Each year, I make a summer bucket-list – all the fun things we want to do together before school is back in session in September – and we check them off as we go. Last year Peaks Island was on the list but time never allowed it. So, because we never go to do it last year, it was highlighted on this year’s list so that it was a MUST DO. We have other basic items on the list like mini golf, go to the beach (seems like a no-brainer, what with the beach a whole stone’s throw away from the house – but you would be surprised), have a picnic, hike, etc., etc., etc… you get the idea. So, summer vacation started and we wasted no time knocking off something from the list.
Monday was the last day of school! It was an annoying half-day of school to boot, but we didn’t let that put a damper on our day! After school, we rode our bikes home, packed up the car and scooted up to Portland to catch the ferry via Casco Bay Lines to explore Peaks Island for the afternoon.
We got to Portland just before a thunderstorm arrived… when we got off the ferry on the island it was downpouring for a few minutes. We were greeted by Emily, a photographer colleague of mine, who was headed back after a day of exploring with some of her friends visiting from Atlanta. It was a nice surprise to see her!
Thankfully it was a quick rainshower and we were soon on our way. We started walking across the island and then realized that this was just silly… so we walked the short distance back to the ferry where Mike’s Carts were… and rented ourselves a little golf cart to tour around in. I am so glad that we did this! I’ve been to the island numerous times to photograph a wedding at the Inn on Peaks Island but I have never had the chance to venture beyond the first few blocks due to time constraints. What a treat.
After we checked out all of the cool rock stacking we hopped back on our cool ride and continued along our journey. 
We soon found the path that led us to a fun discovery. But first, we needed to make it over treacherous footpaths that threatened the well-being of all of our new-ish kicks.
Alas, our discovery was well worth the risk of dirtying our shoes… Battery Steele held some grand artistic treasures in the form of beautiful graffiti. We were told by the dude that we rented the golf cart from that each October they have a mini festival where graffiti artists from all over come and have their way with these walls.
We did a little more exploring and then scurried to get our cart back before the end of our rental period. (We were 4 minutes late.) We had a little snack and then walked back up the little hill to this cute shop called Down Front located on the corner that sells ice cream. 
As we were scarfing down our ice cream, the next ferry arrived (noting the trove of people walking up the road all of a sudden was a dead giveaway) and we made a quick decision to hop on this trip back to the mainland. The ferry comes over often, about every 30-60 minutes throughout the day but we needed to head back as the baby was beginning to become spiteful…
This was a fantastic little day trip to take with the family and was super kid friendly. The baby (toddler, actually) was great and loved the golf cart, playing on the beach and watching the waves. Same went for the 6-year-old. Climbing, exploring, building and eating ice cream were so much fun in a new setting. I highly recommend heading out to Portland’s Peaks Island and see what you can discover together….
xo