L.L BEAN COUNTRY

Freeport is best known for being the home of L.L. Bean, one of the first stores to specialize in clothing and gear for outdoor enthusiasts. The town in very close to the coast, so we looked for a hiking opportunity in the area before we got into shopping mode.

We decided to visit Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park, a short 10-minute ride from downtown Freeport. We began our hike by strolling along the north shore of Casco Bay, where the tide was out. The stench from the decaying sea life and seaweed was very noticeable as we got closer to the bay. There were some men digging for clams in the muck. While watching them slave away, with their legs up to their knees in sticky mud, we determined that we will be happy to pay for those wonderful steamer clams than to dig them out ourselves. 

With the tide so low, it appeared you could almost walk to Googins Island.

During the spring, this island is a haven for nesting Osprey. If you look closely, you can see two Osprey in the nest below.

The shoreline was extremely rocky around the bay. You can almost image the glaciers just pushing the rocks towards land when this region was formed over 25 million years ago.

The forest was very dense, but some blue sky was still evident when you looked upwards. We saw a mixture of different species of trees including evergreens, oaks and maples.

Part of the trail involved some uphill climbing. We had to step over lots of exposed tree roots, which were somewhat slippery from an overnight rain, along the path.

We observed several different wild flowers, including pink lady slippers

and trout lilies.

A visit to the Freeport area would not be complete without visiting L.L. Bean's flagship store. Paul is pictured outside next to the famous boot.

The marketing philosophy of the L.L. Bean brand is found in stone in the garden next to the store.  Since their company has been successful for over 100 years, this philosophy appears to be working well.  We wandered the store for quite a while and found a few items to purchase that we could use in our summer travels.

Some friends had told us to look for the scene of two moose in the L.L. Bean store window. 

No animal is more symbolic of Maine's northern forests than the moose. In early spring 2006, Adella Johnson of New Sweden, Maine, found two moose carcasses with interlocked antlers frozen in a swamp. The moose had died of natural causes--their antlers had become locked together during a fight to show dominance and to possibly woo females the previous autumn. Unable to separate their antlers, the moose had eventually perished, likely of fatigue or starvation. L.L. Bean sponsored the project to depict what the scene might have looked like. Mark Dufresne, a Maine taxidermist, used real moose skulls and hide to create "The Final Charge". The display weighs approximately 1500 pounds.

Yes, the moose were huge, larger than those we saw in Wyoming the past three years, and looked ferocious in this fighting position.