The best part about the Best Western in Keene is that we were able to park our car right behind our room with a sliding door, so loading the car was a breeze! Before we set out for our next destination we headed down to the lobby for a nice breakfast, which it actually was. It was weird actually seeing the lobby of this place and not have it feel like a mosh pit! The food was good and we were ready to set out to our next destination, so we bid Keene adieu and got back on the road.
The final destination for the day was New Jersey because we wanted to visit with Jon, Kim and Mason Tettambel. This would be our first timing meeting Mason, and we also hadn’t seen Jon and Kim in quite some time. The drive from New Hampshire to New Jersey was beautiful for the first 3/4 until of course we got to New Jersey. Sorry for those of you that love the state, but if it weren’t for the Tettambels and the bagels I am not sure I would have any reason to ever return to that state. One of the things that absolutely drives me up the wall about NJ is that you aren’t allowed to pump your own gas there. It’s not that they provide the service if you want it, you literally are unallowed by law to pump your own gas! I am not sure if people of NJ don’t know how to pump gas (with Snooki as a spokesperson this theory might be true) or if they are just too lazy, but I am not a fan. What drives me crazy is that it takes about 3 times as long because there is one attendant helping a lot of people. Often times you are waiting for them to return to give you your receipt so you can leave. I think it is stupid and inefficient. It is a waste of resources that could be used for something better. But I digress.
Ah, I feel better now. Anyway, back to the road tirp. Emily had a spot for lunch pegged for us that we were both excited about, Emily a bit more than me. Because Emily is a Food Network junkie, she wanted to eat at Bobby’s Burger Palace that was just 30 minutes from our hotel. This sounds all fine and good except our initial ETA was 1:00 which meant we weren’t going to be there until 2:30 at the earliest. Emily wanted to stay true to plan which ended up being an awesome idea. The burgers there are absolutely amazing. The cool thing BBP does to their burgers is that you can get them crunchified. This means that they will put a layer of potato chips right on the burger for you! Delish! I put them up there with Five Guys which are also unreal. BBP had more of a gourmet burger so they aren’t actually the same type of burger. It was incredibly delicious. If you see one near you, you have to check it out.
After our stomachs were full, we of course had to go in a couple stores because the BBP was attached to a mall. I was going through some shopping withdrawal so I felt much better after a little shopping! We left the mall (purchase free!) and headed to the hotel where we checked in and and brought out stuff to the room. We were getting the room prepped so we could go visit the Tettambels for dinner after which we could come back to the room and crash. We got to hang out at Jon & Kim’s for a few hours and catch up on life. Mason had fallen just before we arrived, so he had a mighty scratch on his face. Poor guy. It didn’t seem to affect him, though, and he was super smiley and cute. Hunter and Mason had fun running around the playground for a bit while we caught up with Jon and Kim. After the playground, we headed inside for pizza from Rocco’s (I think) which Jon grudgingly let Kim choose because she is pregnant. We don’t know what Jon’s choice would have tasted like, but Rocco’s makes a darn fine pie! Jersey has got the corner on pizza and bagels, for sure! It was great to see them and since we were such huge fans of the bagel sandwich, Jon offered for us to meet at his place for breakfast and he would pick some up for us.
We wrapped up for the evening, headed back to the hotel and called it a night! Another great day on the road.
Tags: BBP, Keene, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Road Trip 2010
The last day in Kennebunkport is always a sad one. Not only is it one of our favorite places to visit, but it also marks that we are more than half way done with our road trip and are headed back to Florida. Lucky for us, Emily has planned a lot of great stops along the way!
We started the day with the usual french toast sticks and cereal that we consumed the last few days. Hunter appeared un-phased by the repetition, so who was I to say anything. After breakfast Hunter and I did the last tour around the hotel to make sure our stick and rock piles were in order. We were awaiting Mom’s daily preparation so that we could catch the 10:20 trolley ride with Grandma. Colonel decided he wanted to go rogue again and decided not to take the trolley ride. Needless to say Hunter was stoked to be riding the trolley.
