Hopara

Sigh.  It’s another Monday morning here at Hopara central, and while we love what we do (look at how much we get to travel and explore the world!), we know that a lot of our readers visit us as a bit of escapist fantasy during the day.  We totally understand that.  Heck, that’s why we started Hopara in the first place!  But we know that it’s not enough sometimes, and that every once in a while, you need a bit more.  So we’re starting a new column today, which gives you a couple things that you can do to escape your desk in the middle of the day.  We’re going to cover cities, and we’re going to work our way down from Portland, Maine to Miami and then snake our way through the middle of the U.S. until we end up on the West Coast, hopefully leaving a trail of much, much happier workers behind us!

Portland, Maine Great Desk Escape #1: Visit the Portland Head Light

Oh, we know what you’re thinking.  This is a tourist trap.  Real Mainers don’t need to visit this, because they went there in grade school.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  We know, it’s not what you were expecting from us.  But here’s why we picked it.  For starters, it’s an easy 15 minute drive from downtown, which means that if you’ve got an hour lunch break, you’ll be able to spend a half-hour in the park here or dipping your toes in the ocean.  Unlike the Eastern Promenade, you’re far enough away from your desk to feel like you’ve actually gotten away a bit.  Plus, smelling the salt water will remind you why you live all the way up here, too.

Portland, Maine Great Desk Escape #2: The Portland Observatory

After reading our first idea, we’re sure that some Mainers are scoffing — after all, the season for wandering around a park can be pretty short here, before all of the cold and the snow comes.  We agree completely, but before we give you something for the winter, we wanted to point out the wonder of the Portland Observatory, which only offers tours through Columbus Day.  However, we know that if you’re escaping your desk, you’re probably short on time, so instead of taking a 45-minute tour, grab a map and give yourself a self-guided tour instead.  It’s nice just to get away from the constant glare of a computer monitor for real views instead!

Portland, Maine Great Desk Escape #3: Shipyard Brewery Tour

Yup, in the winter, we know what you want.  Beer.  Lots of beer.  And while we don’t advocate drinking on the job, there’s not many places to go in the winter around here to just get away.  Plus, Allagash and Geary are a bit of a hike from downtown.  So, instead, go to one of Maine’s lesser known breweries — Shipyard, which is located right on Newbury Street and is an easy place to sneak away to for an hour.  Yes, there are samples, but there’s also some cool stuff going on — we love learning about how mash becomes alcohol and… oh, wait.  That’s not right.  We must have had a bit too much on our last tour there.

And those are our Great Desk Escapes from Portland, each of which can easily be done in an hour lunch break!  Got other suggestions?  Let us know!