Do you like my title?! I stole it from Cameron's facebook album. So I think I uploaded these pictures almost 2 months ago, and it's taken me awhile to add captions. So here goes nothing...
We drove to Seattle after work on June 6th and took the red-eye flight to Detroit. We did our best to sleep on the flight (luckily we both got upgraded to first class) and then on the floor of the Detroit Airport. Note: There are bird noises that play over their intercom that morph from a bird squawking to a monkey yelling. As you can imagine it's not a pretty sound.
Cameron and I were star-struck when we got on our flight from Detroit to Boston and saw her sitting in first class. She got off the plane so quick, but luckily we saw her at baggage claim and she was so nice and gracious enough to get a picture with me.
We started our Boston adventure by having lunch at Cheers!
After filling our bellies we walked over to the highly recommended New England Aquarium.
Following the Aquarium we rushed (in our usual style) to the JFK library and museum and got there just in time to be the last group admitted. Cameron and I both really enjoyed this, the displays were just so great and fun to go through.
This is an outside view of the Library and Museum. There was also a beautiful view from the library into the harbour. It faces the airport so we saw several planes taking off and landing.
We headed back into the center of town and to the Skywalk Observatory and a birds eye view around town. Luckily on our way there we walked past a ColdStone and so we had yummy ice cream for dinner.
As the sun set we headed out of the city and up to New Hampshire for a good nights rest and a welcome shower!
Cameron has some AWESOME friends from High School, the Hammill's, that live in right on the ocean in New Hampshire and they let us stay with them. It was great to have some local tour guides that knew the right places to go.
On Thursday, June 8th, we started by finding a local lighthouse, called the Cape Neddick lighthouse.
We got some goofy pictures of all of us.
Is it ironic if we take a picture of a picture? I love seeing artists painting out in public.
The Hammill's took us to Warren's for some 'real New England' seafood. Cameron had the Lobster Roll... and I was adventurous and tried a bite :)
Then we had the opportunity to take the Hammill's to the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, a local attraction that they hadn't seen before.
After we got home, Cameron and I explored the local beach and park. What do you think of our paintings we had commissioned?
We also ran into some wood chucks, but never got an answer to how much wood they could chuck.
Next came our private tour of the Coast Guard Station and Lighthouse.
Me and my new buddy Atticus at the top of the Lighthouse.
It was a little nerve racking to get to go on the outside of the Lighthouse with just a small guardrail.
To end the night we went for some delicious local ice cream.
... And shopping... this was a cool store Marie showed us that sells all sorts of things for great prices, I'm still confused as to why it's named Christmas Tree Shops when there wasn't anything Christmas-y in there during June. I would maybe compare it to Big Lots and similar stores.
Thursday, June 9th, we continued heading north and searched out some lighthouses in Maine.
Here's some of Cameron's rock skipping action. This beach had the flattest rocks I've probably ever seen. It was a rock skipping paradise.
This is at Portland Head Lighthouse...which has been my computer wallpaper at work and kept me motivated and excited leading up to our trip.
This one is called "Bug Light" since it's so small, but it was perfect for jumping pictures.
Cameron the Frog
Then we went over to Breakwater Lighthouse
There were huge stones that we walked across to get out to the lighthouse.
All of a sudden he fell in between the stones and got stuck...
...I was able to rescue him and we lived happily ever after, The End.
Just Kidding! Now to my favorite part of the trip... our whale watching trip. So it's kind of funny because it was supposed to be a 4 hour tour and we had been riding out on the boat for almost 2 hours and hadn't seen anything yet, we had eaten right before leaving and I wasn't feeling so hot. Needless to say I lost my lunch twice off the back of the boat but still saw everything and it was my favorite part of our vacation.
Here's a couple shots of the whales...
Here's a couple shots of the whales...
And this is a shark, it swam right towards us and right to where I was, I could see it's huge outline in the water. It was all just so awesome.
On the way back it got rainy with rougher waters. We could see lightening on land, and it did make me nervous that we might end up on our own Gilligan's Island.
When we got back on solid ground we took a stroll around the city and got some pictures.
And finally, dinner...
On Friday, June 10th, we did some driving up and around and through the middle of New Hampshire and into Vermont.
This is the quarry site, I think it's so pretty. One of the reason's we decided to visit here is because the granite that was used to build the Bountiful, UT temple (where we were married) came from Rock of Ages in Vermont. We picked up some sample/scrap pieces of "Bethel White" at the visitors center as a memento.
They made an outdoor bowling alley that we tried out. When they originally proposed building granite lanes it seemed like a good idea, but it's actually too smooth and slick and doesn't do well so the idea never caught on.
For lunch we stopped at an odd little local place in Sharon, Vermont. It was a restaurant in the front and a thrift store in the back, doesn't get much better than that.
This is at the birthplace of Joseph Smith, which is actually right on the line between the cities of Sharon and South Royalton. The hearthstone in the picture is the original hearthstone from the cabin that he was born in.
This is the monument that was dedicated in 1805. It was done by Rock of Ages (which we had just visited) and the story of getting it to the site is amazing because of the weight and size. It's 38 1/2 feet tall, one foot for each year of the Prophet's life.
They also had a traveling exhibit about the Hubbell Space telescope, the pictures are so neat.
This is still on the site, one of the original bridges.
This is just a view from the car window as we were driving. I now understand why Vermont is called the Green Mountain state, it's just beautiful to drive through and it takes your breath away.
We then stopped in a few small towns to look at their covered bridges and get some photos, there was a whole slew of them.
We stayed in the greatest hotel that night in Lexington, MA. It was called Element and it was a modern hotel with their set-up and furniture, also they served the best continental breakfast we've ever had, no joke, we loved this place! The location was also perfect for our plans the next day, Saturday, June 11, we got up and went to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to see Author's Ridge.
This is Henry David Thoreau.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Louisa May Alcott
And Ralph Waldo Emerson
We then visited historical spots from the Revolutionary War...
This is the bridge where the "shot heard round the world" happened, that was the first shot of the Revolutionary War. It was kind of rainy all morning and we didn't have much time, but I'd love to go back and visit Lexington and Concord again to spend more time at these places.
We got back into Boston and went to the Museum of Fine Arts. You know what, I LURVE Art Museums. We had gone through most of the museum and Cameron had to run pick up the car from the meter so I stayed so I could find the Impressionist Collection...it was totally worth it and my favorite part of the museum! I had a realization while I was there... my favorite type of art is the Impressionist Style. I could spend days looking and Renoir, Monet, Manet, Degas, and Cezanne.
A special exhibit they had there was of this blown glass, it was awesome, and I couldn't help but think of my friend Tricia since she loves blown glass and wants to learn how to do it.
Our last stop before the airport was the Museum of Science (we had bought the City Pass and needed to get our moneys worth). Here's a view of the city as we left the museum.
We flew into Seattle late that night and decided to spend the night there. We ended up at a cheap Motel 6 next to the airport (a real downer after our amazing accommodations the night before). It was a little sketchy and I got hit on as I was checking in and Cameron was in the car; needless to say I was glad Cameron was there with me because I wouldn't have dared to stay without him.
We miss you New England, thanks for the Great Times!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment