The L.L. Bean Flagship store is the "Maine" attraction in the cute little town of Freeport which is also filled with tons of outlet stores and therefore tons of shoppers. Besides the store where you can find everything you need from the coziest slippers, to kayaks and camping gear, the "campus" as it's called also hosts lots of community activities like how-to clinics and summer concerts. We were there on a rainy day when there wasn't anything going on which is probably a good thing as I suspect parking would have just been a nightmare. We took the requisite photo in front of the "big boot" at the entrance and then wandered around. There's a huge fish tank with a couple of species of trout that were just incredible to look at. Joel attempted to try on some of the clothes, which I found surprising as they didn't seem "hip" enough for his taste-and of course he didn't like anything. I ended up with the most delicious fuzzy slippers that I had been admiring in the catalog for awhile. This is also a fantastic place to find a little bit of Maine to send home which they will ship for free-we bought some Maine caviar (wild blueberries in a jar) as a little bit of Maine for the folks back home. If your group aren't shoppers, it's still worth a visit to understand a little bit of the Maine culture and why the name L.L.Bean is such a big deal here.
I agree that Freeport is a great, little town (and that parking and pedestrian navigation are a challenge!). Before people go here consider going on to their website and signing up for one of their classes! They’re not free, but they are fantastic – fly fishing lesson, skeet shooting, paddle boarding, etc. And, don’t forget to buy an Oprah endorsed whoopie pie at nearby Wicked Whoopies. I think we bought one in every flavor. Don’t judge. 🙂