Long post ahead! Just to give you a head's up, the photos look a little blurry because I reduced them in size so they would upload faster. I didn't realize it would make the pictures all grainy (and I didn't want to take the time to re-do everything). Sorry! We took a TON of pictures, so if you'd like to see more (or just clearer versions of these pictures) you can click here to view them on Shutterfly. Sorry if they seem out of order... they are off of four different cameras! (Our "real" camera, two iPhones, and some of Nancy's pictures) We also took a few short videos along the way. I still need to get them all together and uploaded to YouTube, so I'll post them later on.
This month we took a wonderful week long vacation to New England! It was the perfect mix of visiting with family, doing tourist-y stuff, and relaxing. Travelling with Max made the trip quite a bit different from past trips we've taken together (typically we don't start our day at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning and head back to the hotel for the night around 6:30 in the evening! haha); but it was so fun to share our adventure with him. Both of us kept commenting that it is a shame Max will have no recollection of this trip! At least we took lots of pictures and burned some memories in to our own brains so we can tell him about it someday.
On to the details!
To answer the question everyone asks... Max did great on the plane and his ears did not seem to bother him! The airlines were wonderful about accommodating our travelling circus and we were able to gate check the stroller and car seat, and we got to be the first ones on board. It was nice to be settled in our seats and not have to jockey for space and get our carry-on bags put away in the crowd while holding the baby. Max slept most of the flight from Atlanta to Boston, but on the way home he was awake pretty much the whole time. He was wiggly and seemed anxious to be out of our laps at times, but overall it went really well. Max was most interested in playing with the brochures and magazines in the seat back pocket. So much for the new toys we bought especially for the flight! The airline staff on both flights commented about what a great job Max did on the flights, too.
The first half of our trip was spent visiting my Dad, Nancy, and Nana. Our first full day involved a trip in to Boston. On our way in to the city we stopped in Andover where I grew up! It was fun to show Ben around the town and to drive by our old house. The neighborhood and the house look significantly different from when I grew up there, but it was still nice to see it again.
My Dad is a Mason and we had the opportunity to stop by his Mason Lodge as it is also in Andover! Dad is super-duper involved, so it was fun to see where the activities take place. Max even took a spin sitting in the head chair in the special room where the Mason meetings and ceremonies are held! He has his gavel ready to go!
Once in Boston we hit many of the high notes to try and make the most of our time. We visited historic sites such as Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, Boston Commons (including a visit to the "Make Way for Ducklings" statue and the swan boats!), and more.
We had some yummy pizza in the North End (the Italian neighborhood of Boston) and Ben and Max enjoyed their first taste of cannoli. Yum!
On Sunday, we headed to Canterbury, New Hampshire to visit a Shaker Village. The scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed perfect weather.
Max is not impressed with playing dress-up with Mommy at the Shaker Village!
The history and tour were really interesting, too! It wasn't the most stroller-friendly place so we took turns carrying the baby. Grandpa certainly didn't mind. ;-) Funny side story-- Dad was carrying Max who was bouncing along and looking around when all of a sudden he bobbed his head and fell completely asleep! Wide awake to sound asleep in five seconds flat.
After breakfast on Monday we picked up the rental car for the rest of our trip, and all of us headed north to Nana's house. It was fun to make a stop or two along the way to places we'd go to growing up (like Calef's Store just south of Rochester for those who know the area).
Visiting Nana's house was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was almost magical to see Max playing in the same yard and in the same house where I played as a little girl. Hardly anything has changed and it was really fun to show Ben around, too.
We had a fantastic time visiting, going on a run and enjoying the scenery, seeing other family who happened to be visiting at the same time, and eating my absolute favorite "Nana meals" (Swedish meatballs, party potatoes, green beans, chicken supreme, blueberry coffee cake, date squares.... yum!!).
This is Max with his Great Great Aunt Betty who was married to Julian. The Heinlein family member for whom Max's middle name is after!
After lunch on the Wednesday of our trip, the three of us said our goodbyes and took off for our new "home base" in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We spent the afternoon exploring the area, visiting some waterfront parks (where Max loved playing in the grass!), and enjoyed dinner together.
The next day we intended to get up and head straight to Old Orchard Beach in Maine (hence my awesome swim cover-up and sweatshirt look in all the photos! haha), but decided to make a few detours along the way. We saw beautiful beaches, rocks, and lighthouses in York, Maine and in Kennebunkport, Maine.
While in Kennebunkport we saw the "Bush Compound" where the former President vacations! There was lots of activity going on and we kept our eyes peeled for George and Barbara, but alas we didn't see them. ;-)
The Bush's house is to the right of us in this photo!
We decided to eat lunch in Kennebunkport and got our first official Maine lobster roll and clam chowder from "The Clam Shack" which was named the #1 spot in 2012. The weather was perfect, so we decided to make a picnic out of it in a nearby grassy patch.
This is St. Ann's Episcopal Church overlooking the water in Kennebunkport. You know you're in a high-end area when the sign for the church picnic says $47 per person!
After lunch, we finally headed to the beach! Parking was a bear to figure out and for a few minutes we seriously considered just heading back to Portsmouth to see if we could find a less crowded beach. We didn't want all that driving to go to waste, though, so we kept driving around until a space opened up in one of the lots. Once all three of us were lathered up in our umpteenth layer of sunscreen we headed down to the water!
Max is not a huge fan of wearing hats and he kept flipping the bill of his hat up! Too funny...
Max was absolutely amazed by the sand and kept digging his hands in and looking up at us wide-eyed. We brought along some make shift sand toys (cups and plastic silverware from the continental breakfast bar at the hotel) and had a blast digging, scooping, and watching Max destroy our sandcastles. The ocean was cold, but became tolerable after a few minutes. Max didn't seem so sure of the ocean and waves at first, but quickly warmed up to it. We did some general "toes in the water" at first, then Ben helped him do a little "body surfing" on the waves as they rolled in. Max also enjoyed sitting on the shore as the water rushed up over his legs and sucked some of the sand back with it. As we were leaving we decided we'll have to take a longer trip to the beach sometime... it seems we have a tiny beach bum on our hands!
On Friday morning we got back in the car and drove up to Portland, Maine.
It was a really pretty city to walk around, and there were some beautiful views of the water. They have a train museum there, so we took Max in to explore and then we went on a train ride! He seemed to enjoy it, but wasn't so sure about the loud train whistle.
It's hard to see the writing on the rock, but there was a big shipwreck near this lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth (near Portland) on Christmas Eve in the 1800s!
Our flight home on Saturday was late in the afternoon so we took advantage of our extra half day and stopped in Salem, Massachusetts on our way back to the Boston airport. The walking tours for all the "Salem Witch Trial" sites didn't fit in our schedule (and would have been difficult with the baby) so we did a little searching online and found a $2.99 iPhone app for a self-guided tour!
We looked through the sites on the tour and made our own "must see" list. Since we were short on time and had the stroller to deal with, we didn't pay to go in to any of the sites but we still felt like we got to see and learn a lot. Our walk started fairly early so the weather was crisp and cool. It seemed perfect for the location!
After lunch we headed to the airport and made our way home. Our flight got in late and we were worried Max would be an overtired, cranky mess since we still had to take the train to our car and then drive home (another two hours all together). He was such a trooper, though, and was smiling, waving, and clapping at everyone until the last 15 minutes or so of the train ride (then the tears started up! Poor guy!).
Max on MARTA! (Atlanta's public transportation)
All in all, it was a great trip!
