The Northeast (Part 2)

On Wednesday morning, Colin and I got up early in Hartford and drove to Philadelphia (about 3 1/2 hours) to pick up my parents from the airport.  Had their flight been on time, we would have made perfect timing.  But it didn't - it arrived EARLY!  Way to go, United!  Luckily, they did not have to wait long.  We got them loaded in the car and headed towards our hotel in downtown Philly!

Once we got checked in, we started walking towards the Liberty Bell and some other historic landmarks and decided to pick up lunch on the way.  We typically avoid chain restaurants on vacation, so we ended up eating our first cheesesteaks (chicken and beef) at a walk-in deli in a shopping center.  Yum!

Afterwards, we made our way to the Liberty Bell museum.  There was a small line, but it didn't take long.

{Remains of George Washington's house; history of the Liberty Bell; the Liberty Bell}

After that, we got tickets for a 'hop on, hop off' bus tour of the city.  It went everywhere, and given that it was so hot outside, we decided it would make the trip much more enjoyable.  We 'hopped on' at the first stop, and rode around and heard about Philly's history, making note of the places we would want to stop the next day since our passes were good for two days. 

{Independence Hall; City Hall; Benjamin Franklin statue; American Museum of Art (aka Rocky steps)}

Once we had made almost the entire loop, we got off close to our hotel so we could rest and get freshened up for dinner at McCormicks and Schmick's.  They had some delicious seafood!

After dinner, we walked through city hall and admired the gorgeous architecture.  It is so big, it basically takes up an entire block. 

{City Hall}

Then, we went into the Macy's across the street from our hotel and were blown away by how HUGE it is.  Mom and I could have spent all day in here, but the boys wouldn't allow that!  We even got to hear the organist play live - too cool!

{Macy's interior and organist}

The next day, we started our Independence Day celebration with some Dunkin' Donuts (one of Mom's favorites), and walked to the United States Mint.  Luckily, the Mint in Philly is not as particular about what you can bring in.  I read that the one in Denver does not allow purses - talk about inconvenient!  They did have a no picture taking rule though.  Since we got there early (about 9am) and it was a holiday, there were only a couple of other people there.  So nice!!  We could take our time reading about the process, checking out the inside of the facility, and playing the little guessing games they had setup.

Afterwards, we hopped on the bus and rode it around some more.  Most of the museums  were either closed because of the holiday, or were more expensive than what we thought they would be worth to see.  We ended up getting off at the Head House Square - a cool area filled with restaurants and shops that was close to the pier.  We ate some good ol' American food (burgers and crispy chicken sandwiches with bread pudding for dessert) at Bridget Foy's.
 

Then, we walked to the South Street pier for a couple of pictures.

We caught our bus, and headed back to our hotel.  After a nap (vacations can be exhausting!), we walked about a block to Maggianos for dinner.  (I know it is a chain, but Mom and Dad had never eaten there, and Colin and I rarely do.)

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, picked up our camera, and headed out to find a place to watch the famous fireworks.  They say Philly has the best show in the country!  We found a nice place on the grass and waited.  There were several concerts going on down by the Museum of Art where the fireworks show was going to be, so they had to wait for them to finish.  Apparently, some of the artists went over their time, because the fireworks didn't start until 10:30 or so.  Once they started, Colin and I walked out into the street to get some better pictures.  About 10 minutes into the show, someone screamed something that apparently scared the people around them, because the next thing we knew, people were scattering and running towards us.  We ran and got out of the way, but at that point, we were both ready to get out of the crowd and call it a night, so we did.  The show was good while it lasted though!

The next day, we checked out of our hotel and headed towards West Chester, Pennsylvania.  What's in West Chester you may ask?  Why, QVC of course!!!  Mom is a huge fan, to say the least.  This was the actual reason we started planning the trip - not baseball if you believe that.  The two games were just an added bonus for Colin!

Mom and I had All Access Tour passes (yippee!!) so we got to go behind the scenes and learn all about the preparation, everyone that is involved to choose things to air, getting it ready to air, etc.  Exciting stuff, topped off with a trip to the QVC store at the end of it!  Our tour guide, Ann, was a sweetie and even had (big) sample bags for us filled with goodies to take home!!

 {"Catching" the falling box above the entrance; old QVC set from the 80s; Mom on the living room set; the crew setting up one of the next segments}

{A view of the product samples pulled for being on the air - 2 of everything; an inside peek into the QVC closet; blue bins full of samples to show on the air; QVC packages all ready to ship!}

{Mom & I in front of the big QVC logo; inside peek into the store; all of the goodies that were in our bags; me on the kitchen set}

Clearly, the boys were not interested in this, so they drove to nearby Valley Forge and saw the sights there.

{Bridge to Valley Forge; George Washington's house; stained glass in chapel; chapel; fields surrounding Valley Forge}

We headed back towards Philly with all of our loot, checked into our next hotel, and then made our way to the Phillies game!  It was warm when we got there, but luckily there was a good breeze going and there were some empty seats next to ours that we could spread out on.  It ended up being a great night for a game, and the Phillies beat the Braves 5-4.

On our last day, we drove out to Atlantic City.  We were not sure what to expect since they were hit by a hurricane not too long ago, but everything looked really nice.  Mom and Dad had not been there in years and said that it had improved quite a bit.  It was an interesting concept with all of the casinos so close to the beach, but we liked it.  We checked out the sites, gambled away a few bucks on the slot machines, had lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse, drove to see the lighthouse, and then headed back to Philly.

