Visit Portland in Fall (Scarborough, Falmouth: home, shop, moving)

[spectorjam]

My family and I are planning to visit Portland, ME this October/November to look around as a consideration for moving there in the coming year. I am hoping to find some places that might be good to visit while there to get a good feel of the place and people. Obviously, I will hit the major attractions but was looking for some parks for little kids (2 years old) and areas that people with families frequent. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Stephen

[genmomto5]

The Children's Museum is great, especially if you hit rainy weather. We love the playground on the Eastern Prom because the view is so spectacular. I've done the hike around Mackworth Island where you can build fairy huts with a 2yo. Honestly he wasn't much in to the fairy huts but LOVED ambling on the beach overturning rocks and finding creatures. Mackworth is a bit hit or miss as the parking is very limited, you may be told by the person at the entrance booth to "Come back latah." Give me a heads up closer to your trip and I will let you know what events are happening that would appeal to children that age.

[moughie]

October is a beautiful time of the year in Portland, Stephen!
You may be lucky enough to experience a glorious Indian summer.
There are several apple/pumpkin orchards within a 40 minute radius around Portland- always fun to go picking with the kids. Check out Smiley Hill Farms with your little ones. Once the tourists leave, Crescent Beach, Higgins Beach, OOB are all practically empty and glorious to spend an afternoon visitng. The beaches are great places to fly kites with your kids.
Genmomto5 posted many great suggestions.

[spectorjam]

Thanks for the advice. I found a great link to a family with an infant that just visit the Smiling Hills farm and it looks perfect. As for local parks in some of the adjacent towns around Portland, any thoughts? I was looking at the following towns to visit: Cumberland, Yarmouth, Scarborough, Falmouth, or any other little town. Obviously, we can't visit all of them but going to 1 or 2 parks in the towns should allow us to meet plenty of people and get to know the area. Thanks.

[elston]

I took my 7 yo grand daughter over to smiling hills farm on the fourth of july. It was really special......beautiful farm, farm animals to pet, a lovely duck pond, picnic tables, wonderful ice cream.....a gift shop....great milk and the favorite with visitors is Maine's own Blueberry Milk. It is a very laid back, pleasant place to visit. The farm has been operated by the same family for the past 7 generations (1720).
Smiling Hill Farm Home Page We loved it!

[moughie]

There is an excellent public playground in Yarmouth on the way to N Yarmouth.
Used to be called the Shipyard- with mulch surface, a slight nautical theme and all sorts of neat things to do and places to hide.

[zoe456]

The Nan Jones Kimball "Shipyard" playground on North Road in Yarmouth that moughie mentioned was redesigned in 2004 and no longer has the old wooden structures (probably caused too many splinters and injuries and many communities are upgrading). It's still there with brand-new equipment, and is very frequently-visited. The excellent mulch beds are still there.

Yarmouth is an extremely walkable and compact town. You should also visit Royal River Park, also in Yarmouth if you do visit.

Check out this link for more info regarding the parks in Yarmouth.