Portland is Maine’s largest city providing an array of activities from shopping, variety of eateries, history and so much more. Growing up in Northern Maine going to Portland was always a trip to the big city. Now living in Southern New Hampshire we always drive past Portland when heading north. We recently decided to do a day trip to Portland for some exploring. Below is how we spent the day in Portland.
Victoria Mansion: The Victoria Mansion is a historical landmark on Danforth Street. We lucked out on our visit as it was the last day of “Colors of the Season” where they decorate all the rooms for Christmas. It was strongly recommended that we buy tickets in advance. Upon arrival you go through the gift shop before going into the mansion. It is a self guided tour. Once inside there were staff throughout the mansion to give history and answer questions. After visiting the mansions in Newport, I didn’t have high hopes, but we were pleasantly surprised. The mansion was beautiful and well decorated. We spent about 30-40 minutes exploring the mansion and enjoying its architecture, history and beauty.
Novel Book Bar and Cafe: This was the main reason for the day trip. As a family of readers we were excited to check this place out. We arrived around 1pm on a Saturday and all of the tables and couches were taken. We looked around at the variety of books to read or purchase. After waiting about 10 minutes a table opened up. My daughter and I ordered teas and my husband ordered a cocktail. We spent about an hour reading our books and enjoying our drinks. It did seem like we were the only ones reading. Others were chatting, playing games or working on their computers. I love this idea of a book bar and cafe and would visit again.
J’s Oyster: The one thing my husband asked for on this trip was fresh oysters. After doing a Yelp search we settled on J’s Oyster. This is a typical Maine Diner setup. It is a small restaurant on the water. Nothing fancy. The oysters were fresh and flavorful and just what my husband wanted. I ordered clam chowder and it was fresh and delicious. My daughter got salad and chicken as she is not big on seafood.
Gelato Fiasco: My daughter loves gelato so when I saw this place I knew we had to stop. For it being January they had a large variety of flavors. My daughter got Cake Batter and my husband and I shared a Chocolate Salted Carmel. The gelato was some of the best we have ever had.
Longfellows: My daughter and I love exploring book stores. We made a stop at Longfellows where they had a huge selection of Maine books.
Portland Head Light: Our final stop was at Portland Head Light to view the famous lighthouse. There was a fee to park. There were trails, a picnic area and just overall great views. We could see Peaks Island, which we visited a couple years ago and loved.
We had a great day trip to Portland Maine. We parked in the parking garage on Spring Street and it was centrally located to everything we wanted to do. We spent most of our time in the Old Port area and loved it. We walked about 3-4 miles. We still have some activities in the Portland area we want to do, so we will be visiting again.
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