Freeport maine, go the fok to sleep, ll bean

Freeport Isn’t Free

May 14, 2011 Megan Alton

Today is the last full day of our trip and we decided to head up to Freeport to visit the flagship store of LL Bean. It’s open 24 hours a day 365 days a year, but we decided to go on a Saturday, mid-day, of course. Before we went to Freeport we had planned on getting some coffee from Port Bean and then heading over to the beach to dip Porter’s feet in the Atlantic ocean the same way we did in the Pacific ocean. Porter, however, had other plans. For all the writing I did in the last post about how easy it is to travel with an infant, I must have jinxed our trip because mid coffee/walk Porter started flipping out. In fact it started last night, which can be summed up by this lovely little book:

Read the book here

He also wouldn’t fall asleep on our walk in the sling like he has been doing, so I took him out and Luke carried him. I decided that my big baby needed a stroller, so we took a pit stop at Babies ‘R Us and snatched up a nifty umbrella stroller.

After crying the entire way to Freeport, except for when I made his cow toy sing and dance while contorting myself in the car, we arrived at the LL Bean flagship store and Porter seemed quite content with his new stroller. Now I call it a store, but in reality it is a compound. Here is the panoramic picture of LL Bean World:

It’s huge. There are multiple buildings all with different purposes. We went into the retail store where there are taxidermied animals, a trout pond and loads of goodies waiting to receive the famous LL Bean monogram. Outside Porter and I posed in front of the giant boot:

It all was going so nicely so we decided to go to lunch. This is where Porter hit his limit of vacation schedule (which isn’t really a schedule, that’s the problem). The moment we sat down and ordered he started crying and couldn’t be soothed. I ended up taking him outside while Luke settled the bill and brought me my lunch. I scarfed it down outside while watching all the people who come to Freeport to go shopping. Turns out LL Bean spawned a whole town full of high end stores for shoppers from around the globe.

We then put Porter back in the stroller where he continued to wail and wail. The only thing left to do? High tail it back to the car, which was a 10 minute walk with a crying baby the whole way. When we finally got back to the car Luke put on the best song and dance for our baby that anyone could ask for. I didn’t know Luke had it in him, but he had Porter laughing for at least 5 minutes before I strapped him into his car seat and the wailing began again. Luckily he fell asleep in the car and took a 3 hour nap. Looks like our last night in Portland we will be dining in and taking it easy before flying home tomorrow. All in all though, it’s still been a great vacation and I can rest assured that my child has good and bad days, just like the rest of us.

clam chowder bread bowl, gilbert's chowder house, lobster rolls, mt.desert is. ice cream, peaks island, port bean, portland ferry, steamers, The Fisherman's Grill, the lobster shack, udder cover

Big Days

May 13, 2011 Megan Alton 1 Comment

Over the last two days Porter has experienced days full of firsts. Enjoy the photo journey!

Thursday

On Thursday we attempted to go to the bakery near our hotel for breakfast, but they had a very limited selection and no espresso, say what?! So we ended up at Port Bean for the second day in a row. It is a great coffee shop right down the street from our hotel. They make really good espresso drinks and their breakfast sandwiches are made on the spot from scratch, delish.

We then headed over to Casco Bay Ferries to catch a ferry across the bay. It was Porter’s first boat ride and as you can tell, he’s pretty pumped.

Here is the mighty vessel that will transport us across the water. It was a car carrying boat, which is pretty cool if you need to get your car across the water. There are many islands off the coast of Maine and many of them are inhabited.

Leaving the dock from Portland.

Headed to Peaks Island about 20 minutes by ferry.

The best part about nursing is that Porter’s food is always handy whether by air land or sea, my child will eat! Plus the Udder Cover made a great wind break while he napped on the trip.

View of Portland from the Ferry

Our destination. We didn’t get off since Porter was passed out and we really just wanted to take a boat ride.

This is what Porter thought of his first boat ride.

Back at the hotel we did some of this…

…and some of this.

Then it was time for another first- swimming! Thanks Lissa for these awesome baby swim trunks.

Porter loves being in his dad’s big arms.

