Things to Do in South Portland

A coach at the first Equine Special Olympics in 1999 and again in 2011, North American Riding for the Handicapped–certified trainer Kathleen Gallant possesses a deep, long-lasting love for horses and their ability to help others. After attending equestrian vocational school as a teenager and working at several race tracks, Kathleen developed her passion for jumping and dressage and began teaching others, which she has been doing for more than two decades. Today, English riding lessons are the focus at Chiron Equestrian Services, as well as therapeutic riding for children and adults with special needs. Both private and group lessons begin with the establishment of a balanced, centered riding style and, once these basics are mastered, move on to more advanced riding techniques such as hunt seat, jumping, and dressage.

Throughout the skating season from July to April, more than 60,000 people visit Portland Ice Arena for open-skate sessions, to play hockey, or watch an event. Public sessions during those months send skaters of all ages gliding across the rink. The arena also plays host to a number of other icy scenes, including learn-to-skate classes and practices for the AHL's Portland Pirates. Away from the 750-seat arena, the facility provides sharpening services, rentals, and a concession area.

Studio 59 Pilates Fitness’s owner Stacy Darkis has dedicated her life to helping others. She began her career as a clinical medical assistant, but changed course after discovering Pilates and realizing how many more people she’d be able to help by opening her own studio. Today, she helps her students control their muscles and sharpen their bodily awareness in both mat Pilates classes and on Pilates reformers, moving equipment that uses springs to add tension and thus enhance the effectiveness of moves. Her supporting staff of instructors helps fill a robust schedule that also features yoga classes.

As members of the Crustacean Nation, fans of the Maine Red Claws cheer on the rim rattles of alumni from some of the top NCAA programs as the athletes hustle and sweat for a shot at the NBA through its development league. In its first three seasons since joining the D-League in the 2009–10 season, the Red Claws—an exclusive affiliate of the Boston Celtics—fostered nine players who signed NBA contracts, including the Celtics' own Avery Bradley, Kris Joseph and Fab Melo.

Saco River Yoga embraces the reflective aspect of the Ashtanga system in their classes, training students to glance inward as they unfurl and stretch their physical forms. The studio's mission—to find peace in both muscles and minds—carries over to its meditation sessions and promotes an inner balance previously attained only while walking across a tightrope over a blazing pit of incense.

Outside of classes, diligent instructors work to build a community among their students through book clubs, drum circles, and gong meditations. Their specialized brand of mind and body training has earned Saco River Yoga kudos from Examiner.com.

Built between 1858 and 1860 as a summer home for hotelier Ruggles Sylvester Moore, the Victoria Mansion continues to dazzle visitors more than 150 years later with its Italian villa-style low-pitched roofs and soaring architecture made from locally sourced Connecticut brownstone. After a hurricane swept through the region in 1938 and badly damaged the mansion, it was scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt as a gas station until a retired educator, Dr. William Holmes, rescued the property. He turned it over to the Society of Maine Women of Achievement, which now operates it as an historic house museum and National Historic Landmark.

Conservation efforts have gradually restored the mansion’s brownstone front steps, balusters, and decorative carved finials; the Islamic-inspired paintings in its Turkish Room; and the Pompeian-style painted walls of its preserved mid-19th-century water closet. Elsewhere, palatial gilded surfaces and stained glass add color to the interior, juxtaposed by modern conveniences such as hot and cold running water, central heating, and robot janitors.