Leaf Peepers

This Sept, I boarded a plane and headed East. Landing in New York with no plans, just to explore the East Coast. We grabbed a quick late night burger at the Black Iron Burger. They had an amazing truffle burger with caramelized onions and parmesan truffle fries. We found a few Irish pubs and headed in to prepare for our early morning.

We awoke to a lovely weather day and headed to Grand Central Station and boarded a train to Connecticut. This was a great cost saving way to get out of the city and enjoy some views along the way.

Getting off in New Haven, CT, we decided to find Louis Lunch (advertised at the first restaurant to serve hamburgers and the oldest hamburger restaurant still in operation). We snapped a few photos and went to pick up our rental car. They recommended we try Geronimo's Grill. Geronimo's boasts a massive tequila selection: 123 white tequilas, 146 Resposadas, 110 Anejos, 65 mescals and 38 extra Anejos! I enjoyed a chardonnay with dinner and a drive to the famous Mystic, CT. After much conversation we decided to let the locals help us find the best places to visit!!

We chose to spend the night in Mystic and venture to Frank's Gourmet Grill for a small bite. We were introduced to Rhode Island Clam chowder and Steve, the bartender. Steve helped us plan out our next day and we couldn't have been happier with his advice... especially with the clam chowder. How had we never heard of this before?

The morning started out with a quick 5 minute drive to to Clydes Cider mill http://www.bfclydescidermill.com. Here we were able to sample some delicious apple cider wines and tour the mill. Local tip: make sure to sample the apple cider donuts. Here we also purchased our golden maple leaf ornament for our travel tree.

Following our snacks and cider, we headed to Gillette Castle for some amazing culture and photos http://dupontcastle.com/castles/gillette.htm. We then drove onto the Ferry, crossing the river and headed to Chester, Deepriver and Essex.

Local tip: Stuffed clams at the Black seal in Essex.

In Essex, JR also had one of his new favorite IPA's, Subduction from the Grotten Brewery. Making a trip to the Griswold Inn is an absolute must. This is the longest continuously running Inn in the US, kept open by The British during the Revolutionary War. Tom, our barkeep gave us even more great destination advice as we continued our adventure.

Dinner time was upon us and so began our multi-state lobster crawl.

Our first lobster was consumed at Bill's Seafood in Westbrook, Connecticut http://www.billsseafood.com. This is a delicious, cash only, fairly dicey restaurant on the river, highly recommended by all the locals we met. Following a stuffed lobster and clams we ventured to Mystic, known for the 1988 Julia Roberts film Mystic Pizza http://www.mysticpizza.com. The pizza was great!

Local Tip: Make a swing through the Mystic Spice store for some memorable gifts to bring back to use. Pirate Bite pepper mix was our favorite and goes on most of our food.

On our next leg, we discovered what would become one of our favorite cities in the US, Newport, Rhode Island. We weren't sure what was more beautiful, the scenery, weather, or food! Here we did the tour of the Mansions and the majestic cliff walk. After our morning exercise we toured Bannister's Wharf for lunch; a place we vow to return to. We enjoyed a Rhode Island lobster at Aquidneck Lobster Company, sitting over the water in the sun. They even had 6 lb lobster on the menu, though we did not over indulge.

Local tip: Scrimshaw's in Bannister's Wharf was the most interesting store we happened upon.

With a quick look at the map, we decide to head to Cape Cod, foregoing the timely Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket trips, which we will save for another time.

With a spin of the compass, we decided to head north and check out Plymouth.

This is the time for a photo opportunity of Plymouth Rock. On the advice of a great friend we head to his hometown of Scituate, Massachusetts, otherwise known as the Irish Riviera. Tried our first stuffed Quahog (huge AND delicious) at TK O'Malleys and continued to head on North.

Boston is one of our favorite cities we've explored fairly well, so on our original plan of spending a night there, decided in something new.

The next destination ended up being Salem, with a quick stop out at night for some live music and craft cocktails.

Local Tip: find the speakeasy under Opus. Walk down an alley off the main drag, and look for a wood door under a red light with a brand on the middle.

This was an amazing and historic city, and we stayed for easily a half day, in which the gloom and rain contributed to the atmosphere.

You can see a lot in a short amount of time.

We started our cobblestone journey in the morning taking our own walking tour through the witch trial memorials, House of the Seven Gables, The Witches House, and a plethora of historic buildings.

Next stop Portland, Maine. Time to check an item off my Life List... Catching my own Maine Lobster!!

We chartered a boat with Lucky Catch.

http://www.luckycatchlobster.com. We baited and pulled traps while we learned about the sustainable ecology of The Maine lobster fishery, and why it's one of the most coveted lobsters out there.

After the boat tour, which is family friendly, we chose our lobster and carried it 2 blocks to Portland Lobster Company for the preparation. This will forever be one of my fondest memories of travel. Corn, baked potatoes, butter, with a side of mussels. Farm to table? No. Boat to dock, yes!

The next morning, we were off for our Fall Color Tour..... Blog Post - New England Part 2.