I went to the beach. You won’t believe what happened next
My last few days in Maine
I got sunburned.
Not exactly shocking, figuring it was one of the hottest days in Portland, but it was my first major sunburn in quite a few years. Of course, I applied sunblock at the start of the day but I didn’t feel the need to reapply. Now, Five Days in the Future Eddie is dealing with peeling skin and hates Present Eddie for making that decision.
Speaking of the heat, during my time in Portland there was a lot of it. The Fourth of July was the hottest on record and the warmest ever low temperature occurred later that week. For me, this was nothing new. The last time I visited my relatives in Portland, 2016, it was the warmest summer on record. That made a visit to the beach on Sebago Lake a great idea.
Sebago Lake looked great. It is a large freshwater lake near Portland, located in Sebago Lake State Park. The lake is surrounded by tall conifers, making the setting picturesque. It reminded me of the pictures of lakes in Oregon. (When I visit there, I’ll have to compare). The water felt pleasantly warm, much warmer than the Atlantic Ocean that far north. By the middle of the day, the beach grew crowded, but not to the point of suffocation. There were, however, lots of boats docked near the beach and past the buoys. Plenty of New Englanders enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather. Hopefully they aren’t suffering the pain of sunburn like me.
The following day, a Friday, started as rainy and dreary. It was my last full day in Portland. I went with my cousins and aunt to see a movie, the perfect rainy day activity. “Incredibles 2” seemed like the perfect movie because it was one everyone wanted to see. And by everyone, I mean everyone. The first theater we went to was completely booked for the showing we arrived for. It was also booked for the next showing as well. As it turned out, a camp from Scarborough bought out the whole theater for both showings. It was then a frantic ten minutes searching for theaters nearby that were showing the movie soon and still had seats available. Luckily, the theater in Saco (a great name for a town) had a showing at just the right time.
I will spare you my review of the film. It was very solid though, a worthy sequel to the original.
Because it was my last day in Portland, I wanted to explore the city in the afternoon. Of course, it was hot, but the rain had cleared, so it was nice to walk around the downtown area. Early in the day, I got a bagel at Mister Bagel (see picture above) a great local bagel and coffee shop.
Getting into town was a ten minute drive from my relative's house. I asked my aunt where to park, but all of the street parking she described was full. On a Friday afternoon, downtown Portland was popping. Young professionals leaving work early, as well as out-of-staters like myself, filled the city. The first thing I did in the city was get poutine from Duckfat. Following its name, the restaurant fries its potatoes in duck fat. The fries were very crispy, but the poutine lacked gravy. It did not top the poutine I ate in Toronto.
I then visited Old Port, the tourist part of town, and ate ice cream on the pier to cap off my visit.
Where to next: A drive to New Cumberland, Pennsylvania
Apologies for the click-baity title. A huge thank you to the Bean family for hosting me for a full week and taking me on many adventures. Hope to be back soon! Maybe in the winter, when it won’t be 90 degrees.
