Portland Museum of Art

Today we ventured north, to the Portland Museum of Art with Caroline and her Mommy. Portland is actually the same amount of time from our house as Boston, 1 hour. I need to use this proximity to my advantage! Of course it helped that today it was 65 and beautiful out - but walking around Old Port reminded me how much I LOVE Maine!

We met Caroline and her Mommy at the Museum. It is right in downtown Portland and there were plenty of on-street parking. The meters of course are a bit annoying, it took me about 45 minutes to pump mine with the nickels I had... And there is a two hour limit, but a little birdie told me that you are forgiven 1 Portland parking ticket every 6 months... Hmmm... Eh, a parking ticket there is still cheaper than parking in Boston for 30 minutes!

The Museum was nice. It is a small collection. The IM Pei addition from the 1980s is dark and loud, so your immediate first impression is not the best, but get beyond the main hall and you will discover a lot of gems. There is a refreshing sculpture room (pictured above) and lots of great paintings by New England, specifically Maine, artists. We missed the historic house part of the Museum. The guards are very friendly, and there were about 5 or 6 volunteers very excited to see the little kiddos in the Museum for the day. Mommy was just annoyed because her MFA "staff" (really volunteer, since I am on their young board) card did not get me admission. It gets me admission everywhere else!
They had a nice big elevator, perfect for the strollers. Both Caroline and J's favorite piece was a large sculpture of a sheep. There were shells in the sheep - very interesting. Unfortunately, no photographs or else you know I would have had a good one!

Afterwards we went to Gritty's for lunch. Delicious! Though, I think the first time I have been to a brewery and not had a beer. It was good to be good... Gritty's does not have high chairs, but these red chairs that hook onto the tables. We have this in Maine, and J loves it, so he was right at home. And, he must have really liked it there (or wanted to impress his girlfriend) because he ate his lunch up that Mommy brought. Baby Mum Mums continue to be a favorite, for both him and Caroline.

It was a great day with good friends! And, absolutely wonderful to get to walk around Old Port in the sun!