Exploring New England in Cape Cod & Rhode Island

May 30, 2013

The second full day of our New England trip, we drove South from Boston through Cape Cod and Rhode Island. Truthfully, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from those areas, and especially Newport, RI, I had low expectations. Wow, was I blown away! Newport turned out to be our favorite coastal area of the whole trip and what a gorgeous place it is! We’ll definitely be going back just to spend more time there.

Cape Cod was about what I expected and truthfully, after seeing Newport, I’d much rather skip Cape Cod and head straight to Rhode Island if I did it again. In Cape Cod, we made stops in Hyannis and Chatham, as well as driving through a bunch of other little towns too.

We ended the day with a stop at the Castle Hill Lighthouse in Newport. It was another mandatory stop for Nick and it did not disappoint. The views were stunning.

We finally made our way back to Boston, by way of Providence for dinner. It blows me away, coming from the West Coast, how close everything is on the East Coast. The areas we went through on Cape Cod and Rhode Island were beautiful and included some of my favorite moments of the trip which I’ll touch on next week.

I’m also going to be sharing more of Nick’s photos next week after he has a chance to edit them, so stay tuned!

Hyannis, MA

Chatham, MA

Newport, RI

Exploring New England in Salem, MA & Maine

May 29, 2013

I’m just going to jump right into posts about our trip to Boston and New England over the holiday weekend a few days ago. Basically, we stayed in Boston, but drove up and down the New England coast as well as spending some time exploring the beautiful city of Boston.

Our first full day, we drove North and stopped first at the charming little town of Salem, Massachusetts. This was a stop I really wanted to make, just to see the town that has such a long history in the US of witchcraft. It was a delightful little town and we really enjoyed just wandering around and taking it all in.

Next, we jumped back in the car and headed farther North to explore the Southern part of Maine. Maine was beautiful. Somewhat how I expected, but somehow different too. The scenery though and the trees and the green: gorgeous. The drive North from Boston to Maine was lovely.

Our first stop of the day was in Kennebunkport, Maine. This little touristy town was small and unique and the home of my first ever lobster roll. It was delicious (but let’s just say by end of day 2, I was done with seafood because I’d had so much!)

After exploring the town a bit and then driving through some of the surrounding countryside, we headed up farther north to Portland, Maine. This brick city was totally different than I was expecting but we enjoyed it all the same. We enjoyed some Haddock fish and chips on the harbor and while the day was very cold and rainy, we thoroughly enjoyed this part of the state.

Our final stop of the day was the Portland Head Lighthouse. This was a stop Nick had really wanted to stop at to get some photos of (which I’ll share his photos a little later as he’s still editing them). It was freezing cold and rainy as we stopped here, but the views were amazing… rocky coasts and huge waves rushing the shore… stunning. This is the rugged beauty of Maine.

After that, we headed back to Boston (only an hour and half) and spent the evening at our hotel. More to come tomorrow on Cape Cod and Rhode Island!

Salem, Massachusetts

Photo copyright Nick Nieto Photography

Kennebunkport, Maine

Photo copyright Nick Nieto Photography

Portland, Maine

Photo copyright Nick Nieto Photography

Portland Head Lighthouse, Maine

What to Wear in Europe in the Spring

April 19, 2013

travel style for Europe in the spring what to wear

More What to Wear posts for more destinations here!

Traveling in the Spring to mainland Europe can be any sort of weather so you’ll want to pack for a variety of temperatures and layer your outfits. Some years in March we’ve had 70 degree blue sky days while other years it’s been in the 40’s, gray and rainy… so you need to be prepared for anything. And when you’re gone for a week or 10 days, you generally don’t know the weather that far in advance, so packing to prepare for what could come is important too. Here is what to wear in Europe in the Spring so that you’re prepared for any type of weather and travel style for multiple destinations in Europe. For this particular trip, we spent time in Paris, Milan, Nice, and Monaco, so here is everything I wore and the travel style I used throughout the trip.

And if you need advice for visiting different places around France, Monaco, and Italy – here is everything you’ll need to know:

France | Italy | Monaco

What to Pack:

A few options for coats/jackets – I brought 2 trench coats and 1 rain coat which served me well depending on what the weather was going to be.
Multiple scarves – This is an easy way to change up outfits, even if you’re wearing the same items like coats and jeans everyday, a different scarf can make the outfit look entirely different and keep you warm.
Layers – I usually wear a long sleeve t-shirt, a sweater, a coat and then a scarf, that way you can add or remove layers as you need to during the day when the temperatures vary a lot.
Comfortable Shoes – I live in my Converse and they are comfortable and easy to walk around cities all day.
A cross body purse – Your arm will get tired of carrying a purse around, so invest in one that also can be a good cross body bag and you’ll be thankful you did.
2 pairs of pants – I usually wear one on the plane and pack another pair so you have some variety.