boating

I love weekends. Who doesn’t? Some weekends are just better than others; with a mix of planning and spontaneity, and this one was one for the books. I even crossed off one of the items on my “summer to-do” list. I better get on the rest of them!

It started off Friday night with our first ever sleepover on the boat. We’ve had it for over a year, and so many people have asked if we have ever slept on it. We finally made it happen. After a quick trip to the grocery store and some packing for the night, we were ready to push off. I was definitely nervous; even though Spectacle Island is close to Boston and has Mass Maritime staff, it doesn’t have much else. Any food and supplies we needed for the night had to be brought on.

Once we arrived at Spectacle and checked in, we took a walk around the island. We checked out the Jasper White’s Summer Shack Clambake on Wheels and decided we would come back to give it a try. The clambakes on the Island run every Friday in the summer, and a ferry ticket is included in the price.

Other than the Mass Maritime staff, clambake attendees who left later in the evening, and a couple of other private boats, we had the island to ourselves. It was incredibly peaceful and much, much cooler than Boston, just a few miles away. Peaceful, unless of course, you count the girl fight that happened between the clam bake attendees and an employee that resulted in the arrival of two police boats. Entertainment at it’s finest!

After our walk, we sat on the boat and enjoyed a gorgeous, slow sunset while sipping on a bubbly favorite from Mumm Napa.

We sat outside until late in the night, long after the people on the other two boats turned their cabin lights out, enjoying the darkness, the quiet, the cool, before heading to our own little cabin bed. It definitely is not the most comfortable place for sleeping, but the rocking of the waves and the crashing of the water on the shore definitely proved to be the perfect lullaby.

We woke up Saturday bright and early and watched the sunrise through the porthole windows. I was too sleepy to grab a photo, but the colors were soft pinks and oranges. We made our way back to the yacht club and proceeded to have a fantastic day with my mother-in-law, who is visiting from Ireland. I didn’t want to cram it all into one post, but we started with a trip to Volante Farms for their local food festival and somehow made our way to Massachusetts wine country to show off some of our favorites, Westport Rivers and Travessia. For more on New England wine (and to see me with some awfully dark hair) check out my appearance on Fox 25 news.

It was pretty much the perfect day for a tasting at Westport Rivers, followed by some relaxing in the sun with a cold bottle of 2010 Chardonnay. Trips like this and other wine country visits remind me of how much I love being out of the city. The pace instantly changes, people are friendlier, and time is enjoyed to its fullest.

Wine, lovely views, sunshine, and a visit from a friendly winery cat made for a perfect little afternoon.

We couldn’t visit Westport Rivers without stopping by Travessia Urban Winery, truly one of our favorites in the world. Travessia recently redid their tasting room, moving it to a larger space to create room for more wine production in the old space. It looks absolutely beautiful!

Travessia’s owner and winemaker walked us through all of the wines, and my mother-in-law was definitely impressed. Not wanting the day to end, we decided to have dinner in New Bedford followed by a walk around the very active working fishing piers.

New Bedford is a great town to visit for food, wine, history, and quintessential New England charm, and a stroll around the docks provided a nice end to our day.

I couldn’t have asked for a more fun weekend; cheers to the week ahead being just as great!

How was your weekend?