Instead I thought I would share some pictures and stories about what Andy and I did for his leave before the deployment. We went up to New England to visit some Cotters and Horners and to see all the landmarks that Andy tells me about in old family stories.
First things first: Wein-o-rama!
I have been hearing about this diner and its hot weiners for a long time and it was a main destination for me. Long story short - these weiners are delicious. Then we stayed a couple nights with Andy's Uncle Bob and Aunt Anne in Cranston, RI. We went with them to WaterFire and the Scituate Art Festival and had dinner with Andy's cousin Susan and her daughter and husband. We had a really nice time!
Next big thing was a day trip to Salem, MA with Karen and Kurt. We drove out and spent the day checking out the old cemeteries and toured the House of Seven Gables.
We picked up some salt water taffy and then ended the day back in Rhode Island at Jacky's Galaxie Chinese restaurant. All in all a great time!
After Rhode Island we went out to Brewster, MA to visit Andy's grandparents at their house on the Cape. On the way we drove through Newport, RI and drove down Ocean Dr. looking at all these amazing mansions, including The Breakers. We also did a quick tour of the Cape Cod potato chip factory - learned a bit and got some free samples.
Then, our first night at the Cape we had lobster and steamers for dinner - tasty tasty! It was my first time eating a whole lobster and I did pretty well if I do say so myself. ;)
Next, we took a day trip to Boston to do the Sam Adams Brewery tour.
We met up with Andy's cousin Jon for the tour - learned a bit and got some free samples! ;)
Jon left us and we went to see Mount Auburn Cemetery, suggested by Karen and Kurt, and it was just beautiful. We even found a Bigelow Chapel and Bigelow Avenue! :)
We wandered around a while longer and saw Fenway Park, Harvard, and Boston Common. That evening we met up with Jon and his sister Carolyn for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in Boston's North End. We had a delicious meal and then afterwards we went to Mike's Pastry for cannolis.
The next morning we went with Mary Lynn and Walter to go whale watching.
It was amazing - a beautiful day out on the water and plenty of whale sightings! Whales were breeching here and there and all of a sudden one breeched about 15 feet off the side of the boat!! And we were right there to see it and Andy even snapped this photo:
After the tour was done, we browsed around the shops in Provincetown and picked up some lunch. Andy and I got lobster rolls - pretty much required - and they were pricey but totally worth it!! Mine came with cilantro and salsa - a touch of Texas on a New England staple. ;)
That was our last day at the Cape, so we turned around and went back to Bob and Anne's. We stopped by Wein-o-rama one last time (couldn't resist) and Del's for some frozen lemonade.
We also toured a bit more around Rhode Island and saw the Brown campus and the Providence College campus. Before returning our rental car we stopped and saw the movie, "The Town". It's set in Boston and it's about some bank robbers and I'm not here to review the film, so anyway - There was a particular set of scenes where they go to rob a bank in the North End (where we had dinner with Jon and Carolyn). So we're watching this scene unfold and we realize - the bank they're trying to rob is actually a laundromat! And the restaurant we ate at is right there!! Then there's a chase through the North End and they're winding through all these streets that we went through desperately seeking a parking spot (that we never found). Anyway, it was pretty neat to see the places where we were just days before in the movie.
Our last night in RI we went to dinner at Twin Oaks. We got to spend the evening with many of the Horner side of Andy's family. It was really nice to see them since we hadn't seen them at the wedding back in May and Andy's about to deploy.
The next day was our flight back to Kansas City. We were sad to go, but of course had a wonderful time seeing family and enjoying New England! Special thanks to Bob and Anne and Walter and Mary Lynn for opening their homes to us and allowing us to stay with them!
Well there you have it - Brit and Andy's trip to New England!
No comments:
Post a Comment