For three years we have planned this trip and it never would work. Either weather or other circumstances got in the way. But, 2019 was the year.
Just a little side note. I've made it a priority to get to all fifty states before the next birthday that ends in ZERO. That gives me two and a half years to make it to eleven more. This year, I've made it to seven states that I had never been to before and six of them were in this trip.
Monday, Ted and I had to be up at OMG in the morning, 4:00 to be exact, to be to the airport for a 6:00 a.m. flight to Detroit. Then we were connecting through to Boston. We made both flights and on both flights we had the row to ourselves. That was awesome. We picked up our little rental vehicle and were on our way by about 2:30 in the afternoon. One note about the rental car. I am a crazy planner, in fact Ted feels I get too wrapped up in planning at times. So - I've been checking the rates on rental cars for the last couple of months. I always check through Costco, because they have good deals and they allow two drivers. Anyway, we ended up with a mini van because it was only a few dollars more than a compact car. And we figured it would be a more comfortable ride. So - it was Ted, me and the Dodge Caravan for five days.
Day one, we headed from Boston to Plymouth, Mass. We got to Plymouth around 6:00 and it was starting to get a little dusky, so we went straight to Plymouth Rock. We spent some time around there, and then decided we needed food and to check into our hotel. We had not had a meal since 5:00 a.m., we'd been living on snacks. We knew the next day was going to be a long, in the car for hours day. So we found the hotel and it was close to many restaurants. Well, I like to go places I can't go to when I'm home. We found a place called Bertucci's right next to the hotel. It was the worst food I think I've ever encountered. I actually sent my dinner back because it had absolutely no flavor. I ended up with soup. Which was OK. And they gave me free dessert because of the experience. So - I can say that was pretty tasty. We figured they must have sent out for that.
Day two, our final stop was to be in Lincoln, New Hampshire - which is the White Mountains. We drove from Massachusetts, to Rhode Island, into Connecticut and then New Hampshire. We started our day around 9:00 and ended up at the hotel in Lincoln around 8:00 that night. We did another day of breakfast and then no meal until late afternoon. That day we found a sports bar called Ninety Nine - we found out it is a chain in that area. We had no clue what we were going to order and I was sad - cuz I wanted SEAFOOD!!! Well, unbeknownst to my little heart, they had lobster rolls. Holy cow, it was sooooo gooood!!!! Ted had to talk me into ordering it, because I figured it would not be good because it was a sports bar.
Day three, we had not been able to make it to Vermont the day before. So - I googled for a map for a city close to Lincoln that we could get to. We found St. Johnsbury was about 45 minutes away. The further north we got, the more color we got to see with the turning leaves. The day our trip started was the official first day of the changing colors. So in this area, it was absolutely beautiful. So - went over the border and I didn't have enough warning to get the camera out to get the picture of the "welcome to" sign. We had to go back into New Hampshire, turn around, go back through Vermont, turn around and head back to make our way to Maine. But, we got the photos. The GPS had us exiting at an exit that was closed, so when it recalculated it ended up sending us straight through the White Mountains. It was so beautiful. So much color. I was so glad we got recalculated the way we we did. We headed to a lighthouse on the coast. It was beautiful. It had been a fort like area for defending the coastline. From there, we went to our hotel and they suggested a sea food place a couple of miles away. We had another lobster roll and some clam chowder. I kind of regretted not just getting a lobster dinner - because we were pretty disappointed in our lobster roll.
Day four, we were going back to Boston. But, we had a quick stop in Salem. We went to the Salem Witch Museum and the Visitors Center. I really wish that we had a moment to go to the memorial that was set up for those who had been executed during the witch trials. The information we learned was very interesting. We went to the hotel pretty early and because it was in a place that was very difficult to get in and out of - we decided we were in for the night - because we needed to get moving and to the airport the next day.
Overall, one of my very favorite trips. We drove 849.3 miles in those five days. We really didn't do anything, we saw some amazing scenery, we talked, we laughed.
PHOTOS!!!!
Interesting facts about New England:
Just a little side note. I've made it a priority to get to all fifty states before the next birthday that ends in ZERO. That gives me two and a half years to make it to eleven more. This year, I've made it to seven states that I had never been to before and six of them were in this trip.
Monday, Ted and I had to be up at OMG in the morning, 4:00 to be exact, to be to the airport for a 6:00 a.m. flight to Detroit. Then we were connecting through to Boston. We made both flights and on both flights we had the row to ourselves. That was awesome. We picked up our little rental vehicle and were on our way by about 2:30 in the afternoon. One note about the rental car. I am a crazy planner, in fact Ted feels I get too wrapped up in planning at times. So - I've been checking the rates on rental cars for the last couple of months. I always check through Costco, because they have good deals and they allow two drivers. Anyway, we ended up with a mini van because it was only a few dollars more than a compact car. And we figured it would be a more comfortable ride. So - it was Ted, me and the Dodge Caravan for five days.
Day one, we headed from Boston to Plymouth, Mass. We got to Plymouth around 6:00 and it was starting to get a little dusky, so we went straight to Plymouth Rock. We spent some time around there, and then decided we needed food and to check into our hotel. We had not had a meal since 5:00 a.m., we'd been living on snacks. We knew the next day was going to be a long, in the car for hours day. So we found the hotel and it was close to many restaurants. Well, I like to go places I can't go to when I'm home. We found a place called Bertucci's right next to the hotel. It was the worst food I think I've ever encountered. I actually sent my dinner back because it had absolutely no flavor. I ended up with soup. Which was OK. And they gave me free dessert because of the experience. So - I can say that was pretty tasty. We figured they must have sent out for that.
