We just wrapped up an epic week in New England. This was a bit of a different type of trip for us as we called one city "home" for 3 nights and took day trips. So, we didn't follow a specific route, per se. So...I'm going to summarize our entire trip in one post but I'll put some anchor links here at the top to allow you to maneuver yourself around this page.
We flew into Albany, NY on a Saturday evening as we had concert tickets at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass the next day. We slept late, grabbed breakfast, and then made our way into Lenox. We had lots of time so our first real stop of the trip was to the Edith Wharton Home and Museum. Admission is $20 for adults and were thrilled to see that people under 18 years old are free. You have a choice of a guided or self -tour. The price is the same so we chose to do the guided tour and we were so happy we did. We had about 30 minutes before our tour started so we took the short walk to the house and went ahead and visited the gift shop. The tour starts outside the front of the house. We had about 18 people or so in our group and our tour guide was amazing.
Our tour guide kept us engaged with the history of Edith Wharton's life (her marriage, her writings, her architectural designs). She asked questions and answered our questions. Honestly, after the tour it made me want to go back and read Ethan Frome again. I am glad we made this stop! (Check out more pictures here.)
From there we made our way to the sweet town of Lenox. We had a lovely lunch, bought some drinks to enjoy before the concert, and walked around the town.
We got to the concert as the gates were opening...which meant we got to hear some of the soundcheck. Avery also got a chance to meet an Instagram friend in real life. And the Brandi Carlile concert was amazing......as always.
Following the show we had a 3 hour drive to Portsmouth, NH. It was a brutal drive, having us arriving at our hotel at 1:50 am. But, it was so worth it.
The main reason for this trip (besides the BC concert) was for Avery to attend the University of New Hampshire gymnastics camp. So, after a late night we were on the road to UNH by 8:20 that next morning. Thankfully, we had club access at our hotel so breakfast and wonderful coffee was easy. Avery's camp was a 3 day camp which meant we dropped her off by 9am and picked her up at 5pm each day. After dropping her off on Monday we made our way into Maine. Our first stop was Kennebunkport. This is such a cute little coastal town. We did a little shopping and drove to see the Bush Compound.
From there, we headed north to Portland. We had one thing on our minds.....LOBSTER ROLLS!! And man, we picked the perfect spot!! The HighRoller Lobster Co was so delicious. We loved their unique sauces. We struggled deciding what to order. But decided to share a lobster roll, a batter and fried lobby pop, and a cup of fries. It was so good!!! The lobster was fresh and sweet. The fries were crispy. The sauces were superb (April loved the charred pineapple mayo and my favorite was lime mayo.)
We were on a tight time frame....but had another Portland stop in mind. Our next stop was Allagash Brewing Co. I've been drinking Allagash White for years.....it is usually my go to beer when I am in the northeast. It was fun to try a new beer, visit the gift shop, and hang out there on a beautiful day.
From there we jumped back into the car and headed on to Freeport. Again, time was against us so we didn't get a chance to fully explore the city but we did spend some time (and money) in the L.L. Bean flagship store.
Because we had to pick Avery up at 5pm and we wanted to be certain we would not be late, we made our way to Durham. We arrived there around 4:25 which gave me a few minutes to take a nap before we met Avery in the Field House.
Once we picked up Avery she was starving and craving a lobster roll. She was sweaty and chalky so we wanted something super casual. We headed to Kittery, Maine and landed at Bob's Clam Hut. April got a crab cake and ate the slaw from my meal. I had the clam strips and fries and Avery got herself a lobster roll. The weather was perfect. The food was simple but delicious.
After dinner we went back to the hotel to rest for a few minutes and then explored the Market Square area of Portsmouth on foot. Such a beautiful, walkable city.
The next morning we dropped Avery off at UNH in Durham and then headed south to Salem, Mass. Once arriving, we purchased tickets for the Salem Trolley Tour. The Trolley tour was a great way to explore Salem while learning about the unique history. While. the Witch Trials were discussed during the tour, our tour guide also included other historical info. I felt this was a good balance. The tour was an hour in length with one stop for us to get out and take some pictures. This isn't a hop on/hop off tour.
We then set off on foot for a lunch destination. We settled on Finz. It was a beautiful waterfront restaurant. I chose the mussels and spaghetti and April decided on a delicious, spicy sushi roll. Reflecting on this entire trip, I feel that this was my FAVORITE meal of all. It was so fresh and delicious.
We did more exploring and a little shopping and then headed north via the cost to Manchester by the Sea. This was another really cute beach town but not near as boujee as Kennebunkport. We stopped at Masconomo Park and got ice cream at Captain Dusty's. After ordering a small, April realized just how big their servings are and she went for the kids cup. The ice cream was delicious and we enjoyed eating it while overlooking all the boats in the harbor.
Gloucester was our next stop. You can tell that this town is a working town. It is absolutely beautiful....which you may recognize it from some of your favorite movies. Sadly, we looked at the time and realized that it was already 3:15 and we had a 1.5 hour drive back to Durham so we didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked. After picking up the kid we headed back to our Portsmouth hotel to relax for a bit and to freshen up for dinner.
