Fall Break Part 2 - Cruise in the US

Our family always loves a good cruise! We were very excited about this one as it left New York and would sail up the eastern seaboard into Canada and back. We loved that we were able to get two adjoining staterooms with balconies which gave us all just a little more space. We were looking forward to the cooler weather that we knew would come with this trip!

Everyone gathered on the deck when it was time to sail away.

We sailed right past the Statue of Liberty. It was kind of neat to think about how many people saw her as they sailed into New York Harbor for so many years.

By Manhatten!

On Monday we docked in Newport, Rhode Island. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

We didn't have any kind of an agenda or excursion planned, so we just tendered over to land from the boat and started walking around this cute little town. We came across the lovely St. Mary's Cathedral where John and Jackie Kennedy married. We then walked on until we came up on the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Ryan and I always enjoy watching tennis, so we thought this could be a fun place to explore.

Just inside the gate is their famous Horseshoe Court which was home to the US Open until 1914. You can actually still rent the court to play there today which would be really cool.

The famous Wingfield Patent which patented the game of tennis in England in 1874 is framed here.

There was really so many cool things to see here! There were tons of different trophies from different tournaments over the years, a little biography on each of the players who have been inducted, exhibits on the different clothes, rackets, balls, and tournaments. There was a VR Oculus that Mia tried out showing Arthur Ashe stadium; it was actually of the match that Mr. Ashe won. It was really pretty fascinating.

There was a neat hologram of Roger Federer talking and explaining some of his favorite parts of tennis.

After this we walked back down into town to explore it a little bit. We had a little treat from a cookie store and just enjoyed being outside on a beautiful day. It was a great day!

On Tuesday, we arrived in Portland, Maine. It was fun to sail in and see this little lighthouse guiding the way.

There were some incredibly gorgeous houses right on the coastline too!

This was another day where we did not have a specific excursion planned. However, we knew we wanted to visit the Two Fat Cats Bakery. We had originally seen this on a Samantha Brown travel show once; because of that show, I had ordered Ryan a blueberry pie from here for our anniversary a few years ago. It was so good! We knew we wanted to go test it out in person. We got there a little bit after lunch, so unfortunately, they had sold out of most of their individual pies for the day. They did though have one apple pie left for Mia and one blueberry for Ryan. I ended up getting a slice of a blueberry and cardamom pie. These were so delicious! It wasn't quite the experience we had envisioned, but it was fun and delicious nonetheless.

It was another gorgeous day, so we spent some time walking around the downtown and port areas of town.

We found this little train that takes a 45 minute ride around the city right by the water. It was a fun way to see some sights around town and learn more about the area.

So many sailboats were out on the water!

Our family in front of the Norwegian Breakaway before we got back on the ship.

On Wednesday we anchored near Bar Harbor, Maine. It was a very foggy day, but that wasn't going to deter us! We tendered over to shore and then got on the little tour bus bound for Acadia National Park. Even in the fog, it was beautiful. I'm so glad we were able to explore this park!

We made it to the top of Cadillac Mountain. You can usually see the water behind where we're standing, but it was too foggy. No matter, it was a beautiful day to be in God's creation!

We all enjoyed time down near Thunder Cove. The area around it had an almost eerie feel to it with the fog.

The hole itself is really cool. When the water comes rushing in, it makes this really neat thundering sound as it ricochets off the rocks. We all enjoyed watching and hearing this.

We enjoyed seeing Otter Cover, Great Meadow, and several other beautiful areas on our drive and exploration of the park. It was absolutely beautiful.

The flowers around this area were gorgeous. I couldn't resist snapping lots of pictures of them.

When the tour dropped us back off in the middle of town. We had found great reviews of a tavern called The Thirsty Whale. I really wanted to get a lobster roll while in Maine! This place did not disappoint at all. Great food and great service. I thoroughly enjoyed my lobster roll with a side of lobster bisque. It was so delicious.

After lunch, we had a great time walking around the town and doing a little bit of shopping. We picked up some popcorn as a snack; regular for the girls and blueberry for Ryan. We listened to some live music while we snacked. This is such a great town; I hope we have the opportunity to return at some point!

We've been hanging around the US on these first few days of the cruise, and it's been great; now it's time to head to Canada!

Fall Break Part 1 - New York

This is a Fall Break that we'll always remember! We actually had this trip originally planned for Fall Break, 2020, but it had to be rescheduled thanks to Covid travel restrictions. We flew out of Atlanta on Friday morning and landed in New York City a few hours later.

We grabbed a quick bite at the airport and then surprised the girls with a limo ride from the airport into the city. They were both speechless! I love when we can pull off a surprise like this!

It was a beautiful day which made for a great drive in.

Our driver stopped to let us check in to our hotel, the Freehand New York, in Gramercy Park. We had a four person bunk room which worked pretty well for us. There was a reading light and charging outlet by each of the beds, and this let us spread out just a little bit. It had a little bit of a dorm feel to it, but the bathroom was in our room which was appreciated. This ended up being a great place for us.

