Articles by traveleatlove

The blogger behind Travel Eat Love, I am a marketing communications professional by day and a lover of all things food, travel, and wine related the rest of the time. I am looking to combine my love of writing and social media with all of my other passions to share great reviews, recipes, and experiences with you!

Boston’s restaurant scene is growing way faster than I can keep up, and often instead of checking out new spots, we end up going to old favorites.

Summer Fridays are in full effect, and recently we had a leisurely late lunch on the back patio of Select Oyster Bar. The patio was empty, and it was perfectly humid out. . . I know many people don’t love humidity, but give me all the summer!

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Also, give me all of the Ulacia Hondarribi Zuri wine from the Basque region. This wine had so many mineral notes and was absolutely perfect with a seafood feast.

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We shared a few different plates, starting with the dayboat scallop ceviche with Fresno chilis. I am currently obsessed with scallops, and the flavors in this really brought out the freshness of the scallops, with a bit of zippy acidity and heat.

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Oysters and shrimp were must-haves for us, Damariscotta oysters for the win! I am such a huge fan of these little oysters from Maine, and when they are the right size, could eat dozens all by myself.

We also loved the perfectly executed hamachi crudo, complete with a fresh, light fruity sauce that we wanted to lick off of the plate.

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We rounded out lunch with the avocado toast, because you just have to have it!  It was perfect for filling us up and adding some carbs to our meal. It doesn’t seem like a ton of food, but we ended up missing dinner because we were so full!

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We’ve had a hectic life as of late, with both of us working and getting used to life with a newborn = not sleeping. Taking time out to breathe and enjoy great food and wine is so rejuvenating for our souls, and we are lucky to steal away for these moments.

Tags: Boston, Food, oysters, wine

Over the past few summers, we’ve taken some great trips for weddings. We visited Asheville, NC for my cousin’s wedding one summer, while another summer brought us to Ireland to meet up with family and to attend our friends’ wedding. Last summer it was a week in Umbria for my sister-in-law’s wedding.

We love to travel, and seeing new places an revisiting old favorites like Ireland is something we have been really excited and blessed to be able to do.

However. . . every year before our summer travel plans are made, we also spend some time wishing we could just experience and enjoy New England in all of its summer glory. It’s the best time of year to live here, and with our new baby the focus of our attention now, staycationing in New England will be the theme of most of the summer.

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I’m back at work (never really left) post-baby, but I am trying to take Fridays off for the summer. Last Friday I kicked off summer Fridays a bit early!

Our first stop was Westport Rivers, because what goes better with a beautiful, blue sky New England day than local bubbly? Baby’s first winery!

Getting around with a newborn takes a few more steps and tweaking of logistics, but other than a big spit up incident, our visit to the winery was absolutely lovely. We made sure to keep our melting down baby boy away from everyone else enjoying a quiet day, making all of us less stressed.

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It really was a stunning day, and I always love a glass or two of the Westport Rivers RJR Brut with vineyard views.

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Once we were settled in, Myles really seemed to enjoy the day as well. He’s a big fan of fresh air and riding around in his stroller, at any rate!

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All of that fresh air helped us to work up an appetite, so our next stop was The Bayside, just down the street from Westport Rivers. The Bayside is always a favorite. It has an extensive menu, great cocktails, wine, and local beers, and is located in a beautiful spot across from expansive blue sea.

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All I wanted was a buttered lobster roll and a glass of Westport Rivers rosé. This is the most perfect meal ever.

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The Bayside has a great patio, but since it was still a bit chilly, we opted to stay inside in the bright and lovely restaurant. It has a great old time feel with friendly staff and a good noise level, key to taking a baby out for lunch. Luckily ours slept the whole time!

While I am eager to be out and about with him, I am also super conscious of the fact that not everyone wants to be near a crying baby!

Once we were done with lunch, and we saw that we had time to stop at Travessia Urban Winery in New Bedford, we were once again on our way. If you are making a trip to the region, I would recommend making time to visit both Westport Rivers and Travessia. Add Cork Wine and Tapas Bar to your itinerary if you have time in New Bedford for lunch or dinner.

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We were excited to try some of Travessia’s newer wines,made with grapes from Portugal. We always love the wine at Travessia and have been club members  since the beginning days of this blog when we tasted the wines at the Coastal Wine Trail Kickoff. I can’t believe that was nine years ago!

Myles was a huge fan of the tasting room, where he got a perfect view of the all of the wine. I know some people will likely give us the side eye for bringing him to wineries and breweries as a child, but for us, bringing him up with an appreciation of great, well-made and responsibly sourced food and beverage as part of life is important and enjoyable for us, as we hope it will be for him. People who love to eat and drink and share those experiences with others are the best people!

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Tuckered out from wine tasting, we piled into the car and headed through beautiful back roads to Hull, our last stop of the night, to meet family and friend’s at Hull’s Kitchen, a fantastic little spot across from the beach. Talk about a beautiful day!

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Hull’s Kitchen is a bustling little oceanfront restaurant with really excellent tacos, amazing views, and on this night, live music. It was noisy and fun and perfect for Myles and his cousin C, who is a bit older and loved the music and beachy sunset. Hull always makes us feel like we are on vacation, and our evening at Hull’s Kitchen was truly the perfect way to end our summer Friday.

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Where should our New England travels bring us next?

Tags: day trips, New England, Travel, wine

Thanks for all of the well-wishes on the arrival of our sweet baby! It’s been a busy whirlwind of sleepless nights, zombie-like days, and tons of visitors so far! He’s a popular little guy!

I love reading and writing blogger “coffee date” (or wine date!) posts as a little break from the everyday food and travel stuff. Life has certainly changed quite a bit since I last wrote one!

If we were having coffee today, what life updates or random musings would you share?

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{Coffee with brunch at Brennan’s in New Orleans – if we were having coffee today I might choose this very table.}

If we were having coffee today, I would tell you. . .  

– If you don’t feel like you can take a maternity leave, you can basically never take time off ever. I originally set out to take two months off, only to find myself in the recovery room, post-delivery, answering emails and posting on client social media accounts. With a four day old, I was about 60% back to work, and now a month in, I am back to my regular schedule, just with a one month old as my noisy little office mate. I was never good about disconnecting for vacations or weekends (Really, who is?), but I thought for sure after such a major life-changing and medical undertaking, I might be better about unplugging. Not so much.

– I miss running (and jumping and lifting and squatting and yoga) SO much! I was not able to exercise much while pregnant, so I haven’t broken a sweat in at least five months. I can’t wait to lace up my shoes, pound some pavement, and have that alone time back. I may wear running clothes to my six week doctor’s appointment and run straight out that door if she clears me to do so! Of course, there’s the chance that once I can run, I won’t want to!

– I am dying to travel. When I’m not working or taking care of the baby, I am looking up airfares and house rentals and trying to figure out where we can and should go on our first trip together. I haven’t been able to fly since January, so the last time I really went anywhere was to Austin.  My current wanderlust is pretty basic, with me going back and forth between a trip to the North Fork of Long Island or one to Northern California. There’s so much of the world I want to see, but right now I am craving these familiar, beautiful favorites.

– Nicer weather has me jumping for joy. I honestly don’t know how much longer I can make it through New England winters. Seeing things coming to life outside is just the most amazing thing, and knowing that boat season is a couple of weeks away makes me swoon. Summer forever.

– I am hoping to get back to more regular blogging soon, though I don’t entirely know what that content will look like. My nine year blogging anniversary is coming up, and I feel like shaking things up a bit! I am sure that family travel will factor in somehow, though I don’t want to go in the mom blogging direction too much.

Stay tuned!

What’s on your mind today?

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