You would think skating would be a pretty easy winter activity for us. We live on a lake. But, it’s complicated. Since we have neither the equipment nor the desire to shovel off a skating rink size area on the ice, which would allow us to actually skate, we have a wait and see approach. This means that usually once a year, we get enough rain, or the snow covering the ice melts, followed by a cold weather snap which freezes everything over and makes for a perfect day of skating.

We haven’t had those conditions yet, and our oldest had been asking, and asking, to skate so we finally decided it was time to venture out to an actual rink. But where should we go? Fortunately, a Facebook friend had posted a great sunset picture taken at The Rink at Thompson’s Point. It looked like a fun destination so we added it to our weekend activities list.

The Rink | 10 Thompsons Point, Portland, Maine 04102

Skating sessions at The Rink are available for two hour blocks of time, and we arrived right at the start of the 12:30 pm session. When getting ready for this skating trip, we could only find my husband’s skates and lots of other skates that didn’t actually fit anyone anymore, so we needed to rent a couple of pairs of skates which was frustrating. Fortunately, the skate rental cost was only $2.00 per pair. At least it was reasonable to rent skates at The Rink. The skating session itself was $8.00 per person. The Rink is located outside under a roof, and it has views of Portland from Thompson’s Point.

My husband was a hockey kid so he’s extremely good on skates, and the girls had lessons when they were younger although it had been awhile since they skated last, but everyone was happy to get out and skate. The Rink was busy but not overly crowded. One of the workers commented that it was a quiet day. We did go on Super Bowl Sunday so that probably helped slow the crowds down.

After about 45 minutes, we decided to take a break and headed to the yurt for some drinks. They were only serving beer and wine in the yurt but there was a food truck, PB&ME, next door where you could get hot cocoa and snacks. In addition to the drinks, we tried the deep friend chocolate chip cookies from PB&ME which were a huge hit with the girls. As everything is cooked to order, be prepared to wait at the food truck. But, it is delicious!

After the break, it was back on the ice for more skating. Initially we thought two hours would not be enough time, but it turned out to be just the right amount. We headed out shortly before our session time was up although not before checking out the warming area for a quick stop.

A couple of other things to note from our visit,

• They have a large dirt parking lot area, and there was plenty of free parking.
• They do not have restrooms on site only porta pottys.
• There was a gaming truck there too with video games available for a fee.
• There was a fire pit area that wasn’t going when we were there, but looks like something that would be fun during the evening skating sessions.

According to their website, their skating seasons ends on February 21st, but they’ll be expanding and re-opening with an even larger rink in November 2016. The rink was a little on the smaller side, so it’s great to hear they’ll be expanding it for next season. We enjoyed our skating excursion and will definitely come back again when they reopen in the fall.

*We had much discussion over what makes something a yurt and after a google search, found this definition on Merriam-Webster, “a circular domed tent of skins or felt stretched over a collapsible lattice framework and used by pastoral peoples of inner Asia; also :  a structure that resembles a yurt usually in size and design.”