He didn’t hate it, but he wasn’t super thrilled either. I think he was mostly confused, but he did great and was a good sport.

A good swim always deserves a good lounge. The water really takes it out of a little guy.

We followed the swim by having dinner at Gilbert’s Chowder House

In an attempt to try something new I got the clam Steamers. They were just okay, not as good as my friend Chelsea makes, and these had the appearance of a small geoduck (pronounced gooey duck), slightly phallic with a little bit of grit, hmm. Luke got the clam chowder bread bowl, he liked it better than the one he had from another place on the first night of our visit.

We then cruised to downtown Portland, just a block up from the docks in search of ice cream. The historic downtown is awesome. There are lots of brick buildings, cobbled streets and brick sidewalks. Most of the stores are local and the town square looks like a great place to sip on coffee or eat ice cream on a summer day.

There are also many bars here, half of which have Irish roots. On our way home we encountered this lovely sign and had a good chuckle to end the day.

Friday

We got a late start on Friday, but that didn’t keep us from seeing all sorts of new places. We drove across Casco Bay to Cape Elizabeth so Luke could help his co-worker Brigid set up the Internet in her home office. She just moved to Maine from Washington DC and lives in an adorable house in an adorable neighborhood just houses from the sea. She and her husband were nice enough to treat us to lunch at The Lobster Shack, near Two Lights State Park. The light house in the above picture is one of the “lights”.

The Lobster Shack is known for their lobster rolls and the views of the Atlantic from their red picnic tables outside of the small restaurant. Seeing the Atlantic is another first for Porter on this trip. In the last two months he has now been to the furthest reaches of the country: Maui @ 2 months and Maine @ 4 months. I say this boy picked the right life!

Of course we got Lobster rolls with the required french fries. What isn’t pictured are the giant homemade whoopee pies that we had. I thought they were the bees knees. I’ve now had two lobster rolls from two different places here in Maine and this is what I think: 1. none of the lobster in Maine is as good as the buttery yummy lobster from the warm waters in Hawaii 2. Lobster is really expensive 3. I liked the scallops from The Fisherman’s Grill better.

The Atlantic Ocean from The Lobster Shack picnic tables

I absolutely loved their wind mobile collection.

Porter decided he was hungry too so we stopped at Fort Williams State Park.

Luke’s chowder bread bowl was so good the night before that we decided to go back to Gilbert’s Chowder House.

No more experimenting for me, I ordered the seafood chowder bread bowl and it was FANTASTIC! It had shrimp, scallops, lobster, clams and fish along with chunks of potatoes in a tasty (but not as tasty as a sourdough) bread bowl. I would order this chowder again and again.

Porter had a good time with the package of crackers.

We finished the evening with more ice cream from Mt.Desert Island Ice Cream

I ordered the Chocolate Orange and Luke had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo. They also have pretty outrageous flavors that include curry and chili, which is why their slogan is “fearless flavor”. President Obama chose Coconut on his last visit.

This vacation has been truly fabulous. We have gone sight seeing, tried new and amazing food, napped, swam, visited with new friends and experienced a whole new city. Travelling with a baby is easier than I imagined. I have been carrying him in the sling everywhere we go, and while the first day I was sore after carrying a small baby tank all over the city, it has become much more comfortable by the 4th day. I like carrying him in the sling because he gets to see the sights or nap at his leisure, my hands are free, it’s a great workout, and I like hearing and seeing about how cute my baby is from all the passers by. Since he’s getting bigger I will probably start traveling with the stroller, but I hope to carry him this way for a long time. The hotel we’re staying in (Marriott Residence Inn) is also heaven sent when travelling with a young baby. It has a full kitchen, king bed, crib, pool, breakfast, laundry, wi-fi and is located within walking distance to just about everything we’ve done on our visit. Happy trails!

