This May, I packed up a suitcase and headed to the East Coast. Let me tell you, traveling with a 2 year old is no joke, but I always promised myself that I would instill in a her sense of adventure and love for travel.
Day 1-3
We started off on our 2 week trip by flying into Boston. After a layover and a 3 hour flight, we were finally there. We drove 2 hours to our first stop: Mystic, Connecticut.
In Mystic, we stayed at this crazy Bed and Breakfast, House of 1833. There were eclectic antiques everywhere, friendly dogs, and the most welcoming owners. We loved exploring the sea side town and of course, visiting Mystic Pizza (if you learn anything about me today, let it be that I LOVE JULIA ROBERTS).
On our second day in Connecticut, we took a day trip to visit a bunch of locations that inspired Gilmore Girls (something else you should know... I have seen Gilmore Girls probably 200 times from start to finish). We went to New Millford, Washington Depot, and then drove through New Haven to see Yale. Coming from the Midwest where the oldest building is from 1950 its so fun to see all the history in these East Coast towns. I don't think I would ever get over the beauty of it if I lived there.
“Life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better." -Simon Raven
Day 3-5
Next, we went on to Cape Cod. A place I have dreamed of visiting my entire life. The colorful buildings and beachside cottages, the energy of everyone here, the air even feels like vacation. We rented a cute little Airbnb right on the water for 2 nights... It rained most of our time there, but we still got to explore all of the towns (you must go to Provincetown!) and had the best homemade pasta at this family run Italian restaurant. Get the Bolognese, trust me.
Here comes the chaos...because let's face it, on a two week road trip something is bound to go wrong.
Day 5-12
We were supposed to go to Martha's Vineyard from Cape Cod, but because of Piper and the weather, and the fact that we would have to pay to park our car, take a ferry with everything you need for a toddler, and the fact that we couldn't catch a cab or Uber there due to not having a car seat on the island, we decided to cancel that leg of our trip. Instead, we decided to rent this beautiful beach house in Maine.
We pack up our car and drove the 4 hours to our dream oasis on the ocean. When we pull up to the "oasis" it is in fact, a shack. It is not on the beach, it is across a busy street with a huge concrete wall blocking our view. We decided to pull into the driveway and check it out in case the inside made up for it. It in fact, did NOT. We go to pull out of the driveway in our off road 4Runner and... we are stuck. The sand driveway, swallowed our vehicle. So, in the freezing rain I get out and push the car... It takes me 35 minutes, all the while 20 cars are driving by, slowing down, and watching me struggle.
We get out and decide to head into Portland 2 days early. I find an adorable Airbnb able to host us really last minute, and after 6 hours of misery we are finally in for the night.
The next day we explore all of Portland, and I am in love. What an amazing city. The buildings make you feel like you're in the West End of New York, but yet feels like a small town all at the same time. We got donuts from the Holy Donut, and found the best juice spots. For dinner we got dumplings from this amazing spot just across the street from our place. If I imagine myself, where I'll be in 5 years, its there.
After Portland, we moved on to Bar Harbor. We spent 4 nights at an Airbnb, explored the town, hiked in Acadia National Park, and just enjoyed everything the town had to offer. I loved every minute of it. Something about Maine... It's simply magic.
Now, we are back home. Back to work, and reality. But I can't help but feel like I left a piece of my heart in the East. I don't feel whole anymore, half of me is still there.. the nature, the ocean, the peace. I will treasure it forever. I am so grateful I get to travel, and experience so many new places and people... I will never stop wanting the adventure.
