports? I want to go there for a weekend for some fresh seafood and snowmobiling/skiing/snowboarding. But mainly food and snowmobiling. And doing New Englandish things like walking around town and looking at old buildings.

Yahtzee

Well no skiing in Portland proper or close environs. Probably some good snowshoeing and snowmobiling somewhat nearby but you'll need to go a long ways to ski.

Not really lobster season since tough to go collect traps in the winter but analise or someone else will know more.

Even in winter, good town for walking around and eating and drinking. LL Bean is 20 minutes up the road and that's always fun year round.

lo2e

Portland is a great hub for seafood (including lobster) year-round, but you're pretty far removed from any sort of quality snowmobile activities. I'm not a snowmobiler myself, but I'm told the best is found on the far northern end of I-95 (Millinocket area and north) or in the Jackman area. Both are at least a 3-hour drive in both directions from Portland.

There are VERY decent skiing/snowboarding opportunities within two hours of Portland.

KPWM_Spotter

You'll easily be able to find Lobster in Portland during the winter. It's not as plentiful, as many of the boats are in for the season, but it's certainly available. Typically the winter lobsters will be in the hard-shell mature stage (harder to get at, but more meat for the effort).

As for skiing and snowmobiling, you'll have to go a bit further out of your way. If you're only looking for cross country skiing, a few of the country clubs in the suburbs of Portland open their fairways for skiing. For downhill, Shawnee Peak and Lost Valley are smaller ski areas, about an hour from Portland. The closest big resort is Sunday River, about a two hour drive from Portland. There are a handful of resorts on the New Hampshire side of the border as well (Southern Maine is relatively flat, the White Mountains are mostly across the New Hampshire border).

As long as you're renting a car, you can easily make a weekend trip work. Sunday River is a popular weekend ski escape for the locals in Southern Maine, and Portland is great to walk around and window shop around Christmas time.

Analise

Are these the places we see on "North Woods Law"? It's like Maine's version of "Cops".

Lobster, chowder, all kinds of goodies. There is also the Portland Museum of Art which is one of the best regional museums in the country. agp423, you can bundle up and visit 2 lighthouses in South Portland — Spring Point Light and Portland Breakwater Light (aka Bug Light) — and the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth which might be the most photographed lighthouse in the world. It was built while Maine was a part of Massachusetts. In a winter storms, Portland Head is incredible.

lo2e

Amazingly, I haven't seen it - but I know once you get above a certain latitude, well, there's just not much civilization.

Analise

That's for sure. It's on Animal Planet on Thursday nights and repeated early Friday morning.

TOMFORD

Any comment on the public transportation to/from the airport and within/around Portland? I'm going to hazard a guess and say it isn't so good, but I would love to be told otherwise.

Analise

Yes, rent a car with AWD.

lo2e

You'd be correct. There is only a bus service (The Metro) that can take you from the airport to downtown Portland, but the place it dumps you is not near much of anything you'd want to see/do. Best bets would either be to get a hotel with a shuttle or Analise's advice of renting a car.

Edit to add: Possible third option of just getting a taxi from the airport.