The trolley showed up on schedule and we purchased our tickets and took our seats in the open air section at the back of the trolley. Hunter sat with Grandma and Emily and I sat together. The trolley ride was awesome as the driver gave us some history on Kennebunkport as we drove through the downtown area and out to the beach. The weather was amazing again and the drive was beautiful. The trolley ride took exactly one hour as we returned to our hotel.
We waived goodbye to the trolley full of travelers and headed back to the room to pack our remaining items. Emily was excited to have all of our bags out of our room at the Crumb Line. Grandma and Pop Pop decided that they would come into downtown KBP and have lunch with us at Henry VIII Carvery one more time because we enjoyed ourselves so much the first time. They delivered yet another delicious meal as we were all quite pleased. Emily couldn’t leave KBP without one last attempt at shopping so we headed to a few shirt stores looking for a sweatshirt for her. We found one at the third store that we went to, which might be a record for Emily (she normally needs to go to five stores before she can pick out toilet paper). Grandma and Colonel were nice enough to hang out with Hunter as he ran around the grassy area outside the restaurant. On our way back Emily grabbed on more berry ice cream because she loved it so much the other day.
The time finally came for us to get in the car and hit the open road so we said goodbye to Grandma and the Colonel who would be spending one more day in KBP. Emily set us up for a short drive and stay in New Hampshire so that we could avoid 95 on our way to New Jersey. The drive was only about two hours and change which was just perfect because we had gotten such a late jump on the day. It was a beautiful drive through twists, turns and neat little towns.
We arrived in Keene, New Hampshire, around 4:00 in the afternoon. We checked in at the Best Western that was having possibly the most successful blood drive on the planet. I was expecting to see The Jonas Brothers performing live based on the number of people in attendance. After we plowed our way to the front desk we checked in, loaded our bags into the room, and headed to the downtown area to explore and find a place to eat.
The downtown Keene area was OK but nothing to write home about. We saw there was a park that we thought Hunter could run around in so we parked the car and walked. When we got there the park was quite a bit smaller than expected. I think there are prisoners who would turn down the chance to lift weights in this space. We stretched the legs a bit and headed to Margaritas, which was recommended by the guy at the front desk. The food was really good and it was just what we needed.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get a bit of swimming in before bed. The pool was absolutely perfect as we enjoyed it alone for about 3 minutes. After that we were bombarded by tons of people who were not looking for a quiet evening swim. We knew we were in trouble when we saw a dozen “water noodles” heading our way. We swam for a bit and called it a night but not before some delicious hotel chocolate chip cookies!
Tags: Keene, Kennebunkport, Maine, ME, NH, Road Trip 2010
I am sounding like a broken record at this point, but today was yet another beautiful day in Maine! Today was the day that Hunter, Emily and I were going to explore downtown Kennebunkport and eat the famous fried clam strips from The Clam Shack. Grandma Curly and Pop Pop Colonel were going to visit Grandma’s Uncle Stanley who lives about 45 minutes outside of Kennebunkport, so we were on our own for the morning. After another averagely consistent breakfast, we got dressed and headed to downtown KBP. It was really fun exploring with Hunter because he pretended to be our tour guide and was giving us all of these made up facts about the city. It was such a great day to be outside and exploring.
We were eagerly anticipating lunch because we were going to eat fried clam strips for the first time this trip. This is one of the have-to-stop-at places because the food and atmosphere are equally great. The food was delicious as it always is and we enjoyed our lunch on the lobster crates that we made into benches. Hunter got a grilled cheese as only they could make and we enjoyed our food and our freshly squeezed lemonade as we watched the cars drive down the main drag. After lunch we headed down the street again to get another fill of ice cream to wash down our delicious lunch. There is something really fun about watching kids eat ice cream. Upon finishing our ice cream we headed back to the car, drove down Ocean Ave. and back to the hotel so that Hunter could catch some zzzz’s.
