Portland, Maine, receives a long winter with significant snow accumulation. As a result, when the cold days and long nights descend on the Maine coast, residents of the city, as well as seasonal visitors, have two choices. They can either venture outside and enjoy the pristine beauty of freshly fallen snow or head indoors for some events that are a unique by-product of the coldest season.
Ice-skating in the Park
Deering Park has an outdoor ice-skating rink that appears to have come right out of a Currier & Ives engraving. This pond in the park is surrounded on one side by oak-covered knolls, and a busy city street borders the western edge. On sunny winter days, skaters flock here to cut figure eights or participate in pickup hockey games, for the ice is big enough to accommodate all users.
The picturesque frozen pond was once a film set for Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston in "The Preacher's Wife." During the movie, the two stars spend time skating around the frozen surface on a cold, sunny afternoon. No indoor facilities or skate rentals are available within the park.
Visit a Chowder House
Another popular activity for a cold winter day might be sitting in a chowder house with your friends, while slowly sipping a hot, dairy broth filled with clams, fish or other types of seafood. There are many fine restaurants along Portland's waterfront on Commercial Street, all thriving to make the best cup of New England Clam Chowder.
For genuine "Chowda Heads," Gilbert's Chowder House might have the best name, but determining which establishment has the best chowder will require some taste testing.
Take In A Book Reading
Reading a book might be a good activity for a cold, winter night, but the key to surviving a Maine winter might require large doses of social activity. For bookworms, this could mean a trip to a public book reading. The newly renovated Portland Public Library, located at Monument Square, provides just such a service during the Wednesday lunch hour.
While you are in the library, be sure to check out the $7 million remodeling job. Other places that put on book readings include Longfellow Books, Space Gallery, North Star Cafe and the Constellation Gallery, all of which are located in the Portland Arts District.
Friday Night Museum Night
Located across Congress Street from Eastland Park Hotel, the Portland Museum of Art is one of the cornerstone institutions of the Arts District. The museum is open six days a week, but the turnout on Friday nights is quite robust, because the admission fee is waived after 5 p.m.
And on the first Friday of every month, most of the city galleries also open their doors for a lively communal event that continues until 8 p.m. Afterward, many locals congregate at a pub, wine bar or restaurant to continue the spirit of the evening.
Semi-pro Hockey
Semi-pro hockey is alive and well in Portland, Maine. The team is called the Pirates, and they compete with other teams from the United States and Canada at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Free Street in downtown Portland.
Although the weather outside may be a bit frightful, the micro-climate of a hockey stadium can be sizzling, despite the frozen playing service. Join in the frenzy along with 6,500 other sports enthusiasts. The Pirate's season runs from October to April.
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