Day 1: Planes, Trains & Automobiles (and Ferries)

Boston, MA

Bryan and I are excited to kick off our next adventure…this year’s vacation takes us to the Northeast (Boston, MA & Portland, ME) and Nova Scotia. Although we only started planning this get away about three weeks ago, we were able to research quite a bit and are looking forward to all we will explore over the next 10 days! Vacation officially kicked off last night with a flight to Boston (Plane). We were lucky to even arrive nearly 30 minutes early, giving us a little extra time in one of our favorite downtowns! We stayed right near the TD Garden Center, making for a fun night of strolling the historic streets of Boston. Having eaten dinner in CLE before we departed (I’m a regimented meal eater and would not have been a good travel companion if I waited for a 9PM dinner post flight), we decided to venture through Little Italy and make a stop for dessert…at Mike’s Pastry of course for their famous cannoli! Bryan opted for the employee’s favorite, chocolate dipped, and I couldn’t resist the pistachio! Yum…after this delicious treat in the always crowded store front we wondered around the corner on the Freedom Trail to catch a glimpse of Paul Revere’s old wooden home. From there we continued on to city center, taking in some great nighttime views of this city as we made our way to the Quincy Market. Here we explored some shops, enjoyed a drink then decided to stroll toward the harbor. En route we got caught up looking at the unique carousel filled of animals like sea turtles, lobsters, and grasshoppers then finally made it to the waterfront for some great night time viewing of the boats resting in the docks. As we wound down for our early morning departure, we took a different return route (still through Little Italy) and stumbled upon a street festival for Saint Agrippa, so we decided to listen to some live music and check out the various vendors and kiosks as we made our way back to our hotel. We look forward to some more time back in Boston at the back end of our trip! So, let’s talk about our trip agenda for a minute…as many of you know, I am most definitely a “planner.” Tossing this trip together rather last minute resulted in some late nights researching and some creative logistics, so Bryan and I got some inspiration from the 1987 classic: Planes, Trains And Automobiles. To get to our ultimate/primary destination we flew to Boston, are taking a train to Portland, ME (where I’m writing from now), [added in a Ferry to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia], and will be road tripping throughout Nova Scotia! Stay tuned for Friday photos, and to hear about our train ride (departing now), and afternoon ferry ride (The CAT, which was reinstated this spring) across the Gulf of Maine.