New England Part 1

I thought it might be easier to break this trip up in to multiple posts instead of one huge one when we get back. We have had a great trip so far. We have seen lots of cool things and really feel like we are experiencing New England. If this gets long and boring I'm sorry, it is our journal of the trip. We got in late Wednesday night, our flight from SLC to Denver was delayed a little so my bag didn't make it on the next flight (from Denver to Boston). After multiple calls to India, we were finally able to pick up my bag the next morning back at the airport. I was determined not to let this little incident start our trip off on the wrong foot.

Thursday morning we did a session at the Boston Temple, it was a beautiful temple and we are glad we were able to go. That afternoon we spent walking all around Harvards beautiful campus in Cambridge. It is really lame but I kept thinking of Legally Blonde. The campus is huge and gorgeous. I can really see why seeing Boston in the fall is a must! That evening we headed to Woburn to meet up with our friends, the Jacksons. They were the best hosts! Joe brought home lobsters for us, which were SOOOO delicious and New Englandy. That night they took us to Concord, MA where the "shot heard round the world" took place, marking the beginning of the Revolutionary war. The towns here are so cute. They all have town squares with big churches, cute shops, and green parks. After Concord we hurried back to catch The Office, which never disappoints.

Friday morning we got up and Jen made us the most delicious blueberry pancakes! It was such a treat. Thank you so much to the Jacksons, we had a great time with them and their recommendations for the remainder of our trip have been awesome! After breakfast Jason and I headed for Cape Cod. I thought Cape Cod was a city, but it is not, it is a bunch of cities along the cape...duh! So we went to Chathum. It was such a cute city. We walked along the main street and down to the beach and saw the lighthouse. We ate at a cute downtown restaurant. After that we headed to Newport, Rhode Island. Oh, P.S. if you ever come out here either bring a GPS or get one with your rental car, we brought ours and it has been a huge lifesaver!!!! Once we were there we found a cute Bed and Breakfast to stay in that night. Then we walked along the coast which was lined with tons of resturants and shops. We got a pizza, then headed back to our B&B to relax (I watched Father of the Bride 2 and Bridget Jones Diary simultaneously, it was great).

Saturday we got up, had breakfast, drove the Oceanside Drive which showed off all the spectacular homes and a great view of the ocean. We then did about 1/4 of the cliff walk ( I knew we would be walking a lot later and wanted to save my energy), then headed back up to Boston. After a few wrong turns (yes even with our GPS) and a near accident in the tunnel, we finally made it to downtown Boston. Jason decided it was best that we kept our sanity rather than trying to find a free parking spot, so we paid $12 to park downtown (this was really hard for Jason...don't bring it up to him :-) We walked along the farmers market and then onto the Freedom Trail. This is a trail that leads through downtown Boston highlighting many of the historic locations. It was a long walk and we picked and chose the things we wanted to see, such as Paul Revere's home, site of the Boston massacre, USS Constitution (Old Ironside) and Bunker Hill. Don't worry if you don't remember what all these things are, I had to relearn what a lot of these sites and events were. Based on a recommendation of a local, we ate at a tavern in Charlestown (across the river from Boston and on the freedom trail). It was great, it was a favorite of Paul Revere, so it felt historic. While we were eating we mapped out where we wanted to stay that night, so we headed back and got our car and drove to Rockport, MA. We found a nice bed and breakfast which is where I am currently blogging from. Stay tuned for Our Trip part 2 in the next couple of days.

Jason and I in front of the Boston Temple
Jason in front of the temple sign
This is our cute rental car...it is the first time we actually got the economy car we paid for (rather than a free upgrade), it is a Chevy Aveo in case you're wondering
Jason and I on Harvard campus
This is a bridge that you cross to get from one part of Harvard campus to the other...it is seriously so big there. We would ask students where the business school or the law school was because at BYU they are each just one building, the students would look at us and say well that building is part of the business school or part of the law school...it was just so big
Jason in front of one of the business school buildings
Yum...lobster at the Jackson's, a highlight of the trip for sure
The Millers and the Jacksons
The cute Jackson family, they were so accommodating to us, we had a great time with them
Jason and I at the Chatham beach on Cape Cod
The Chatham lighthouse
One of the many mansions in Newport, Rhode Island...this one reminds me of Pemberley from Pride and Prejudice
The cliff walk is a 3 1/2 mile walk that takes you along the coast, you can see all the huge houses as you walk along
If you haven't noticed, I'm obsessed with farmers markets...I love them. This one is in Downtown Boston
Jason in front of Paul Revere's house
Jason with the USS Cassin Young, a WWII destroyer battleship, Jason was really intrigued
Me at the Bunker Hill monument, I told Jason this was a bad angle for me but he did it anyway...yuck
This one is no better, but we liked this sign. We walked sooooo much this day, I was tired!