Ok, trip time.
Day 4! It was time for more car time on the way to Connecticut. We took the long way through, on purpose so that we could a scenic route all the way down Connecticut the next morning. It was definitely worth it. We passed several tiny towns, but alas no Stars Hollow, and even stopped at a roadside stand with apple picking! It was almost like a Norman Rockwell painting. Very quaint.
I think I forgot to mention that on the way to Connecticut from Pennsylvania you have to drive through New Jersey and New York. We chose to drive through around 5:00. Worst Idea Ever. I have a 3 minute commute to work, so I'm not used to rush hour traffic. Much less virtually NYC rush hour traffic. We also missed several turns but we made it!
We also stopped for homemade ice cream from Ebonk Hill Turkey Farm. I know. You're jealous.
And then mom found where she really belongs. A tiny white Baptist church in the middle of nowhere.
We also passed a film crew for a Cuba Gooding Jr. movie. I'm not sure what the movie is about and can't really remember what it was called. Something about whispers.
We finally reached state number 5, Rhode Island and our swanky "loft" for the next two days. I'm pretty sure we're out of the tourist peak season so we scored a great deal at a bed and breakfast for a room literally as big as my house. My entire house. It was so nice to have a little more space than a typical hotel room.
This is the view out of the back window. It looks weird because it's through a screen. There's a real farm back there! And that's our tiny rental car. I think that's the only picture we got.
And it came with gourmet breakfast! yum. Definitely stay at Escobar's Inn in Portsmouth, RI any time you're up there.
I wouldn't however recommend going in October. I'm not sure if it's always like this, but the fog lasted from when we woke up Wednesday and lasted until after we left Thursday. And this is no Texas fog, this is you can't very well see past about 20 ft fog. yuck. We toured some extravagant mansions (like 64,000 sq ft extravagant. That is 65 of my houses put together) and they were very beautiful. Most had what I'm sure is beautiful views of the ocean, but our view just dropped off after the cliff. I was a little disappointed since the only time I've seen the ocean I was 10, so I hardly remember. But I was trying not to let it bother me too much since there wasn't much I could do about it.
We had lunch at a local place. We were good tourists and got some clam chowder, and shared a lobstercado sandwich. (a cold lobster salad with avocado and cheese on an english muffin)
Thursday we got up ready for our drive to Boston. Well, we took our time getting there. We didn't really get to Boston proper until Friday. But Thursday we drove past Plymouth to see the rock and the Mayflower II, a replica of the original Mayflower. It was very tiny. We didn't tour it, but I can't imagine being inside for as long as they were. It's definitely no cruise ship.
As you can see, the fog still hasn't lifted. I've always had this weird thing ever since I saw The Truman Show that maybe my life was like Truman's. I know, it's weird. But this fog wasn't helping my crazy tendencies. What was beyond that fog that someone didn't want me to see? I know I have issues, I think it's under control though :)
Anyway, we didn't stay in Plymouth long, because we were headed to Harvard. My mom, aunt, two cousins and I took a tour of Yale two years ago and it was so interesting. We were hoping Harvard would be the same experience. There is so much history.
I feel like I look a little crazy. Probably because I was worried about our little rental car and it's parking space. Parking is pretty non-existent at Harvard unless you pay around $30 to park in a garage, so we found a spot on a street with 1 hr meter parking. Problem was the tour lasts an hour so Mom sat at the meter waiting until the last minute to put the quarters in, joining the tour a little late. Then she left a little early to trek back to put some more. But we've got Walton in our blood, so we'll do anything to save a penny!
Here's old Harvard himself (actually it's not him, there aren't any pictures of him so it's some random guy the sculptor though looked scholarly) and our tour guide.
Harvard's working on it's way to 400 years. wow. I think I enjoyed Yale a little more. It seemed a little more set apart from the city. Harvard seemed much busier, everyone hustling and bustling. But it was still very beautiful and so interesting to hear traditions and differences from my lovely alma mater SFA. (axe 'em)
Next stop, Fenway!
I honestly didn't expect for us to tour the stadium since I didn't think it would be the top of my mom's list, but surprisingly she was the one who suggested it. So now I've been to the two oldest baseball stadiums in America. And my brother couldn't be more jealous. He told me we could no longer be friends. Whoops. Surely he'll get over it, right? We got him a souvenir at least...
This guy was the hype man before the tour started and I loved him. He told punny jokes one after the other. One thing you should know about me is I love a good pun.
Anyway, it was pretty amazing. Most of the seats have been there since 1936. That's at least 20-30 years older than most other baseball stadiums, let alone the seats that are there. It is Fenway's 100 year anniversary this year. We even got to make it up on the green monster.
I didn't even know there were seats up there. They're pretty new, and apparently crazy hard to get ticket for.
Then it was to the hotel with takeout. Are you tired yet? 2 more days!
