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When we moved to Maine, we found ourselves arriving on the brink of winter, and in the middle of the night. Having made a long journey from southern California with our three small children and four pets, we had not considered the lack of our winter wardrobe. For our family, winter had meant putting on a light rain slicker on those rare occasions of precipitation, and owning two or three sweaters for the few days that the temperature dropped below fifty degrees. We did not own boots, long underwear, fleeces, gloves, hats, or any of the other necessities required to survive a winter in Maine.

Driving into the state late that night with a frosty October temperature of 35 degrees, we knew it was only going to get worse. Our drive in and through the state was to take us through the town of Freeport, so we decided to make a stop at the world famous L.L. Bean. L.L. Bean has been producing high quality outdoor and recreational clothing and equipment for nearly a century, and we were about to embark upon the flagship store. Thankfully for us, the flagship store in Freeport is open twenty-four hours a day of every single day of the year. Legend has it that in 1951, Leon Leonwood Bean removed the locks from the front doors and threw away the keys to the store. We showed up at about 11:00 p.m. and practically had the place to ourselves. We found out later that late night shopping excursions at L.L. Bean are popular for celebrities who do not want to be seen, locals who want to avoid the long lines created by tourists and visitors, and others who find night shopping easier.

We enjoyed looking at all the beautiful winter fashions, most of which were completely foreign to us. There were countless varieties of sweaters, jackets, coats, pants, boots, and everything in between. There was a women's section, a men's section, a children's section, a camping section, a hunting section, and many more smaller sections that sold everything from canoes to bicycles to luggage. In the middle of the store, just under the main staircase was a huge fish pond full of trophy rainbow trout. We spent hours at the store that evening, much of the time just looking at everything, and the rest of the time trying on clothing. We found colorful fleece sweaters for everyone in the family, and we were told by the helpful sales person that fleece is the best item for layering during a Maine winter. We found waterproof and water-resistant boots, and we learned all about Gore-Tex and what it does.

After trying on various items, we made our purchases. We were stocked up with winter coats for each of us, as well as boots, gloves, hats, scarves, and a variety of fleece outerwear. We also bought several pairs of thermal underwear, for layering. We went to our hotel and put all our newly bought items in our suitcases.

As we got to know people in the area, we found that L.L. Bean provided not only winter clothing for the locals, but fashion as well. It seemed that L.L. Bean was also famous for warm weather clothing, and that the popular fashion statement around the state of Maine was to wear anything from L.L. Bean. We discovered that L.L. Bean sold swimsuits, shorts, and a wide variety of summer hiking equipment. Who knew?

Within a couple of months of our arrival and our big shopping excursion, winter arrived with a vengeance. While our bodies were shocked at the cold weather, we were clothed properly, thanks to the helpful folks at L.L. Bean. Each morning before venturing out into the snowy cold, we donned our turtleneck shirts, put the fleece sweatshirts over those, pulled on our thermal underwear and covered them with flannel-lined blue jeans. Then we pulled on our smart-wool socks before we put our feet into the warm, waterproof snow boots. We finished the job by wrapping ourselves in our colorful winter parkas, and then topped it all off with hats, gloves, and scarves. Our noses might have still gotten cold, but we were fashionably warm as we went sledding, shoveled snow, and built snowmen. Winter had nothing on us, and we were colorful to boot.