People, if you've never been on vacation with the Kaisershots, put it at the top of your bucket list. It is a blast and a half, I tell ya. I don't care how biased I am, ya gotta do it. It will change your life.
So for those of you who have not noticed from my frequent Facebook postings, my family and I went on a New England road trip this past week as a last hurrah before the summer ended. Our stops consisted of Niagara Falls on the Canada side; Portland, Maine; and Salem and Boston, Massachusetts. The whole trip was amazing.
Friday 8/7:
We left that evening to start the trip off strong, so we made it all the way to good ol' Fort Wayne, Indiana before we stopped for the night to rest up at a hotel.
Saturday 8/8:
Up and at 'em! We continued our (long) drive to CANADA, Y'ALL. That's right, we crossed that border, what what. We got to our hotel, ate dinner at a restaurant called The Keg, and then walked down to the falls and OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT. It was so amazing to see! Although I do not recommend going to see it if you have to pee. Just sayin'. We took a bunch of pics and stayed long enough that the colored spotlights lit up the water. It was really neat. We also sat out on this patio at a restaurant and had a drink.
After that, Kourt and I went to da clubbbb! It was pretty fun with some good music and a fog machine, but my goodness, there were so many dads there.
Sunday 8/9:
Breakfast at Denny's and then we headed back down to the falls during the day to get some more pictures. The mist was so high and was raining down on us; it was awesome. We tried some maple suckers (real Canadian maple syrup, eh) and then drove to a park to walk the trails a little. Canada is so beautiful! On our way back, we stopped for doughnuts. Here's the deal: the unofficial KaiserCation goal is to eat doughnuts in every place we stop. So, we made our first stop at a doughnut shop that also sold won-ton soup, lol. Then for dinner that night, we sat out on a patio at a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville. It was lovely outside! We made our way back down to the falls (because really, they never get old) so we could see the fireworks they shoot off. They were huge I'm telling you! What an incredible experience.
Monday 8/10:
Here we go, off to Maine! Only an 8 hour drive!
...Which turned into about 11 hours with the number of times my mom and I had to stop for bathroom breaks, lol. We made it to Maine late in the evening and went to a neat little hipster restaurant and brewery called Liquid Riot. We ate some spectacular lobster rolls out on a deck overlooking some water and just enjoyed each others' company. Afterwards, we walked around the cute little downtown area (the sidewalks are brick!) and headed back to the hotel to gear up for a full day the next day.
Tuesday 8/11:
Original plan: visit a lighthouse and take a ferry to Peaks Island and rent some bikes to ride around.
Actual plan: everything but that. The weather just wouldn't cooperate (rain, rain, go away), so we had to improvise a little. We started out the day with a visit to a Victorian mansion for a tour. It was actually very interesting to walk around and see all the ornate decor and furniture! We were then heading in the direction of the National Cryptozoology museum to learn more about Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, mermaids, and more, but then we found out it was closed...on a Tuesday. K. So then we made doughnut stop #3 at Holy Donut, recommended by the one and only Chloe O'Neil. We got an assortment there and ate them en route to the lighthouse. And by assortment, I mean assortment. We're talking pomegranate, chocolate sea salt, ginger-glazed sweet potato, lemon, and triple berry doughnuts. #doughnutswag.
Upon arrival at the lighthouse, we turned right back around because it was still raining. We headed to the Maine Mall after that and perused the stores (how unique to Maine! We definitely couldn't do that at home! she said sarcastically). Then we tried to find something else to do to pass the time and found a market place thingy online. We drove around town trying to find it.
...But then we found out it was just a grocery store.
...But then we found out it actually wasn't a grocery store and was just little food shops. Which normally would have sparked our interest, except for the fact that we were still stuffed from doughnuts. Sigh.
For dinner we hit up the Portland Lobster Company where I feasted on lobster mac 'n cheese, then we ate some delicious ice cream (Drunk Monkey, made with Malibu, oh yeah) from Captain Sam's. We also stopped at a little touristy gift shop to purchase some souvenirs, hehe. Then, because we felt so fat, the whole fam hit up the work out room in the hotel. Aw yeah.
