I could eat it...

Down in Freeport, homebase of the L.L. Bean's flagship store, there's this really old Inn called The Haraseeket. You can probably tell that the name is Native American (like a lot of places around here. Heck, like a lot of places anywhere!). It's one of the those establishments that really help define the town, and make no mistake about it, Freeport is a town, not a city. The Main street houses a quaint little village of stores, outlets, and homegrown shops - your shopping experience could really run the gamut in Freeport. The other "thing" that helps define the town is the strict adherence to building codes and zoning laws that require Freeport's Main drag to retain it's small-town "feel". Basically, all of the shops and stores have been built into previously standing homes... Captain's houses, bed and breakfasts, smaller Capes... The larger buildings are almost certainly original town commerce buildings from the pre-LL Beans days. Heck, Beans put Freeport on the map, y'know? And right now they're building a giant parking garage where their discount outlet store used to be. You don't even wanna know the hoops they had to jump through to get permission for this parking garage. The point is, the folks that call Freeport "home" take great pride in their town, the environment, and the essence of what it means to have the priviledge to live in this coastal community. They go the distance to really enforce that protectiveness to anyone, or any business, who poses as a threat to that purity... But they also go to great lengths, dare I say "greater lengths" to share with you - or any outsider - their strong sense of 'community'. Residents of Freeport want you (me, and everybody who comes to their town) to know why it is that they're so fiercely protective of this tiny town most "people from away" know about, primarily, from what they've seen in LL Beans catalogs... Life in Freeport isn't "catalog" perfect... But we've lived there long enough to know, it's pretty darned close (and pretty darned sweet).

This giant gingerbread house display is just one single example of that sense of community you'll find in Freeport on any given day. I don't know who made this one, or if it was made specifically for the Beans stor,e but I would lay a bet that this was designed and built by a very local person who entered the Annual Gingerbread House Contest at the Haraseeket Inn, just down the road "a piece". I didn't see any ribbons or plaques on this lighthouse so I'm thinking this display wasn't one of the top 3 entries, if that tells you anything about the competition. ;)

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