I spent last May in Portland, Maine. My husband and I took a 3-hour Amtrak train ride from Boston to Portland. It was a nice experience that I would be happy to do again.

As we do in every city we visit, we took lots of walks around Portland. There were plenty of sidewalks downtown. However, many of the streets and stoplights were not pedestrian-friendly. In some spots around the city, sidewalks simply end in the middle of nowhere.

As a port city, there was usually a barrier between the water and where humans could be, so despite being so close to the water, I missed going into it, and I missed walking on sand (Before Maine, I was in beautiful Tampa, Florida).

I stayed in a few different hotels around the city. My favorite was the Doubletree by Hilton across from Maine Mall, the largest shopping mall in Maine. As a Hilton Diamond elite member, I enjoyed a nice lounge with complimentary gourmet food, and I enjoyed being social with the nice hotel staff. Also, the round shape of its 2 buildings was quite unique!

I ended my trip at the the Embassy Suites by Hilton next to the airport, and I blogged about how much it cost.

Portland has fun-sounding ferry rides, but they only run June, July, and August. Unfortunately, increasing hotel prices wouldn’t allow me to stay to find out how fun they really were. I enjoyed walking around a farmer’s market and a weekly antique market, but generally my stay was quiet with lots of long walks to enjoy the climate.

I tried Portland’s famous lobster roll, which is basically some lobster meat with mayonnaise on bread. Not really my thing, but it was fun trying something new. For more lobster fun, I bought some basic sketching supplies from a local art store and practiced some locally-inspired drawing.

I made a little video to of my time in Maine. I hope you enjoy it!