Vermont Passage

We must say that we couldn't have planned our arrival in Vermont to see the colors any more perfect, we were right on, the colors were absolutely spectacular!! First of all, the RV park that we stayed at was on Lake Dunmore and our site over looked the lake and the ever so perfect color changing trees, so beautiful! Our first couple of days there the weather was perfect motorcycle riding weather, in the 70's and sunny! We took full advantage of the beautiful weather and went on some of the most scenic winding roads I have ever been on, talk about taking in the whole fall atmosphere, loved it!
While we were there we took in a Octoberfest festival in Bennington, one of the nearby towns and enjoyed crafted beers, brawt's, music, and arts and craft tents. Ended up at one of the local pubs for some more food, drinks and music! In bed by 7:30...haha that's what happens when we start at 11:00!
Vermont is full of the small quaint towns with the fun little shops and local pubs, that we usually browsed a couple each day. Loved the feel of each little town which, were all decked out in fall decor, the shops were fun and unique and the pubs made you feel like part of the locals! Everyone was friendly and made you feel welcome always left with a new must see place, lol. We hit the small town of Stowe a total tourist town where everything is over priced...however, we seemed to find a pub and a ice cream shop that was priced just right ha! Talking about ice cream...not far from there we found the famous Ben and Jerry's factory so of course had to stop and take a tour to see just how their ice cream is made and at the end were treated with a tasty ice cream treat, Mmmmm! One thing we did learn on the tour was that one ice cream on the list to be discontinued is the Cherry Garcia....ohhhh bummer (Sorry Frank)!
Another must see place that we learned about from another local pub bartender was the Alchemist brewery, they produce a beer called Heady Topper which, is rated 4th in the world! They produce 2 other beers Focal Banger and Crusher, currently you can only purchase their beer at their brewery or within a 25 mile radius of their brewery! Oh and we learned that on Ebay the Heady Topper is going for $60 a 4pk...and a local bartender stated that he has seen them go for as much as $80 a can...what!?
We heard from one of the locals that we had to check out "Brag Hill" which, if you drive to the top you are surrounded by nothing but the gorgeous colors of fall and perfect farm houses and barns. There is nothing cooler than seeing these old barns and farm houses in the middle of a lushous green pastures surrounded by the vibrant reds, golds, yellow and orange trees! Looks like something out of a fairy tale.
Vermont has a lot of the old covered bridges, of course had to check out a couple of them. They were fun to see, and were always a perfect picture opportunity!
Since we were so close to Maine we definately couldn't pass up going there for a day/night. We stayed in Old Orchard Beach right outside of Portland at a historic B&B, it's the oldest inn in Maine and was built in 1734 and was just 2 blocks from the ocean. We walked the little beach town and enjoyed the ocean then headed into Portland to check out the Old Port district which, is full of shops, pubs and amazing lobster/seafood! We heard that Boone's was a great place for seafood so that's where we ended up and we had some amazing lobster, oysters, brussel sprouts, and dessert! Wow, what a dinner!!! After our wonderful dinner we headed back to Old Orchard beach and hung out the rest of the night at the local pubs listening to music and hanging out with the locals. Great time in Maine!!
Well, kind of sad leaving Vermont as that means we are winding down to the end of our trip although we have a couple of stops along the way that will be fun, we will keep you updated along the way!

One of the many beautiful views that we saw on one of our motorcycle rides

Love the vibrant colors

Everywhere you look there are fun decorated pumpkin farms

Love all the pretty colored mums

The view from our RV site - what a sight to see every morning!

Our lovely home for 2 weeks!

All the towns stores were decked out  for fall

More of the fun Fall decor - My favorite!

One of the many pretty views that we came across on our walks

View of Lake Champlain that divides VT from NY

We had a thing for checking out a lot of the old cemeteries dating back from the 1700's

Some of the gorgeous colors that surrounded us

Beautiful views overlooking a pond

Ski resort soon to be packed with snow and skiers

State Capital of Vermont in Montpelier

At the Octoberfest festival in Bennington, VT

One of the many unique churches that you will find in VT

So serene!

Love the views!

One of the many old covered bridges you will find in VT

Wow, amazing!

This is our next home lol!

Ahhhh Oreo Cows!! So cute!!

Picture perfect!

Another beautiful reflection off the water

One of many beautiful running streams we came across

Must I say more...Yummmm!

The historic B&B we stayed at in Old Orchard, Maine

The ocean view 2 blocks from our place

The view outside Boone's restaurant

Enjoying our delicious lobster dinner! Mmmm so good!

Salem/Boston Passage

Sorry for the lateness of the Salem/Boston post...been having too much fun in Vermont!

Well we stayed at a RV park in Salisbury and took the train into Salem (aka the town of the witches), we arrived just in time to hop on a trolley to take a tour of the town to learn about the history and the witches. One interesting thing that we learned on the tour was that there were actually no witches burned at the stake they were hung however, there was one witch that was crushed by rocks (can you imagine?!) It was a little disturbing knowing that anyone could be accused of being a witch, age or gender didn't matter. If your neighbor or someone didn't like you or someone wanted your property they could turn you in for being a witch...the accused would go to trial and in most cases be sentenced to death...what a scary time in history! We went by the America's oldest candy company, Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie established in 1806, apparently candy has always been a necessity lol! After our tour we had to go to the Witch Museum to see what that was all about...well a little disappointing because it was a little redundant to what we learned on the town tour however, we did learn that in 1692 there were 20 innocent people that were actually put to death for being accused of being witches. Hard to believe that this all took place so many years ago. By now we are ready for food and a beer so found a good local place that had great craft beers and very tasty goulash..yum!! For a cold rainy day, it sure was perfect for some witch hunting!!
We only stayed 2 days in Mass so we took in the sights of Boston on day #2, of course took the train into Boston and already had scheduled a city trolley tour (best way to see the city!). This trolley tour you can hop off and on as you please, which is perfect. Our first hop off was at the original State House, wow, the history that lies within those walls, to think that we were in the same place that the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and that the Boston Massacre happened...such an historic building, actually the oldest surviving public building in Boston. We also popped into the 2nd Cheers bar just to take a picture, watched a street performer outside the historic Quincy Market, had to walk through the market to check out all the die for food! Then back onto the trolley to our next hop off which was the oldest tavern (Bell in Hand from 1795) and the historic Union Oyster House from 1826, of course we had to stop and have a beer at the oldest tavern in the U.S.! Hopped back onto the trolley to finish the tour we went by the original Cheers, Fenway Park and many other great historical parts of Boston. Our last stop ended up being our last, as we were about to hop on the next trolley that was suppose to end the tour however, we decided to take a restroom break and realized that we were at the Marriott that our good friends Steve and Fran were staying at....we walked in and checked the bar first and nope not there... we were on our way out when we saw them at the concierge desk, we went and surprised them and the night is history haha! We enjoyed catching up over drinks and an excellent dinner, what a great night we all had, perfect way to end our stay in Massachusetts. Boston is such a historical city with so much to see and do that this one is definately a come back to place in the future, one day is just not enough to take it all in! Never enough time...maybe when we are retired!!
Now off to Vermont for 2 weeks to enjoy the colors!! Can't wait!

The historic State House

The historic Faneuil Hall

The historic Quincy Market - where you could gain 100 lbs once you hit the end!

Look at these amazing pizza bagels - sold inside the Quincy Market - 1 of many gut wrenching foods!

The Oldest Tavern in the U.S. 

The oldest restaurant Union Oyster House 

An old cemetery in the middle of the city, some of the tombstones were from the 1600's and some are so old that they are not legible. 

Salem's Most visited Witch Museum 

Look who we found flying around Salem...picture opp!

Mmm our yummy goulash - time to dig in!

The council chambers at Faneuil Hall

The inside of the Quincy Market - You could walk in weighing 150 lbs and walk out weighing 250 lbs...so much food!

Jerry hanging with the Cheer's gang!

The current State House of Boston

Us with our great friends Steve and Fran - Good times!

Connecticut Passage

Loved Connecticut, I think I was supposed to be born and raised there lol! The architecture of the buildings and homes, the lush green trees and grounds, quaint towns and of course the perfect fall weather... I was loving every minute of it!
We spent our first day going to Mystic Seaport which is an old historic fishing town and where the historic "Morgan" ship resides. Morgan is the last surviving American wooden whaling ship, built in 1841 and has sailed all over the world during it's active period for whaling. Morgan made its 38th voyage in 2014 and has been in restoration at Mystic Seaport for the last 2 years, while touring Seaport we got the opportunity to see the restoration crew pulling the Morgan out of the water for the 1st time since restoration started in 2014 to be dry docked. Pretty awesome to see and the history and stories that this ship holds is remarkable. Ships like the Morgan were typically used to harvest the whales blubber for their oil which was used for lamps and machine lubricant before petroleum was discovered in 1869. Thank goodness for petroleum because the whales were about to become extinct.
The historic town which was also a launching point for many of the civil war ships has all been restored. It was like going back to the 1700's, going through each building (the school, church, homes, blacksmith shop, etc.) to see how they lived back in then...how times have changed!
Next we headed to Stonington a neighboring town along the Atlantic Ocean to check out the shops and pubs. Came across a couple little treasures and ended up at the recommended Water Street pub known for it's excellent food and a top hangout for the locals. At first we were the only ones in the pub so we took advantage of striking up a conversation with the bartender and servers before all the locals trickled in. Before long we felt like we were part of the locals as everyone was so friendly. We soon learned that our bartender "Chris" also had a 1 man band and played the town of Mystic every Thursday night at the Voodoo lounge and invited us to stop by. How could we pass that invite up, we would be there! Soon the pub was filled by the locals, we met the couple that were sitting next to us and exchanging stories of where we're from. We were suprised to hear that they sailed the seas for 7 years and home schooled their daughter on the ship and would dock when they needed to resupply. Apparently, their daughter today says that was the worst 7 years of her life, lol! What a life I'm sure, much more enjoyed by the parents. Anyway, very interesting couple, great bartender and excellent food in Stonington, CT!
The following day we took a trip into Mystic another cute little tourist town with all the artsy, local, over priced shops lol, however, we did find a tasty ice cream shop that was right up our alley!! Oh and we had to stop by the famous Mystic Pizza parlor (Mystic Pizza was the 1988 movie that started it off for Julia Roberts) then off to the Voodoo lounge to listen to our new friend Chris and enjoy a little happy hour. His music was great, very appreciative that we showed up, another night of great entertainment and great food!
Now off to Salem/Boston...more to follow!

Beautiful Mystic Seaport

An old fishing boat that we toured

The historic "Morgan" beginning pulled out of the water

The famous "Morgan" now on dock!

The darling historic town of Stonington - a street of the restored historic homes

A view of the Atlantic Ocean from Stonington beach

A once active lighthouse

Another historic home in Stonington - love their architecture

A historic building in downtown Stonington 

A view of the counter balances of the draw bridge in Mystic getting ready to raise - outside the window
 of  the yummy ice cream parlor

At the Famous Mystic Pizza parlor

The Voodoo Lounge listening to our new friend Chris play some great music