Wednesday 8/12:
Everything we wanted to do on Tuesday that we couldn't because of the rain? We packed them all in today. First on the agenda was to take a ferry over to Peaks Island so we could rent bikes and ride around for awhile. We were blessed with a beautiful day, thank goodness! When we got to the island, we rented our bikes and began our ride. The island was gorgeous! There were so many cute beach houses there! We rode along the coast and stopped for pictures here and there. There was also an old war fort we climbed around on which was pretty neat. After the ride, we were ferried back and stopped for lunch. Next we made our way over to the lighthouse we tried to visit the day before. We spent about an hour taking pictures, climbing on the rocks, perusing another old fort and run down mansion thingy, and taking in the beautiful scenery. It was so cool!
Before long, it was time to say goodbye to Maine. We drove about 2 hours down to Salem, MA where we took a walking tour around the city to learn about some of the history and the witch trials. It was really informative and interesting! We then left for Boston. It was definitely not what I was expecting. When we drove in, I was so surprised to see all the lights and tall buildings. I don't know why, but I had always thought it was very old-timey and not modern at all. I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong. We checked into our hotel and hit the sack in preparation for a busy day the next day.
Part of the Salem Witch Trial memorial
Thursday 8/13:
So basically, I am in love. Boston is the coolest and I kinda wanna live there. I love the feel of it! You've got your history, you've got a quaint atmosphere, you've got your modern city feel, and you've got water. What more could you want?
Our first item on the agenda was to take a tour at the Samuel Adams brewery. It was really neat! First of all, they don't charge admission but instead take donations for local charities. So awesome! We got to see what they used to make the beer, see the area where it was actually brewed, and then we got to taste it. We even got a souvenir glass! It was a really neat experience, and our tour guide was really funny.
Then, since we were in Boston, of course we had to walk part of the Freedom Trail. We saw Paul Revere's house, the North Church, and the USS Constitution monument along the way. We also made a stop at Mike's Pastry for canolis and other pastry items at Jess's suggestion. So good! We went to Dick's Last Resort for dinner (the servers are supposed to be really mean to you and mess with you, but I wasn't impressed) and walked around this really neat marketplace, called Fanueil Hall marketplace, at night. It was so neat to see all the shops and the cobblestone streets and the pretty lights. I loved it.
One if by land, two if by sea...
Holy canoli!
Friday 8/14:
We woke up to an absolutely beautiful day! We began our day with breakfast in the aforementioned market area (aka my new favorite place on earth) and walked down by the water to look at the big, beautiful yachts (and also wait for Ben and Jerry's to open). After that, we headed to the Museum of Science via the T! I was so stoked for this. They had exhibits on optical illusions and light and animal habitats and models and mapping and all sorts of stuff. We watched a presentation about lightning too. The best part? The Hall of Human Life. Each person got an ID bracelet and there were different computer stations where you had to participate in activities (such as, how big do your pupils dilate when you see images of animals, or how many calories do you burn based on the way you walk, or how distracted are you). After you answered these questions, they compared your data with other museum visitors based on your age, gender, etc. It was so cool and interactive!
From the museum, we took the train over to Fenway park for the Mariners vs. Red Sox game! We ate dinner first, then walked over to the park and found our seats. You wouldn't believe how many comments we heard about us since we were all wearing our Mariners gear. Some were good (Oh! I'm from Seattle!) and others not so much (We've got some Mariners fans over here...they look confused). While the game was fun, the Mariners got crushed, 15-1. Sad face.
Saturday 8/15:
Am cryin'. Today we had to leave my new favorite city behind. We woke up, packed up, and made our last doughnut stop of the trip: Kane's Doughnuts. These were huge. I got blueberry and Snickers, and they were both very tasty. Then we hit the road. We drove.
And drove.
And drove.
And drove some more.
A total of 18 hours later and we finally made it home around 2:30 am. What an incredible trip. I had such a blast and getting to spend that much time with my family was amazing. I am so blessed to have such cool people who I share blood with :)
All our donut stops:
Niagara
New York
Portland, Maine
Boston
Shout outs!
Dad- Way to drive that 18 hour stretch! You killed it! Plus also, thank you for planning and paying for this trip. It was the best!
Chloe- Thanks for giving us ideas of things to do in Maine!
Dylan- Thanks for the trip hashtag. You rock!
