Fun for all ages, great learning activities, eco-adventures and quality merchandise share the shelves of LL Bean in Freeport Maine.

Legendary outdoor outfitter LL Bean has had their flagship store on the Main Street of Freeport, Maine since 1917. Decades of delivering millions of catalogs established this original retail shop a Mecca for outdoors lovers, and it is open 24 hours per day, seven days a week, every single day of the year.

Families -- even certified couch potatoes -- love LL Bean too; a good thing as it's a great place to entertain all ages with free or low-cost learning adventures. Kids can sense that fun awaits inside once they see the giant hiking boot guarding the entryway.

LL Bean Store for Cool Learning Adventures

There are endless activities and cool ways to test the LL Bean brand merchandise within the huge, multi-wing store, as well as weekly musical performances, story time, and demonstrations of unusual new tools and camping items throughout the year.

Free clinics are held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with several different sessions scheduled each day. If the kids want to learn more about selecting a proper-fitting backpack, even it’s only a daypack to carry their school books, this is the place to do it.

Parents can get tips on pitching tents, starting and keeping a campfire or propane camping stove going, and how to use a portable GPS device to its full capacity. (However, you may not be able to change the tone of that annoying voice which reprimands you when get lost.)

The special LL Bean one-day adventure clinics, priced at $15 per person, give families a cheap way to learn a new sport or skill. With no pre-planning required, you can sign up same day at the LL Bean flagship store for an inexpensive introductory lesson in kayaking or canoeing in Maine's beautiful Belgrade Lakes region or on Casco Bay.

In winter, there is cross-country or snowshoeing around Freeport Maine, as the LL Bean Walk-On Adventures change seasonally. Typically, these day-long programs are open to ages 8 and up, but age requirements vary by sport.

LL Bean Festivals & Entertainment

LL Bean hosts free outdoor concerts and kid-oriented festivals several days a week in the busy summer season. From the week before Thanksgiving to a week after New Years, the place goes wild with the annual Northern Lights Celebration.

At LL Bean on winter weekends, there are horse-drawn carriage rides around the parking lot. Outside around a campfire, the experts from Outward Bound hold trainings in wilderness survival skills and serve hot chocolate. Inside, celebrities like filmmaker Ken Burns are autographing new books or holding workshops: Our favorite is a recent midnight session teaching shoppers how to make tree ornaments that look like Mt. Everest.

Of course, there are always sales on the mens, womens and kids clothing, camping gear, canoes, lobster pots, hunting equipment, sneakers and almost anything else you can imagine. And, participating in many of the LL Bean learning adventures earns you a discount coupon to purchase the merchandise you'll need to complement your new skills.

But more importantly, at LL Bean there are opportunities for the family to snuggle in a variety of sleeping bags and cozy up together on the floor of several tents. It’s a free and fun way to introduce all ages to the pleasures of camping, especially because it’s well-lit, and heated or air-conditioned depending on season. There's a climbing wall with instructors standing by, stationary "dogs" to test out saddle bags, and boats set up on dry land to practice your rowing.  In short, the whole environment feels safe and cozy, a reassuring place to tackle the Wild.

The flagship LL Bean store is located at 95 Main Street, Freeport, Maine 04033. You can call them any time at 877/755-2326 and inquire about local hotels in the town of Freeport and motels on the country roads nearby.

If you tire of LL Bean's reasonable prices, there's always the LL Bean Outlet Shop in Freeport, which has become one of those purpose built towns that cater to outlets and bus tours of shoppers.  If that's not you, spend the night in nearby Portland. 

But don't forget to come back to LL Bean again to check out their latest activities. It's quite a steal.