Mark and I flew into Boston today from Atlanta and arrived around 12:45 with Sophie in tow. Rented our car which is a KIA Sportage and very comfortable. We then took off for Portsmouth New Hampshire. We stopped in Newburyport first and walked around. It was a cute town with quaint shops. After a stop at the grocery store we drove into Portsmouth which also is a very cute town on the water. The Hilton Garden Inn is a lovely hotel with beautiful rooms. It has been rainy all day but who cares. Mark and I walked in the rain to grab dinner. We ate at SURF. It was very good! Great referral from Nate at the front desk.

Tomorrow should be a good day and we should have a lot of photo opportunities. Can’t wait. The leaves are still beautiful and I can’t wait to capture all those magnificent colors!

This morning is overcast and rainy but who cares. We started the day with a good breakfast and we are off for a scenic drive up the coast looking for beautiful leaves and lighthouses. The search began looking for a rain parka in Kittery where all the outlets were located and settled on two umbrellas. During this beautiful drive with gorgeous colors we stopped to take many photos. The homes here are too cool and look like they date back to the 1800’s. There were many lodges and inns everywhere. We drove through Ocunquit which too is very quaint and has a lot of charm.

We stopped next in Kennebunkport and walked around a few stores before having lunch at Allison’s Restaurant. My lobster roll was delicious. We then drove around taking more photos including the Bush Compound. We are now on our way to Portland Maine where we will stay for two nights.

Last night we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn located in Auburn Maine which was not as close to Portland as we thought.

As we begin a new adventure today we start with a good breakfast and a short walk to take photos.

We have sunshine and a beautiful day. Many of the leaves have fallen due to the rain but a lot are still hanging on.

Last night was a quiet night in Portland Maine. We stayed in and had a double meatball pizza. It was a small one and we stayed on our diet. The salad sucked but the pizza was delicious.

Today we start a new adventure and we are on our way to Freeport Maine and then on to White Mountain. Freeport was a town filled with outlet stores and home to LL Bean.

Today is another day of adventure as we will be climbing up Mount Washington on the COG Railway. It is rainy day but the sky’s look like it might clear up. Mark is in Walmart looking for ponchos while Sophie and I patiently wait.

The COG Railway was a lot of fun in spite of the weather. As we approached the top of White Mountain it was sleeting and there was some snow. It was bitter and the wind was brutal. We went inside to have a bowl of soup and warm up.

We are in no rush to get moving today. It appears to be another rainy day. Our destination today will be Cape Cod. I am sure it will be another beautiful drive. The trees are breathtaking in New England and we are fortunate that their colors turned late this year.

Good morning Cape Cod! After having our breakfast we got in the car to explore the island. I love it here! The homes are great and have so much charm. I really like cedar shake on all of these houses. We have driven along the coast and have had the opportunity to get some photos on this beautiful, clear and perfect day.

Today we got a bit of late start. We had our breakfast at the hotel and then on to Hyannis. We then took a walk around the harbor, took some photos and went into a few shops. Afterwords we went to Osterville. The town of Osterville is a very wealthy community with magnificent homes.

We stopped at restaurant called CRISP. The food was amazing!

Good Morning Cape Cod! Today’s adventure is taking the fast ferry to Nantucket. This boat ride takes one hour in each direction. Sophie, Mark and I will have another great day. The weather is beautiful and will be in the 60s.

We are now on the ferry to Nantucket and are moving pretty fast. We should arrive at noon and will grab lunch and then go exploring. There are a couple of lighthouses we will try to photograph if we can. Once we arrived we inquired as to where we should have lunch from one of the merchants.

We ate at a local tavern called The Brotherhood of Thieves and had really good burgers and salads. I had Boursin, mushrooms and carmelized onions on top of my burger and did not have the bun. We continued to walk around to walk off lunch until we took the ferry back at 3:15.

Today we are on new adventure in the Cape and we are heading to Falmouth. We will ride along the coast and if this fog burns off we can walk along the beaches.

The fog has burned off and it is a magnificent day! We did not much breakfast so we stopped for a snack. This place is so very cool and everything is made from scratch. What a great find.

Good bye Cape Cod. You were terrific. We had a great time and ate really good food. The sights were beautiful and it was everything we thought it would be.

Today we are on our way to Boston which I am looking forward to. We have decided to have breakfast at Pie in The Sky. Breakfast sandwiches in popovers were yummy.

We arrived st the Double Tree Hotel and were greeted with cookies. Only 310 calories...,yikes!

We decided to leave Miss Sophie in the room while we had lunch and went on The Duck Tour. We took the hotel shuttle into town. We bought our tickets and then went to Legal Seafood and had a great lunch.

We are about to board our amphibious vehicle which was a WW11 landing vehicle. The tour was okay, I guess it depends on who your tour guide is. The historical info was interesting to some degree. The downtown area of Boston has changed tremendously. Quincy Market and Fanueil Hall has been enclosed since we were \240here the last time.

I must say that this has been a wonderful vacation. We will begin our final day in Boston with the breakfast downstairs at our hotel The Doubletree. I am not sure what is on the agenda today and our plane back to Atlanta does not leave until 8pm.

Mark and I took a ride into Medford to try to find the Posner Hall at Tufts Medical School. My great aunt and uncle donated 1 million eighty six thousand dollars to the medical school and the dorm was dedicated to them. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw their portraits hanging in the lobby. Before finding the dorm I wanted to go by their home in Medford. The most recent owner is doing a renovation on the house so it was hard to get a good picture.

After a day of rest back at home, I want to conclude this journal with more photos from our wonderful trip to the New England States. Each state had it’s own ambience and charm.