For our spring family vacation, we headed up to Maine for some off-season beach bumming and enjoying the city of Portland.
Wells Beach
Wells Beach was cold, but not so cold that we couldn’t enjoy some time on the sand. Our Airbnb was right across the street from the beach – we were so close that we could see the high tide waves from our window. It was super relaxing and just what we all needed.
We got here early and so we had the whole place to ourselves plus some extra soecial perks for the kiddo. He got to sit in a couple cars like this one that inspired Doc Hudson from Pixar’s Cars. All the cars were so perfectly taken car of – so shiny!I loved the color of this car – it was a purple gradient.This old Sinclair Dino gasoline pump was cute.
Downtown Portland
We enjoyed the food and all the shops – especially the bookstores and comic book shop.
Being by the water is our thing. Our homebase was just a few steps away from Casco Bay.We thought this was fake but an actual piece of the Berlin Wall does exist in Portland. Who knew we’d be seeing a piece of history up close?This.We explored bookstores because I love going to bookstores even though I rarely buy anything. To me, they’re like art museums – I just like being in the space, discovering new titles to add to my Libby and looking at all the pretty covers.We hit up the Main Mall because there was an arcade there. Called Round1 Bowing and Arcade, it had everything – even Samezu, my favorite shark character.
The husband found a cat cafe / foster home called the Cat Meow Lounge and it was fantastic. The only other cat cafe I’d ever been to was in Japan. This one was more pleasant because the cats all seemed to be healthy.At the cat gift shop, Marcel hung out in this case because she needed her alone time. The items were so well curated.
Would it be a trip if we didn’t visit a children’s museum? No. This was a pretty fun spot – not giant but every exhibit was solid. We even caught a showing of The Neverending Story.
These are so perfectly designed.There were a few tanks with some sea creatures.
This was such a treat. We were able to catch one of the caretakers feeding and training a peregrine falcon as it munched on a couple mice – it was blind in one eye and could no longer fly. Why? Cars. They are the enemy.
They’re not open every day so definitely check their hours. It’s worth it.Meet George. He’s got a cracked shell and both his feet are gone. All injuries due to cars. Luckily, he gets to live out the rest of his days at the center.
Our Portland Airbnb
We absolutely loved the apartment we stayed in. It was super cute and cozy. Plus, there were board games!
We got hooked on Reversi. I’d never played before. This particular set was so pretty. It’s from Anthropologie but it’s sold out. We are currently on the lookout for a nice set to add to our board game collection. And by collection, I mean we just have Trouble and Monopoly.We also played a mean game of Farkel Party after we kinda figured out how to play it. The kiddo really enjoyed it and it definitely got him math-ing.We didn’t want to leave. We’ll definitely be back. And now, I leave you with one of our favorite things about the apartment – this mouse statue, which hung in front of the stove.
