The last leg... Maine, Vermont, and Niagara Falls

So here we are wrapping up the last leg of our summer vacation.  I still can't believe it's October and I'm still talking about this damn trip!  I suppose it was quite the whirlwind of an adventure with so much packed into just two weeks.

Well, we arrived in Maine knowing that we were going to spend a few days camping in Old Orchard Beach, which is about 20 minutes south of Portland.  It's a cute little seaside town that has fireworks and carnival rides all summer long.  There were many campgrounds to choose from but most were full.  I can't recall where we stayed but I do recall the INTENSE heat wave that was happening while we were there.  The temps were above 100° and we trying our best to stay cool... it wasn't working out too well.

I was a little disappointed in our campsite.  We were plopped right in the middle of ashy dirt that stuck to every inch of the girls' sweaty bodies.  There were other tents set up on grassy sites, but we were less fortunate.  The girls didn't seem to care, but being that I'm a bit of a neat/clean freak, it was driving me insane.  Luckily we were right next to a water spigot so cleaning off wasn't too difficult.

We roasted marshmallows, grilled some burgers, enjoyed an evening stroll at the carnival, and watched the fireworks.

We went to a local lobster shack where Scott learned how to dissect his boiled lobster and I had my first lobster roll, which are quite popular out east.  AND it was air conditioned!  I spent some of my time right in front of the fan trying to cool off.  I'm sure the other patrons thought I was a bit weird.

The girls really enjoyed camping though.  Playing in the dirt and swimming in the pool was how they kept busy.  We did however have one mishap early one morning when we awoke to Ginger screaming her lungs out.  She had reached into my toiletries bag and cut her finger on my razor.  She cried so loud and for so long that I'm quite positive she woke up everyone else in the campground.  It was a traumatic experience for her and she did not recover quickly.

I believe it was the second day we were there that we headed up the shore to Portland where we had planned to walk around, take pictures, enjoy lunch, and collect sea shells on the beach.  We took a drive through town first to see the sites and then headed to a nice little beach that was covered in shells for the girls to collect.  They loved it!

Maria compiled quite the collection in her green panda bag and kept busy and stayed happy through the heat.

We ate a snack on a blanket before heading into the city for some lunch at Otto's pizza.  We ate our delicious slices outside the pizzeria and then headed down the street to do some window shopping.  It didn't take long for us to realize that we were exhausted!  The heat had definitely gotten to us in more than one way.  Our bodies ached, we were tired, and all four of us were irritable.  We had heat exhaustion for sure. 

We cut our day trip short and headed back to the campground.  That's when I tried to convince Scott to forgo our last night of camping and head out in search of a hotel room with air conditioning.  He eventually conceded and we immediately started packing up our things.  When we got into the truck the temp read 104° with a whole lot of humidity.  I think it was the best decision we made during the whole trip.

We were then on our way to Vermont.  We drove through beautiful New Hampshire and eventually made our way to Killington, Vt.  We found a great deal online for a two night stay at one of the ski resorts on the mountain.  We had decided to take this time to relax with no real agenda.  We ordered take out from across the street and took scenic drives to take in all the beauty Vermont has to offer.  It was absolutely lovely there.

After a few days of recuperation, we headed north to Burlington. We loved the city and it in some ways reminded me of Duluth.  It was while we were here that we really started to get serious about buying a new car to drive home in.  We knew what were looking for and they were abundant out east.  So, a bit of car shopping was on our agenda as well as a trip to the popular Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory!

The wait time for the tour was far too long for the girls, so we decided to walk through the gift shop and enjoy a pint of ice cream on the picnic tables instead.

It was crazy busy there and before then, I hadn't even known that Vermont was were B&J ice cream originated.  I guess I'm more of a Kemps girl. :)

Vermont was absolutely gorgeous though and I really wish I would've taken more pictures.  I think by the end of the trip, I was just so exhausted that taking pictures seemed like too much work.  There were times when we'd be driving through the cutest little villages or by one of the many covered bridges, and I was too darn lazy to tell Scott to pull over so I could snap a few.  Oh well, just another reason to come back.

