Sometimes you just need to take a half day Friday to head off on a family adventure, especially when it’s December, and the toddler in your life is really starting to respond to everything around him. Last Friday, thats exactly what we did. I have a hard time taking off from work, but getting away is so worth it, and  Christmas Prelude in Kennebunkport may be a new family tradition.

Kennebunkport’s Christmas Prelude is the #2 Christmas Town in America, as decided by HGTV, and one spin around town during prelude will show you why. Kennebunkport is an easy drive from Boston, and in the middle of the day, we made it there in under two hours. We made a quick stop at our lodging for the night, The Port Inn, Kennebunk, and discovered a cozy, clean, and convenient place for this and future stays. Our room was lovely and came with a pack-and-play for the little one.

We found the inn to be very warm and friendly, and breakfast was delicious. The spread included a Greek yogurt bar, fresh local donuts, muffins, waffles, toast, eggs, cereal, coffee, hot chocolate, chai. . . and it was all included with our stay. There’s an outdoor pool for warmer months, and the adorable downtowns of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport were both close by.

After dropping our bags, we went straight to check out what was happening in Kennebunkport. We checked out the Christmas market at Old Vines Wine Bar, where we picked up a cookie the size of our 20 month old’s head and browsed fun local crafts and treats. We got cold quickly, and Old Vines’ heated tent and their drink for the Prelude Cocktail Trail, “Running with Scissors” delivered a delicious punch that helped keep us warm and merry!

Everyone at Old Vines was absolutely delightful and made all of us feel welcome. I tend to be nervous when in nicer establishments with our child, making sure he’s not bothering anyone, and we were made to feel really comfortable.

They even moved Santa closer to our table so his new friend could hang out with him.

Old Vines is a place I would definitely visit again after such a lovely experience.

From there we wandered through town and visited a few shops, picking up new mittens and ear muffs and snapping photos of the festive decorations along the way.

Along the river, we found little stalls with gift items and holiday lights galore.

One of the stops we really wanted to make was at Batson River Brewing and Distilling, and the line outside definitely told us we were in the right place. I can’t imagine a more perfect winter scene than on their front patio, snow falling, fire roaring, lights twinkling, Christmas songs playing, and strangers becoming friends.

It as a little bit of holiday season magic! Our time by the fire also helped us work up an appetite for a big seafood dinner, which I will cover in a future post.

After a delicious dinner, we drove over to Cape Porpoise for their lobster trap tree lighting. By that point we had a sleeping baby, and it was snowy, dark, and cold, so we quickly saw the tree lighting and headed home to The Port Inn for an 8:00 bedtime for all of us! All of that fresh air definitely made us tired.

The next day, we’d hoped to take a lobster boat ride from the Nonantum Resort, but we waited well past the scheduled time, and the boat didn’t arrive. In our go-with-the-flow mood, we didn’t care that much and made the most of time playing outside on a snowy, sun-drenched December day before meeting old friends for lunch in Kennebunk.

We ate a few excellent meals on our short Kennebunks trip, and I look forward to sharing those. It’s so fun to be back blogging again, even if it’s only intermittently. Stay tuned for more holiday and travel posts!