Birthday Glamping

I hit the big 3-0 milestone a few weeks ago and to celebrate, my family took me to the Cape Cod Camp Resort in Falmouth. It is truly more of a resort than a campground. There are 3 pools, a hot tub, a lake with boat rentals, a cafe and wi-fi.

We stayed in the "Glamping" area which included paved sites, large picnic tables and stone fire pits. There are walkways from the picnic tables to the fire pits that are paved with shells, how very Cape Cod!

The grounds are beautifully manicured and well-kept. Everywhere you looked there were enormous rhododendrons in bloom. 

On Saturday we headed to Woods Hole for the afternoon. Our first stop was to the Woods Hole Science Aquarium. It's a free public aquarium that features 140 species of marine animals including an outdoor Seal habitat. The aquarium is small but there were truly a lot of exhibits and tanks to look at. You can also go behind the scenes to the work area behind the tanks to see the staff tending to the animals. Everyone there is very friendly and will answer questions.

After the Aquarium we walked around a bit and stopped for lunch at the Fishmonger Cafe. It was a cozy little spot that is actually on stilts and overlooks the drawbridge passageway.  The food and drinks were tasty and we enjoyed the great view!

Walking back to the car, we stumbled upon this gorgeous little spot, the Angelus Bell Tower and Mary Garden. It's located across from St. Joseph's church overlooking Eel pond (the harbor on the other side of the drawbridge). In reading about the garden, this is said to be the first U.S. Mary Garden: a garden dedicated to Mary where plants named after her surround her statue. It was like a secret garden located behind 6 ft tall hedges. The view of the harbor was amazing, this would be the perfect spot for a small wedding ceremony!

Saturday night we went to dinner at one of my favorite Falmouth spots, Liam McGuire's. It's a lively Irish pub with live music and delicious food. When we got back to the camp I was presented with this glorious cupcake cake from Cupcake Charlie's. It tasted as good as it looks!

Road Trippin'

Spring is in full bloom and it's finally the start of camping season! I wasn't really sure if the warm weather was ever going to get here after that horrid winter, but it's finally here! We spent Mother's Day weekend camping at Lamb City Campground in Phillipston, MA.

Before I get into the weekend, I wanted to share a quick update on our camping gear. Over the winter, Mike ended up buying a truck. Once we had the truck at home we really started itching about moving our camper out of our permanent site on the Cape and towing this summer. Once we decided that was what we wanted to do, we ended up trading in our camper for a smaller, more easily maneuverable travel trailer. It was sad to see the old one go, we only got it last August, but we are so excited to tow and go to all different places this summer! We've been seasonal at the Cape for four seasons and we were ready for a change.

For our maiden voyage with the new camper we headed to Lamb City Campground in Phillipston, MA. My parents joined us in their RV and we got two nice sites right overlooking the pond. This campground is only about a half hour away from our house, so this was a nice test run. Our friends have a seasonal campsite there so it was nice to also get to spend some time with them. We got in on Friday night and had a little BBQ and fire with everyone.

On Saturday morning I woke up early and there was an eerie mist lurking over the pond. I love the way ponds and lakes look completely still and reflective early in the morning. So peaceful.

Later on, we went for a hike around the pond. There are trails going all around the pond. The dogs loved it. We kept seeing trail markers that marked the trees with little red hearts.

There is a bearing wall overlooking the pond made entirely of recycled tires, which I thought was neat.

On Saturday afternoon we took all the dogs down to the beach and they all ended up in the water. Piper hates being wet and cold and immediately regretted the decision but Dale loved it and turned into a brown sand monster. We got some use out of the outdoor shower and hosed both of them off before they were allowed back in the trailer. Turns out that thing is pretty handy!

On Sunday morning we relaxed outside for a bit and enjoyed the view then went to the campground's Mother's day Pancake breakfast before packing up and heading home. Overall, it was a great first trip of the season and made me so excited to do more camping this summer! I'll be sharing more about our new camper and our road trip adventures throughout the summer!

New Years in North Conway

Happy New Year! Can you believe its 2015? Back to the Future promised we'd all have flying cars and hoverboards by now, what gives? Mike and I rang in the New Year with a trip to North Conway, NH. My family used to vacation there every year during school winter vacation week and I've always loved it up there. Mike is currently suffering from a broken elbow so winter sports were not in the forecast for us this time, but we still found a lot to do!

We drove up on New Years Eve and took the scenic route by way of the Kancamagus Highway. Driving the Kancamagus takes you right through the White Mountain National Forest. There are stops along the way that offer beautiful views of the White Mountains. 

