Little jaunt to Portland

I love Maine.

I honestly believe it to be the only other place I would want to live in America - besides Boston and my hometown. And if we are being honest, I don't really love living in Boston. I don't love handwashing dishes, constant noise pollution, or not being able to paint the cabinets. Sometimes I look at my kitchen and just imagine how cute it would be if the cabinets were not colonial brown with a butter acid yellow backsplash. Adorable right?

This past week I took advantage of a light day and scooted up to Portland for a little jaunt. It feels like everyone and their brother (or maybe it's just their boyfriend) had been... and raved about it. For a long time I've gotten a lot of "I can't believe you haven't been!". Portland is seemingly known for great eats, great beer, and casual charm. While I didn't take advantage of all the breweries, I did have a great little day trip.


My light agenda for the day really just included driving to Portland and maybe seeing a lighthouse or two. When I talked about this little jaunt with my friend Meghan, she said she had always wanted to go to Peaks Island - so I added that to the list. I managed to see everything that I really wanted with the exception of Prouts Neck Cliff Walk. I did drive there... but there was absolutely zero parking because of all the beautiful houses. Another time.

Here is a quick little snapshot of it all...

[1] After a quick car ride, I managed to get to Portland in time for a 10:15 boat to Peaks Island. The ferry is only $7! Talk about a bargain… plus, it is just 15 minutes across the water to the island. 
[2] The island isn’t super big… in fact it is like only a 4 mile bike ride. Once you get off the boat, you are given the options of your two legs, a golf cart, and a bike. If I’m being honest, the only thing that really stopped me from the $20 golf cart was that they ran out. The bike place was seriously cute and maybe even “rustic” … plus it was $10. Steal.
[3] I biked past this house on my way to eating a breakfast sandwich. Half of the island looks just like this.
[4-6] Biked to one of the little resting spots on my bike map. I was pretty glad that I had saved some of my coffee and all of my breakfast sandwich for this one. Climbed right up on top of the rocks and soaked it all in.
[7-9] Unlike the bike riding in Provincetown, this was really easy… even with a super low bike seat. About half the route is just a pure ocean drive… with a load of mismatched benches to just sit and stare at. Not sure it gets cuter than that.
[10] After my bike ride, I had some time to kill before the boat ride back. While my first coffee was good, I spotted this little spot and gave it a shot. The coffee was flat out delicious. It tasted really similar to the Kohi iced coffee from Provincetown.
[11] Bye Bye Peaks Island.
[12-15] Portland Light was a pretty big highlight of the drive. I had picked up a BLT from a sandwich shop in downtown Portland after crushing a lot of cheese samples at the Cabot store (don’t skip the Everything Bagel cheese… it’s amazing). The lighthouse offered a great place to sit and eat my sandwich. Plus, you can see two lighthouses at once!

[16] A good road trip is accompanied by your favorite foods. On my way back to Boston, I had kind of hoped to go last minute strawberry picking … but missed it by 15 minutes. The consolation prize was my favorite ice cream. There is something seriously different and delicious about the ice cream from Russell Orchards.

Summary:
parked at Fisherman's Wharf
ate at: Peaks Cafe, WickedGood food truck, Market Street Eats, Cabot Store
walked around Portland
drove to: Portland Light, Two Lights, Prouts Neck Point
biked around: Peak's Island

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