New England

           Charlie and I rolled into Essex, Connecticut on Sunday evening just in time for supper with my Grandparents and my Aunt Sally who was temporarily seeking refuge there from the chaos of New York City.  Gram and Grandfather live in a small community called Essex Meadows and have access to many small towns strewn about the Long Island Sound.  They (luckily) missed out on the worst of Hurricane Sandy, but many communities nearby lost power and had days off work and school.

            The first few days of my visit were spent shopping, eating, and visiting while the last two were spend holed up inside watching movies while a strong Noreaster brought piles of snow and rain.  We ate at a great restaurant called the River Tavern (try the date pudding, or don’t, you’ll be disappointed in every dessert forever afterwards) and hit up a great independent bookstore where I got a fabulous cookbook containing almost a zillion soup recipes.  Charlie was unhappy with the snow because it was nearly up to his belly, and Stella was certainly having a bad morning after the storm.  So after a few days of relaxing, hot-tubing, and enjoying life in general, Charlie and I scraped the snow off Stella and we scooted North to Boston, Massachusetts to see my Aunt Caroline.  On the way we made a stop in Newport, Rhode Island, where we wandered along the cliff walk (which was so so beautiful although included a somewhat snotty aura) and had lunch at this little café downtown. 

            My Aunt is the head mistress of a middle school called Dana Hall where she lives on campus and luckily had a bed for me! On Saturday we went for a walk in Wellesley College and then had a lovely shoe-shopping/dinner date, which was a huge success.  On Sunday we went out to a farm (owned by a friend of Caroline) to watch a fox hunt and go for a walk with the doggies and Charlie was just in heaven!  

That evening my cousin Hailey and her boyfriend Will came down from Maine and we spent the evening chatting about Will’s upcoming adventure in Jackson Hole and eating Thai food.  It was lovely.  

            The following day I wandered around town and hit up a bookstore and paper shop where I purchased this year’s Christmas cards, which of course got me all pumped up for the holidays!  So excited for pumpkin pie and holiday lights!!! That evening Hailey and I went to Harvard Square for dinner and did a little window-shopping (no purchases). The next morning we hit the gym early and before we packed up and I followed Hailey on the last leg of my journey to Portland, Maine.  I can hardly believe it….