The Swift River runs parallel to the Kanc. You can even stop and swim in some spots during the summer. Obviously there was no swimming happening in single digit temperatures but we still stopped and checked it out.

Once we checked in to our hotel we headed downtown for dinner and to watch the fireworks. They lit off fireworks from Schouler Park which is in the center of the downtown area. Turns out it is REALLY cold to watch fireworks in 2 degree weather in the middle of winter. The fireworks display was pretty impressive though so it was worth freezing our butts off. I wanted to take some pictures but I was way to frozen, the one above was taken when people were gathering in the park before the fireworks started.

We stayed at the Green Granite Inn. They have a huge fireplace in the lodge that was so cozy to warm up to at night. Overall we enjoyed our stay. The rooms were clean, the staff was very friendly and they had a free breakfast every morning.

Besides a lot of shopping and eating, we also wanted to do some sightseeing in the area so we decided to check out the famous covered bridges.

Arguably the prettiest of the three bridges in the Conway area is the Jackson, NH covered bridge, aka the "Honeymoon Bridge". Its painted bright red and it was all decorated for Christmas. Jackson is such a cute little town. If you are ever in the area its worth the trip over the bridge to check it out.

Next we checked out the Swift River Bridge in Conway, NH. This one was my favorite. Its no longer accessible by cars so there is a little park there and you can walk inside the bridge.

Just downstream from the Swift River Bridge sits the Saco River Bridge, also in Conway, NH. Its interesting reading the history about the two Conway covered bridges. Back in 1869 heavy rains caused so much flooding that it caused the Swift River bridge to lift off its foundation and barrel down the river into the Saco Bridge. Both bridges then broke apart and the debris traveled two miles downstream. Both were rebuilt shortly afterwards and much of the lumber was salvaged and used to rebuild both structures. Seeing how low the water level is now its hard to imagine the water getting up that high!

While we were in Conway, we decided to check out the Tuckerman Brewery. Although it didn't look like much from the plain warehouse exterior, inside there is a new beautiful bar and tasting area. The back of the bar is all windows and behind it you can watch the brewing process in action. We also went on a tour and learned about their history and how they brew. The tasting room staff was very knowledgeable on their four brews. We had only tried the Pale Ale previously and we loved the three other offerings, our favorite being the ALTitude.

All in all it was a great winter getaway and hopefully we'll get back there soon!

A New York Minute

Last weekend we visited our friends, Lindsay & Bart, who live in NYC. We drove up early Saturday morning and stayed the weekend with them at their apartment on Roosevelt Island. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sunny weather we were hoping for. It poured down rain all day Saturday but we didn't let that stop us.

First order of business was to venture out and look for show tickets for that night. We stopped by a few box offices and checked out the TKTS booth but unfortunately we couldn't find any of the shows we wanted to see at the time and price point we were looking for. Even though it was raining, we still had fun walking around the theater district. The photo above is inside the Studio 54 Theater where Cabaret is playing. It was cool taking a peek inside what was once the famous Disco.

A high point on my list was going to Rockefeller Center to see the giant Christmas Tree! There were a million people around with umbrellas so I couldn't get a great picture but the tree is still as spectacular as I remember it, even in the rain.

Later on we headed back out for the night's activities. Bloomingdale's just looked so pretty and I had to stop and take a picture. I'm pretty sure this is the one from the movie Serendipity. 

We headed to the East Village for dinner and a comedy show. Janeane Garofalo was the headliner at EastVille Comedy Club. Her set was not quite what I was expecting. It was crazy and all over the place but really kooky and funny at the same time. One things for sure, shes still got that 90's sarcasm going for her. She was chatty and engaged with the audience and it seemed like a lot of her comedy was off the cuff. Mike was excited because at one point during the show she came out in the audience and put her hand on his shoulder, Celebrity moment! There were four other acts that followed, all hysterical. Judah Friedlander was also supposed to perform but never came out so we were a little bummed about that.

The next morning we went to the cutest place for breakfast called Alice's Tea Cup. It was all Alice in Wonderland themed with Tea and Scones. It was funny because I ended up getting coffee and their coffee comes in a giant mug. A far cry from the dainty little teacups at the table but it was much appreciated! The food was amazing too. I had Pumpkin Pancakes and Mike had Eggs Benedict on a Scone, yummy!

After Breakfast we walked back to the tram. Its was so funny to see Christmas Trees being sold on the side of the road at a Florist shop.

In what seemed like a blink of an eye it was Sunday afternoon and time to head home. It was a quick weekend, but so worth it to see NYC at Christmas and spend time with some great friends.