Steven lives in Tuscaloosa, Ala. and is related to me through my mother's side. Since our moms were really close growing up, my brother and I often saw he and his sisters (and other cousins since his mom had a twin my mom was also very close with). We took beach trips together in the summer, etc etc. Anyway, Steven decided sometime ago that he wanted to visit all 50 states by the time he turned 30. When I got married and moved to New England, it gave him the perfect opportunity to knock several states off his list in one trip.
After months of promising to come visit, he finally made it here on Jan. 11. The first day he was here our plan was to get to Vermont and New Hampshire. We succeeded, but there was this whole flat tire ordeal we first had to endure that resulted in my husband having to walk several miles to pick up the car after we borrowed his Jeep and no one from his office could drive him to the tire place. Woops! He enjoyed the workout, I think :)
So getting a much later start than intended, Steven and I drove about 30 miles north to Brattleboro, VT. Before stopping there, we headed east to Hinsdale, NH to pick up a rock. Steven wants a rock from every state so when he builds a house one day, he can incorporate them into a fireplace. I took some pics and video of him in NH, but the pics are on his camera. The videos are funny, but probably not to the general public--he basically tried to write his girlfriend's name in the snow and misspelled it...twice. And it's four letters. He really wasn't used to the cold up here!
This is from back in Brattleboro. We parked and walked part of the way across the Connecticut River into NH to get some pictures of the river and surrounding area.
Looking into New Hampshire from Vermont
Before leaving VT, we had to get a rock. We didn't find one quickly, and since we were trying to get back to pick Andrew up on the side of the road to make his trek shorter, we didn't have much time. (We also didn't make it to Andrew in time...) Let's just say I found a brick that may or may not have still been part of a standing building. He still wants a rock from VT, which I will find this summer, but the brick will do for now and makes for a lovely story :)
Steven's 25th birthday was Friday, and at his sister's request, we got him a cake with the old fashioned, sugary icing. We celebrated Thursday night so we'd have more time to enjoy the dessert.
Steven works in concrete, which often involves construction sites, so we thought this was perfect.
He's super excited about me taking his picture!
Friday was a much better day--weather and car-wise. Where it had been snowy, gray and cold on Thursday, it was sunny and WINDY on Friday. At least it was sunny in Rhode Island where we headed. We had to drive through lots of fog and grossness before finding the sun, but once we got to Newport, we found it! We also found Purgatory Rd. and being the goofballs we are, couldn't resist pulling over for a picture. And one of the many rocks we gathered from RI.
After driving in circles for way too long looking for free parking, we ate a wicked cheap lunch at a place called Handy's, let Steven stick his hand in the ocean and then headed to the Cliff Walk. It's a three-mile walk on paved and rugged terrain along the cliffs in RI, and most of it is behind mansions in Newport. RI was under a wind advisory, but we managed to bundle up and walk 2/3 of a mile in and back out. One day I'll go back in the summer and finish it, but I figured the headline "Pregnant woman blown off cliff" shouldn't be part of my life story.
This last one is pretty cool--2/3 of a mile in is a place called the Forty Steps. A website I found said this was the place where the servants who worked in the mansions came to have parties. Forty steps drop down to a little balcony at the bottom of the cliff. I won't say what we found down there, but let's just say some people need to keep their private affairs indoors, or at least clean up after themselves.
We left RI and drove back to Mass via Connecticut so Steven could get a rock from that state. He flew in there, and we had dinner in CT, but we forgot to look for rocks.
On Saturday, Andrew and I took him to Boston for the day, and it was pretty cold and windy. We still had a good time, walked more than six miles and saw the Freedom Trail, both Cheers' locations and had a great dinner at our fave Boston restaurant La Famiglia Giorgio. Baby Floyd also managed to make it up the 294 steps of the Bunker Hill monument. My knees were not so happy on Sunday, but it was a nice workout!
Next to the USS Constitution, our favorite part of the Trail
At the children's museum that is next to the Constitution
Steven, hoisting a goat onto the ship inside the children's museum
Andrew and I left Steven at Boston Common so he could get a rental car and head to his last state of the trip--Maine. The temps dropped significantly that night, so he got to experience some negative degree weather in Portland before flying out of Manchester, N.H. on Sunday. Hopefully he had a good time, but I think his next visit might be in the summer!
No comments:
Post a Comment