Saturday, August 4, 2018

Our Summer Adventure - Part 1


Road trips are the best. My husband and I both love them, and Twin B is usually happy to come along for the ride. Our recent summer adventure began with a few nights in Manhattan.

Family Brunch 

We celebrated my birthday, saw a broadway show (Come From Away), visited museums, walked in Central Park, ate in amazing restaurants, shopped at my favorite book stores, etc... Despite a little rain, it was a perfect weekend.

On Monday morning, the girls went off to work and we began the next leg of our adventure.

While planning a trip that would take us from the heart of Manhattan to the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, I decided to search for a literary stopover that my husband and daughter might also enjoy. The possibilities in New England are endless, but I finally settled on The House of the Seven Gables in Salem, MA.





The tour itself was about 40 minutes long, then we spent more time exploring the grounds, spectacular gardens, Hawthorne's birthplace, and, naturally, the gift shop.


We finished in time to enjoy lunch overlooking the harbor - a lobster roll, of course! Then we explored nearby Gloucester, the Eastern Point Lighthouse, and hiked along a very narrow path and up the rocks (good thing my sneakers were still in the car!) to the Dog Bar breakwater. At the end of the half-mile breakwater, the view back to the harbor and lighthouse made the climb worthwhile!




The following morning we continued up the coast to Bar Harbor, Maine.

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33 comments:

  1. Wonderful road trip! Loved the pics. We've visited The House of Seven Gables a few times; love Salem, MA.

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    1. Diane - We'd never to the north shore. Really enjoyed our time in Salem!

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  2. Your trip sounds wonderful! I'm jealous that you saw Come From Away. I tried to see it when I was in NYC earlier this year and the tickets were too expensive. My son went to Maine this summer and came home telling us we should buy a summer place there. If only!

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    1. Kathy - I've wanted to see Come From Away ever since it opened. I remember reading the book years ago... the most uplifting story surrounding 9/11, I think.

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  3. Love hearing about your trip, JoAnn! Looks like you guys were having a great time. Very nice pictures.

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    1. Thanks, Kay... we sure covered a lot of ground this trip!

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  4. Lovely pictures! Sounds like a great roadtrip!

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    1. Thanks, Angela. We had such a great time!

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  5. Beautiful part of the country. Thanks for the photos.🤠🐧

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    1. Pam - It sure is!! More photos coming soon...

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  6. What a lovely trip. My son's GF comes from Cape Ann, it's beautiful up there and so many houses to visit, Seven Gables is on my list.

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    1. Lilbitbrit - Cape Ann was supposed to be our next stop after Gloucester, but we never made it. Guess we'll have to go back! ;-)

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  7. Part One was just as much fun as Part Two. Gorgeous pictures.

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  8. We visited Maine about seven or eight years ago. Like you, I felt the need to make a literary stop. We took a tour of Longfellow's home in Portland.

    I was astonished at how cold and windy it was in Portland in the summer. What must it be like in winter?!

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    1. Deb - There are SO many literary possibilities in New England... it think you could plan an entire trip around them!

      I think Portland winters are a lot like what we have here in central New York, except A LOT more sunshine and less than half the snowfall! ;-)

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  9. What a wonderful trip! I love a road trip too and I have House of the Seven Gables and really anything in New England and literary on my wish list!

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    1. Katherine - New England and literary are both wonderful, but I read The House of the Seven Gables several years ago and am probably done with Nathaniel Hawthorne ;-)

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  10. My family is not a fan of literary stopovers but I try to work them in without them knowing.

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    1. Ti - They're usually pretty good about it, but there was a day several years ago where we were probably the only family to visit both The Mount, Edith Wharton's home, and The Basketball Hall of Fame! ;-)

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  11. JoAnn, sounds like you had a wonderful weekend and road trip :-)

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    1. Jessica - We certainly did! It's so nice to get out of the regular routine and go on a road trip!

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  12. Well, you know how much I love a good road trip! This one sounds like a winner and one I'd love to take some day. I've never been anywhere near there (other than NYC) and I know my husband would love to spend a few months traveling around the seaport villages in New England. Just have to add it to our huge list of where we want to go next. :)

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    1. Les - Our where we want to go next list is growing all the time, too. I think we could spend months in New England alone... it's so beautiful!

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  13. Wow great post. I'm a Hawthorne fan so visiting the historic house would be awesome. Such a good choice for a road trip. Lovely photos.

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    1. Susan - I got surprisingly little opposition on visiting The House of the Seven Gables... the seaside location, as well as the promise of lobster rolls for lunch helped! It would be easy to do an entire literary New England road trip, but that would be pushing it! ;-)

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  14. What great start to your trip!

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  15. I had hoped to read the book House of Seven Gables and couldn't get past the intro. I am bookishly depressed right now...

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    1. Care - I read it in a readalong maybe 5 years ago and made some new blogging friends... the book itself wasn't that great though. Doubt I'll read Hawthorne again.

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