The Voice and Roots of Our America Today

The root: A working lobster-and-freight port that rebuilt its Old Port warehouses into one of America's best small food cities — salt air, brick, and craft.

Eat: Eventide Oyster Co — brown-butter lobster roll; Duckfat — crispy frites and panini; The Holy Donut — Maine potato donuts.

Skip — don't: Any waterfront spot with a hawker pulling you in off the sidewalk — the best lobster rolls are a block or two inland, and the prices drop fast.

Specialty: Lobster rolls and oysters, craft beer, and a working waterfront that still smells like the sea — New England's foodie capital in a fishing town's body.

Shops & crafts: Old Port boutiques — Maine-made crafts, sea-glass jewelry, used bookstores; the Saturday farmers' market at Deering Oaks.

See: Portland Head Light — sea cliffs and the classic lighthouse postcard; the Old Port's cobblestone streets and working docks; the Casco Bay ferry to Peaks Island.

Main Street: Exchange and Commercial Streets — cobblestones, brick warehouses turned into restaurants, lobster boats unloading across the street.

After dark: Cocktails and harbor views in the Old Port; a show at the historic State Theatre on Congress Street.