Travel – Year in Review Part Two – Weekend Trips in New England

For Part One of my 2015 Travel Recap, click here. You can access all of my travel blog posts here. In addition to week-or-longer trips to Africa, Ireland, and California, we took plenty of great weekend getaways in New England this year.

In April we enjoyed sunsets and oysters in one of my favorite New England towns, Newport, Rhode Island. After a long winter, being able to sit outside even for a little while felt like heaven. Despite winter, I fell even more in love with New England this year.

Oysters at Midtown Oyster

2015 also included two visits to Mystic, Connecticut. The beautiful Inn at Mystic was kind enough to host us for the first visit in April, and we returned with family for dinner in August. We would have stayed there, but they didn’t have three rooms available at the time! Book early if you want to visit in the summer!

In Mystic Seaport we toured boats and took in blue skies, and we discovered, in general, that Mystic is quite the foodie town.

Brunch at the Engine Room is not to be missed! It was the one recommendation we received over and over, and we had brunch there on both trips.

Our travels around Connecticut also introduced us to some great local wine and beer.

The Connecticut Chardonnay from Jonathan Edwards Winery won out over their Chardonnay from California, and their property was truly a delightful spot to visit.

We loved Saltwater Farm Vineyard and were able to visit in both April and August.  Wandering around the fluffy warm grass barefoot on a hot summer day with a glass of wine in hand is a favorite memory from the season.

Exploring New England was one of my goals in 2015, and that wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to Portland, Maine, another favorite New England town.

We spent the night on a ship, ate a late dinner at Fore Street (one of my favorite restaurants of all time), sunned ourselves over  breakfast at The Porthole, and window shopped through Portland, wishing we could afford everything!

Our Maine weekend didn’t end there though, as we made our way to Kennebunkport and the Colony Hotel then to Kennebunk for a perfect lobster roll, and finally to Crane Beach for one of the best sunsets of the year. It was a weekend of coastal New England perfection.

Closer to home, we visited Westport a few times this summer, dunking ourselves in the sea in our clothes (a theme with me in 2015. . . I should just bring a bathing suit everywhere next summer). A perfect summer weekend including bubbly at Westport Rivers with friends and the Hull Harbor Illumination with family. I absolutely love both Westport and Hull for swimming in the ocean and can’t wait until it is beach time. While our winter travels might include a warm destination, nothing compares to New England beaches!

And last but not least, there was a visit to beautiful Ipswich for rum cocktails at Salt and seafood at CK Pearl, along with the discovery of a beautiful,, quiet locals beach for sunning and swimming.

There was a lot more of New England in our 2015 travels, and these are just a few of the highlights. I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful place with so much coastline, great food, great people, and nice weather, 3/4 of the year.