A Quick 24-Hour Trip To Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine is quickly becoming a fun destination for a quick getaway with the wife. Yes It doesn't hurt that my BFF and her family live there as well. Oh hey free place to crash! ;) We headed up to Portland on Saturday, November 22 for a quick 24-hour trip to see the BFF and her family.

And maybe to run the Santa Hustle New England Half as well. :P There was a 5k option as well, but the BFF and I were going for the Half since it offered a Finisher's Medal as well. Yay Bling.

We hit the road at 10am with a brief stop at Dunkin' for plenty of road trip fuel. It was around lunch time when we arrived so we tried a new place for a sandwich - The Local Press.

It was an adorable place in Portland with just three tables and some barstools inside. The wife found it thanks to Yelp. She thoroughly enjoyed her Orchard Turkey panini, while I found my turkey club sub par. The two sandwiches, two chips and soda came to $20.94, which I thought was a little on the pricey side. It was fun to try a new local place, but not sure I would be returning back.

Once sandwiches were secured, it was time to invade the BFF's house. We had to see our little Scrunch (Jo) before she took her afternoon nap. Her nap gave us a great chance to catch up, have a beer and enjoy some House Hunters. I love competing with friends to pick the winning house on House Hunters. Anyone else? ;)

After the little lady woke up, it was time to head to the Maine Mall for Santa Hustle bib pick-up.

The packet pick-up was just outside of Bon Ton, which we learned is a department store similar to Macy's or JC Penney's. Yeah we had no idea either. Learn something new every day.

The swag for the race was pretty sweet: Santa hat, Santa beard and tech sweatshirt.

Since packet pick-up was a breeze (zero lines when we got there), we had time to check out the mall.

There was a sweet train set on display right behind packet pick-up.

How cool is that? You could actually press the buttons to turn on the trains and the little saw mill seen in the bottom right corner of the second picture. It was cute, especially the four older gentlemen fixing and overseeing the trains.

After saying hi to Thomas the Tank Engine, Jo was ready to visit the carousel.

I love that Sarah and Jo each went right for the tea cup. My stomach just started turning thinking about it. Yes I am the one that gets sick on the tea cups in Disney. Cool kid!

With the mall stared to be overrun with high schoolers, it was time to run home and be safe. We were making a delicious dinner and had the movie, How To Train A Dragon, on the docket.

Jo was super jealous of our Santa hat and beard that she took them as her own.

With a 5am wake-up call for the race, we called it an early night. Yes 9:30pm on a Saturday with your BFF is now a normal thing to do at age 32 and racing. :) Wild and crazy night I tell ya.

We had a great time at the race and I will be sure to share all the details in the upcoming race recap.

There was no free post-race beer (boo!) so we bought one to celebrate before heading out for some Dunkin'!

After a stop at the BFF's house to collect our belongings, we headed out to get one more fun activity in: the playground! Woo! Their dog Wyatt decided he wanted to ride in our car and I took the opportunity to get a selfie.

Yes our dogs gave us the cold shoulder when we got home. ;)

Now the playground is NOT just for kids. The wife and I made sure to enjoy ourselves...

... before we attend the stand-up teeter totter, which did NOT end well. It is not the smartest piece of equipment to try when you have very different weights on there. Live and learn. :P

While we didn't really want to leave, it was time for Jo's nap and we needed to get back for the wife's hockey game. After some hugs good-bye, we figured out that we had juuuust enough time to stop in Ogunquit for lunch at our favorite spot - Cornerstone Artisanal Pizza! Woo!

This is a must stop every time we are in Ogunquit. The pizza and craft beer are all top notch. You are welcome in advance of your next visit there.

Since I hadn't done enough activity so far that day (insert sarcasm), we opted for a quick stroll down to the ocean. But first a stop at an adorable little shop - Spoiled Rotten. The wife found some cute things for her mom for Christmas, while I got distracted by the faux snow.

It was even cold. How do they do it?

But no trip is complete without actually seeing the water ... well according to my wife that is the rule!

How gorgeous? We really lucked out with a beautiful New England day.

Ugh having to return to the real world wasn't really what we wanted to do, but I guess that is what being an adult is all about. So we headed back to the car and took the long (not really long just feels long - that's what she said - when you are coming home from fun) car ride home.

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What is your favorite 24-hour destination?