Dugan Murphy, right, is the guide and owner of Portland by the Foot historical walking tours. Photo courtesy of Dugan Murphy

Dugan Murphy is the guide and owner of Portland by the Foot historical walking tours. Murphy, 42, was raised in Scarborough and lives in Portland’s India Street neighborhood. He was executive director of Maine Archives and Museums for seven years, until 2023. 

My perfect day in Maine? Here’s one: I’m stopping at Forage Market on my way out of Portland to get the vegan breakfast sandwich on an everything bagel, which I’m going to eat in the car to save time, even though I’m sure to make a mess of myself.

That way I can get to Fairfield Antiques Mall right when they open at 8 a.m. I’m going to pace myself through all gajillion floors and come out with a fistful of early-20th-century picture postcards, then get back on (Route) 201 north.

A mannequin head sports a vintage hat at the Fairfield Antiques Mall. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

I stop at the L.C. Bates Museum at Good Will-Hinckley (in Fairfield) and immediately ask the staff to put on the welcome video, because they don’t always do that if you don’t ask (and it’s classic). I marvel at the natural wonders, particularly the only dodo bird I’ve ever seen, then get right back on 201, because I’m hungry.

Going across the Margaret Chase Smith Bridges in Skowhegan, I think about the woman from Maine who stood up to that bully McCarthy. I pull over on Water Street and sit down for a quick lunch at Zaap Thai, which still kinda looks like the Empire Grill from the HBO movie where Jeffrey DeMunn showcased a Maine accent he clearly learned from old “Bert and I” records.

But you gotta leave room for The Bankery, where I pick up a vegan cake I ordered days ago that could pass for an actual house cat – because they’re real cake magicians there. That’s just for me to eat, and I can do that, because I’m an adult now.

Continuing further on 201, I play mini golf at Gifford’s Ice Cream, then fork right onto East Madison Road, to stop in awe at the South Solon Meeting House.

The historic South Solon Meeting House in Solon, in 2023. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Almost too late, I break myself out of an all-encompassing solitary contemplation of the universe from an old wooden pew, then head west to visit Nowetah’s Indian Store and Museum before they close. I’ll ask for the story behind this or that item in the museum, then drop some cash on original Wabanaki art.

I actually kept Nowetah past closing time, which was very nice of her. I’ve got just enough time for dinner at Jewel of India in Waterville, followed by a show at the Theater at Monmouth, which oh-my-gawd is a beautiful building. I always feel for about 15 minutes like I’m not going to be able to keep up with the old-timey dialogue, but then I’m totally in.

Jaine Ye as Rosalind, A.J. Baldwin as Duke Frieda, Rebecca Ho as Celia, and Katie Mitchell as Second Lord in “As You Like It” at the Theater at Monmouth in 2023. Photo by Kat Moraros Photography

Afterward … well, remember that cake? I go home and eat it all just before bed.

Now that’s a day in Maine.