East Coast Road Trippin
| August 2, 2011 | Posted by Jessie under Us |
Mike and I just got back from a super fun road trip. We toured the east coast for a week and saw lots of purty sights.
Ah. See what I mean? Gorgeous.
The entire trip was pretty spontaneous. We knew we wanted to see the east coast and we had the week blocked off, but hadn’t really booked anything. Finally, about a week before we left, we decided we should at least book some hotels. So we had places to stay each night but that was about it. It was a great way to vacation. No plans, no schedules, just get to the next hotel when we were tired and see/do whatever we want between. It was perfect.
We started out with a little 13 hour drive on day 1 and made it to New Haven, Connecticut. No real reason that we decided to stop there, other than we thought 13 hours would be enough driving. And it was. They did have a beautiful beach and we toured Yale {which I would highly recommend}.
Yale was sort of gothic and very architectural. I have a whole post coming up dedicated to east coast style and some great design elements {including some Yale pics} where you can see more cool stuff, like this door.
From Connecticut, we drove into Boston. We were in Boston on our anniversary and stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston Harbor. Awesome room. We had a great dinner in the North End that night,
got dessert from Mike’s Pastry {which was an experience in itself..anyone ever been there??? You have to fight your way to food, which we did with no shame.}.
then the following day walked the Boston Freedom Trail,
saw Fenway Park,
and toured Harvard.
After seeing all there was to see of Boston, we were ready to get out of the city. Big cities are fun, but we are not big city people. We were more than happy to head on down the road. We spent the next night in Exeter, New Hampshire in the sweetest inn.
{more info on this sytlish place coming later}. We toured Portsmouth, NH the following day where we walked the beach and had a little picnic on the water.
Then came Maine. One of my new favorite places. It’s gorgeous.
This lighthouse was probably my favorite stop on the whole trip. It was a beautiful day, the homes were gorgeous, it was peaceful, pretty, and worth just sitting and enjoying for awhile.
We stopped in Kennebunk and found this beautiful beach where we were basically alone. It was called Parsons Beach and was just what I pictured when I pictured Maine in my head.
We trekked along to Camden and had dinner on a foggy night. Mike was wandering down to the harbor after dinner and saw this gorgeous waterfall behind the main street.
Bar Harbor was our next and longest Maine stop. We walked around and soaked up the views of the town on day 1:
And on day 2, we got up early {like 4:30 am early} to watch the sunrise at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Because it is the highest, most eastern point in the US, you are the first people to see the sunrise when it comes up.
Well, you and the 200 other people there, but it’s still pretty cool.
Then we took a nap:) Got up for breakfast a couple hours later, and did a five mile hike through the park where we saw some gorgeous scenery.
They even have a beach there.
Once we left Maine, we made our final stop on the trip: Niagara Falls. G.o.r.g.e.o.u.s.
We took a tour on the Maid of the Mist boat {where you get soaked, but super close to the falls}
Did I mention you get to wear these really attractive ponchos? It was worth it though because we got to see this stunning rainbow.
We stayed until dark and saw the falls lit up
And even got a fireworks show
How nice of them to do that for the end of our vacation?
It was an amazing week. Here’s our vacation by numbers:
2,650-the number of miles we drove {to make the miles go by quicker, here are some tips: take pictures of each state sign you enter, play the license plate game, talk about the most random things you can think of, play “would you rather”, and take annoying pictures of each other while driving}.
44-the number of different states license plates we spied on the road {for all those inquiring minds out there, here are the most elusive plates in the country-or at least the east coast-Idaho, North Dakota, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Wyoming}
11-the number of states we drove through
2-the number of countries we were in
6-the number of bonus license plates we saw {Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Yukon, Washington D.C., Quebec}
7-the number of hotels/inns/beds and breakfasts we stayed at
Here are our favorite spots if you are considering a trip out east:
- Yale: West Haven, CT. It was very cool to walk around the campus, see all the old buildings, and imagine being a super smarty-pants college student {and, yes, we liked Yale more than Harvard-sorry to all the Harvard fans out there!}
- Exeter, NH. This was an adorable small town, gorgeous houses, and the sweet Exeter Inn is highly recommended {by us}.
- Intercontinental Hotel, Boston, MA. Stunning, fancy, great views, on the water.
- Nubble Lighthouse, Cape Neddick/York, ME. One of the prettiest places I’ve ever been. Period.
- Parsons Beach, Kennebunk, ME. Beautiful beach. Only about 30 cars can fit in the parking area so it is nice and secluded and private.
- Camden, ME. Great little harbor town to stay, eat, and walk around.
- Bar Harbor, ME. Stay at the Holbrook House, eat lobster at Stewards Restaurant on the water, walk the Shore Path, and cross the sandbar at low tide.
- Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, ME. Hiking, biking, or horse riding are all ways to see the park. Lay out and relax at Sand Beach and the #1 must-do in Acadia is get up early and see the sun rise at the top of Cadillac Mountain.
- Niagara Falls, NY/Canada. The area is annoyingly touristy but the views of the falls are worth the trip. Go in the evening {ride the Maid of the Mist} and stay until the sun goes down to see the falls lit up.
Yeah, I love your blog even more now! I live in PA but my best friend lives in Gloucester, Mass about 45 minutes from Boston. Every time we go up we make a trip into the city for Mike’s. Thanks for making me smile
Glad you enjoyed the East Coast. It is beautiful. You should visit in each seasons because it’s always changing!
I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now and had to comment. Your trip looks amazing – my husband and I took a road trip of most of the Western part of the US a few years ago and had an amazing time. I’d love to do the NE soon – it looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Sarah! We went out west last year {Yellowstone, Tetons, etc.} and loved it! The east coast had some different scenery and was just gorgeous. I would highly recommend it!
Now… to get my husband to want a vacation like that!
Show him these pretty pics…how could he say no?
What a wonderful time you had and to be so spontaneous seemed to work out great for you guys! We have never been out East to vacation but I am definitely putting that on my bucket list after seeing your beautiful pictures and hearing about how much fun you had! And I would love to do all that hiking too!
Gorgeous, gorgeous pictures! Wow!
Thanks, Shona!
Looks like alot of FUN…..pics are great! See you soon in the PGES hallways. Take care.
[...] As you already know, Mike and I had a wonderful vacation to the east coast last week. We did a lot of driving, saw some beautiful places, stayed in fantastic hotels/inns/bed and breakfast places, and did everything we wanted:) Vacations are typically a time to splurge (which we did our fare share of}, but it’s also nice to save some money where you can. Today I’m going to share some ways we saved moolah while on vacation. [...]
OMG – we just got back from vacation and went to a bunch of those same places! Acadia/ Maine was my favorite place too, however, my 7yr old liked Niagara Falls best (and we did Maid of the Mist too!) I enjoy your blog and out of the box decorating ideas! Thanks for the tips and inspiration!
ahhhh you’re making me miss new england so much! love this post- i’m from CT but live in CA now – so this makes me long for summers in maine
[...] you know, Mike and I went on a fabulous road trip a few weeks ago along the east coast. Today I’m going to share some gorgeous decor and cool [...]