Build Your Own Adventure: New England
Fun, Family, Foliage
I've always wanted to see New England in the fall. You hear that there is NOTHING better than the foliage of the North East during this magical time of the year. When my husband's best friend announced that he would be getting married in the fall I began planning an elaborate trip to see all of the beauty this part of the country had to offer. Then I remembered that I have a toddler. How was I going to make this a fun trip for him and still see nature. Well, it was a wonderful trip. Part of it was due to the fact that my kid is awesome, but the other part was that I had prepared him and us for a road trip. So, it went well....except for that one day.
Itinerary: 6 days in New York, Vermont, & Connecticut (Driving through New Hampshire, and Massachusetts)
Who:
Our little family (2 adults, 1 (3 year old) toddler
When:
October 2018
Details:
Day 1:
We took the JetBlue red eye flight into JFK, New York City arriving pretty early. We got a rental car(yes a rental car in the city, crazy I know) from Alamo using Costco because they have the best deals. It was a fairly simple process getting the car and heading out. Once out of the airport and onto the streets we were okay until we reached Manhattan proper. People drive crazy there(and that is coming from a crazy Utah driver)! We went for breakfast at Clinton's Street Baking Company. They had great reviews online, and are the "best breakfast" in NYC on Yelp. It was good. I personally have had better, but we enjoyed our time in this quaint cafe.
After breakfast we tried checking into our hotel, where we were denied until the 3:00 check-in time. We were so bummed, but also understood the policy. So, we took our tired bodies to a local park for a little play time for Buddy. Then, we hopped on the subway headed for Ground Zero. This is one thing that we wanted to see, but were nervous about taking a toddler to. Well, we had to wait in a very long line outside in the rain to get in that by the time we got in, he napped through a majority of our guided tour. It was an amazing tour and experience to stand in this sacred location. There is so much history, and information being shared. I was truly impressed with the mass amounts of artifacts that were saved throughout the recovery. It's a little overwhelming at times. The city, and the conservation groups have truly done an amazing job retelling the stories of those impacted by the tragic events of September 11th. I respect everything they are doing to share the stories.
After this we had a late lunch (pizza of course) and headed back to our hotel. We were able to get into our room where we played and relaxed for a bit. Buddy then had a play date while mom and dad went to a short play being put on Off Broadway. I whole-heartedly recommend that any OFFICE fan see THE OFFICE MUSICAL. It was a magic 90 minute performance. When we saw it, the show was only on their 3rd"ish" week, and they are now in talks of taking it on the road. It really is that amazing. They managed to put the BEST of 9 seasons of The Office into a 90 minute MUSICAL. Truly amazing. I hope they take it on the road and bring it to Utah. I will be there. One thing I really loved, was that after the show they did a meet and greet with a small number of guests. Very cool, and memorable. Especially for 2 parents going on very little sleep.
Day 2:
We finally got some well deserved sleep, then hit the road for upstate. On the way north there wasn't a lot to see as far as foliage goes, but it was a nice drive. We stopped in a small town called Schoharie with an adorable fall pumpkin patch. It was everything you dream a small town pumpkin patch to be. They offered tractor rides, a place to feed farm animals, a corn maze, and ...........cider donuts! Now these, these were something I never knew I was missing in my life. Warm, sugary, fried rings of love. So tasty. It made this day so perfect. After a fun time at the pumpkin patch we headed to Schenectady for some tasty food and delightful conversation with family at Nikki P's West JC's Slice. It was nice to have some traditional New York food while visiting with my husband's 2 aunts. We finished the night by FINALLY meeting my husband's childhood best friend. It was such a joy to see these 2 together. The love they share is so sweet. Sweeter still was the tasty hand scooped ice cream we got from a local GAS STATION following our visit. Gas station ice cream! I had never heard of such a thing, and I was all to happy for this experience. Thank you Stewart's for inventing the hand scoop ice cream shop INSIDE a gas station(if you did invent it). You are true geniuses.
Day 3:
The Wedding.
This is what we came to New York for, and it was magical. So much love. Not so much something someone wants to read about in a travel blog, but magical none the less.
