New England

Shay, his mom, and I just got back from a whirlwind but fun trip to New England! The original purpose of the trip was to visit my brother-in-law, Weston, who lives in Danbury, CT. We ended up taking several different day excursions to various locations. Here is a short re-cap of the trip!

Thursday, July 23
Drove from Greenville, SC to Danbury, CT. I packed sandwiches for lunch, snacks, and a coolor of sodas and water, so we only stopped 2x for gas/restroom breaks! We left Man's Best Friend Pet Resort off of Augusta Rd. at 8:00 AM and pulled into Weston's apartment at 8:30 PM. Not too shabby!! :) The drive up is GORGEOUS, which is the only redeeming quality of the FOUR HOURS through Virginia. I mean, it's beautiful...the rolling green hills, the quaint farm houses and silos, the Shenandoah Valley....but it's a good thing it's pretty to look at because that is a LONG drive! :) Pennsylvania has really pretty country-side, too! Upon arriving at Weston's, he took us to Rizzuto's for some yummy pizza!

Friday, July 24
Went to a really cool park called Tarrywile on the outskirts of Danbury and hiked for about 2.5 hours...it was so pretty....the trails took us through hayfields, beside ponds and lakes, up and down some mountain-like terrain and through forests (complete with great views and tiny meadows/clearings). I felt like I was in a fairy tale!! It was exactly what I expected Connecticut to look like! :) There were even tons of other hikers with dogs!! I <3 CT because they LOVE their dogs!
After the hike, we drove down to Norwalk to see the "beach," and then back up to Danbury through Westport. We saw the Metlife building there in Westport (which is where Shay often visits on business), and Weston introduced us to the BEST grocery store on EARTH: Stew Leonard's!! It is so fun!!! It kind of has a fresh-market feel, but also sells mainstream stuff like you'd find down here at the Bi-Lo. There are puppet-like characters in the rafters around the store that talk and sing and stuff. My favorite is the trapeze-flipping lobster in the seafood section! Hehe! Anywho, they also open packages of their "home-made" stuff (fresh-baked goods, cheese made at their own dairy, macaroni salad that they make there, etc.), so that's exciting, too!! Everyone loves free samples, right?! My favorite things were their apple cider doughnuts and doughnut holes and their own kettle-cooked sweet potato chips! YUM!!! To top it all off...there's a mini-petting zoo outside at each Stew Leonard's location!! Fun stuff!! Calves, sheep, goats, chickens, and ducks. :) It was quite fun!! Word on the street is you can have a kid's birthday party there! I think that's pretty cool!

Saturday, July 25
We drove into Boston! We walked the entire Freedom Trail (starting in Boston Commons, winding 2.5 miles around the heart of the city and across the bridge into Charles Town, ending at the Battle of Bunker Hill site). It was a really neat experience, especially for the history nerd that lives inside of me!! Among the sites we saw: Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, The USS Constitution (AKA Ol' Ironsides), the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill, several gravesites of famous Americans--Paul Revere, Sam Adams, "Mother Goose," those who died at the Boston Massacre, etc.--, and Quincy Market. After ending the Freedom Trail, we were HOT, tired, and HUNGRY, so we walked to this little tavern in Charles Town called Warren Tavern that my mom had told me about. It's in an old historical building that used to be a tavern and an Inn. The ceilings are still really low and the wide wooden beams are still visible from "back in the olden days when people were so short" (as my mom so eloquently put it!). It was also one of Paul Revere's favorite haunts back in the day! The New England Clam Chowder was a-MA-zing!! And my Thanksgiving sandwich (turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce) was the PERFECT Massachusetts meal! :) After we ate, we walked back to Quincy Market and did some souvenir shopping! :) Once we returned to Danbury, we went to the Stew Leonard's there just for fun and for dessert! :)

Sunday, July 26
The day started off as a chill-out, recouperation day (especially for Shay who had been doing ALL of the driving). We thought it would be raining all day, anyway. However, around noon, we got kind of ansy, and it wasn't raining, and Vickie and I REALLY wanted to try to make it up to Vermont and/or New Hampshire just so we could say we'd been there, so we took off and drove the 2/2.5 hours up to a little town in Vermont called Brattleboro. We originally found it because there are several maple syrup farms there, as well as a brewery in an old firehouse called McNeill's Brewery!!!!! So anyway, we went to Robb Family Farm on the outskirts where Mr. and Mrs. Robb were sitting on their front porch and were very happy to sell us authentic Vermont maple syrup made by Mr. Robb himself!! We then went into the 'heart' of town to find McNeill's. It's in an old firehouse, and they sell pint glasses with the McNeill family crest on them, so of course, I bought a couple! They brew their own beer and sell it on tap, but I wanted some in bottles with labels that said McNeill's. The bartender told us that the Brattleboro Food Co-Op (just down the hill) sells a pretty big selection, so we went, they had 6 varieties, so I bought a bottle of each! (They only sell by 22 oz. bottles...no 6-packs!) I thought the beer and a pint glass would make a pretty cool birthday present for my dad! Anyway, after we left McNeill's, we crossed the Connecticut River into New Hampshire for all about 2 minutes...just long enough to turn around in a Wal-Mart parking lot....but at least now I can say I've been to both Vermont AND New Hampshire! (And Connecticut...added a total of 3 more states to my list!) We ate at a place called the Riverfront Cafe on the Connecticut River once we crossed back into Brattleboro. Everything they served was from local farms or made from products made at local dairies, which I thought was really cool. I had Vermont Cheddar Ale soup with a tomato, pesto, and mozzarella quiche and a fresh greens salad. YUM!! After we got back to Danbury, we decided we'd leave for home the next day (Monday), and Vickie and I wanted to get some more things from Stew Leonard's to bring back with us, so we went there AGAIN! :)
(Side-note: On the drive to VT, we went straight through Springfield, MA, and we learned/saw that the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is there! Pretty cool!)

Monday, July 27
Believe it or not, when we went to Stew Leonard's the night before, they had no more kettle-cooked sweet potato chips for sale, so we had to go BACK Monday morning on our way out of town!! :) No problem, because I LOVE the place! (It has become my new unhealthy obsession....second only to Costco pizza!) Anyway, we left SL @ 10 AM and headed home. We made a short detour through Hershey, Pennsylvania. We drove through the little town to see the Hershey Kiss-topped street lights and to visit Chocolate World. We went on a little ride/tour to see how the milk chocolate is made, had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Vanilla Milkshake, and bought some TRUE Hershey chocolate bars to bring home! :) Then, we headed back toward South Carolina. The drive back was just as pretty....but when we finally pulled in the driveway around 1:00 AM, I was so glad to be HOME!!!! :)

Overall, it was a GREAT trip! I got to see 3 more states, feed my hungry history nerd, geek-out about a brewery with my name (spelled correctly, might I add), and satisfy my sweet-tooth! :) The only thing is...I took all of 6 pictures. 2 of grave markers (Sam Adams and the Boston Massacre victims), 3 of McNeill's Brewery, and 1 of Shay and me at the Riverfront Cafe in Brattleboro. It's a good thing Vickie took tons and tons! :) When I get some from her, maybe I'll post some on here!