Spring Break in Maine :: Portland

Hello everyone!

This spring break could not have come at a better time!  

The weather is gorgeous, David hasn't had a break from work since July, and I was also ready for a break from Boston. While I love the pace of life at this point in Boston, it gets so busy that we hardly ever have time to relax and just spend time as a couple anymore.  This is probably also why I never blog anymore..  it's hard to find the time to sit down and blog, and when I do, it seems that all I've done is work haha

Anyway, since we had such a good time in Maine last year at Acadia National Park, we decided to try Maine again for our getaway!  Acadia is a little far (about 6 hours from Boston with rest stops) so we settled on Camden, Maine with stops in Portland!

As soon as we landed in Portland, we made a beeline to Holy Donut, my favorite donut shop!  We tried 3 flavors last time when we fell in love with this place, and this time we tried 3 different flavors.

My favorite was this dark chocolate coconut one, but the other one, mocha something..., was good too!  haha  

David said the old-fashioned was good with coffee, but as a non-coffee drinker, I wasn't as much of a fan =)

After having stuffed our tummies with donuts, we went for a stroll around town to burn some of it off before lunch haha

Our strolls lead us to the Portland Museum of Art, and we spent an hour or so browsing their collection.  It was a pretty small museum, but it had some interesting works, and we had a good time!

David and the sleeping Tom Sawyer

The part that intrigued me the most was that the museum had a house as a part of its collection.  It was owned by a wealthy merchant back in the day, and they had renovated and opened it up to the public as a part of the museum.  

My favorite part was this staircase  haha

They don't build staircases like these anymore!

Having decided that an hour of art museum stroll was enough to burn off 3 donuts, we headed off to find some lunch at the Green Elephant.

A little vegetarian Asian fusion to kick off the next part of our road trip!  =)

With full bellies, we headed north to Camden, Maine, where some winter hiking and a lovely stay at the Hartstone Inn awaited us.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are having a wonderful day!

--Janny

Portland, ME :: Donuts and Lobster!

Hello everyone!

Last week, David and I visited Portland ME on our way to, and from, Acadia National Park!  Having donned our best 'Portland fashion' of Sorel boots/rain boots, and sweaters, we took off in search of the best Portland had to offer for our growling tummies.  

Disclaimer: We actually have no idea what real 'Portland fashion' looks like. but it was cold and rainy, and we saw many people in rainboots and sweaters, so we figured we were pretty close haha

First stop? The Holy Donut!

Rachael recommended the place, and really, who doesn't like a little bit of warm potato donut to start a chilly Maine morning, right?

 

I got candied ginger, sea-salt dark chocolate, and bacon cheddar donuts.  and David got coffee.  haha

I did let him try a few bites of my donuts though  =p

I think my favorites were the bacon cheddar, and of course, the chocolate.  the candied ginger gets an honorable mention  ;)
look at that ooey gooeyness of cheddar bacon goodness...

Having had the appetizers, we set off to find some real food for lunch.

and since we were in Maine, we figured we should go get some lobster!  

Portland Lobster Company seemed like the perfect place (what with the 'lobster' in its name and everything) and it was only a few blocks away, so it was a pretty easy decision.

I have a bit of an issue with seeing my food alive right before I eat it, so I walked past the tank pretty quickly, but I suppose that's how they ensure maximum freshness...

I'd rather look at this plastic lobster instead  haha

Even though it was freezing outside, we headed out to the tent to eat in the quasi fresh air (and away from the live, crawly, lobsters).  

We picked the seats right under the heat lamp, and waited eagerly for our first Portland lobster experience!

and it definitely did not disappoint!

It came out fighting, and it put up a very good fight too! I appreciate foods that put up a good fight  ;) a little more interesting that way, am I right?  haha

a lil bit of Instagramming action going on  haha

This was only the second time I've had lobster like this, and I have fallen head over heels for Maine lobster. Because of this fact, during our Maine trip, we had lobster every. single. day...  Not gonna lie, I'm a little sick of it right now (poor David, he must be realllyyy sick of it too haha) but give me a few weeks, and I'm sure lobster will crawl straight back up to the top of my favorite foods haha

On our way back, we stopped at Portland again for lunch, so I'll be back with another Portland post soon!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

--Janny