Should Have Known Better, Maine 3

Words of advice: Always follow your instinct and not others. 

I signed up to race the Beach2Beacon 10K race. 

Ted and I were going to enjoy a wonderful weekend in Portland, centered around this race.  It never happened.  Here is what DID happen.

I got up at 5:15 am and went for a mile warm up run.  We left Percy Inn at 6:40 am because the traffic was bound to be congested getting the race.  We still didn’t know where Ted would park.  As we were getting into the car, 3 other people were running the race from Percy’s. We would follow them in the car. 

We made it to a fork in the road that indicated racers parking but our “Inn mates” veered left with the rest of the traffic.  They must know the way even though, at this fork, I thought of asking Ted to drop me off since I saw other people with running bibs on their shirts.  I decided I would let it go and simply head to the start with the group in front of us. 

As we saw the race 4 mile sign, then the 5 mile indicator, we knew we were in trouble.  We were routed right into the Fort Williams park, the finish area.  There was no way to get to the start.  No way out and no race.  MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT.  

I entered a lottery to get into this race in April.  What a stupid mistake we made.  It was unbelievably painful watching finishers cross that finish line and not be with them. 

We were able to make our way out of the parking area at 10 am and head to breakfast.  I thought drowning my sorrows in food was the best idea and we ended up at Olives for breakfast

Due to extreme distress of having missed my long awaited race, I forgot to take food photos.

We took the car back to Percy’s and decided to spend the day walking around Portland until our beer tour at 3:30 pm.

Here is the walking tour we took from 11: 00 am to 3:30 pm:

Historical sights and gourmet foods…

Statues…

Tastings in food stores….

Stopping for lunch in a scenic area overlooking the water…  “Dry Dock Restaurant and Tavern”

We enjoyed a black bean vegetarian chili tortilla appetizer.  I had a large garden salad and Ted enjoyed the Lobster roll

We did some more shopping, mostly window shopping but I did buy a gorgeous running jacket for cooler weather, a running skirt, and a beautiful Maine Pottery dish for my morning oats. 

It was time for the long awaited beer tour.

Tasting the beers…

Gritty McDuff’s …

Next stop, Sebago Brewing…

The soft pretzels and mustard hit the spot.   Pretzels never tasted so good.

Final stop, the beer garden.

and

Too much beer for me.  I’m still a wine gal.

The beer tour came to an end and Ted and I made our way to a chocolate store to buy a gift  for  my parents.  Right next door was a culinary book store, where we spent a good 20 minutes of browsing. 

It was a long day of walking, regretting, depressing, beating myself up, as well as too much food and drink.  We headed back to Percy’s. 

Even though our bellies were far from empty, we decided to enjoy a final night of gourmet dining and chose Evangeline’s,  a French restaurant not far from the B&B.

Sample the menu…

Sample the salads

Entree was the market fish special:  Skate over braised cabbage in a browned butter sauce with capers.

Finishing dinner with a delicious French press coffee, as smooth as silk

All the wonderful food, shopping, wines and beers enjoyed today didn’t take away the regret of having missed this race.  I was really looking forward to the scenic run and the experience.  Everywhere we walked through out the day, I looked at people wondering if they ran the race.  I have to let it go and seek out another race before the marathon in October.  Move on. Right?

Was there an event you missed out on that you really, really wanted to be part of?