I’m planning a visit to Maine! Where should I go?

Maine is an extraordinarily beautiful place, we’re happy to hear you’re going to experience it. Be sure to check out our Maine Travel Guide for inspiration, as well as our Lobster Roll roundup and our Portland, Maine in 10 Bites post.

Do you consider yourself to be food/travel critics?

Definitely not! Map & Menu was started, first and foremost, as a reminder to ourselves of where we’ve been and the things we’ve done. Looking back at past trips, we realized that many details were becoming vague, and we wanted a sort of ‘travel journal’, so that we’d be able to remember the best parts of the trips we’ve taken together. It wasn’t until we started to write down some of our trips, meals, and places that we realized that other people might want to follow along or find suggestions for their own adventures. Half of being a critic it seems would be to explain the good and the bad. We’re choosing to focus only on the good- the places we’ve enjoyed staying, the things we’ve enjoyed doing, and the food we’ve enjoyed eating.

How do you decide where your next trip will be and how do you plan for those destinations?

We’re both fortunate to have jobs that are constantly sending us to new locations – Meredith is a photographer and Michael works for Automattic. Typically, we’ll add a getaway onto the beginning or end of a work trip, but we also have our own (growing) bucket list of places to see together. Sites like Tablet and Jetsetter are our bookmarked go-tos for places to stay, and of course, referring to books like our NYT 36 Hours or apps like Find.Eat.Drink. allow us to firm up our dining plans.

How often do you travel with your dog?

As often as possible! When we travel without him, we spend so much of our free time wondering what he’s up to – it’s so nice to be able to experience a new place with him alongside us. Orvis, though, is an 80 pound black lab, and as many of you readers with larger pups know, it can sometimes be challenging to find dog-friendly accommodations for dogs of that size and things to do with our high-energy companions – that’s why we’ve decided to dedicate an entire section of Map & Menu to those places we take Orvis.

 What camera and/or lenses do you use?

Meredith shoots both film and digital, using her Canon 1V and her Canon 5D MKIII with either the 35mm 1.4 or the 50mm 1.2, or with her Mamiya 645.