Summer 2016 started with a wonderful week long road trip to northeastern states. We were four young companions who decided to start an adventurous journey to conquer the northeast. We passed through 9 states which were in order of our visit: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusettes, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont.
Day 1
We decided to use Friday afternoon for getting together, loading our stuff on the car and hitting the road. As we were living in four different cities. The journey had a quite long start-up time. I had to hit the road first from D.C. picking up one of our friends at Baltimore, my fiance in Philly and our other friend who took the bus to Philly from upstate NY. I left D.C. at 1 PM and by 6:45 PM we all were in the car and everything was loaded in the trunk. For reference, we just used my midsize sedan for the travel.
Tip: We actually found this strategy very helpful because all of us had seen Philly, Jersey and NYC areas before so we were not afraid to lose anything if we drive after nightfall. By leaving Philly around 7 PM we arrived at our first stop in New Haven, Connecticut before midnight. Therefore the next day morning we could enjoy the new area with fresh minds and a delightful night sleep.
Day 2
We left our hotel in the morning and head toward Newport, RI for lunch. But instead of following Google Maps and taking the highway, we went through the coastal road to see beautiful scenes, delightful beach villages.
Our first stop of the day was at "Ben Miller" castle near Brandford, CT where the owners gave us a complete tour of the castle and their options for having a wedding there. My fiance and I actually liked the place and inquired about their availabilities. You can check more pictures and their address from their website.
Ben Miller's Castle, Brandford, CT
After spending a good few minutes at Ben Miller's castle, we hit the road again toward Rhode Island. Although the Providence is the well-known city in RI, we realized that Newport is such a tiny beautiful city with good dining. Its geographical location also helped us to keep our track close to the water to continuously see beautiful scenes.
Tip: I strongly recommend you spend a while for visiting Thames St in Newport. There are various beautiful botiques in this street which you might like to explore.
Beautiful harbors just a block away from Thames St, Newport, RI
After spending half an hour in couple boutiques in Thames St, and visiting couple harbors just a block away from the street we decided to head to a restaurant for lunch. Fortunately, Yelp helped us to choose a beautiful yet delicious place to dine. We decided to dine at Safari Room Restaurant which is located at the ultimate southwestern part of the city. The restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor dining options. If at the time of your visit the temperature allows, do not miss the opportunity of enjoying the view. To all four of us, the price compare to location and taste of the food was fair. The food portion was adequate and it was delicious.
Our view from outdoor sitting at Safari Restaurant in Newport, RI
One of the dishes we got
Another side of the front area at Safari Room Restaurant.
We spent a good portion of the afternoon enjoying the view and taking pictures before we head back to the car to continue our trip. We had another 3.5 hours drive ahead of us before we arrive at our night stay resort in Portland Area.
End of Part 1
This is my first travel post, so I know there is a lot of room for improvements. Please post your opinion bellow in the comments section.I will post the next portion of the trip in the next post.