Day 4:
We relived one of my husbands childhood memories and rewarded our son for his awesome wedding behavior with a day at the local amusement park, Six Flags Great Escape. Now THIS! This is the type of adventure our 3 year old lives for. He loves theme parks and amusement parks. He loves rides and thrills. It was also fun for me to hear stories of my husband coming here as a kid and the fun he had. It was also fun to ride some of the crazy rides of this amusement park. My new favorite wooden roller coaster can be found here. COMET. The best wooden coaster.
This was also the night of our little ER visit. THAT was not fun, but it did remind us how special our little family is.
Day 5:
We stayed in this small tourist town called Lake George. I fell in love!!! I fell in love with the town, the people working there, the rain on the lake. I even fell more in love with my husband for sharing Lake George with me. It's just this small little town where my husband would go as a kid, and it was magical. The fall leaves and the water really were something out of a movie. Just normal, but beautiful. It got me thinking though, there is something so wonderful about the "normal", the "plain". I even wrote about that here.
This was a full day though (even with all of my thoughts).......we toured around Lake George, went and visited some friends on our way out of New York, and up to Vermont. What was in Vermont you ask? Well.....one of my bucket list destinations of course.
Ben & Jerry's Factory!
I have wanted to go here for years!!! Yes, I know this is the 2nd time I'm writing about ice cream in one post but can you blame me? Ice cream is delicious, and Ben and Jerry's did something amazing when they started stuffing massive pieces of goodness into their pints. I know they are also "green" and love saving the planet, and are friendly to bovines, but I'm really all about the tastiness of their ice cream. I've dreamed of devouring a Vermonster since I was in high school and I was so excited to make my dream come true(mostly). I say mostly because a Vermonster consists of 20 scoops of ice cream, 4 bananas, 3 cookies, a brownie, 4 servings of hot fudge and caramel, 10 spoonfuls of nuts, whipped cream, and 8 spoonfuls of your favorite toppings. I am only human and KNEW that I would not be able to take on this "monster" by myself or even with the help of my husband and a 3 year old. So, I opted for the equally intimidating Mini-Vermonster. 4 scoops of ice cream, loads of sauces, 4 scoops of toppings, and whipped cream. It came in an adorable plastic carrier that is now proudly displayed in my front room. You better believe I point it out to visitors! Eating ice cream was the highlight of the trip here, but we also took a tour of the facilities, watched a video, and tried a sample of their milk and cookie flavor. If you check in on Yelp you get your tour for free too. Winning!
I'm telling you, this day was full. After this tour we had a long drive down to Connecticut. We stopped along the way, but our goal was to make it to The Great Wolf Lodge where we would be spending the night. I wanted to make it before the waterpark closed, but alas we did not. So, we had some dinner and played in the hotel arcade for the night. Our little buddy LOVED it.
Day 6:
This would be our last day of vacation, but don't you fret...I packed it full. We needed to make it from Connecticut to JFK airport in New York which was about a 4 hour drive. However, before we could do that....we managed to fit in a full morning at the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark. It was so much fun. They have this wild water slide where you sit in a tube for 2-4 people and spin around in this giant toilet bowl type thing. It was amazing. My husband also did this crazy slide where they essentially just have you stand there, and then take the floor out from under you and you plummet down. I didn't have the courage to do it after him. It was that crazy. We spent a little more time in the arcade and redeemed our tickets for a ball, car, and rubber duck. All of which were logo'ed "Great Wolf Lodge". They made the perfect souvenir for our Buddy.
We drove about 45 minutes and stopped at one of our favorite "chains" Hash House A Go Go. If you aren't familiar, you should read about them here. By this time the little man was tired so it worked out perfectly. We drove the rest of the way back to the airport and caught our 7:00 flight, and headed home. I had hoped to stop at the local Pez Factory but we ran out of time, which just means we have a reason to go back.
Overall it was a lot of driving, and nothing super spectacular. However, it WAS a trip that I will never forget. A trip full of so much fun, and memories. I loved learning more about my husband, and his background. I loved finally getting to see the foliage I've heard so much about. I loved making it to Ben and Jerry's. I loved meeting some of the most amazing people that helped shape the man I love. I loved seeing how great of a road trip buddy our little man is. I truly just loved the family time. It was a wonderful trip. One that I would do over again.



