Sunshine and seventy-degree weather is just what the doctor ordered! We took five days and traveled through Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, seeing friends and family along the way.
After we made it through NYC, we treated ourselves to lunch at the beach at Sherwood Island State Park in Connecticut. The boys found shells and ate sand and enjoyed the sunshine.
Richie let me get a gel manicure as a little reward for selling our condo. It hasn't chipped or faded.
We visited my friend, Christine, in Newport for several days. We thoroughly enjoyed the Cliff Walk.
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| Photo Credit: Newportout.com |
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| Photo Credit: TravelAndLeisure.com |
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| Hall at Salve Regina University along the Cliff Walk. |
These mansions of the gilded age were mere summer homes to super-rich families like the Vanderbilts and Dukes. Check out this gate at The Breakers, one of Mr. Vanderbilt's summer mansions.
The church in town is where JFK married Jackie Lee Bouvier.
Overall, the scenery and beaches of Newport were spectacular. We enjoyed the rocky shorelines.
The wildlife was abundant, especially bunnies. Can you find one here:
The birds sang cheerfully in the morning and evening.
We enjoyed a little date night in Newport, thanks to Christine. This was the view from our window.
After a few days in Newport, we wanted to check out Cape Cod. So, we drove to Hyannis, where the boys enjoyed this Courtyard Marriott and its tropical fish tank.
These decorations just make me happy.
Thanks to our friend, Peter, we received a couple of good tips on places to eat and beaches to visit. We visited Craigville Beach, which is supposed to be the warmest on the ocean-side of Cape Cod. This place was one of two food stands near the beach. The food and service were excellent. (Actually, the hotel service in MA was notably superior.)
The students servicing this stand were excellent salespeople. They talked Rich into buying this cake pop for me. This was the best cake pop I've ever had.
Isaac agreed.
The only person who might like the beach more than Isaac is Andre.
While we ate lunch, the owners came over to make sure our food was alright. Here is an Italian sausage sandwich, which the Hubs said did NOT taste like turkey sausage. We certainly ate well on the trip! Everyone will be dieting again by the end of the week!!
Post-lunch fun:
On our way out of Hyannis, we stopped at the Four Seas.
The kids were in need of naps. So, this is the only photo I took.
We felt that we still needed to get the "Cape Cod" feel when we left Craigville Beach. So, we traveled north along the cape until we reached the very tip in Provincetown, a truly charming town, even though gay pride flags were ubiquitous. The town was filled with fancy restaurants and narrow streets and bicyclists. It was not very kid-friendly. However, the bay-side just south of town was a gem. The water was very shallow and warm and hosted many crabs.
The tip of the Cape:
Pilgrim monument.
Exploring the Bay:
Searching for crabs:
Dad was pretty good at this.
We threw this one back:
Seaweed grosses me out. Andre loves it.
Sesuit Harbor Café was our final non-fast-food meal (thank you, Yelp!). The seafood was amazing. I had the best lobster bisque I've ever tasted. The boys feasted on grilled cheese and French fries. Rich said their fish & chips weren't as good as the Dubliner. (He likes the Dubliner's batter.) Nonetheless, we enjoyed the view and the food before our final hotel stay.
Our final day was spent in Western Massachusetts. We were tipped off to the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, a cute little town 90 minutes from Uncle Jack. An MIC priest mentioned this shrine at Mass on Sunday. We thought we'd like to visit.
There were quite a few people there for confessions & Mass in the middle of a weekday.
The boys and I checked out the Stations outdoors.
I heart him:
We met Uncle Jack in the late afternoon. The boys absolutely loved his property.
We had a lovely conversation and wished that we could visit with each other more!
I look like I'm 6 mos. pregnant in these (I'm not!), which is a new phenomenon -- this bloating after too much fast food (ugh, aging!). Anyway, these are the only ones I have with Uncle Jack, so here.
Isaac wanted to give him a hug. We love you, Uncle Jack!