Since Hunter was so over tired he ended up sleeping for 3 hours. If only I was smart enough to nap too! After Rumple got up from his nap we all got ready and headed to the Maine Diner for dinner. We ate at the Maine Diner last time we were in Maine and the food was absolutely delicious. Emily got the lobster pie, and I swore if we ever came back I would get it no questions asked, and I did. It was the most delicious dinner we have had on our trip so far. Everyone seemed quite pleased with their meal so the 40 minute wait was was worth it.
We had one last stop before we headed back to the hotel. We had been promising Hunter a trip to the beach while we were in Maine and this seemed like the perfect night to do it. We traveled down the coast on our way back from the diner to our hotel but most of the beaches required a beach parking pass to park there (which I think is a stupid idea), so we weren’t able to park at any of those beaches. There was a beach back near downtown Kennebunkport that was open to the public and had free parking. This beach turned out to be absolutely perfect. We got out of the car and all took our places; Grandma her her shoes off and feet in the water (she didn’t mind at all that her toes were blue because the water was so cold), Hunter to his spot as chief beach digger, Colonel and I wandered with our cameras and took photos and Emily bounced around between everyone enjoying her visit! It was an absolutely perfect end to our last full day in Maine.
Tags: beach, Kennebunkport, Maine, Maine Diner, Road Trip 2010, The Clam Shack
We awoke to another amazing day in Maine. So far on the trip, we have had outstanding weather. Today was the day that Emily had been waiting for for the past few months. Today was the day she got to go shopping with Grandma Curly without the assistance of her son Hunter. Emily loves Maine and she loves to shop so putting the two of them together can be quite dangerous. Emily sprang out of bed as if it were Christmas morning and got ready for her shopping trip. Hunter and I headed down to eat some breakfast, which happened to be the exact same breakfast we had the day before. Lucky for me Hunter is a big fan of routines, so he welcomed his french toast sticks for breakfast.
After our breakfast we explored the hotel grounds and dug rocks and looked for sticks. It was so entertaining watching him explore the grounds and tell stories as he was doing it. To bad he can’t blog because I assure you it would be much more entertaining than this. After we had sufficiently explored the entire property, it was time for us to head down to the farmers market that we saw a sign for the previous day. We really didn’t know where it was but KBP isn’t that big so it wasn’t too hard to find. It took us about 6.5 minutes to explore the twelve tents, 10 of which were plants. We got some crappy muffins and headed back to the hotel for Hunter’s nap and Emily’s shopping spree.
After the prince got his rest, Colonel, Hunter, and I headed to downtown Kennebunkport to meet the ladies for lunch at King Henry VIII Carvery. We had eaten here the last time we visited and thought the sandwiches were delicious. They delivered again. If you are in KBP and are looking for a break from seafood, check this place out. We demolished our sandwiches and headed out to check out the town. There was a large grassy area in front on the sandwich shop that Hunter enjoyed playing in while we found some time to relax. After Hunter expended some energy Emily suggested that we take a carriage ride around KBP. This seemed like a good idea to most so we took the tour where Hunter shared the tour duties with our carriage driver.
We enjoyed our ride and headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner. This was one of the few dinners that hadn’t been planned since 2005, so we decided to go to a restaurant that we had seen in our travels by The Hannaford grocery store. The restaurant was called Sebago Brewing Company and if you are in the KBP area I will give you directions to avoid it. It was very average food and since Maine is full of great food, don’t bother. After dinner we visited the toy store that was just across the street and got to watch Hunter run around the store and point out everything with four or more wheels. He loves trucks.
After the toy store Hunter and I called it a night and Emily and her parents went back to the Hanaford food store (did I mention that Emily loves food stores?). Hunter and I drove back to the hotel with the windows down and enjoyed the beautiful Maine night air. Aaaaah.
Tags: Kennebunkport, Maine, ME, Road Trip 2010
The sun rose on an absolutely perfect day in Maine. We had a day packed full of activities so we were eager to get a jump on the day. I brought some of the delicious hotel breakfast back to the room where Hunter and Mom eagerly awaited. Waffles (if you can call them that) and microwave French toast sticks were the flavor of the day. The response to these items were not that of happy diners, but at least it was food.
