We are back from our trip to New England.  I have plenty of pictures to post, but that will have to wait for future days.  We didn’t get in until late last night and I am already back at work with no time for picture processing.  Instead I’ll provide a brief recap of our trip and then elaborate more when I have some pictures ready.

Last Thursday morning we caught a very early flight out of Denver and over to Nashville.  Here we had a three-hour layover which nearly bored us to death, before catching another two-hour flight to Providence, Rhode Island.  We flew for free on Southwest Rapid Rewards, so we couldn’t be too picky about our flights.  The important thing is that we made it, and were somewhat rested.  The second flight was a bit delayed, forcing us right into hush hour traffic around Boston.  Fortunately my phone helped us to avoid some major traffic spots, allowing us to arrive in downtown Boston just before the Red Sox were set to take on the Cleveland Indians.  After meeting up with some of our friends, we rushed off to Fenway Park to take in the game at this famous stadium.

That pretty much took care of our first night in Boston.  On our second full day we got an early start out on the Freedom Trail, and walked through many historic sites.  The trail is only supposed to be two and a half miles, but it felt like we walked a lot farther than that.  We didn’t make it all the way out to Bunker Hill, but we did visit the nearby USS Constitution.  After touring the old ship, we stopped for the first of many great meals at the Tavern on the Water.  From there we decided to take the ferry back over to Boston, specifically Long Wharf.  It was a short ride, but worth not having to backtrack on foot to the hotel.  Later in the evening we stopped at a variety of places: The Tam for $3 beers, Rabia’s Ristorante for an excellent dinner, and Cheers where everyone knew our name.

Saturday we all headed out of Boston and toward Newport, Rhode Island with stops along the way to check out Harvard and MIT.  Harvard was cool to see, but I feel like we could have skipped MIT.  After we eventually made it down to Newport, it didn’t take long for us to start exploring Thames Street.  After walking the full strip, we decided to get a reservation for ten at the Brick Alley Pub & Restaurant.  I think this was my favorite meal of the trip, and I bet others would agree.  After dinner it was off to the Gas Lamp Grille to see the wedding party and have a couple of drinks.

Sunday was the big wedding day, but before that event, we took a tour of Newport’s most famous mansion, The Breakers.  This “summer-house” was incredible!  I especially liked seeing the billiards room and the large kitchen.  It was an amazing house.  Some others in our group decided to tour another mansion, but I had my fill of lavishness in just one.  Kim and I decided to have a nice lunch overlooking the harbor at the Marina Cafe & Pub.  Before too long it was time to get ready for the wedding out at the beautiful Belle Mer.  Needless to say it was a lovely wedding and a great time with wonderful friends.

Monday was a bonus day for us along with our friends Tracey and Kevin.  We left Newport before noon and took the long way over to the town of Mystic, Connecticut.  I was hoping for a scenic ocean side drive, but it didn’t quite work out that way.  It was still neat to take our time through a variety of small villages and towns.  Our first stop was for lunch at Mystic Pizza.  I will admit to never hearing of the movie with the same name before last week, but we decided to check it out anyway.  It definitely wasn’t the best pizza in the world, but it is fairly good and definitely a popular place.  After that we visited the Mystic Seaport, which took up the rest of the day.  I was blown away by the amount of things to see at the Seaport.  Later in the evening we had another great meal at the The Captain Daniel Packer Inne.

Tuesday we explored the boardwalk in Niantic, Connecticut enjoyed one last meal at Dad’s Restaurant, and were back on our way to the Providence Airport.  This wrapped up a tiring, scenic, and fun vacation, adding three more states to my visited states list.  Congratulations again Karen and Aaron.  I hope you are enjoying your honeymoon!