Boston, NH, Maine

It's about time I break this silent streak.  We're enjoying summer so far, with it's mix of productiveness, laziness, and comings and goings.  TEC and I returned home a week ago from a refreshing trip away to New England.  He attended a Bankruptcy conference held at a fancy resort in the White Mountains of New Hampshire--our first reason to justify a trip up there.  It was also an excuse to finally visit Bryce and Denisa in Maine, which we've wanted to do for a long time.  And, of course, what better time to check off another ballpark on our list--Fenway in Boston made number 12 for us.

We actually flew in and out of Boston.  Thanks to some tips from my friend KHD and TEC's family, we managed to experience some great pieces (certainly not all) of that amazing city.  We took a DUCK tour over land and sea/river as an overview of the city layout, which was great.  The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum also made the cut and was fascinating, particularly when we were able to catch pieces of various tours going on around us.  The whole museum is really a work of art and so different from most museum experiences.  And how exhilarating would it be to play in this recital hall!

We picked up our rental car in Boston Thursday evening and made the drive up to Bretton Woods, NH.  The Mount Washington Resort is quite amazing.  We actually stayed at the Bretton Arms Inn, which was a "quaint"(in a luxurious way) version of the big hotel.  I'm embarrassed to say that my favorite part of that part of the trip was the three meals we ate in the hotel--the food was so good.  We passed on most of the resort attractions ($$), but we did join a mountain biking tour, which was a lot of fun.  I passed the time each morning going on some beautiful long runs, hoping not to run into any moose.  Luckily I didn't, but TEC did spot a bear on one of our evening walks.

Saturday midday, we left for Farmington, ME.  Bryce and Denisa gave us the welcome tour of downtown, as well as an authentic Maine auction experience.  We enjoyed spending time with them and their cute kids, seeing their house--which suits them so well--playing games, and sampling some of Denisa's delicious bread.  I even finished reading Vodnik, Bryce's recently published book, while sitting in their living room.  You should pick up a copy and read it, too:)

Bright red hot dog at the auction

Dreamy backyard, if you ask me...

Our kids would have had a great time with these two

Monday morning we drove back to Boston, stopping at a couple of lighthouses in Portland for the more stereotypical Maine experience.  Yes, we had some lobster in the form of a "lobster roll", which we shared.

Back in Boston, we walked around Harvard a bit in the rain, trekked through the humidity that followed over to Cambridge and consumed ice cream for dinner (don't tell our kids) at Christina's Homemade.  Then it was an evening at Fenway, where we saw a win for the Redsox over the Chicago White Sox.

Our last day was Tuesday.  We spent it walking the Freedom Trail and picking up a few things for the kids.  We ate some yummy Italian food before heading to the airport, leaving all the other great-things-to-do-in-Boston behind.  Trips like that are such a treat.  We feel so lucky that we were able to see such a beautiful part of the country and to spend much needed time together.  Many thanks to our moms/anyone else who helped for making it possible for us to get away.

Hopefully I'll catch up on the rest of our summer soon.