Fort Allen Park, Rockin' Baby Pouch, The Fisherman's Grill

A Walk To Remember

May 11, 2011 Megan Alton 1 Comment

Today we took a long walk around Portland, took a family nap, and finished the day at the Fisherman’s Grill. It was beautiful, sunny, warm in the sun and slightly breezy. Much of Maine shuts down in the winter and doesn’t open until Memorial Day, so we are a few weeks early for all the real action. The town is quiet and all uphill from the water. A walk was the perfect thing to get us in the east coast mood. Luke said that Portland is like San Fransisco meets Baltimore meets a small town. I’ve included pictures of some of the architecture. There is a lot of old brick work, gobs of siding, and of course bay windows. From what I gathered today, Portland has all the old school east coast history and buildings but is laid back and hip. It’s swarming with hipsters, hippies, all things REI/Northface, bars and coffee shops. I love it.

There are many many buildings that look like this or some version of it.

The Observatory

The previous homes all look out over the bay, in the next picture.

The Eastern Promenade Park, Fort Allen over looking the bay.

Porter rolled (and napped) in the Rockin’ Baby Pouch

And in dad’s arms.

It’s spring here too!

I thought the building in the middle of the channel was like a mini Alcatraz, but Luke informed that it is Fort Allen.

Portland is a deep water port with Trans Atlantic ships and many tug boats. We aren’t sure why this tug boat is behind the ship, hmm…

Our walk then hooked up with the greenbelt along the shore and an old rail road track.

Old railroad track complete with old rail cars.

Shrink wrapped and dry docked boats.

Random broken down coal car with plants growing next to a dry dock.

The actual, working, tour train.

“Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co.”

Previously a dock, I’m pretty sure?

Random rock wall on a trailer, just for fun!

So here’s how we came upon two heaping piles of fresh and fried seafood. Luke did a bunch of research about the best place for seafood and came up with The Fisherman’s Grill. It is a hole in the wall next to The Fisherman’s Net, which is where all the restaurants come to get their fresh seafood. So, the grill gets first picks of all the days catches. We go in, somewhat timid at first because this place looks really local, and are greeted by the cook, a very friendly former Deadliest Catch in Alaska type dude who regaled us with stories of Alaskan timber wolves (huge beasts who howl like they’re “gonna getcha”), bow hunting, and his almost deadly accident on the fishing boat in AK. He knew EXACTLY where each piece of seafood was caught that was on our “plattah”. Initially, I was planning on a bowl of chowder, but he recommended the Fisherman’s Plattah (yes spelled correctly). Being that he said everything was fresh, super fresh, we got it. Little did I know that everything here, fresh or otherwise, is deep fried. I mean really? Who fries fresh seafood? I guess we’re about as far from the Hawaiian islands as we can be, so I was silly to assume it would be grilled or seared. It was, however, delicious. We had shrimp, crab cakes, haddock, scallops, and clams. I will admit that I peeled off some of the fried breading to reveal tender sweet morsels of goodness from the sea. Next time, though, I’m asking for it to be seared so I can eat guiltlessly. But my oh my was it yummy. We also had to take a bunch of it home because there was so much. It had a side of home made Cole Slaw, super yum, and fries. Those were left untouched. I highly recommend going off the tourist trail to eat here if you’re ever in Portland, Maine.

This is what Porter thought of the whole experience, and how we ended the day. Really the day ended with me doing laundry, but this is a better way to remember it.

knit sweater, Portland Maine, toe grab

Checkin’ In

May 10, 2011 Megan Alton

Here are some quick pics from the last couple days. Enjoy!

Baby’s First Latte

At 4 months Porter has finally found his toes. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Now he’s super cute.

The sweater from Sue that my mom got for her baby 20+ years ago that is now Porter’s. Perfect in the cold Maine wind.

Walking to get dinner in Portland.

Posh! All he needed to sit up was a king size bed with 5 huge pillows. Duh!

If there was any doubt that this boy is related to me or Luke? Just look at his thighs, they are getting thicker by the day. Now he’s really a rolly polly.

baby leggings, mother's day, santa cruz skate shop

Welcome To The Mommy Club

May 8, 2011 Megan Alton

I finally made it! I’ve been waiting to join the Mommy’s Club for a long long time and Porter made 2011 my year of acceptance. My friend Chelsea has a beautiful picture of herself right after the delivery of her baby girl.

She has a smile on her face that I couldn’t understand until 12:53am 1/10/11, this moment Porter was passed by dad into my arms. What I expected to be a teary emotional time for me turned out to be ecstatically happy and thrilling time. I was over the moon to say the least.

