Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Pilgrims, Lincoln and Thunderstorms



It is hard to believe that day three of our second road trip is coming to a close. The last few days have been an absolute blur.

On the first day of our road trip we stayed the night in Middleboro, MA. This site is about 45 minutes south of Boston. It was a good stopping point for the first day.

On the second day we visited one of my favorite places on the planet, Plymouth, MA! The Mayflower II is currently under renovation however we still visited the exhibit, wandered through a few of the gardens and toured the Jenny Grist Mill. It was just lovely and the weather was wonderfully cooperative.

After our amazing visit to Plymouth we traveled through Western Massachusetts and Eastern New York. We spent the evening in Herkimer, NY where we braved an insane thunderstorm. Thunder, lightning, hail pieces the size of quarters, 55 mph winds- the whole nine years. We were incredibly grateful when the morning dawned bright and clear.

We originally had planned to visit Saratoga however that was far too much of a detour. Instead we stopped at the William H. Seward House in Auburn, NY. Seward was governor of New York in the mid-nineteenth century and secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. His house was gorgeous and contained so many wonderful tidbits from that particular time period.

After our tour we hopped on the road to Buffalo, sped through Erie, PA and are now camped in Ohio.
Tomorrow we hit up Chicago and begin our trek through the MidWest!



Thursday, May 16, 2013

Searsport


About a week ago, Christopher and I needed a little escape from Bangor. A day trip to Sea report was just what the doctor ordered.

Searsport is about 45 minutes southeast of Bangor and about ten minutes away from Belfast. It is a charming little town right on the Atlantic. I first wanted to visit all of the museums and historical buildings, but these were all closed for the season still.  Instead we wandered around town and stopped wherever we fancied.

We explored a local bookstore where there was a mix of old and new books. I nabbed a lovely copy of 1001 Arabian Nights. We also wandered through Pumpkin Patch Antiques, a high end antique shop. They housed some very interestingly microscopes and Ethiopian artifacts that I wish I had the money to purchase.
 

After a lovely lunch at Route One Roadhouse, we meandered to the beach. The weather was breezy but so refreshing. We collected shells and sea glass, climbed over mounds of seaweed and just had a fantastic time. We ended the day with some of the best ice cream we have ever had at a place a bit closer to home.
.




 We always love getting out of town and exploring a new place. What has everyone else been up to?

Friday, May 3, 2013

Budding



Slowly but surely flowers and plants are starting to bud. The trees are regaining their leaves. The weather is heating up and staying warm. Everything feels so hopeful this month.


I will officially be done in with class on Monday and Christopher will be finished a little later in the week. After that we have about a week and a half to prepare for our road trip and for me to do a little of my own personal research! We have a massive to-do list to accomplish before we hit the road.

We are visiting some familiar spots and a few new places too.

We will be visiting my favorite place on this planet, Plymouth, MA.  We will spend a few hours in Saratoga, NY where the famous Battle of Saratoga took place. Christopher and I will grab dinner in Chicago again. We will get to experience the light ceremony at Mount Rushmore and catch a glance of Yellowstone National Park. We will conclude our road trip with a day-tripping in Seattle, a day and half with Christopher’s aunt and uncle in Washington, and about four and a half days with Christopher’s grandparents and my very best friend Lizzy in Oregon. We will be home very late in the evening on June 3rd!


 Bring it on May!