Long Weekend in Portland

We had a fabulous long weekend in Portland, Maine where we had adventures by car, rail, and sea. Unfortunately, the battery in the camera was not charged for our Saturday adventures so the written description will have to do.

On Saturday, we spent the morning at the Children's Museum of Portland which combined the best of many children's museums in a manageable size. (In other words, we were able to keep the boys on the same floor and be within sight of one another.) Of course, the boys spent the most time at the firefighter exhibit complete with a fire truck with operating siren and lights, pole, hole that could hook up to a fire hydrant, and complete turnout uniforms. The boys also liked the space shuttle with two seats in the cockpit and tiny jumpsuits for each.

In the afternoon, we headed to Gray, Maine to visit Maine Wildlife Park where they exhibit wild animals that have been injured or orphaned. Both boys loved "hiking" around the trails at this park which brought them to exhibits of moose, bear, dear, coyote, owls, bobcats, and much more. Evan showed some more of his Gemborys tendencies insisting that I read every sign that we came upon.

On Sunday, we had another busy day planned of a ferry trip to Peaks Island and a ride of the Narrow Gauge Railway. We hurried to eat our complimentary breakfast and pack up the hotel room so that we could make the 10;45 AM ferry to find out that Liam had changed the time on the hotel clock. We had an extra hour!

With the extra time, we found a beautiful park overlooking Casco Bay. The views from the swings and play structures were amazing.

In the video below, you can see how skilled Evan as become at pumping on the swing since kindergarten where they only get one push from the recess monitor.

Then, it was off to the Casco Bay Ferry Lines. While the ferry was in port, we checked out a huge cruise ship that had stopped in Portland for the day. It only took about 20 minutes to get to Peaks Island, where many people live year round. We had time to take a stroll around the island, have a snack picnic--probably on private property, eat brunch at a cafe, and watch a water rescuse. I have never seen so many jalopies in my life. Of course, the water rescue was the highlight of the trip for Evan. I thought it would be rude to take pictures of someone else's personal disaster so you'll have to hear about it from Evan.

The next stop was the Maine Narrow Gauge Railway Museum for a tour and ride. The museum was in an old warehouse. It was slightly dingy, but the boys didn't mind. They enjoyed walking through the old train cars and playing with the train table. The best part was the ride on the Narrow Gauge Railway along Casco Bay.

Our last stop on the trip was a walk to Treehouse Toys in Old Port to choose new Playmobil for Evan and Liam as a reward for good behavior on the trip and a resolution to Evan's problem from earlier in the week. The selection was amazing. Evan chose a fire chief car, and Liam got a dump truck.