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<\/h2>\nOur most recent trip to Massachusetts to visit hubby’s family might be the longest trip we’ve ever taken up there with the kids. We had a wedding a few days after arriving and then Sugarplum wanted to spend her birthday there as well which was a week later.<\/p>\n
To help break up the trip, we took advantage of getting away to a new place for a few days. We looked at different options that were driving distance including Montreal and Northern Maine but decided Portland was the perfect choice. Close enough for the kids to easily handle the drive with tons of things to do that would please every person in our family.<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\nPortland is actually a great walking city. There is plenty to do right in the city center and it’s easy to walk to most places, though it is hilly so little legs may get tired. Paid public parking is available in lots and garages (most street parking we saw was 2 hour max) but we found the lots are not always close to what\u00a0we wanted to see so we\u00a0parked the car and walked every day we were in the city.<\/p>\n
I was surprised to find that Portland is actually very big on food. And good food. There are plenty of options for every taste from local lobster to fancy pizza or your traditional fast food chains. Traditional choices for kids are available pretty much everywhere but we did find food prices to be a bit steeper than we’re used to at most local restaurants.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m big on planning our trips ahead of time because traveling with kids makes things just a little bit more complicated as they aren\u2019t always very patient when you don\u2019t have a plan so I always did a lot of research and planning before our trips. Check out my tips and advice for:<\/p>\n
We\u00a0drove up to Portland after breakfast on day one and drove back in the late afternoon on day three. Our drive was\u00a0a little over 2 hours each way which left plenty of time each day to explore the area.<\/p>\n
Our first stop (after lunch) was the Portland Children’s Museum. Like any group of kids, our kids all\u00a0love<\/em> children’s museums where there is tons to explore and play with and the Portland Children’s Museum was no different. What we expected to be a couple of hours visit as most children’s museums are turned into an all-afternoon extravaganza because there is so much to see and do! My kids delightfully ran from area to area playing and exploring. There was plenty for my toddler to stay busy with (there is also a dedicated infant\/toddler area) but amazingly the museum also kept my 9 year-old entertained our entire visit, too!<\/p>\n The huge firetruck\u00a0was definitely a big hit with my kids as was the spaceship and rocking boat. There is also a full schedule or programs and activities throughout the day and we got to participate in a bee talk and watch the frog and turtle feedings. My 4 year-old Doodle is a bit transportation obsessed and Pipsqueak loves trains as well so a visit to the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum was an easy decision. The museum features refurbished train cars to explore, toy trains to play with and we also caught story time (every Thursday morning.) A visit also involves riding the train up and down the bay which was, of course, a big hit with all the kids, but hubby and I also enjoyed the views of the bay and learning about the history of Portland and the narrow gauge railway that ran along the coast there about 100 years ago. The Portland Science Center is not like other large science centers we’ve been to in other cities as it doesn’t have a permanent display but rather hosts traveling exhibits in its space. During our visit, the Portland Science Center had the Real Pirates exhibit based on the recovery of pirate Sam Bellamy’s Whydah which sank off the coast of Cape Cod 300 years ago.<\/p>\n While the museum wasn’t exactly what we were expecting, the exhibit was fascinating and all the kids enjoyed it (other than maybe Pipsqueak who wanted to run around and scream). The girls learned a lot about pirates and life in the 1700s and Doodle was fascinated by all the boat items and, of course, pirate life. The Real Pirate exhibit is on through October 2017, visit PortlandScienceCenter.com<\/a> to see what is currently on exhibit.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/portland-chidlrens-museum-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMaine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nPortland Science Center<\/h3>\n
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