I’ve been meaning to post this trip for a long time. The first installment of a three part adventure!
In an effort to not write a 20,000 word blog post, I’m going to condense my experience into multiple posts!
Back in July of 2018, I decided to take a short vacation by myself. Little did I know that I’d end up falling in love with a city.
Setting the Stage:
Back in July I was going through a shitty two weeks. I don’t even think anything was actually wrong. I’d just wake up and be in a crappy mood. Because of this I decided to take a vacation a few weeks later. The destination…Portland, Maine.
Now, I knew absolutely nothing about Portland or Maine at all. To be honest, it’s one of the states I typically hear nothing about and it just slips my mind. And Portland, ME is definitely not the first place that comes to mind when I think vacation. Maybe Portland, OR (on my bucket list!), but Maine? No way.
Why did I choose to go to Portland, ME then? One word: Beer!
Guys, I love beer.
Now, I wouldn’t go so far to call myself a craft beer snob and I really don’t know that much about beer. I just love drinking it. I love being at a brewery. I love the environment and community around craft beer. Wrapping it all up into a business just really gets me going. It absolutely fascinates me.
So yeah, I chose my vacation destination just for the breweries located in and around the city of Portland.
What I didn’t know was just how much more I was going to see and do that would make me fall in love with the city.
As much as I would’ve loved to drink beer and visit every brewery possible, that wasn’t really feasible in the 5 days I had. It gets way too expensive and I hate hangovers. So to fill up my sober hours I went out and explored the city!
I ended up being there from 19 August – 23 August. A short little trip, but absolutely one of the most enjoyable times I’ve ever had in my life. I might go so far as to say it was even better than my year spent living in Europe.
In the weeks before heading to Maine, I had done a ton of research in order to figure out the breweries I wanted to visit, sights I wanted to see, food I wanted to eat, and activities I wanted to do. I made sure that every day was filled with something to do and good beer to drink.
I booked my ticket, my Airbnb, and off I finally went, flying from Atlanta to Portland.
Day 1
Portland, ME is the largest city in the state, but comparable to most cities it’s relatively small with a population of 60,000+. That being said, it’s still rather expensive. I’ve also lived in the South for the last five years, so I consider a lot of things to be expensive.
I would’ve loved to stay in the city, but my wallet didn’t approve. Even on AirBnB, places were way out of my budget, so I ended up staying just outside of the peninsula, but still within a reasonable walking distance to everything. And with an Uber or Lyft, the ride was only a few minutes.
Once I landed, I was ecstatic! It had been so long since I had taken a trip like this and I was excited for all I had planned.
I touched down at the airport around noon, but I wasn’t able to check into my Airbnb until 3 so I had some time to blow.
From the airport, I hopped on a bus and rode it straight into downtown with nothing my the bag on my back (I own an Osprey Porter 46. It works perfectly for me and is usually the only bag I ever take on trips).
I got off the bus and just started walking around. As happy as I was to finally be there, the only thing on my mind was food. There is definitely no shortage of places to eat in Portland. It was actually voted as the Best Restaurant City of the Year in 2018 by Bon Appetit! I knew I had some amazing food to look forward to.
I continued walking around until I found a restaurant that I read about called The Thirsty Pig. They make specialty sausage and pair them with the best Maine beer they have. I ended up having the New Englander, a sausage with bacon, baked beans and coleslaw. It was a party in my mouth and to help wash it all down I was drinking a refreshing beer from Bissell Brothers!
Once I was full, I decided to keep the adventures rolling. I had read about taking some time to head to Peaks Island. One of the larger of the many island right off of Portland’s coast and accessible with their ferry system. So that’s where I headed.
With a mix of being a Sunday, Reggae night on the island, and my terrible timing, I ended up standing in line for over an hour to purchase the ticket as and then wait to board the ferry. Never for one moment did I regret anything. Just standing in line, I was happier than a kid in a candy shop.
Once boarded, I was sitting outside on the top of the ferry taking in as much as I could. To save you from reading just about my ferry ride, take a look at some of the pictures!
There’s not much on Peak’s Island, but it was a cute place to visit. It’s mostly just a place where people live. There’s like one small store and I think a school for younger children, but mostly the residents have to commute back and forth via the ferry system.
I walked around a bit to look at the houses and see what all was available. After standing in line for over an hour, walking all over the place with my bag on my back and riding across on the ferry, I decided it was time to eat again.
On the island I stopped at The Inn on Peaks Island and sat at the bar. This was unfortunately the worst part of my trip. I was still super exited just to be there, but the service was just terrible. I mean the bar sat like 10 people max, and I know the restaurant was super busy, but at the same time there were three servers behind the bar and they pretty much ignored me. I was given a menu when I sat down and I’d watch them look right at me as I tried to get their attention and I’d get no love. It wasn’t until a local started talking to me and realized they hadn’t been helping me. The servers were barely helping the locals! Anyways, I finally got my lobster roll and it was delicious along with my blueberry beer.
I thought it was about time to get started towards my Airbnb so I left the restaurant and had to ride the ferry back. First though, I stood in line for another hour haha. With spirits still high, I hopped aboard and sailed across Casco Bay, landing back in Portland.
I decided I wanted to walk to my Airbnb. It was about a 20ish minute, maybe more walk and this is when I truly realized how safe the city is. Like, you know that feeling you get when you’re in a new place, unsure of your surroundings and being cautious like something is going to happen. Never did I feel this in Portland, even walking in “less desirable” areas. I don’t know, maybe it was just the time frame I was there or something, but I loved it. There were always people outside too. Walking, biking, running, playing sports. It seemed like a very active city all around.
I finally go to my Airbnb, bag still on my back, sweat dripping down my face and I was able to relax. The Airbnb was cute. I had a room to myself and everything else was shared. There were some other guests there too, but I hardly saw anyone during my stay. They also had two cats that were pretty friendly, but I’m not much of a cat person so that’s all I’ll say about that.
I took a shower, relaxed, and went to sleep. Dreaming about the awesome events to come the next day, but mostly thinking about the beer.