A Fun Fall Day in Portland, Maine... — Weight Off My Shoulders

New England in the Fall can't be beat! I love living in the Boston area since the city is a great start point to head to ANY of the other five New England states.

The wife and I favor Maine as the second-best state in New England... after Mass of course. ;)

So when my best friend and her family moved to Portland, Maine earlier this year, Portland has become a once-a-month visit. Portland is just an hour and 45 minutes from where we live in Somerville, which can be a nice day trip with my love.

We try to get on the road nice and early after a quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts of course.

Once we were caffeinated, it was time to hit the highway. Many may think highway travel is boring, but I take it as a fun chance to people watch.. and make the wife play ridiculous car games or have a sing off. I mean she is trapped in there with me so she HAS to enjoy my rendition of Montell Jordan's This Is How We Do It!

We passed through Massachusetts on to New Hampshire, reminiscing about previous outings North and finally in to Maine. I always feel a sense of relief when we hit Maine - not sure why, but it is just such a calming place for me.

We arrived at my best friend's house and were promptly greeted my an energetic 2-year old who was ready to start our adventure! We would be heading to Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook.

Photo Courtesy of Smiling Hill Farm

Smiling Hills Farm was an adorable place that was offering hay rides, pumpkin patches, a tiny zoo, a petting zoo and cute wooden installations for kids - and adults - to climb on.

It was awesome watching Jo run from sight to sight.

Entry fee was $5 per adult and $2 or 3 for Jo. My BFF and I each opted to buy some coins in order to feed some of the animals. 50 cents per coin.

A little Non-Scale Victory here: I was nervous attempting to fit into the kids' train but I did it!! It felt awesome! Now getting out of the train on these old bones - not so awesome. :P

It was a chilly morning so we all tried to keep moving as much as possible so once all the things were climbed that could be climbed - it was time to see some animals.

But we wanted to pet some fuzzy creatures!! Off to the petting zoo portion of Smiling Hill Farm we went.

And then it was selfie time!

I mean I hhaaaddd to do it. I had to photobomb the goat's selfie.

Since the morning was turning colder, we opted to skip the hay ride this trip and get some lunch.

And when at a dairy farm - you try some of their own low-fat chocolate milk.

Jo loved it and was enjoying the treat. She is one entertaining lunch companion for sure!

While the morning may not have tuckered Jo out as much as I expected, we headed back to their house for nap time. Yes it ended up being nap time for both Jo and the wife, which gave the BFF and I plenty of time to sneak in a run.