For dinner we walked to Water View Grill. April really enjoyed the lobster ravioli and Avery liked her diver scallops. I chose the tomato grilled cheese sandwich with lobster. It was just okay....I would not order it again. We did, however, love the frozen margarita flight.
Wednesday was Avery's last camp day and there was a dance finale which meant we had to be back by 4:00. Because of this we designated this as our Portsmouth day. After dropping Avery off we headed to Odiorne Point State Park. This was a lovely park where you can walk the shoreline. Both sandy and rocky, it was absolutely beautiful.
We took some time just sitting on the park bench to take in the breeze. We took the trail that led us to the cemetary. A little bit creepy, a little bit beautiful.
Our next stop was Peirce Island. The short drive took us through a quaint neighborhood where we said several times while pointing at homes "I could live there". We drove past the community pool and parked and made our way to the water. We found several pieces of sea glass. While we know browns, greens, and whites are the most common (and what we found) we still enjoyed picking up the unique pieces.
We finished up around noon and headed back to our hotel to load up and check out. Our next stop was lunch and we loved our meal at Popovers on the Square. We spent the next hour or so shopping, taking in the sights, and people watching.
We headed to Durham a little early because we felt that we had not fully explored the UNH campus or the surrounding city and we wanted to see all of it. Well, there really isn't much to Durham. It is a very, very small college town. We went to the local coffee shop and hung out until it was time to get Avery.
Once we picked her up we were on the road to Plymouth, which was our hotel stop for the night. We drove through the small town and campus of PSU but couldn't settle on a dinner spot. So, we went to the local grocery store where we each selected our dinner for the night.
The next morning we were on the road early by 8am. We had a 10:00 train to catch and were instructed to arrive by 9:15. The drive to the Cog Railway Station was beautiful as we started to fully capture the White Mountains. Our train departed promptly at 10:00. It took about 45 minutes to make our way up the 3 miles to the top of the mountain. Once there we had about 45 minutes to explore before our train took us back down. Up and down, the "brakeman" gave us the story of the railway and of the mountain.
The view from the summit was stunning. It was VERY windy and about a 20 degree temperature difference. It was a cool 53 degrees at the top. (Brrrrrrr)
We really enjoyed exploring Mt. Washington by way of the Cog Railway. We also purchased a lunch that we picked up as we were leaving. There were picnic tables available but we decided to go ahead and get on the road so we ate in the car.
Next stop was Waterbury, VT for the Ben and Jerry's tour. Because it was the holiday, production wasn't happening but it was still fun. We've done tons of factory tours in our travels. This one wasn't super informative, detailed, or behind the scenes....but there was ice cream. Definitely worth the stop.
We were about a 20 minute drive from Stowe so we felt we at least needed to drive through. It was such a cute mountain town. We parked and visited a few of the shops before making our way to Burlington.
Burlington is the "smallest largest city". We loved the Church Street Marketplace and the Waterfront Park. One thing that we noticed when we parked and started exploring was the smell!! Fresh flowers made the entire city smell like a bottle of perfume. It was heavenly.
We ate dinner at American Flatbread. Evidently this is a small local chain but the beer and pizza were very good. We made our own.....roasted garlic, caramelized onions, and goat cheese on a large cheese and herb. Avery wasn't hungry (I think she ate one slice)...April and I were starving and we still had some leftover. It was bigger than we expected.
The next morning we slept in. I had time to work out and we got a slow start. We drove through several cute towns as we made our way to Quechee for brunch. We devoured crepes at The Skinny Pancake, a local chain. If you know us, you know we try to find crepes on all of our travels as there are no creperies near our hometown. These did not disappoint. So good. I even had the Beets and Sweets.....a cup of tiny diced beets and sweet potatoes with maple syrup and cheese.
Our main stop for the day was Sugarbush Farm between Quechee and Woodstock. A maple syrup and cheese farm, Sugarbush Farm is in their 4th generation of production. They have a few walking trails that allows you to view the process. Their sugar house has a video that discusses the syrup process and the history of the farm. The sugar house is set up as a mini museum. Inside the store we were warmly greeted and sampled 4 cheeses, a bourbon maple syrup glaze, maple syrup butter and several syrups. Entering into the next 2 rooms, we found goodies from local businesses as well as Sugarbush Farm syrups and cheeses.
Of course we had to buy a few syrup souvenirs as well as the butter, glaze, and cheese for us. Luckily everything can travel easily. The farm is free to visit and the family/staff are really kind. There are also a few farm animals and a small playground for the young kiddos.
As we made our way back to the Albany via backroads we made several stops. We stopped for creemees, for maple syrup pepper, and for weird things alongside the road such as this giant kitchen chair (25 feet tall).
Upon arriving back in Albany we explored downtown, using the pedestrian bridge to see the Hudson River.
It was a great trip with several memorable experiences. We do hope to get back to Maine as we didn't have time to visit Bar Harbor or Acadia NP.
As it stands now, we have visited 46 states....only lacking Missouri, California, Hawaii and Alaska.
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