Today we drove to Freeport, only about 30 miles north of our campground. Yes, that Freeport, the home of L.L. Bean. We were here 22 years ago with our friends the Roper-Bradleys on our way to a City Clerk conference in Boston. We were so intrigued by the fact they were open 24 hours a day we stopped about 10 or 11 p.m. and wandered through the store, practically alone. Today the huge store we were in then, just had the clothing and luggage departments. There is a separate store for fishing and hunting, and another for biking and boating. Every outlet store in the world has grown up around them, very neat and tidily arranged on the main street and side streets.
In 1912, Leon Leonwood Bean opened a store in the basement of his brother's apparel shop in Freeport, selling hunting boots. The photo shows a huge copy of the boot in front of the store. L. L. Bean, has since grown into a worldwide company with annual sales of over a billion dollars. We saw lots of folks carrying the distinctive green shopping bags that indicated they had contributed to those sales. We didn't buy anything, but it was fun browsing.
On our way home, we stopped at DeLorme, a company that makes maps and GPS systems. They have the world's largest globe, nicknamed Eartha, in their lobby. They have the Guiness Book of Records certificate to prove it. Eartha has a circumference of 130 feet, weighs 5,600 pounds and rotates on its axis like the Earth.
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