Day two, our final stop was to be in Lincoln, New Hampshire - which is the White Mountains. We drove from Massachusetts, to Rhode Island, into Connecticut and then New Hampshire. We started our day around 9:00 and ended up at the hotel in Lincoln around 8:00 that night. We did another day of breakfast and then no meal until late afternoon. That day we found a sports bar called Ninety Nine - we found out it is a chain in that area. We had no clue what we were going to order and I was sad - cuz I wanted SEAFOOD!!! Well, unbeknownst to my little heart, they had lobster rolls. Holy cow, it was sooooo gooood!!!! Ted had to talk me into ordering it, because I figured it would not be good because it was a sports bar.
Day three, we had not been able to make it to Vermont the day before. So - I googled for a map for a city close to Lincoln that we could get to. We found St. Johnsbury was about 45 minutes away. The further north we got, the more color we got to see with the turning leaves. The day our trip started was the official first day of the changing colors. So in this area, it was absolutely beautiful. So - went over the border and I didn't have enough warning to get the camera out to get the picture of the "welcome to" sign. We had to go back into New Hampshire, turn around, go back through Vermont, turn around and head back to make our way to Maine. But, we got the photos. The GPS had us exiting at an exit that was closed, so when it recalculated it ended up sending us straight through the White Mountains. It was so beautiful. So much color. I was so glad we got recalculated the way we we did. We headed to a lighthouse on the coast. It was beautiful. It had been a fort like area for defending the coastline. From there, we went to our hotel and they suggested a sea food place a couple of miles away. We had another lobster roll and some clam chowder. I kind of regretted not just getting a lobster dinner - because we were pretty disappointed in our lobster roll.
Day four, we were going back to Boston. But, we had a quick stop in Salem. We went to the Salem Witch Museum and the Visitors Center. I really wish that we had a moment to go to the memorial that was set up for those who had been executed during the witch trials. The information we learned was very interesting. We went to the hotel pretty early and because it was in a place that was very difficult to get in and out of - we decided we were in for the night - because we needed to get moving and to the airport the next day.
Overall, one of my very favorite trips. We drove 849.3 miles in those five days. We really didn't do anything, we saw some amazing scenery, we talked, we laughed.
PHOTOS!!!!
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| Some wooden dwellings by Plymouth Rock. |
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| Plymouth Rock |
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Our fancy schmancy rental vehicle mini van |
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| I just thought this was a funny photo. |
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| The flags were at half staff all throughout Maine because a firefighter was killed in an explosion the day we arrived. |
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| We're in two different states. Ted in Massachusetts, me in Maine |
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| I believe this is the Essex house. It was a dwelling that was around during the 1600's, during the witch trials. |
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| Ted was very excited when we found this out. Lincoln, New Hampshire has the first recorded story of alien abduction. Betty and Barney Hill were missing, for about 24 hours and claimed to have been abducted. This story was one of the stories that got Ted into a love of science fiction. |
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| When we were filling up for gas before taking the van back and heading to the airport, I saw this cemetery. It was right in the middle of an industrial type area. Right next to the highway. I have a love of cemeteries, especially old ones. I had to get out and take a look. |
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| This is a draw bridge. When the ships need to be let through, the whole bridge raises up to the top. Then they bring it back down. It was a lengthy process, we had to wait about ten minutes when we got there, and that was when the bridge was at the very top. |
Interesting facts about New England:
- Plymouth Rock is very small, but that may have something to do with it not being the full rock and also, they used to let people take chisels and hammers to take a piece of it with them as a souvenir.
- It wasn't for over 100 years that the rock was even given any significance. It was not the pilgrims who made it a thing. The townspeople were planning on getting rid of the rock, as it was in the way. An elder resident, who had known some of the founding pilgrims, told the townspeople that the rock was the landing place of the first townsfolk.
- All throughout New England, the roads are lined by trees. You see trees hither and yon. They are everywhere. I think New England produces a great deal of oxygen for the entire world. At times, I felt suffocated by the trees, because that was all you could see. They were lovely, but they were so dense and that was all you saw a lot of the time.
- Ted remembered a Wendy's that was in the middle of the trees - he didn't remember where - -but we kept looking and never found it.
- During the night, there is absolutely no light on those roads. It is so very dark to drive on those roads. The dense trees just made it pitch black.
- There are not deer crossing signs in New England. They have moose crossing signs and watch for moose signs. We never saw a moose. 😕
- The roads in New England are amazingly well maintained. They are the smoothest driving roads I've ever driven on.
- It's impossible to find maps anymore. Printed maps. We like to have them, just so we can see where we are now. Ted has a large collection of the laminated state maps. We were able to find one - New Hampshire. We did find one that was not ideal, but it was a plastic New England map.
- I was surprised to learn that the Salem witch trials only lasted three months. During that time, 19 people were executed because of witchcraft. Both male and females. I was under the mistaken idea that they were burned, drowned, etc. But, 18 were hung from a tree. One was crushed to death. All of them died denying they were witches.
- The people executed for witchcraft were not buried in the town cemetery. In fact, nobody knows where or how their bodies were disposed of. There is a memorial set up near the cemetery now where people lay flowers and such.
- In Europe, witch trials lasted hundreds of years. There they died many horrible ways, including being burned at the stake.
- Long after the witch trials were over, one of the girls who started claiming that people were witches, went public with her confession that she made it all up and that none of it was true.
- Driving in Portland and Boston was scary and confusing. 😅
FOOT SHOTS!!!
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| This is my best seat on the plane shot. |
If you read this entire thing - WOW and thank you. I am sure most people won't make it this far. 💖💖💖
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