Being a mom is a truly rewarding, sweet, and life altering experience. Everyday Porter learns or shows me something new and I never tire of loving on him. My love grows everyday, and with that comes the natural worrying that I’m sure will add many grey hairs and wrinkles in the next year, but I welcome them. In my Mother’s Day card from my parent’s my dad wrote, “You were born to be a mother.” I agree, there is no better job than this. I also have to thank my husband for working so hard so that I can stay home with our baby. I love my family and I love all my mommy friends new and old.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

My Mother’s Day pic with all my goodies: Porter, lovely card from Luke, a latte, beautiful flowers, kitty over my shoulder, and a pile of folded laundry (that I didn’t fold!) Thanks Luke!

Porter is rockin’ the fashionable baby skater outfit, complete with Santa Cruz Skate Shop onesie and stripped baby leggings.

Thanks to the Larson’s for making this awesome outfit possible.

He’s entranced with the cat.

Boppy, creeping thyme, gardening, high country gardens, spring, weeds

It’s About Thyme

May 5, 2011 Megan Alton

My thyme lawn that is! In an effort to be a good steward to the earth we planted a low water garden in our front yard. Since regular lawn tends to be water hog, and Boise is in the high desert, I decided that I wanted to do a dark green thyme “lawn”. A few years ago Luke and I took the time to plant 100+ tiny Reiter Creeping Thyme plants from High Country Gardens. It has taken a few years and many many many hours of weeding before it grew in, but now it looks like this,

Getting ready to burst into tiny purple spring flowers- gotta support the local bees!

It’s not as smooth as grass, but it is really cushy, smells wonderful, is virtually pest free, doesn’t have to be mowed and only needs minimal watering in the hot summer heat.

The first few springs Luke and I would spend hours and hours pulling weeds from between our growing plants, but it has finally grown in enough to choke out most of the weeds, dandelions especially. I was able to get almost all the weeds this year in about 2 hours, and that’s because I pull them all by hand. It’s the only way to make sure they never come back and it keeps my garden organic. Porter joined me outside, under an umbrella, on a lovely Spring day. He was the supervisor, cracking the whip, while I was on my hands and knees yanking those suckers out of the ground. I had 2 piles that looked like this,

If I was really good, I would have picked the dandelions before they bloomed and then washed the leaves and eaten them, but I’m just not there yet.

My supervisor, propped up on the Boppy.

Thanks Arleen @ Napili Point for knitting this awesome baby beanie.

What a life!

baby rolls over, Ergo, family hike

Rolly Polly

April 27, 2011 Megan Alton

This is for my mom, Gramma Mikie, who I know would want to see how happy Porter is with himself when he rolls from his back to front. Every time I put him on his back he rolls to his front, even though being on his tummy for long periods of time drives him crazy.

And here are some pictures of our family walk, yesterday, in the Hollow behind Luke’s work.

Rockin’ the Ergo

It was a windy Spring day so we were using the Ergo hood to keep Porter’s head warm. His body stays toasty next to momma on long walks.

It’s a family affair.

baby and me, baby support group

Support Groups Are For Winners!

April 26, 2011 Megan Alton

Every Tuesday Porter and I go to the Baby and Me Group at the local medical center. It’s a place for moms and babies to get together and talk about what they’re experiencing and it’s totally free. I highly recommend it for any new moms. There is usually a topic, today’s was about introducing solid foods. The topics vary in range, and are really helpful. I find it most helpful to be around other moms who are in the same place as I am and to hear from moms with older babies about what we can look forward to. For instance, I was happy to hear from another mom that her son had the same sore leg reaction to his vaccinations as Porter. It’s also great because where else would I find such a big group of mommies who don’t think I’m too head over heels for my baby. Porter loves the group and loves talking to all the other babies, and yes, he’s talking with them. He’s a chatterbox. Hmmm….I wonder where he gets that?? Today Porter got to make a new friend, and so did I. Her mom and I are going to join a Meet Up group for first time moms that goes on hikes around the Boise area. Yay for networking mommas!