Boston, Massachusetts

 Our one day in Massachusetts was spent entirely in Boston. We took the morning train in from near where we were staying and stayed until very late. We walked many miles and saw as much as possible. Because our time was limited in a city that has so much to offer we took the "on and off" trolley so that we could get a good feel for the city and get transportation as well. A bonus of the trolley ticket was a harbor tour which I loved. I am always happy to be out on the water. The boat offered a great view and more history.

 Of course we stopped at the state house which was much busier than most and had more security than most also. There were many interesting details inside as well.

There were so many things to see and places to go but it was Boston Commons that beckoned me back. It's such a beautiful area with a great energy. In the late afternoon we were able to get a piece of Boston Cream Pie from Parker House, even though they were officially closed! We took our pie back to Boston Commons and sat on a bench by the pond. My only disappointment was that the swan boats were already put away for the season.

 

 We did lots of walking and saw lots of history and old buildings but I think my favorite walk was Commonwealth Avenue to Fenway Park. It wasn't filled with tourists and felt like we were really walking the neighborhood. It's a gorgeous street/park that goes for miles.

 

 I finally made it to Fenway! It has long been the ball park that seemed to be missing from my list. . . the one with so much history and fame. I was grateful that it was a part of this trip.

 Our view was a bit obstructed which isn't unusual in the old ballparks. It did remind me of Wrigley Field in some ways. It was fun to watch the Red Sox but we did leave a little early because we were dependent on the subway to get us to the train station before the last trains of the night. It was our late night, out till midnight but well worth it!

Our only other stop in Massachusetts was a sweet little diner, Dream Diner, from roadfood.com that we stopped at the following morning on our way to Maine. It was an amazing breakfast with the sweetest server in New England, named Mary. The omelets were wonderful and Mary convinced us to try the incredible sweet potato pancake.

 

New Hampshire

 Although Nashua, New Hampshire was our home base for four days it was on this Monday that we hit the road to explore New Hampshire. I had very few expectations and was thrilled with the beauty of the state. We spent most of our time in the White Mountain National Forest that day. With destinations like the Kancamagus Highway, Sabbaday Falls, Franconia Notch and Lincoln Woods Trail, I knew it was going to be a good day! 

 It was early in the season for fall foliage but the colors had started and we were excited to capture some of the color with our cameras. We love fall photography and this was a great place.

 

 

The falls and the mountains were so gorgeous. The hiking was wonderful. I loved being out in the woods and exploring new territory. When we got to the higher elevations it did drop to the mid forties but most of the day was pretty comfortable. I love visiting the mountains. This was a great part of our  New England exploration.

 

 

We started this wonderful New Hampshire day in Concord and ended it there also. We visited the state house first thing in the morning before heading toward the mountains. At the end of the day we paused for a good meal in Concord. We had researched and found a restaurant that had gone out of business so we walked down the block and found these amazing short rib chili nachos. It was a great day in New Hampshire! 

Vermont

Our schedule when we travel is fluid in many ways and became even more so when we woke up to heavy rain on race day. We had planned to attend the NASCAR race in New Hampshire. It was the catalyst for planning this trip. Dale made the call and decided that we shouldn't risk wasting a day at a rainy track when the forecast was for 70% rain and storms at race time. We changed our plans and headed to Vermont thinking we might be going to the race on Monday if it was delayed due to rain. The rain cleared and they had the race without us but we had a good day in Vermont anyway.

I've been interested in visiting Vermont for quite some time but I am not sure that I ever had an idea of what I wanted to see. We got some suggestions, did a little research and headed out to see what we could in one day. One of our stops just over the state border was the Quechee Gorge. Then the little town of Woodstock where I found some maple walnut ice cream with real Vermont maple syrup which was a perfect Vermont lunch for me.

 

 

We saw several covered bridges but not much fall foliage color. We knew we would be early for the leaves but still enjoyed the beauty of the state. The prettiest leaves we saw were near the Dunkin Donut for morning coffee. That photo is at the top of this post. The Old Red Mill in Jericho was beautiful if you stood at the right angle. It's actually a gift shop with a parking lot and signage on the other side.

The woman at the welcome center referred to the quintessential Vermont village and I was glad to get to see those. After a few stops we headed toward Burlington and Lake Champlain to see another part of the state. We could see the mountains of New York across the water and enjoyed exploring the waterfront area a bit.

The last planned stop for the day was Montpelier. Dale loves to visit the state houses to photograph them and go inside if possible. Since this was a Sunday, we were content to walk around, take photos and go downtown for a simple dinner. It is a beautiful setting for the capital. I was grateful for the opportunity to visit a state that I had never seen and explore a bit but the next day would be for exploring New Hampshire.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island has long been on the list of placed that I would like to visit. It's a small state and I don't know exactly what I wanted to see but it was the Rhode Island coast that interested me most. We decided to get out and explore around Newport and the famous Cliff Walk. We thought it would be like this with nice walkways and safe railings along the shore with the Newport mansions. It was like this at the end of our route, but we started out a bit more rocky.

 We got off the trolley further south where the shore was most beautiful according to the woman at the visitor's center. We ended up going even further south because we misunderstood the access points to the trail. She warned us that it was less maintained and she was right. We did lots of rock climbing on very uneven surfaces but it was a great experience and we saw the gorgeous rocky coast of Rhode Island. We got great exercise and survived with smiles on our faces.

 

We had also heard about Ocean Drive and although it was time for sunset we made the drive and enjoyed the color in the sky even as it got too dark to see some of the sights. It was a great visit to the Rhode Island coast and we headed inland after dark which set us up for a fun Saturday night in Providence.

 Roadfood.com had lots to say about Providence and because we couldn't decide on just one we explored two of the options. Haven Brothers set up this truck in front of City Hall every day at 5pm. It was an interesting find and a great atmosphere. Downtown Providence is very cool on a Saturday night. There were lots of people and music with a great energy.

 

 After experiencing the downtown we headed to another side of town to learn something about New York System hot wieners. Nope, they aren't from NY. They are a Rhode Island thing served with a meat topping, raw onions, mustard and celery seed. They may not have been my favorite but we had a great conversation with a young man who served us and I got to try coffee milk, the official drink of Rhode Island which was delicious.

 We visited the state house in Providence before checking out the roadfood and found it lit up in pink for breast cancer awareness. It was fun to photograph in the dark but Dale was interested in getting a daylight shot so we stopped back to shoot the Rhode Island capital a week later as we traveled back to NYC.

Connecticut

 When we left NYC we headed through Connecticut along the shoreline. We weren't there long but we had a great experience on that Saturday morning. We found a nice lighthouse in a park that charged $30 for out-of-state cars to park. That didn't slow us down. We just parked about a mile away and walked in. We got some good exercise and still got to visit the lighthouse and I got to walk in the Atlantic Ocean.

 After our nice walk and lighthouse we found some amazing coastal seafood for lunch through roadfood.com which is a favorite website when we travel. Lenny and Joe's was a great find for our first day in New England.

Our second visit to Connecticut came just a week later. We had explored New England all week and were heading back to NYC when we headed through Hartford to visit the state house. This would be our fifth state capital of the trip but it may very well be the most impressive and unique in its architecture. Because it was the weekend we were not able to go inside but the detail on the exterior was worth the stop.

 We settled in for the night after finding a local pizza joint in Hartford. It put us in a great location to get to NYC the next day for the Met's game and the flight home. We did lots of walking on vacation and I was happy when Dale suggested that we walk the Yale Campus in the morning before leaving Connecticut. It was an interesting blend of old and new with much less ivy than I had imagined. We enjoyed both visits to Connecticut even though it wasn't a main destination.