Boston in the Fall

Last week was our weekend trip to New England and we had such a great time! We traveled all over Connecticut and Massachusetts, got to see some beautiful northeastern fall foliage and had so much fun together. We started out in western Connecticut where we saw these beautiful falls . . .

. . . that were just upstream from Bulls Bridge, a lovely old covered bridge.

We made our way to Kent, Connecticut, which was named by Yankee Magazine this year as the best foliage town in New England! The town was so picturesque, we could definitely see why they chose it as number one.

The shops on Main Street were so adorable!

We traveled a little further north to Ellsworth Hill Farm where we got the best apple cider we've ever had! I got the cold cider, which tasted like it was squeezed right out of a delicious, ripe apple, and Nathan got the warm cider, which reminded us of a hot apple pie turned into a drink! SO good.

Then we went across the street to their orchard, where we picked apples (part of number two on my 23 by 23 list!).

Us with our peck of apples. :) 

We then drove about three hours northeast to Concord, Massachusetts to Walden Pond!

I'm not sure that "pond" is the most apt term to describe this water body; it seemed more like a lake to me, because it was definitely bigger than I was expecting. Either way, it was really beautiful!

We also saw a beautiful New England church in downtown Concord . . .

. . . and the home of Nathaniel Hawthorne, which was actually the inspiration for Nathan's name! When Nathan's mom was pregnant with him, she and his dad were traveling in Massachusetts and saw this same house. It was seeing this house that gave them the idea for his name!

The next day, we got up bright and early and headed into Boston! Neither of us had ever been before, and we both loved the city!

Nathan is a huge history nerd buff, so he of course wanted to visit all of the places in Boston that are significant in American history. He found information online about the Freedom Trail, which is a route throughout the city (marked on the pavement by red bricks or red paint) that goes through some of the most historically significant places in the city. We saw the Massachusetts State House . . .

. . . Old South Meeting House, a meeting place for some of the leaders of the American Revolution and where the Boston Tea Party was organized . . .

. . . some Redcoats . . .

. . . Old North Church, where the signal lanterns of Paul Revere warned the colonists of the approaching British troops at Lexington and Concord . . .

. . . the U.S.S. Constitution, the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel that never lost a battle . . .

. . . and the monument at Bunker Hill, where the first big battle of the Revolutionary War took place.

We even climbed all 294 steps of the monument and saw an amazing view of Boston from the top!

We then visited Cheers, the Boston bar (originally named The Bull & Finch Pub) that is famous for inspiring the hit TV show. We saw the replica of the set in the upstairs . . .

. . . and then headed downstairs to the original bar . . .

 . . . where Nathan enjoyed an eNormous Cheeseburger and received an award from the "Norm Burger Society" for finishing it (wow).

I enjoyed my regular-sized cheeseburger, though did not receive an award.

We also visited Cambridge, Massachusetts and saw some beautiful buildings at Harvard!

This would be a nice place to go to college, I guess.

We headed home the next day, and on the way, we stopped by New York City to visit Nathan's sister, Rachel, who is teaching 8th grade science in Brooklyn through Teach for America. We got to see her apartment on the upper east side of Manhattan and have lunch at a lovely little Mexican restaurant right on Third Avenue. So fun!

The best part about this trip (other than getting to spend 72 uninterrupted hours together with nothing to do but enjoy each other's company) was that it was such a great blend of the scenic sightseeing that I wanted to do and seeing the historic sights that Nathan wanted to see. And getting to really spend some quality time just laughing and having fun together, which is usually so difficult with our busy schedules, was a wonderful way to bring us closer together and remind us of why we love each other so much. All in all, it was the perfect way to spend a gorgeous fall weekend. :)