The first stop of the day was to meet Emily’s aunt and uncle for lunch at one of our favorite spots, the Merriland Farms Restaurant. It is a beautiful farm restaurant that overlooks a par 3 golf course. The food and company were absolutely perfect. Hunter at this point in the trip has started to punish us for keeping him up late the last two nights and is not stoked to be sitting in a chair at this place. I decided that I would take him out to explore while the others visited. Explore we did indeed. Hunter was all about finding sticks and digging and the farm was a great place for this activity. Unfortunately for us, we realized when were were quite a distance from the restaurant that the bugs were terrible. I could feel myself getting eaten alive, and I could only imagine this was happening to Hunter as well. We would pay for this adventure in the following days but it was fun hanging out with my buddy.
After lunch we planned to go to the Trolley Museum so Hunter could tour the world of trolleys that he had seen on our last trip. During that trip he was of course only 1 so he didn’t seem to remember much. The museum was a really cool place with a ton of trolleys that had been restored from all over the country. There was a track that was a few miles long that they had a couple of trolleys that took you on a ride down. Before boarding our trolley, the Conductor came over and asked Hunter to help him blow the horn. Very cool! Hunter was absolutely in heaven as we “raced” down the track. We got to ride one trolley car down the track and then switch to a second trolley to ride back to the museum. It was a really great experience. Hunter’s favorite part of the day was when he got to wear a conductor jacket and a conductor hat. He did this when we first got there and wanted to do it a second time before we left. He is loving dress-up these days.
After we had explored the trolley museum enough, Emily wanted to go to Hanaford which is the local grocery story that Emily always wants to visit every time we are in Maine. For those of you that don’t know, Emily has a love/fascination with the grocery industry. Every time we see a grocery store that she has not been in, she wants to go in as if she were a mountain climber seeing a peak that they had not yet conquered (of course the grocery store is a bit safer unless you run into one of those crazy coupon moms). Hunter was on his last legs, so we let Mom shop while Hunter and I stayed in the car.
After our visit to Hanaford we got to visit with Scott and Terry (Emily’s cousins) at their house that they just built. It was an absolutely beautiful house on an awesome piece of land. Uncle Hank made up some delicious burgers and fixin’s that we all devoured and enjoyed quite a bit. Alyssa and Marcel also made the trip over from New Hampshire, and it was very nice to visit with them as well. Since Hunter was extremely low on sleep, we decided to call it a night early and head back to the hotel. It was a day full of great activities.
Tags: Kennebunkport, Maine, ME, Road Trip 2010, Trolley Museum
This morning we embarked on our final stretch of driving to the north. We were heading to Kennebunkport, ME, a place that we have enjoyed since we went there together for the first time for Drew and Fran’s wedding back in 2004. If you have not been, it is really a cool historic city with a ton of great food. We were going to meet up with Grandma and Pop Pop in Kennebunkport later that day, but since we have the human alarm clock who woke us up at 6:30, we decided to hit the road early.
On our last road trip we stopped in Portsmouth, where we stayed a night and ate at this really cool/funky restaurant called The Friendly Toast. This restaurant was featured on the GMA Best Breakfast in America where they lost to the restaurant that we ate at in Door County, WI, a few months ago. It is right on the way to Kennebunkport, so we decided to stop there again and get some lunch. The food was good as always. We were so excited to get to Maine that we didn’t tour the city much, but it was nice to be back.
We set out on our 45 minute journey to our hotel in Kennebunkport, but it took every minute of that thanks to my lousy navigation. Tell me how it is possible to have two atlases, a GPS navigation system, and two smart phones and still make three wrong turns in 30 miles. Needless to say, I was a bit frustrated.
We arrived at the Rhumb Line Motel and were glad to be getting out of the car. We checked in and headed to our room. Emily stayed at this hotel about 10 years ago, and according to her, it was the same as she left it. She would later come to call it the Crumb Line. The place wasn’t great, but it did have an indoor and outdoor pool and was close enough to the action so it would do.
