Biking or walking along the Greenbelt Walkway in South Portland this time of year gives you a clear view of Portland, before all the trees fill with leaves. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

After coming home from work in the dark for six months, Mainers have suddenly been given the gift of light.

In early March before we sprang the clocks ahead, the sun was setting at 5:39 p.m. On Thursday it will set at 7:27 p.m.

So the question on everyone’s mind should be: What can I do with that extra two hours of daylight? The later sunset gives you more time to get outside, take a walk, or roam a nearby beach. But you can also play a game of pickleball, grab a treat from an ice cream stand or go to a baseball game.

Here are a few specific ideas for what to do with the gift of light this spring in Maine.

FREEZE TAG

The extra daylight means it’s now possible to take a walk to your local ice cream stand after dinner without having to don a reflective vest. Luckily, there are lots of Southern Maine ice cream spots that open up in February or March because they know locals are ready to get out of the house for a treat.

The Dairy Queen on Route 1 in South Portland started serving up Blizzards in mid-February, when small-b blizzards were still a very real possibility. Lib’s Dairy Treats, a 56-year-old soft-serve landmark in Portland’s North Deering neighborhood, opened in mid-March. Red’s Dairy Freeze, another landmark that’s been operating at the base of South Portland’s Meetinghouse Hill for 73 years, also opened around the same time. In Central Maine, the Gifford’s hard ice cream stands in Bangor, Waterville and Skowhegan are all open now.

Red’s Dairy Freeze in South Portland has been open since March. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

ORDER ON THE COURT

A sure sign of spring is the hanging of the nets. At municipal courts all over Maine nets for basketball, tennis and pickleball are in place, meaning you can swing a racket or practice free throws into the early evening. The place to find the most courts for your money (that’s a joke, they’re free) is Portland. The city maintains 26 tennis courts, 12 pickleball courts and 48 basketball hoops, all in place now. Some of the spots where you can find a variety of courts include Deering Oaks Park (six pickleball, eight tennis, two volleyball and four basketball), Payson Park (two pickleball, four tennis and two basketball) and the Eastern Prom (two pickleball, three tennis and two basketball). For locations and more information on Portland’s parks and recreation areas, go to portlandmaine.gov.

The pickleball courts at Deering Oaks in Portland, like all the public courts, are open for the season. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

PEANUTS AND CRACKER JACKS

Portland’s minor league baseball team, the Portland Sea Dogs, start their games at 6 p.m. on weeknights in April. So you can at least see part of the game in daylight, and in relative warmth. The Sea Dogs are the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, so besides just taking in a ball game, you can see some Major League stars of the future. It can still be pretty cold, so bundle up. Another nice thing about going to an April weeknight game at Hadlock Field is that it’s usually not very crowded. The Sea Dogs start a six-game home stand on Tuesday against the Reading Fightin’ Phils. For more information and tickets, go to seadogs.com.

Sea Dogs first baseman Blaze Jordan is late with the tag as Charles McAdoo of the Fisher Cats slides back to first base in the Sea Dogs home opener April 8. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald

AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH 

Here’s something you don’t usually do after work in winter: take a drive up a mountain, just for the view. At 692 feet, Mount Agamenticus in York offers appealing 360-degree views from the coast of Maine to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  The gates to the popular York County conservation area close at sunset, so make sure you plan to get there with enough time to savor the views. There’s a $2 per hour admission fee. For more information on the site, go to agamenticus.org. 

WALK ON BY

Now there’s enough daylight to enjoy an end of day stroll on one of Maine scenic trails. Because it’s still mud season, you might want to pick one with paved surfaces. The Greenbelt Walkway in South Portland is a 5.6-mile paved path that passes Bug Light Park on Casco Bay, follows Portland Harbor to Ferry Village, then travels along the city’s lesser-known waterfront areas off Broadway through some wooded areas and ends up at the Wainwright Athletic fields.

The Beth Condon Pathway in Royal River Park in Yarmouth is part of a 2.6-mile paved path that allows you to walk through the park. The path winds through trees and grass and along the river. The Androscoggin River Bike & Pedestrian Path is a 2.6-mile paved path along the river and through trees, and provides a pedestrian and bike connection between downtown Brunswick and the town’s Cook’s Corner area. In Central Maine, the Kennebec River Rail Trail runs 6.5 miles along the water from Augusta, through Hallowell and Farmingdale, to Gardiner. To find out about access points and parking for the trail, go to krrt.org.

An early morning bicyclist on the Kennebec River Rail Trail in Gardiner last year. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal