Holiday Outings

When I found out that my boyfriend had never been to Portland, Maine, I booked a trip straight away. Portland is one of my favorite cities: good beer, good food, good shopping.

Needless to say, we had a great time. And lucky for me, I was also able to check off a birthday list item. I finally made it to the Victoria Mansion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s closed for much of the winter/spring, but it opens for about a month at Christmastime, with its rooms decorated for Christmas by local businesses and organizations.

It was a mob scene of adult females with their young daughters/nieces/granddaughters in tow on the morning that we visited, but we made it through. The rooms were just gorgeous. The big attraction was this tree:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awe-inducing, no?

And a week later, I embarked on my next holiday outing. Solve this equation:

Burlesque + The Nutcracker = ?

The Slutcracker!

This was the eighth season of the Slutcracker. I was expecting a night of raunchiness with “dancers” gallavanting around in little to no clothing. I was not expecting a night of classical ballet with DANCERS performing in little to no clothing.

Yes, many of the dancers were professionally trained. The choreography was excellent as were the costumes (although there wasn’t much to a lot of them). I also appreciated the presence of different body types and ethnicities onstage. It was a fun night out with friends.

Here it is, New Year’s Eve already. I wish you all the best for 2016…the best year yet!