After Grandma and the Colonel arrived we decided to head into town to grab some dinner at Federal Jacks. We had all eaten there during Drew and Fran’s wedding week and had good memories of the place. The restaurant has an amazing view over the water at the boats coming into the harbor. The food was good but not as good as my memory had it tasting. Hunter enjoyed his dinner of mostly pickles.
After dinner, the guys explored the boats and the ladies explored the shop. It was a beautiful night and we were happy to be in Maine.
We drove back to our hotel on Ocean Ave. and enjoyed the beautiful sites and sounds. We stopped to take some photos of the Bush property because the lighting was so perfect. It really was a great first day in Kennebunkport.
Tags: Kennebunkport, Maine, ME, Portsmouth, Road Trip 2010, The Friendly Toast
We awoke to yet another beautiful day in Darien, CT, in our hotel. Emily the event planner had a full day of fun activities planned for us all. The first stop of the day was for lunch of course, where Emily, Grandma, Hunter, and I went off to find a restaurant that Emily had researched on one of her food programs. We were on a quest in search of a restaurant called Valencia Luncheria which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. When we arrived there, however, both of the two tables were full of people, so we decided to look elsewhere for dining options. We walked down the street and ate at The Lime Restaurant because, well… because they had an open table. The food was average, and that is all I have to say about that.
After completing our lunch and answering the “are we done” question from Hunter 1,200 times, we left the restaurant, got in the car and headed to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. We were going to meet Diane and the kids at the aquarium to explore some underwater creatures. Hunter was pretty fired up to see the sharks (as well as every other fish he saw on his travels)! The kids (and adults) had a blast exploring and visiting. It was well worth the visit if you ever find yourself in coastal CT.
After our fun afternoon at the aquarium we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Emily’s mom arranged with Diane to get a sitter for all the kids so the grown ups could have a quiet night out. Pop Pop Colonel and Glen didn’t join us because they were able to land some tickets for the David Letterman show that night, which they were both very excited to see. After a quick pitstop at Crumbs cupcakes (for later!), Emily’s mom, Diane, Emily, and I ended up going to this really great restaurant called The Goose in downtown Darien, CT. The food was absolutely delicious and the night out was much needed. Thank you, Grandma Curly!
After dinner we returned to the Griffin house to visit a bit, enjoy some delicious s’mores, and chase fireflies before heading back to the hotel. The time went way too fast as it always does, but it was great to see the Griffin clan.
Tags: Florida, Kennebunkport, Maine, Road Trip 2010
After a good night’s sleep at the Aloft hotel in Winchester, we packed up the car yet again and set out on our day. We had about 6 hours of travel ahead of us, so before we departed Winchester we had to fuel up the car and ourselves. We received a great recommendation from our good friend Andrea, who attended college in Winchester, about a gas station called Sheetz that had really great breakfast sandwiches. We stopped and I filled the car and Emily went in to get breakfast. It was of course at this time that I discovered that I had forgotten my Visa card at the restaurant the night before.
I went through as many curse words as I could remember under my breath before we could set out on the road again. After Emily called to cancel the card, we of course had to stop at the Starbucks for her troubles. Did you know Starbucks takes Mastercard, too? Back on the highway, we set the GPS toward Darien, CT, our destination. Our course today was creatively set up by Emily in order to avoid the busy interstates and to see a bit more scenic side of the north east. The drive was great and kept us moving.
When it was lunch time we went to the GPS to see what restaurants were close by and if there was somewhere new we could explore. We have not always had luck with this method as there is nothing to go off except the restaurant name. We didn’t have much to lose as we were in Grantville, PA. We landed on a delicious little deli called the Black Tie Deli. It was perfect because they had delicious sandwiches, and there was also a dump truck parked out front for Hunter to look at. The construction guy even came by and let Hunter sit in the cab!
