I spent the last couple of weeks intensionally away from my computer trying to soak in vacation time. I have never been to Massachusetts before so this was a fun, exploring adventure! The temperatures were PERFECT. I highly suggest for anyone who wants to travel to the MA coast, go in August! Right when you think it’s so hot and humid in VA, MA felt so refreshing! It almost felt like fall was trying to say hello at one point of our eight day trip. 🙂 Loved it! There were some moments I wished I had my DSLR camera but I’m honestly glad I didn’t have to carry it around so I was okay to capture these memories on my iPhone.
Driving to Cape Cod
Strapped on our bikes and finally hit the road around 11:15 a.m. I was a little nervous about traffic so instead of taking I-95N around DC, Philadelphia, etc., we took 81N to eventually get on to 287 around New York City. We didn’t hit ANY traffic and only spent $5 in tolls instead of over $50! The detour added 45 minutes on to our drive (said Google Maps), but I really believe we saved time by going around potential traffic in the cities. WORTH IT. Because of unexpected phone calls throughout the day, including a phone call from the police saying they were on the way to my house due to my security system alerting them of a break in (was actually my sister!!!), we did miss a few turns and ended up getting to Hyannis, MA later than expected (10 p.m.). We ended up staying in a hotel that night because we didn’t make it to our campsite on time for check in. I was fine altering plans anyways after a long drive! However, at 5:30 a.m. I was startled awake by a loud siren noise and flashing lights. Confused of my surroundings, I really thought I was dying. Lol! There was smoke on the bottom floor of the hotel and who even knows what caused it. I’m just glad we were eventually able to go back in and sleep until a decent hour.
Exploring Cape Cod
Cape Cod was so much fun to drive and bike around! We drove up to P-town (Provincetown) where we walked around and enjoyed drinks and a scrumptious lunch. If you ever make your way to P-town and see the restaurant, Lobster Pot, you HAVE to try the cod reuben sandwich!!! Oh, it was amazing! Also when visiting the Cape, you have to drive around to the lighthouses! We drove to two of the lighthouses and biked/walked to three more. During our stay, we camped at Atlantic Oaks Campground where we had access to the 22 mile long bike trail. The bike trail connected to some local beaches including Nauset, Coast Guard Beach and Marconi. We LOVED the Coast Guard beach! Marconi was my least favorite with the crowds. If you are looking for seals, you will find them at all of these beaches swimming just feet away from the shoreline. They are SO adorable!!! Kyle and I were hoping to spot a great white since some were spotted just a mile away, but no luck! Plus, we didn’t really want to see a cute seal eaten.
The best part about camping and riding our bikes to the local beaches was the fact we didn’t have to pay $20 a day to park our car. Win! While visiting, it’s a must to eat seafood (duh). Although, I have to admit that I was never a seafood fan growing up. LOVE sushi, but some other seafood just wasn’t for me. I tried clam chowder for the first time and ended up LOVING it!!! My sister was so happy to hear this because I grew up attesting to her love for clam chowder. It’s so true when you hear that your taste buds change over time. Also, we tried the famous hot Lobster Roll in Cape Cod (P-Town) and wasn’t a huge fan of it. Personally, I thought it was bland … BUT I found that when we were visiting Boston, we tried the cold Lobster Roll and I loved it! I definitely suggest trying both, hot and cold, to see what you like. 🙂 Here are some photos from our adventures on the Cape!
This “Sharktivity” app was so cool to keep up to date with shark sightings!
Seals!!! SO cute!
Yummy ice cream! It’s a must!
Exploring Plymouth, Salem and Boston
This was a busy day of exploring!!! We managed to squeeze three cities in one day, Plymouth, Salem and Boston. The drive wasn’t too bad getting to and from these cities from the Cape. If you have the time, we really enjoyed driving around on the side roads around Boston on our way up to Salem! The water front homes were INCREDIBLE! I believe it was Lynn Shore Drive if you are interested in the road. 🙂 Our first stop of the day, Plymouth Rock. We explored the water front and even saw THE rock where the pilgrims landed. I’m not a history enthusiast but that was pretty cool! Especially since my family claims we had an ancestor who was on the Mayflower! My mom is very intrigued by family genealogy and plans to explore this bit of history on my mom’s side. After we finished walking around the main attraction of Plymouth, we made our hike to Salem! I was really excited to visit this city and relieve the book, The Crucible, I read/studied in high school. I have to admit though, we were a bit naive to think that Salem would still be a small town … kind of what you see in the movie … Oops! It was definitely a city. While we were visiting, we made sure to go to the Salem Witch Museum to hear about the witch trails that occurred in 1692 where 20 innocent people were executed, accused for witchcraft. One short afternoon visitation was all we needed before we headed out to Boston.
