5 min read

I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but the abundance of pot shops in Portland means there are a lot of people around town who are ingesting marijuana, a substance that people use recreationally for its relaxing and psychoactive effects.

Not all activities are compatible with weed — driving a vehicle being one that seems particularly important to point out here — but there are lots of things to do around Portland, or that are a short Uber drive away, that would be enjoyable for someone experiencing the slightly altered state that generally accompanies responsible marijuana use.

With the approach of 4/20, the high holiday of cannabis culture, here’s a look at some places where you can mellow out, feed your munchies and maybe get a little weird.

Former director Edward Herrick-Gleason in the University of Southern Maine’s Southworth Planetarium in Portland. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

See a show at USM’s planetarium

There’s a reason why planetariums hold Pink Floyd laser shows. Sitting back and taking in an immersive projection on the dome is a multi-sensory experience that can only be heightened by subject matter meant to expand your mind, like that of two shows playing Monday, April 20, at the University of Southern Maine’s Southworth Planetarium in Portland: “Dinosaurs at Dusk” at 1 p.m. and “Out There: Quest for Extrasolar Worlds” at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $9-$9.50.

A guide and participants in a Maine DayVentures foodie tour of the city in 2019. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)

Go on a Portland food tour

It’s no secret that THC can make you snacky. Satiate your cravings while learning something new with a tasty tour of Portland’s renowned food scene. Maine DayVentures describes its three-hour Old Port Culinary Walking Tour as a “leisurely paced” educational stroll that stops at shops and eateries for samples of both classic and cutting-edge Maine food and beverages, including crabmeat maki rolls and craft beer. Tickets are $145.99 for Monday’s tour, which starts at 10:30 a.m.

The buffet room at Taj restaurant in South Portland. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

Dig into the buffet at Taj

If you’d rather try to get as much bang for your buck as possible, a buffet is the answer, and there’s none more beloved locally than the lunch spread at Taj Indian Cuisine in South Portland, offered from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. daily ($15.99 on weekdays, $18.99 on weekends). Mondays aren’t typically too busy, but if you have an aversion to sitting close to others, you might want to go at an off-hour. Keep an eye on the clock, however, and time your return trips accordingly.

Advertisement
Gordon Jones of South Portland tees off while playing disc golf at Payson Park. (Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald) Purchase this image

Play a round of disc golf

This low-key sport combines communing with nature and tossing a flying disc into a metal basket, no dress code or expensive equipment required. And you can find a course just about anywhere, from the free nine holes set up at Payson Park in Portland to the three 18-holers ($8-$12) at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, where you can also rent discs ($2, plus $3 deposit each). Two of Pineland’s courses hadn’t opened for the season as of last week but could any day, depending on when the mud dries up.

Eddie Scott of South Portland and Meredith Stack of Windham play the video game X-Men at Arcadia in Portland on Monday. (Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

Get in the game zone

Arcadia on Congress Street in Portland is the ultimate spot to zone out to a video or arcade game, with tons of options, including pinball, Skee-Ball, air hockey and Pac-Man. Plus, there are creative food and drink options beyond your standard slice of pizza (though you can get that, too). It’s open every day except Tuesday but not until 5 p.m. If you’re looking to get your game on earlier in the day, Portland bowling alley Spare Time and Round 1 at the Maine Mall in South Portland have arcades as well.

Customers build terrariums in jars at Terrarium in Portland. (Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer)

Create a work of art

For creative types, you might prefer to find a way to express yourself. At Muse Paint Bar on Commercial Street in Portland, there are two “paint and sip” sessions scheduled Monday, where a teacher guides a class through the re-creation of a pre-chosen work — in this case, one featuring a boba-drinking capybara as the subject and the other, a coneflower meadow ($31/$32). For less structured crafting, Color Me Mine at Thompson’s Point sells pieces of pottery that you can paint however you like ($8 studio fee, plus cost of pieces, which start at $20; opens at 10 a.m. daily).

Or, in keeping with the day’s plant theme, you can show off your knack for landscape design by building a mini garden in a jar (starting at $28) at Terrarium in the Old Port (by appointment only Monday and Tuesday, opens at noon Wednesday through Sunday).

A section of Mackworth Island is known as the Fairy Village because of the structures created from natural materials left behind by, well, presumably fairies. (Photo by Amy Paradysz)

Go for a supernatural stroll

There are endless walking trails to choose from in Portland and beyond. To narrow the options and add to the experience, consider a stroll with a supernatural element. Winding paths within Evergreen Cemetery in Portland will take you past some very old gravestones that can stir your imagination about who might be stirring beneath. If your taste in weird is more whimsical, head to Mackworth Island in Falmouth ($1-$4 fee per person). In the woods beside the mile-plus trail along the coast, you can find collections of structures made of sticks and rocks known as fairy villages, after their imaginary inhabitants.

People enjoy a sunny day on Portland’s Eastern Promenade last May. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

Hang out on the Eastern Prom

Why feel the need to do much of anything at all? A favorite “activity” of both residents and visitors to Portland involves the not-so-strenuous undertakings of sitting and looking. Portland’s Eastern Promenade features a vast, grassy lawn that slopes down to the coast, effectively forming a natural amphitheater, with the shimmering bay and boats in the harbor serving as the show. Sure, you could bring a Frisbee, and there might be a food truck around, but you can also have a grand old time just lying there.

Leslie Bridgers is a columnist for the Portland Press Herald, writing about Maine culture, customs and the things we notice and wonder about in our everyday lives. Originally from Connecticut, Leslie came...

Join the Conversation

Please your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can subscribe here. Questions? Please see our FAQs.