New England ~ Maine, driving through NH, VT, MA, CT to Newport, RI ~ Wednesday

Wednesday morning started out at approximately 5 am. Jason and I realized that we had never seen the sun rise and since we were on the East Coast it was the time to take mother nature up on that offer. We were less than 100 yards from the beach, so it was easy to get there. Funny thing was that I actually brought a flash light..I'm so used to watching the sun set and needing a flash light that I just didn't think it through!

We were the only ones on the beach...except for a nice older gentleman who was out for his morning walk with his metal detector. His wife, he told us, was cleaning up the playground. Precious. He offered to take some pictures of us, but other than that let us enjoy the sunset. It was fun waiting to see when the ball of sun would actually come over the horizon...

And it was worth the 5am wake up!!!

After the sun rise...we went back to bed! We had planned on walking around the town and having breakfast but after our night the night before {think dirty hotel room bed} we decided a snooze was in order.

We had also planned to make some stops in New Hampshire and Vermont but that didn't work out, because of the hurricane. There was some extreme flooding in the area.

On our way out of town we stopped at a light house, because you can't go to Maine and not see a light house!!

Nubble light house is on an island and one of the most photographed in Maine.

Then we were on our way...to New Hampshire, Vermont, through Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It was a lot of driving and since we got about a 5 hour late start...it got dark part way through our trip. We also had to take a 7 miles - 2.5 hour DETOUR in Vermont due to the flooding...

NH

VT

The muddy {because of flooding} parking lot

On our Vermont DETOUR...so frustrating. We were rocking out to some rap at this point...to starve off boredom.

Heading back into MA...just driving through

I promise this one says Welcome to Connecticut!!

We totally missed the Rhode Island sign...but we stayed the night there - more on the in the next post.

New England ~ Concord, Lexington, Maine ~ Tuesday

On Tuesday morning we rented a car {a first for us} and headed out of Boston. Our first stop was Lexington and Concord. This was one of the areas that Jason most wanted to see, he loves history. Not that I don't, I just prefer relaxing on the beach ;-)

where the battle started

i loved this tree

the lines that are mowed in the grass indicate the routes the troops took

gorgeous view

such a gorgeous day!!

After we visited Concord we headed to Salem. Again, it was somewhat on the way and since we were so close we decided why not. Salem was a cute and accessable little town. It was easy to walk through and led to an enjoyable afternoon.

probably as close as I'll get to seeing my name on a sign

Tallship Friendship.

In the Captain's Quarters

Sailing ;-)

After touring around Salem we headed North to Maine!! Maine is definitely somewhere I would like to go back to someday. It definitely reminded us of the Oregon/Washington Coast, maybe that is why we enjoyed it so much.

we made it to the Atlantic!!

Enjoying the chilly beach!!

Our hotel ~ Atlantic House Hotel

New England ~ Boston ~ Monday

Freedom Trail and Harvard.

Monday was a gorgeous day in Boston. The sun was shining, the humidity was gone thanks to Hurricane Irene, and we enjoyed a long - long walk following the Freedom Trail and then taking the T out to Harvard. It was so nice to just follow a line in the sidewalk to get to where we were going. We did do a few things of the "trail" but it was so easy to get back on that it didn't matter.

Aftermath of Hurricane Irene

On the swan boats :-)

so fun

one of the many churches

Jason loved this little corner

Holocaust memorial

Paul Reever house

Trinity Church

Not that I like the bible - but I like the composition of the shot

follow the trail

Our first Canolli...

We had such a nice time walking around Boston. One thing that made it really enjoyable was we downloaded a free walking tour from iTunes and had it while we walked around. It was so nice not to have our noses stuffed in a book and be able to look up and enjoy the views! Most of the attractions were free or a donated was asked. Some we gave to, some we didn't.

After walking miles on the Freedom Trail we decided to hop on the T and head out to Harvard. We figured if we were so close we might as well :) That was another nice thing about Boston - everything is so close.

Harvard was kind of like I excepted it. We walked onto the campus and there was just groups of people sitting around on the grass talking - just like in the movies. It was quite strange to get off the T, walk across the street and be on the campus. Though Jason and I both went to college in the middle of wheat fields - so that is a new concept for us. We didn't stay there for too long. It had been quite a day and there wasn't really much to see and we weren't allowed in the library...so we were really only there for about 20 minutes. Enough to say we've been there...

the T at Harvard

just like in the movies...

The Harvard Library