NEW ENGLAND

WEDNESDAY

We landed in Providence, Rhode Island Wednesday night and found this adorable historic hotel down in Newport. Newport is a little town by the water with charming little street shops and beautiful historic mansions.

Right out of a fairytale.

Jessi and Boyd joined us on our little adventure. We had a lot of fun finding adventure and intrigue.

THURSDAY
We decided to drive north and see what adventures we could find. We were determined to see as many states as we could, find an old wooden covered bridge, and visit a little store with handmade crafts from local artists.

 A berry tree outside of the New Hampshire State house.
I want one!

We saw many State houses on our trip.
Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

We found the local artist shop. I got a beautiful wreath, Tom got a pen made from drift wood from a hurricane in New Hampshire and we discovered that Boyd and Jessi share the same passion for yoyo's.

We were worried that we wouldn't find a old wooden bridge, so we stopped at the closest thing we could find in Vermont.

We made it all the way to Vermont. We knew that the birth place of Joseph Smith was close by so we thought we could squeeze it in our day. Lucky for us we found it just minutes before the visitor's center closed. The sweet Missionary couple were more than happy to let us look around and tell us about the site. It was so dark up in those hills and so quiet. I'm glad we made the effort to go.

Our day of adventure and intrigue was almost to an end when Jessi spotted an old covered wooden bridge. Well, we had to stop and see it! So we accomplished everything we had set out to do that day.

FRIDAY
The reason we all went to New England in the first place...
Steve was graduating from Officer training in the Navy.

This is Grandma and Grandpa Williams. They live in Plymouth, MA. We stayed with them the rest of our visit. Behind their house is a huge cranberry bog. I had never been to the bog before and was thrilled to go and see it. During a cranberry harvest they flood the bog and the cranberries float to the top. It was cool to see the bog drained. We even picked a few left over cranberries to bring home.

SATURDAY

A trip to New England wouldn't be complete without a visit to Boston. The best way to see Boston is by walking the Freedom Trail. The trail starts at the State house.

The trail is marked by red brick or red paint.

We made our way across the bay to the Bunker Hill monument. I walked the 294 steps to the top. My legs shook the rest of the day. Last time we were here, Tom and his parents climbed to the top during a heat wave while I rested under a tree with his sisters and a cold diet coke.
Bunker Hill is located in Charlestown. Tom and I both agree that if we ever won the lottery we would live for a few years in this idyllic town. In this dream both of my girls would also dance with the Boston Ballet. A girl can dream can't she?

Since most of the family was there we decided to have a Thanksgiving feast. Grandma made a wonderful meal while we played in Boston.

SUNDAY

Before we all went our separate ways home, we stopped at a beautiful pond in Plymouth and took some pictures.

Perfect Christmas card pictures, no? We had such a wonderful time. Can't wait to do it again.
Thank you so much to Mimi and Grandpa for watching the girls so we could go.