Portland (Maine)

The Charity: MENSK

The Girl: Andrew Lyman

MENSK is an organization that supports art in Portland, Maine. If you’ve ever been to Portland, Maine, you know art and music are central to their city- so supporting it is like supporting the entire city of Portland. It is a wonderfully incredibly creative and eccentric place, and MENSK helps it stay that way. View the whole video right here...

Top Five things to do in Portland (Maine):

Five: Just explore Old Port and the wharf and see their quirky shops.

Four: Go on a Harbor Cruise/ check out the islands and lighthouses of Maine

From Portland (Maine)

Three: Check out the Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum

Two: Check out the Graffiti on the back of Asylum (advice courtesy of these two)

One: Eat some Lobster.

Things I passed on: visiting the lighthouses, exploring the islands, live music, art exhibits.

Good places to stay: UNH with Elizabeth Brady, who is crazy.

Portland’s Ratings. On a scale from 1 to Boston: 8.5

Portland has a small city feel, is quintessentially quaint New England, the ocean, rocky beaches, mountains not to far away, LOBSTER, and amusingness that comes with New England.

Portland doesn’t have a busy city feeling, a booming economy, a ton of people, warmth year round, or a plethora of activities.

The story: Arrive at Portland at midnight and have a friend (LIZ BRADY from UNH pick me up) and get lost on the way back to her apartment. Thankful for a place to sleep, I take advantage of it, getting a full 8 hours for the first time in a long time. Then I wake up and catch the “down easter” in north to Portland (30 dollars round trip from UNH). I will say this, AMTRAK is the best transportation (next to JET BLUE of course) offered in this country. Free Wifi, outlets next to every seat, spacious legroom, best refund/transferable ticket policy in the world, friendly staff, and a lenient baggage policy. Couldn’t be better. Anyways, I end up in Portland and take a bus to old port, where I proceed to wander around- visit the narrow gauge railroad museum, and take a harbor cruise, and I saw a seal! After the cruise (which was filled with senior citizens, nice as could be old ladies) I went to eat and got myself a lobster roll right on the harbor. Simply Delicious. Then, I wandered my way around the city and talked to some employee’s at cold stone particularly “the redheaded chick with a really bad dye job” and “the tall lanky kid that kinda looks like a praying mantis”, who referred me to the Asylum walls, which are covered in some beautiful graffiti art. Then, it was back home to UNH (after interviewing Andrew from MENSK), where Liz Brady showed me her “Mad Scientist Lab” where she gets her PhD for playing with ice. Although, spending time with Ms. Elizabeth is not without its perks- she gave me two gems of quotes. Upon on asking Liz, what I should do when my trip was over she said,

“Get a puppy. Get 30 puppies. Get 30 puppies, in 30 days, in 30 cities” and later in the night,

“Cannibalism… ummmm borderline funny.”

The rest of night was filled with a Wendle’s run and some blueberry truffles that picked up as a thank you for Liz in Portland. Wonderful night. I love New England.

PS Please help Andrew be MENSKy. Donate.