After lunch, we still had a healthy drive ahead of us as we made our way to Glen & Diane’s house. The weather was still beautiful and we were very excited to see the Griffins. We ended up arriving in Darien, CT, about 5:00, and the kids were as excited to see Hunter as we were to see them. Their house is located on this amazing lot which provided a ton of space for the kids to run around in the back yard, which was exactly what Hunter needed. Diane set up a slip-n-slide in the back yard which Hunter, Sean, and Taylor (and Alex, in regular clothes!) played in until the sun was long gone. Where there are sprinklers and lots of people, there are also water fights, which made the night a blast. Diane made a delicious home cooked dinner, and it was exactly what we needed on our road trip. We also got to connect with Grandma Curly and Pop Pop Colonel so Hunter felt right at home.
What an awesome day!
Tags: Kennebunkport, Maine, ME, PA, Road Trip 2010
Today was our day to pack up the car and continue to head North. After Hunter polished off the box of chocolate chip waffles, we got the car packed, said our goodbyes and continued on our journey. Our destination for this Monday was Winchester, VA. The drive was roughly 5 hours, and Emily had a stop planned for us at the Route 11 potato chip factory in Mount Jackson, VA.
We started off our morning with a healthy breakfast of Bojangles chicken biscuits and hash browns. The drive was smooth as the weather continued to be sunny and warm. We arrived at the Route 11 potato chip factory hoping that they would be in production, but unfortunately, they weren’t making chips. We did get a tour from the lady that was working the gift shop which was very informative. All Hunter cared about was sampling the chips which we got a chance to do as well. His favorite was the dill pickle flavored chip. He must get this from his mother. The best tip we received from the potato lady was the location of a covered bridge that was just a couple miles away.
We decided to take the bags of chips that we bought to the covered bridge location and have a little picnic snack. After we ate our yummy chips we explored the covered bridge and the bank of the river where Hunter founds some great rocks to throw into the water. It was the perfect break for us to stretch our legs and get some fresh air.
After our break we got back into the car for our short drive to Winchester, VA, where we stayed at Aloft hotel. The room was really cool and looked like a New York City apartment, only newer and cleaner. We moved our bags and and got right back in the car to head to downtown Winchester to get some grub. Emily found a great spot called the Union Jack restaurant. It was a British pub located in this really cool historic district among all sorts of cool buildings. The restaurant itself was in an old bank building from 1878. The food was good, but the location was great as we explored before and after dinner.
On our way back to the hotel we took in the historic sites and sounds and also saw some green fire trucks that we needed to circle back to see a second time. A great stop on our journey to Maine. Little did I know that I had forgotten my credit card at the restaurant… to be continued.
Check out the photos from the first four days below!
Tags: Florida, North Carolina, road trip, Road Trip 2010
We woke to another oven of a day in North Carolina. Hunter decided that 6:30 a.m. was a perfect time to greet the day, and he thought that he should play drums to start the day. We helped him understand that
the neighborhood might not want to wake up to his concert but that he could play later in the day.
After a breakfast of chocolate chip waffles and cheerios we spent the morning on the back porch watching Hunter dig in the mini sandbox that Uncle Drew and Aunt Fran got for Hunter upon his arrival. He absolutely loved it because it had a mini excavator and dump truck that he got to zoom through the sand. Although it was fun to watch Hunter play, it was so hot I thought the sand was going to turn to glass.
Emily and Fran spent the afternoon shopping at Kohl’s and the grocery store getting the fixins for dinner. Drew and I held down the fort while Hunter took his nap. We finished off the night with a delicious salad that Emily made. Hunter of course had to end the night with a drum concert with Uncle Drew. After Hunter went to sleep Emily played the role of What Not To Wear host Stacy London with Fran’s closet. Out of respect for Fran I won’t repeat some of the phrases that Emily used to describe the items that were to be parted with.
Another great day in NC.
Emily here… I will repeat the phrases! My two favorite items in the closet were the boldly black and white striped silken blouse and the plaid flannel tunic with gold threading. The first I asked if she had bought at Arsenio Hall’s estate sale, and the second I thought was cute if you were a gay lumberjack. In my defense, I did warn her ahead of time that I have reduced my own mother to near tears while cleaning out her closet. Fran said she could take it (and she did)!
Tags: Holly Springs, North Carolina, Raleigh, Road Trip 2010
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