Happy Monday, all!
I thought I would share a few of our vacation pics ~ It was SO hard to choose (from over a thousand!), but I tried to pick a few that best represent the trip overall. :)
So, here goes...
We flew into Boston and spent some time there before driving up to our cottage in Maine. I absolutely LOVE Boston and it's been a few years since I've been, so it was great to explore the city again. I really don't have a ton of pics from this part of the trip. Not sure why, but we were so busy trying to fit in everything we wanted to do ( which didn't happen of course... We'd need a few weeks for that ) plus it's just hard to pull the camera out sometimes in crowded places. I have quite a few on my phone but haven't uploaded them yet. So anyway, not much to show, but we had a great time! :)
We usually do not do "touristy" things, but did make a trip to two places that are: The New England Aquarium and Mike's Pastry. Both worth it. I have been to the aquarium before, and though it's actually smaller than the one we have here in Dallas, it is jam-packed with awesome exhibits.
We happened to be there the day Animal Planet film crews were filming a show with Jeff Corwin (some of you probably have no idea who I am talking about, but I'll bet a lot of you moms do!) in the Giant Ocean Tank. That was pretty neat even though the aquarium staff wouldn't let you stand there and watch for too long.
Mike's was definitely worth the wait in a very loooong line ( at 9pm! ) after dinner one night to get some of their famous Cannoli. One word: wow.
We tried a few different flavors as well as a whoopie pie and cheesecake. The whoopie was the only thing I was disappointed in. My favorite bakery here takes the cake ( no pun intended ) on that.
And, no trip to Boston is complete without a trip to Legal Sea Foods!
This is my favorite seafood restaurant as far as chains go. I have been to several locations in different cities on both the west and east coast, but Boston and Palm Beach are my favorites. The clam chowder, which has been served at every presidential inauguration for years and years, is the best E.V.E.R.
We also spent time searching out independent bookstores. Boston has a wealth of them, but we just couldn't make it to all. The one I am most disappointed in missing is the Harvard Book Store. It's supposed to be fantastic, but we ran out of time before getting there. It's probably just as well. We had a hard enough time packing all this up as it was and I know we would have walked out of that shop with more books than American Airlines would EVER let a person carry on! But I'll have you to know that the one bag we did check at the airport was one pound from being over the weight limit. Whew. Not bad for all the stuff we bought to take back. Anyway, Brookline Booksmith was the favorite this trip and I am looking forward to visiting it again next time.
We left Boston and drove 5 hours up to our cottage in Northeast Harbor on Mount Desert Island in Maine. It sits right at the Asticou Azalea Gardens and across the street from the famous Asticou Inn. The only downside to this was that every day there were tons of tour buses stopping at the gardens, so it could get a little noisy at times. It actually wasn't too bad, but I could have done without it. :)
Here are a few snapshots of the cottage from the outside, a couple of the inside and of the view from the porch and balcony~
The weather was pretty much perfect the whole week we were there and I think we caught the fall color at it's peak.
Okay, enough for today! I'll close this off with some random shots and will be back again tomorrow with part two!
Have a great day ~ I'm off to bury myself in more catching up... Ah, the joys of coming home from vacation.
Sigh. :(
