SATURDAY

The Atlantic Adventure

Portland, Maine

I got a call on Saturday morning to go on an unexpected road trip with Jon hill to Portland, Maine. I was very excited because I've wanted to go to Portland, Maine since I moved to Boston. I figured since I grew up in Portland, Oregon it would be cool to visit the entire other side of the USA...the other Portland. So we began our journey to Maine....

Jon & I decided to stop at a visitor's center to get a map of Portland and to hear the spill of where to go and what to see. The lady behind the desk was very informative and she gave us a great map of the area.


On the way to Maine I kept seeing frozen ponds and lakes and said to Jon that I thought it would be cool to ice skate or walk out on a real frozen pond. So we did. We found a frozen pond and walked out into the middle of a make shift hockey practice (thus the goal post).


As you can see I was a little tentative to get too close to the goal post, but Jon was fearless. The frozen pond was beautiful and it made me wish I had ice skates!


As we were leaving this nice lady asked if she could take our picture and then she preceded to tell us all the great places to eat and how to get there. I loved listening to her accent and how much she loved talking about Maine. After she had given us her spill she insisted on taking our picture. The frozen pond is off to our left...you can barely tell it's a pond at all.


On our way to the famous Maine Lighthouse I wanted to make snow angels. So Jon and I found some snow that looked fitting for snow angel making. As we started to walk out onto the snow we realized we were walking on a frozen river/creek. If you look closely at our angels you can actually see the ice. I can't believe I had to drive all the way to Maine to make a snow angel this winter.


You gotta love Longfellow!


Isn't she just breathtaking!


I guess this particular lighthouse is the most famous (or one of the most) photographed lighthouse in the nation. I guess you can see why. The museum was closed but we walked around the area and just enjoyed the beauty of the Altantic Coast.


Jon wanted to see how cold the Altantic Ocean was this time of year and I wanted to swing on the swings next to where we parked. So we decided to do both. Jon ended up touching more water than he wanted to (and carried it home with him by way of his soaking sock). Turns out the Atlantic is very wet, cold, and salty. Go figure. The swings were fun...thanks Jon for indulging me!

Everyone we had talked to mentioned to us that we need to walk around in the Old Port area of Portland. So we found a parking spot and walked around a bit, but hunger got the best of us.


Dinner was quite interesting. After deciding to eat Indian food we went inside a restraunt called Tandor. After only a few minutes (and noticing there were no other customers) we both felt like leaving. So we did. Great decision on our part!

Besides, we decided that we wanted to have a real Portland Sea Food dinner. So we climbed aboard a ship and ate at the famous DiMillo's for dinner. The food was great and Jon & I both had the stuffed Haddock. Our waiter, Bob, was great, the ambiance was perfect, and the food was fantastic (not to mention the great company)!


Jon & Kylee


I had seen this sign earlier in the evening and thought a lot about it. I knew it must be something important but neither Jon nor I knew what "following seas" were or meant. So we decided to ask the man pictured in the right window. He was very nice and explained to us that the phrase, "May you have fair winds and following seas" is a old mariner's prayer. "Following seas" are waves that hit the boat from behind and not broadside. That way the waves push the boat along on its journey. I thought that was a beautiful way to end our Atlantic Adventure!

So a fair wind and following seas to you all!