Day Trip to Salem, MA

This past weekend, Boston had some of the most beautiful weather we've seen in a while.  It's not often we get a Saturday in November with the high in the mid 60's!  We knew we had to get outside, so we called up our friends Emily and Jason and decided to head to Salem, MA for a day trip.

Four years ago, we ended up going to Salem 3-4 times within a relatively short period of time.  Needless to say, I needed a little break from the land of the witches, but I'd finally had enough time apart and was ready to go back.

We spent a lot of time going in all the shops downtown and had some lunch downtown at a the Front Street Coffee House.  Everything was delicious and the inside was really unique.  They had some of the coolest lamps hanging from the ceiling.  We were having such a good time I totally forgot to take pictures!  I promise I'll take some next time we go.  :)

Here's some of what I did manage to document with photos.  Some of these are courtesy of Emily.  Once you're finished looking at these pictures, you should go check out her blog.  :)

The common

Jason, me, and Travis.  There's a pretty silly gif Emily made from a whole series of these photos...check it out here!

House of the Seven Gables

If it was our last hurrah for the fall, it was a good one.  :)

Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum

Over Labor Day, we went to upstate New York for our friend Jennifer's wedding.  Since the wedding wasn't until 5:30pm on Saturday, we decided to spend the day a few towns over in Cooperstown to check out "baseball-ville".  Cooperstown is the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and is all about baseball.  The restaurants are named after baseball legends, stores sell anything "baseball" that you can think of, and the streets are filled with baseball fans wearing their favorite team's shirt!

We started the day at the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Here are a few snapshots of some of the memorabilia we found.

You can start the museum by watching a film about baseball - the theater looks like Fenway!  (I recommend skipping the film and making your way through the first part of the museum while the crowd hangs back for the film.)

Travis said the Yankees locker stunk...har har har.

Once we had soaked up as much baseball history as is humanly possible, we went downstairs to the Hall of Fame Gallery.

The museum/hall of fame was really neat - I'd definitely recommend it if you're in the area.  It will take you anywhere from 2-3 hours to make your way through it (depending on how much you want to read), so there will still be plenty of time in your day to explore main street.

We enjoyed lunch at the Doubleday Cafe before we made our way further down the street.  The grilled chicken sandwich was good, fries were great, but their fruit cup was fantastic.  I know that's a silly thing to be excited about, but I really hate a bad fruit cup.  You know the one...1/2 is honeydew, 1/4 is cantaloupe, and there are a few strawberries and blueberries sprinkled on top?  Well this fruit cup was ALL of the good stuff - pineapple, strawberry, oranges, blueberries...so good.

Such a fun day.  Stay tuned for adventures from the wedding and our trip to Saratoga Springs, which rounded out the Labor Day weekend!

Day Trip to Newport, RI

Last weekend we made a trip to Newport, RI to see our friend Brooks.  Brooks has been stationed there for the last few years (he's in the Navy), but is moving to Hawaii in a few weeks.  We needed one last get together before he took off for the other side of the globe.  Newport is one of my favorite towns in New England!  It's got a little of everything (except mountains...but that's ok) - water, great food, a beautiful downtown area full of shops, walking paths, and beautiful homes.  I've been 4 times before, and there's something new to do each time we visit.  This time we did some of Brooks' favorite things - I love traveling with a local.  :)

We got there around noon and hopped in Brooks' jeep.  This jeep was seriously awesome.  I've never really understood the whole "jeep thing" until now, but it really made the day for me.  It was 72 degrees and sunny with a breeze - the perfect day to cruise around with the top down.

We started with lunch at Anthony's Seafood.  It was super yummy.  After lunch, he took us to an overlook, where we climbed out on some rocks to enjoy a beautiful view of the coast and "2nd beach".  Then we walked a little further up and saw Pergatory Chasm, a 2 foot slit in the rocks right on the water.  The waves crashing into the cavern made a fantastic noise - it was very cool.

After taking in some scenery, we headed over to the War College, where he'd been stationed.  They have a great museum there with lots of ship replicas, metals, uniforms, and weapons.  The view from the Navy base was beautiful - a perfect shot of the bridge and town.  We also drove around to see some of the ships docked there and I saw my first aircraft carrier, the Saratoga.  It was HUGE.

We had a little time to kill between the War College and a schooner trip I'd booked a few days before, so we stopped by a fantastic coffee shop in town and got out of the sun for a while.  In addition to fantastic drinks, they also had a giant light bright board, which I (obviously) had a good time with.  Then we walked around downtown and got ready for our schooner trip.

Our boat trip was on the Adirondack II, a beautiful sail boat that held as many as 55 people.  Travis and I love getting out on the water whenever we can (and Brooks obviously feels at home...being in the Navy), so this was pretty much a given for the day.  The trip was really nice except for two things.  1) As we were about to leave, a group of 25 Jersey shore-type 20-somethings boarded the boat.  They were loud and EVERYWHERE.  2)  We never left the harbor!  While it was great sailing around the harbor, it would have been nice to see some different scenery and not just sail around in circles for 1.5 hours.  I guess I shouldn't be picky...I mean...we were on a schooner in Newport.  ;)

Fort Adams

The Kennedy's home

The Eisenhower home

After the boat trip we finished the night with dinner.  We settled on the Speakeasy Bar & Grill, which was a fantastic choice.  The front of the restaurant was a bar-type scene, but the back half was set up for a nice dinner out.  Since we were starving, we decided to started the evening with their pulled pork nachos.  When they came to the table we were shocked.  They were HUGE (and delicious).  I'm embarrassed to say we devoured them.

For dinner I had the Pork Porterhouse Chops with a Wild Mushroom Demi-Glace, Brooks had the Mix Grill of Meats (Petite Filet, Chicken, and Andoulli Sausage), and Travis had the Lobster Gnocchi.  Travis' dish was the winner for the night - it was fantastic.  Brooks couldn't stop raving about the andoulli sausage that came with his dish.  My pork chops were ok, but pretty tough.  Thankfully I'd inhaled yummy nachos earlier, so I wasn't too sad.

Then, the most fun part of the day, I got to drive the Jeep home.  It was the wildest car I've ever driven.  I took my foot off the brake and we took off.  We were seriously driving down the street and my foot wasn't on the gas.  I guess that's what a V8 engine does.

It was a fantastic day with great friends.  Check out one of our other day trips to Newport for some other ideas of what to do.  We're sad Brooks is leaving, but look forward to visiting him in Hawaii!!