We arrived in Boston around 2 p.m. where we were ready for a LOT of walking. Yes, we played tourist for the day and walked the Freedom Trail! It was a 2.5 mile walk exploring every bit of Boston history. From the Paul Revere ride to the USS Constitution to the Bunker Hill Monument to everything in between. If you want to check out the map, check it out HERE! If you were to do something like this, you HAVE to stop by Mike’s Pastry! A few friends recommended this bakery shop … So of course any excuse for a pastry! When we first stopped by this “famous pastry shop” around 4 p.m., the line went around the corner! We found that the best time to go is actually during dinner hour (6 p.m.). Made all of the difference! 🙂 After we walked our legs off and indulged in cannoli goodness, we drove to Harvard to explore the beautiful campus. We didn’t realize that freshmen orientation was going on. Whoops! We were SO tempted to join in (LOL!) but it was just cool to check out the beautiful, historical architecture. Overall, it was a busy, but fun, day of exploring!
Exploring Nantucket
This was one of my favorite days of exploring!!! For anyone catching the ferry, make sure you arrive an hour ahead of time and research the parking options. Learned alllllll about that … We didn’t think we would have trouble with parking and didn’t know we had to arrive an hour before departure. To make the long story short, we missed our original ferry ride to Nantucket which set us back THREE hours. It was okay though because the two hour ferry ride to Nantucket was relaxing. I actually suggest this ferry if it’s your first time to Nantucket. Take the steamboat two hour ferry ride there and the fast one hour ride back. It was nice hanging out on the deck, soaking in the sunshine, enjoying a nice drink and watching for marine life. We brought our bikes anticipating to bike around but decided half way through the day that we could have made due without the bikes. Considering that we cut down our original itinerary in half and decided to not explore the island due to time, we just stayed in town. We filled in the afternoon with shopping, exploring book shops, checking out the gorgeous coastal, iconic homes and the waterfront areas. The town was so well manicured with an abundance of flowers and greenery wherever you turned. Homes and even stores had beautiful landscaping, flower boxes on every window and climbing roses on the side of the building. Kyle and I were awing over the architecture and the greenery envisioning how we can bring this slice of Nantucket back to VA. May inspire us to build a house in the future! Towards the end of the day, we went to the Brant Point Lighthouse where I felt the most relaxed watching the sail boats off in the distance while the sun was setting. It was an incredible sight where I wished I had my DSLR camera for that moment. 🙂 Definitely planning to return in the future!
Driving back to Virginia from Cape Cod
Let’s just say that driving south is really all about timing. We left at 9:15 a.m. thinking that it was a good thing we are leaving in between morning and afternoon rush hours … Well, I’m not sure I can really give great advice what time to leave. I definitely advise taking the same route we used to get to Cape Cod to get around NYC, Baltimore and DC. We arrived in New Haven, CT around 1 p.m. where we hit a stand still on I-95. We tried side tracking while the tractor trailer accident was being cleaned up but it didn’t do us any good. Instead, we were left frustrated because everywhere we were, there was traffic trying to diverge the accident. Once we finally got back on I-95, we followed the wave of traffic all the way to NYC area. We hit more traffic later down the road in places we weren’t expecting, but it was understandable because we were driving during the afternoon rush hour at that point. We decided to just think, “it is what it is”, and use that time to brainstorm what we want to do when we return. We didn’t get home until 10:30 p.m., which resulted to a 13 hour drive home (minimal stops). Not the best way to end the trip but I guess if we were to do that drive again coming home, we would leave much earlier since we spent an entire day driving. I enjoy coming home early so I can unpack, unwind and get settled before diving into the next day of the “real world”. I would do this trip all over again in a heartbeat! It was so much fun and so different from anything we have explored in the past! Would recommend it to anyone. 🙂
Doesn’t Pixie look so happy to see me?! LOL!
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