New England Weekend Extravaganza
39 hours, 3 states, 100000 cups of coffee later…. 🗺
Did someone say girl’s weekend?! This was initially supposed to just be a weekend in Boston - one night and enough time to see the sights. Well, in true Anna + Stephie fashion, it turned into an entire “New England Weekend Extravaganza”. We planned out every hour of this trip to make the most of it, and we started off so strong but then the universe interfered and we had some hilarious mishaps along the way…
Stop One: The Berkshires
Arguably my favorite part of the trip - started off strong! I wanted to show the girls our house in the Berkshires (the B Lodge) and then decided that we had to make a few additional stops to some of my favorite places. After checking out progress on the lodge we hopped over to downtown Great Barrington to Two Flowers for coffee, and the crystal shop for some perusing! Afterwards we drove over to Lenox and walked around, went to The Bookstore and grabbed a treat at the Patisserie before heading out on our way.
Stop Two: Cambridge
Next up was Cambridge! We walked around Harvard Square - and Harvard’s campus before grabbing a bite at Russell House Tavern which was a huge hit.
Stop Three: Marblehead
We had done some research on the towns around Boston and Marblehead came up as one of the cutest so of course we had to see it for ourselves. It did not disappoint.
Every street was cuter than the one before it, and the whole town is the epitome of old New England charm. Between the colorful doors with brass knockers and the hydrangeas popping through white picket fences, it just made me want to stay forever.
The best part though? Hands down the park up on a hill with swings and benches that overlooks the crystal blue harbor filled with a hundred sailboats.
Stop Four: Salem
Oh Salem, I had such high hopes for you but unfortunately you fell flat of all of my expectations. I don’t know if it was just because we were exhausted, if it was because of the rain, or if it was because of the god-awful ghost tour but gee it was bad. I would love to go back for Halloween to experience it again and in it’s full glory. But basically - we went to some place in hopes of getting coffee that was disgusting so we left in search of caffeine to no avail. All the restaurants and shops were closing early even though it was a Saturday night. Our ghost tour was horrible - it was supposed to focus on the ghosts and witches of Salem (duh) and witches weren’t even mentioned. Instead our tour guide focused on his weird personal stories that had nothing to do with anything - like literally he went on and on about UFO’s. Horrible experience, and it was such a let down.
Stop Five: Boston
Well, Boston was a flop. Once we arrived to our hotel we were starving so we went to the pub across the street but their kitchen was closed. It took us forever to find a place that was open - um hello Boston why is everything closed on a Saturday night?! We finally found some luck and shared a plate of nachos and then hit up a 711 for water and snacks.
We got up in the morning and headed to our fav - Tatte - for their avocado croissant breakfast sandwiches. All was great until the torrential downpour started and our plans were thrown off. We drove around for an hour before deciding to just call it quits and head to our next stop.
Stop Six: Newport
Since we had more time than originally expected we maid a pitstop in Newport to walk around the cliff walk and admire the gorgeous homes.
Stop Seven: Watch Hill
Last, but certainly not least, is Watch Hill - AKA a home of Taylor Swift - AKA the last great American dynasty setting - AKA my future dream summer town. I absolutely love Watch Hill - the town is so cute and the beach is amazing. We grabbed lunch and Del’s lemonade at Ten Sandwiches and then took them to go so we could eat on the beach. Then we stopped into every little shop in town and grabbed sweatshirts and found Stephie her perfect key chain.
and that’s it!!! If you want a copy of my itinerary book - let me know :)