We left Vermont a day earlier than we had planned.  We still had Niagara falls and a whole lot of driving to get out of the way, so leaving a day early seemed like a good idea.

Driving through upstate NY was stunning.  Lots of trees, farms, and hills to keep your eyes busy and stay awake.  We stopped somewhere along the way (I can't remember where) to buy our car and found out he seller was actually from Minnesota!  It's such a small world.

So with me driving the new car and Scott still driving our truck, we continued on towards Niagara Falls.  I couldn't believe my eyes when we finally arrived.

My pictures don't do it justice.  We were unable to travel the the Canadian side, which would've made a much better photo op, but I did what I could.

The waters were the prettiest color blue, the scent of the water was wonderful, and the mist coming off the falls was refreshing. 

There was a tour boat that took you right into the falls.  People were lined up waiting to get on wearing rain slickers and water shoes.  I couldn't understand how some people would consider that to be fun.

It was really beautiful there and the water was so mesmerizing.

We walked around a bit and enjoyed ice cream treats that melted way to fast.

Niagara Falls was such a great ending to our enduring trip.  It's a memory that will forever stay in our minds because of it's great beauty.  If you haven't been there yet, I'm going to suggest that you go at some point in your life.  It's truly an amazing site... right up there with Mt. Rushmore in my opinion.

Salem, Ipswich, and Portsmouth... more from our New England vacation

Holy smokes it's been awhile!  Finding the words to go along with this post have not been easy as our lives have taken on new adventures since returning home.  I've been working on this particular post for days and gathering these pictures together has  left me trying to remember where we were, when we were there, and what we did.  Bare with me as I try to remember and relive our vacation from nearly a month ago.

After we spent some time in Boston, we made plans to make our way up to Old Orchard Beach in Maine.  There are many sights to see along the way and we stopped in several of the quaint, east coast towns to see what each had to offer.

I believe our first stop was Salem, Massachusetts.  If you don't know your history, it's where the witch trials were held in the late 1600's.  Spooky things creep me out, but seeing this town was something I didn't want to miss out on.  

Witchy things were everywhere!  From Tarot readings, to medicinal herbs, to voodoo dolls... they had it all.

We walked through the historical (and spooky) cemetery where several people associated with the witch trials had been buried.  The photo below isn't one of them, but I thought it looked cool.

We toured the Witch House where Jonathan Corwin lived.  He was on the jury who sent the 'witches' to death and the house is the only structure left in Salem with direct ties to the trials.  It was actually pretty cool to walk through knowing that you were walking on the same wood floors as he did so many years ago.

We walked down to the bay where we found this cool ship.

and we came across an alley way that had this cute sign.

When we decided that it was time to leave Salem, we headed north to the small little town of Ipswich, Ma.  I believe it was one of the earliest settling grounds for immigrants and is also one of the prettiest and most peaceful areas of our whole trip.

There were a few things we wanted to do while we were there... one of them being Castle Hill.  The drive up to this beautiful place was picturesque... rolling hills, huge estates, lots of horses behind bright white fences, marshes, and farms.  I couldn't stop looking out the window.

When we arrived at Castle Hill, we intended on taking the tour of the inside.  Unfortunately, we came on an 'off' day and weren't able to do so.  Instead we walked the grounds and took in this massive place imagining what it would've been like living here back in the early 1900's during the summer months.  I'm sure it was wonderful!

If you continue along this green path, it will eventually take you right to the Atlantic Ocean.  I'm sure the Crane family who built this castle made the trek quite often and enjoyed picnics on the sandy beach.

We walked as far as the stone wall you see below. 

We explored the hillside and saw a wild turkey, and then headed back up the hill towards the castle to check out the Italian gardens.

It was all so beautiful and peaceful and I really would've enjoyed that tour.  One more excuse to come back to Massachusetts!

We had worked up quite an appetite so after Castle Hill, we went and had fried clams at the Clam Box.

It was the cutest little place and I'm pretty sure it was featured on one of those Food Network shows.  I tried to keep the kids happy while we waited for our meal, and was relieved when it finally came.  However, my fried clams left me wishing I had ordered something else.  Is it just me??