 {Sandcastle competition}

{Views of the boardwalk and on the boardwalk}

{Giving the slots a try at Caesars}

For dinner, we went to a local pizza favorite.  It wasn't the fanciest of places, but they did have some darn good pizza.  It was a perfect and easy ending to a great trip.

The next morning, Mom and Dad caught the shuttle to the airport, and Colin and I made our way back to Baltimore for our flight home.  We saw a lot, and had a great time, but we were ready to be home!!

The Northeast (Part 1)

This year, Colin and I took off the whole week of 4th of July.  We thought it would be fun to visit some of the Northeastern states (and cross them off my bucket list), AND go to a couple of baseball games.

We flew to Baltimore (Maryland - check!) early Saturday morning on June 29th to make the most of our time off.  Once we got our rental car for the week, we checked into our hotel and headed downtown.

The Inner Harbor is a gorgeous area lined with shops, restaurants, and entertainment.  We walked around a bit and ended up stopping to eat at a Pizzeria Uno and enjoyed a view of the harbor.

We walked back to Oriole Park at Camden Yards to watch the Orioles game.  They were playing the Yankees (oh dear), so the game was intense to say the least.  LOTS of Yankee fans in the stands...every time the Yankees started a chant (yes, they would start the chant at the Orioles field), the Orioles would chime in.  It was crazy!  The Orioles quickly shut them up with an early lead 4-0 in the bottom of the first inning.  The Orioles ended up winning 11 to 3.

The next day, we drove through Wilmington, Delaware (Delaware - check!).  Wilmington was a cute little town.  We got some pictures, and were back on the road!

Next stop - Hoboken, NJ (New Jersey - check!).  We were going to grab a tasty treat from Carlo's Bake Shop (from the TV show Cake Boss), but the line was really, really long.  (They line up in front of the CVS across the street and get tickets!)  We had things to do and places to go, so we snapped a quick picture, grabbed some pizza next door, and headed to the next town.

After driving around New York City (and hitting some hefty tolls!!), we made it into New Haven, Connecticut (Connecticut - check!).  We drove around Yale's campus (really cool!), and stopped to take pictures in several areas.  They had a very old graveyard that had headstones that dated back to the 1830's!  You could barely see the words on them.

Last stop of the day - Providence, Rhode Island (Rhode Island - check!).  Providence was actually a really cool town.  We walked from our hotel to dinner and to see THE First Baptist Church, and Brown University's campus.  We had dinner at a cute little burger place close to campus - Harry's Bar & Burger.  It was tasty!

{Providence homes; First Baptist Church; Capitol; Brown University}

The following day, we went to Cape Cod (so cool!).  It was a quaint little area.  I didn't realize how big it actually is.  There are several towns on the Cape.  We did some shopping for mementos (ornament and magnet), and drove to Sandwich, Barnstable, Orleans, and Yarmouth.  We made it our mission to see several light houses, and we toured a windmill where a sweet man told us all about how it worked.  "Keep your nose to the grindstone!" 

 

{Typical home on the Cape; windmill; on the boardwalk; Nauset Lighthouse}

Colin had his first taste of a lobster roll on the trip at Nauset Grill in Orleans, and we found a DELICIOUS pastry stop, Cottage Street Bakery, where we tried their famous "dirt bomb" (a bran muffin rolled in butter, cinnamon and sugar), amongst many other treats.

{Shops; Nauset Grill; Cottage Street Bakery}

Afterwards, we headed off the Cape and drove north to Plymouth, Massachusetts - home of Plymouth Rock, and Salem, Massachusetts - former home of the Salem Witch trials.  Plymouth Rock was definitely NOT as big as you would think, but worth the stop to hear the guide explain a little about it.  The Salem Witch museum was not high on our priority list, so we opted for a quick picture and then back on the road!

{Colin at Plymouth Rock beach; Plymouth Rock monument; Plymouth Rock; Salem Witch Museum}

That evening, we made it to Portsmouth, New Hampshire (New Hampshire - check!).  This was another cute town.  We checked in and walked to dinner at Portsmouth Gas Light Co. for some delicious wood-fired pizza.  They had an open kitchen, so we got to watch them make our pizza from our table.   Delish!  Afterwards, we walked to Annabelle's Ice Cream.  They pride themselves on using all natural ingredients.  It was the perfect ending to the day.

{Gas Light pizza kitchen; wood fired grill; Annabelle's ice cream menu; downtown Portsmouth; Colin & I at Annabelle's}

The next day, we hit the road to Portland, Maine (Maine - check!).  We walked along the pier and hit some shops for some more mementos.  We also checked out a light house before heading to a local brewery for Colin to taste the local flavors.

{Lighthouse; view of the Portland pier; Allagash brewing company}

Outside of town, we went and visited a lighthouse and dipped our toes in the Atlantic ocean - it was chilly!!

{Portland Head Light lighthouse; Atlantic ocean}

Later that day, we drove to Brattleboro, Vermont (Vermont - check!).  What's in Brattleboro, you ask?  Not much.  This was my way to get Vermont checked off my bucket list without going WAY out of the way to something cooler (like Ben & Jerry's in Waterbury, Vermont).  We stopped at a veteran's park for some quick pictures.

Then, it was back on the road! (Do you see a theme here?)  Last stop for the day was Hartford, Connecticut.  We checked in, enjoyed some appetizers in the hotel lounge, and then walked to a local Italian restaurant - Saluté.  After dinner, we walked through the park across the street before heading back to the hotel.

The next day, we headed to Philadelphia to pick up my parents for the second part of our journey!