They had a free arcade game in the lobby; early risers Ryan and Lily took advantage of that while Mia and I got ready in the mornings.

We hopped back into the limo, and the driver took us over to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. We actually got to meet up with our friends Heather and Mary Preston Harvey and Heather and Lauren Martin. The two moms and daughters had come up a few days prior to attend the Harry Styles concert. We were able to meet up with them before they headed back to Atlanta later that evening.

I love this memorial and museum; it is so incredibly well done. Lily and I visited a few years ago, and I'm very thankful that Ryan and Mia had the opportunity to see it on this trip. We didn't take many pictures while inside out of respect for the site.

After saying our goodbyes to our friends, we decided to head on up towards Broadway instead of taking time to go back to the hotel and change. Definitely the right call! We landed on Juniors for dinner which was so delicious. Some good burgers and Dr Brown sodas were just right for dinner.

Of course you can't go to Juniors and not have a slice of their famous cheesecake. Ryan and Lily split the plain slice while Mia and I split the strawberry. They were so good!

We walked over from there to the Marquis Theatre to see Beetlejuice. It was so good! This was the show Mia picked, but we all absolutely enjoyed it. 

Alex Brightman was an excellent Beetlejuice and he led a great cast. This was a great first show!

We headed on back to the hotel from here, and I think we all slept pretty hard this evening!

On Saturday morning we walked over to Gramercy Bagel to enjoy a New York staple. They were quite yummy.

After breakfast we headed back up to the Times Square area where we spent a few hours having fun in Madame Tussaud's.

We loved meeting all the Marvel characters and going to their 4D show.

Of course we wanted to hang around royalty.

You've got to meet some Broadway stars.

A few athletes were hanging around whether we like them or not.

And you just never know who else will be around!

It was a really fun morning! By then we were starting to get a little hungry, so we walked over to Famous Ray's for a slice. It wasn't exactly the small slice we planned on! It was a really good pie though, and it was fun to have another New York staple today.

We made a quick stop in the Disney store and M&M store while we were nearby.

We then walked over to the Gershwin Theatre to enjoy Lily's pick of Wicked. This has been her favorite show since seeing it here a few years ago. It was a great performance!

Mia bought Lily the little flying monkey as an early 16th birthday present to commemorate getting to see her favorite show; Lily named him Ozzie.

After the show ended, we walked over to our dinner reservation at Butter by chef Alex Guarnaschelli. We love watching Food Network, and she's one we always enjoy!

This restaurant was fabulous and one of my highlights of this part of our trip. We started with the Parker House rolls which was amazing. They came with their two house butters of the day. One was a sour cream butter and the other was a mixed herb butter. They were both so delicious on the rolls!

We all enjoyed our entrees too. Ryan had their roast chicken, and Lily had the gnocci mac and cheese. Mia and I couldn't choose between the same two entrees, so we each ordered one and split them about halfway through. She ordered the salmon on succotash while I ordered the special of the day which was very similar to a baked spaghetti.  

Dessert was a fabulous way to end the meal. Lily actually ordered more rolls; she's not really a sweets kind of girl and they were absolutely fantastic. I think we all could have ordered more of those! Ryan and Mia both had raspberry beignets with a vanilla dipping sauce. I ordered the plum cobbler with vanilla ice cream. This meal was outstanding, and I want to go back!

After that fabulous dinner, we took our time walking back over towards Broadway. We went to the Majestic Theatre for an incredible performance of Phantom of the Opera. It's a classic! The moment you hear those opening notes, you're drawn in. The music is so incredibly beautiful. We had recently learned it will be leaving Broadway in mid-February, so I'm very thankful we had the opportunity to see it while it's here.

The girls had never seen this before, so we knew we had to see it while we were here. 

Mia bought herself a little phantom bear as a souvenir. 

This cast was outstanding! What an amazing show!

It's safe to say we were pretty warn out at the end of this day! We made it back to the hotel, and Ryan and I decided we'd just sleep in a little and have a relaxing Sunday morning instead of hitting the ground running again first thing. Definitely the right call.

After getting ready on Sunday morning, we walked back over to Gramercy Bagel again. We thought about trying something different, but really, we all enjoyed it and an easy bagel breakfast sounded just right. From there we walked over to the Harry Potter store. It was so fun! Not only did they have lots of cool things to buy, but they had props from the films and awesome decorations all around. This was a very fun morning.

We realized we were not far from the Flatiron Building which is something Ryan and I have always wanted to see. What a cool piece of architecture! It's under a lot of scaffolding right now with some renovations, but that's okay; we're glad we've seen it now.

From here we headed on back to the Freehand and finished getting all our things together. It was a great visit to New York City, but we were ready to get to the dock and set sail!