Matt and Emily Travel

Salem to Plymouth to Norwalk

mrkirsch — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 02:13:15 +0000

We got moving early, checked out of the Hawthorne Hotel, and hit the road toward Plymouth, Massachusetts. We arrived in Plymouth around noon, parked the car, and walked along the water. We stopped and saw the Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II, a to-scale reproduction of the original ship on which the Pilgrims made their famous journey from England. We walked around the town briefly and then decided to start on the drive back to Norwalk. Unfortunately, many other people were also on the road on this Memorial Day, and the trip took a lot longer than we expected due to this heavy traffic. But, we finally made it back in time to go to the grocery store and get food for a mini cook out of Italian sausage, along with a salad of fresh ripe tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella cheese.

Salem and Marblehead

mrkirsch — Mon, 31 May 2010 02:00:33 +0000

We slept in and took our time getting moving on our first full day in Salem. Emily found a restaurant called Red’s Sandwich Shop, which had great reviews and was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. We had a large brunch of omelets and home fries and planned the rest of our day. We decided to first drive to Marblehead, a small town right along the coast. We found a walking audio tour online and planned to follow along, but ran into some practical issues since we had only one media player and two people. We decided just to walk around the town and enjoy the scenery, which included many historic houses that had a wooden plaque that denoted the year the house was built and the original resident. We continued to walk through town, got some ice cream, and then walked along the water to Fort Sewall, which was built in 1644 and used on and off until 1890, when it was turned into a park. We enjoyed the view from the park and then headed back to Salem. Back in Salem, we walked to the historic district, which was also very close to the hotel. There were several witch-themed attractions, but we decided to pass on them. Instead, we walked around the town center some more and then relaxed at the hotel and had a late dinner at one of the restaurants in the hotel lobby.

Newport and Salem

mrkirsch — Sun, 30 May 2010 00:24:09 +0000

We got up and moving early (for our standards). We had a very good breakfast at the inn, which was prepared by the owner, Mark. I had an egg white omelet and Emily had blueberry pancakes. We then loaded all of our baggage into the car and were checked out by 10 am. We kept the car there and embarked on our day in Newport. We originally planned on touring one of the many mansions of Newport, but decided to visit two instead. Our first stop was “The Elms,” a mansion built by the coal baron Edward Berwind in 1901, which is based on a French chateau. We did a self-guided audio tour of this mansion, which is now owned and operated by the Preservation Society of Newport County, which bought and has preserved this mansion, along with many others in Newport. The audio tour offered the history of the building, the Berwind family, the architect, and a glimpse into life in Newport during the Gilded Age, while explaining each room in great detail. After the Elms, we walked about a mile to “The Breakers,” the summer mansion built by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1895, which is now also run by the Preservation Society. We again did the audio tour, which discussed the Vanderbilts and the building in great detail.

We then started on the walk back to the inn, stopping along the way to get sandwiches for lunch. Once we got back to the car, we headed toward Salem, Massachusetts. We drove through greater Boston and then arrived in Salem at the Hawthorne Hotel. We had dinner nearby at the Engine House, a pizza place. We then headed back to the hotel to recuperate from our past two busy days.

Newport, Rhode Island

mrkirsch — Sat, 29 May 2010 00:11:42 +0000

While Emily worked in the morning, I loaded all of our luggage into the car and ran a few errands. We then met up for lunch at a Brazilian restaurant called Brasitas with Emily’s co-workers in the program from the GASB. After lunch, we started on the drive to Newport, Rhode Island – the first stop on our trip. We were concerned about traffic on I-95 because it was a holiday weekend, but it ended up being a very smooth drive and we arrived in Newport in the late afternoon. We checked into our bed and breakfast, The Marshall Slocum Inn, which was centrally located in town.

Once we checked in, we immediately set out to do the Cliff Walk, a 3.5 mile narrow path between the Atlantic Ocean and some magnificent mansions. Newport is most famous for these mansions, which were built in the late 19th century (during the Gilded Age) by wealthy business titans, mainly as summer residences. For the first half of the Cliff Walk, the path was paved and there were a lot of people out enjoying the beautiful evening and gorgeous views. However, the second half was a real “cliff walk” along the natural rocks that the line the coast, with a few paved areas when the terrain was too rough. We walked both halves, but the second took us much longer and we saw no one else along the way. After the Cliff Walk ended and we were back on paved roads, we walked along Bellvue Avenue, the location of many more mansions, back into the town center. We stopped and had a late dinner at the Brick Alley Pub, where Emily had fresh scallops and I enjoyed prime rib. We then walked back to the hotel and planned out our activities for the next day.

We’re back – more to come!

mrkirsch — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:08:18 +0000

We’re back and are headed to some towns in New England

Montreal to Burlington to Norwalk

mrkirsch — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:40:50 +0000

On my birthday, we again went down to the hotel restaurant for a hearty breakfast. We then hustled to get everything packed up and hit the road for Burlington, Vermont to see my friend Nick, who recently moved there after taking a job in the area. The border crossing was a bit more busy since it was a Saturday, but we still crossed within 10 minutes of arriving at the border. We stopped at Nick’s apartment and then went to lunch at a wood-fire-oven pizza place which uses locally-sourced ingredients. The three of us split a few pizzas, all of which were delicious. After lunch, we stopped at a local beer distributor which stocks every beer that is distributed in Vermont and sells single 12-oz bottles, which is very nice for trying new beers. Emily and I picked up some local Vermont brews as well as a few that are not distributed in Cleveland. It was nice to see the Burlington area and great to see Nick.