After lunch we headed north to Portsmouth, NH.  What a darling little city!!  We arrived around five, and there was so much to see and do that we decided to stay the night and check it all out the next day.

I can't even begin to tell you how great the shopping was... mostly because I can't remember which town had what.:)  I do know that they had this store full of Le Creuset kitchenware and I was in pure heaven.  How does one even decide on a color?!

We stopped by the Portsmouth Brewery and gift shop, had some delicious ice cream at a cute little parlour, and dipped into a few more shops here and there.  It was such a fun place to be that it was hard to leave, but we did knowing that Old Orchard Beach, was just around the bend.

More soon!

Boston bound

First of all I want to say that lately this space has taken a bit of a backseat.  August has been a busy month for us with moving, settling in, visiting, playing, birthdays, knitting.... I could go on and on, but I won't. :)  There's so many things I need to still share with you all, but finding the time and will to do so hasn't been a priority.  All in due time I suppose.

So, after our adventurous trip to New York City we headed up the coast of Connecticut and Massachusetts into the fantastic city of Boston!  Before I delve into any details about our afternoon there, let me tell you about some of the places we stopped at on the way.

We drove scenic highway 1 along Connecticut's coast and both Scott and I were smitten by all the charm and beauty.  It was just as you would've pictured the east coast... Cape Cod style homes, cedar shake siding, white trim, beautiful front yards with an abundance of blue hydrangea.  It couldn't have looked more perfect driving through all those small coastal towns.  Sadly though, we knew it wasn't realistic on Scott's RN salary and we moved on.  We also drove through Providence, RI and took a quick loop through downtown to check out the architecture.  So many old, historic buildings and such a beautiful city.  We wished we could've spent a bit more time exploring but were quite anxious to get to Boston.

Arriving in a new city, it's hard to know exactly where to go and what to do.  Luckily we had our laptop with mobile Internet access in the truck, so I did some research as we were approaching the city.  It appeared that Boston's North End was where it was at for the amount of time we had to explore.  So that's where we went.  It's the part of the city where most of the Irish and Italian settlers came, so it was RICH in authenticity.  The neighborhood was also designed before cars came into the picture, so the streets were narrow and not on a normal city block grid which made everything close and walkable.  Although I've never been to Europe, I felt like I got a small taste of what it would be like while walking through this charming neighborhood.  I instantly fell in love... with everything!!

Before we got to wrapped up in out surroundings, we grabbed a few bags of chips for the girls to munch on (and to keep them from complaining) while we took in the sights.  From the Boston accents to the friendly people on the streets, to the Italian bakery down the way, we were quickly enamored by what we saw and what we were experiencing.

Charming churches, authentic family owned restaurants and cafes, cigar shops, parks... it was all so wonderful.  Before arriving to Boston, a friend of mine told me it was a dirty city so I had reservations of what to expect.  But we didn't see it that way in the least bit.  I really wish we could've spent more time there, but perhaps a trip in the future with just Scott and I would be more enjoyable anyway.

I really wanted to eat lunch in one of the many cafes, but because of our two rambunctious girls we opted for an Italian 'order at the counter' type restaurant.  Scott enjoyed a HUGE piece of pizza while the girls and I devoured a real piece of lasagna... filled with ricotta cheese and smothered in homemade sauce.  You could tell from the depth of flavor that the sauce had been simmering all day.  SO good!!

We also dipped into Mike's Pastry for a cupcake and our first Cannoli, which we tasted later at our hotel.  I didn't care much for it, and I don't believe Scott did either.  An acquired taste I suppose.

We went to what I'm calling 'the Paul Revere park' because I'm unsure of what it's really called, and let the girls run around a bit and chase the pigeons.  We shared a watermelon shaved ice that was so refreshing and cool.  A perfect treat for that incredibly hot day.

It was so nice to take a seat in the shade and people watch, one of my favorite pastimes. :)

By the end of our time there, you could tell that a certain someone was tuckered out and ready for a nap.  A full day of driving and walking around (in the heat) was getting to all of us and it wasn't long before we headed back to our truck and then to our hotel room.

We finished off our exhausting day with a walk down by the water and a good nights sleep... only to wake up the next morning and do it all over again in an entirely new city and state.