The drive from Burlington to Norwalk started off smoothly, but it started to rain about half-way through the trip and it got progressively worse as we headed south. By the time we got within a few miles of Norwalk, the rain had stopped, but the remains of the storm were evident – there were many trees down and lots of debris in the road. But, we finally made it to Norwalk and headed to Stew Leonard’s to get some prepared food for dinner and some strawberry-rhubarb pie and vanilla ice cream for my birthday. We enjoyed the delicious food and then went to bed, as we were exhausted from the journey.

Montreal

mrkirsch — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:37:23 +0000

We got moving early again and headed down to the restaurant in the hotel lobby for the complementary breakfast, which consisted of made-to-order omelets and sides. After our hearty breakfast, we set out on our exploration of Montreal.

We first visited the Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. We took a short guided tour which explained the construction, architecture, and history of this magnificent building. Afterwards, we walked around Old Montreal and visited the Musee d’Archeologie et d’Historie Pointe-a-Calliere, a museum located above an archeological excavation of the old custom house. The museum consisted mostly of the excavated foundation-level of this custom house, which was formerly the site of the first French settlement in the area, and is located under some of the current streets. The exhibits in the museum illustrated the evolution of the site from the original settlement in the 1500′s to the present day.

After visiting Old Montreal, we went back to the hotel, picked up the car, and drove to Mont Royal for a spectacular view of the city. We walked around the park for a bit and then got back in the car and headed to my former neighborhood. We stopped at our old house on Rue Mignault and then headed to Dalkeith School, where I attended Kindergarten and Grade 1. It was great to see my old house and school.

We then headed back into Vieux-Montreal and had a very late lunch of crepes at a restaurant in the area. We split the “Quebecois” crepe, which contained ham, swiss cheese, and maple syrup, and also had a dessert crepe with strawberries, bananas, vanilla ice creme (creme glacee), and chocolate sauce. After this delicious meal, we headed back for the Manager’s reception happy hour at the hotel for a couple complementary drinks, and then relaxed on our last night in Montreal.

Boston to Montreal

mrkirsch — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:09:12 +0000

We started on the journey from Boston to Montreal fairly early. We were driving from the downtown area toward the outskirts, so we did not hit any traffic. Once we got far enough outside Boston, we stopped and got breakfast at a Dunkin’ Donuts. We then got back on the road and had a smooth trip. The weather was perfect for a drive – no rain and not too sunny. We stopped and got gas in Montpelier, Vermont. On the way to the gas station, we drove past the state capitol building. I was surprised that it was very quiet and calm for a state capital city.

We drove another 2 hours and then arrived at the Canadian border, which we crossed with no problems. There was only one car in front of us, so it was a very quick process. We continued another hour or so to Montreal and found our hotel with only one minor problem – I had the address for the hotel, but I had the wrong name!

We settled into the hotel, which was on the border of downtown (centre-ville) and Old Montreal (Vieux-Montreal) and then walked around Old Montreal, looking for a place to eat dinner. After we walked around for a while, we decided on a restaurant which also had a small micro-brewery attached. We walked around the area some more after dinner and then headed back to the hotel. We attended the manager’s reception happy hour, which the hotel sponsors each night and includes hors d’oeuvres and a couple complementary drinks. We then planned our itinerary for the next day.

Boston

mrkirsch — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:52:02 +0000

We started out by taking a self-guided tour of the Freedom Trail, which is a path that connects several historic sites in Boston. The route was marked by two bricks in the sidewalk along the entire trail. Along the trail we saw the Old North Church, Paul Revere’s House, the old State House, Quincy Market, King’s Chapel and the adjacent cemetery, and the Granary Burial Ground, where Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin’s parents, and 8,000 other Bostonians are buried. The Freedom Trail ended at the Boston Common park in front of the current Massachusetts State House. The sun was out, so we sat on a bench in the park for a while to enjoy the day and figure out what to do next.

We decided to walk down to the harbor area next. We first walked down to the Seaport district which contains the Convention Center, World Trade Center, various museums, and normally the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum, which was unfortunately closed for renovation. We then walked further up the harbor, past the New England Aquarium and then further inland to have a late lunch at a sub shop, which was very busy and very good.

In the evening, we went to Mike’s Pastry and enjoyed a Lobstertail cream puff and some coffee. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at an Italian grocery store and purchased some bread, meat, and cheese, for sandwiches. The guy who worked there recommended specifics that worked very well together, for a delicious dinner.

More to come…

mrkirsch — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:43:39 +0000

Well, we’re back. We are going to be traveling this week, visiting Boston and Montreal. And, I plan to keep up with this journal of our adventure. We will be leaving this evening for Boston and then traveling on to Montreal on Thursday. I haven’t been to Boston and Emily hasn’t been to Montreal; so, we’ll both get to see something new. As of right now, it looks like the weather is going to cooperate with us too.

I made a detour on the trip from Cleveland to Norwalk and stopped in Germantown, Maryland (near Washington, D.C.) to visit my friend Mike. He is working at the company where both he and I co-oped. So, I got to catch up with him and some of the people I used to work with.

That’s all for now. Be on the lookout for more posts.