While we did not originally have a trip to Connecticut planned for this summer, time on our favorite shoreline never disappoints. We’ll file this whole vacation under COVID silver linings :) Our 2020 trip looked a bit different than past years, even beyond mask wearing and hand sanitizer – as our last two trips were both for friends’ weddings, and were co-scheduled with Natalie and Joe. While there were no big events or cousins this time around, we made the best of it. Here are a few photos, if you’d like to see!

Naturally, much of our time was spent outdoors. We hiked at Avery Preserve, Candlewood Ridge, and Bluff Point (where we hunted for hermit crabs, a favorite from John’s childhood! Octonaut June was enthused.). That top picture is especially sweet to me – my father-in-law enthusiastically met the playmate needs of two children who had gone for months without much social interaction at all, and his and June’s bond was really cemented, I think.

It was an unusually warm week while we visited, so we spent lots of time cooling off at the beach and in the pool! Though the pool was a balmy 92 degrees, so cooling off was a relative term :)

And OF COURSE we spent plenty of time in Mystic, including repeat visits to Sift, MDI, and the brand-new Young Buns Doughnuts, which opened the week we were there! We scooted out to Noank, too :)

A major highlight: my in-laws’ driveway being re-paved. This involved lots of “big trucks,” with Shep is quite predictably ob-sessed with at the moment.

To indulge the other child, we also spent the morning at my family’s horse farm, where we scrambled around in the (400-year-old?) hay loft and pet a few noses.

My highlight? Celebrating Shep’s second birthday at one of our favorite parks, with all four grandparents. It was the most beautiful night, with yummy takeout from Mystic Market, wading at the beach, bubbles, and birthday presents.

We set up under this magnificent tree:

Dreamy, no? And here is the sweet birthday boy, gazing at his four beloved grandparents singing happy birthday to him.

Let’s zero in on that dessert for a minute, though, shall we? Hmm. Doesn’t look quite right, does it?

Indeed it is not.

We had carefully ordered a fruit tart from Sift, carefully toted it ever so delicately to the park… only to have the bakery box inadvertently tipped completely upside down by an unaware grandparent :) So, we stuck a candle in a pile of cream and tart and berries and glaze, which was less than nothing to look at but tasted exquisite. The birthday boy did not care one bit :)

Here is the tart before it met its demise, so you can fully appreciate the artistry!

It was a beautiful night and a lovely trip, made more precious by the fact that we’re not exactly sure when we’ll next see each other again, thanks to COVID and increased preschool exposure. Praying it is sooner than we can imagine!

More Connecticut trips here and here.

In a year when so much has changed, when we find ourselves doing things, thinking things, and acting in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few months ago — what a gift to return to familiar ground. The Island has always been my “still point in a turning world,” but I was perhaps never so grateful to alight to it than I was this year – beautiful, peaceful, set-apart.

Of course, not even a little remote island in Maine, reached only by boat, is immune to the coronavirus. As of this writing, it actually is free of the virus itself, but has been affected as everywhere else by stringent new rules, familiar faces missing, and the low-grade worry that attends any mixing of non-family members. Within our own cottage and family, we took a number of precautions before coming together – something we’d never given any thought to in the past.

So yes, things were different this year – but most of the things we love and treasure were the same: the beautiful forests and fields and views, the slow pace, the time to be together, the time to deepen relationships with the ones we love, the time to read :)

Longtime readers will be familiar with many of these views and faces, but it’s important to me to record them for my own memories. I hope they whisk you away for a bit of refreshment like they do for me! :)

Hard to believe these photos were taken 10 minutes apart!

Missing the napping member of the family!

Sweet Shep took a digger on the sidewalk early in the week… as my Dad says, “that’s the price you pay for an active childhood.” :)

Not every day you see a complete rainbow! So beautiful!

Those views never get old. Thank you, as always, for indulging me, friends!

While I’m so (SO) grateful we were able to travel at all this summer, our annual trip to Maine did look different in big and small ways. I’ll talk more about some of them in my next post covering our time at the Island, but one change was that we weren’t able to get into our cottage until the Monday after the Fourth of July. Since John and I both had Friday the 3rd off, we opted to drive to New England on Friday and spend the long weekend in the Berkshires. We figured it would break up the drive and give us a chance to experience a new part of the Northeast! It ended up doing all of that and more, and I thought I’d share a few photos, if you’d like to see!

I do mean that – I imagine there are lots of you missing special places or nursing hurt over canceled plans this summer, so I’d understand if you’d rather skip today’s post!

We packed the kids in the car at 6am and arrived in Lee, Massachusetts about 12 hours later. We stopped for a picnic lunch at our usual spot – the Concord Point Lighthouse Park in Havre de Grace, Maryland. I HIGHLY recommend it if you find yourself traversing the Eastern seaboard by car! Three MVPs of our trip:

1. This Octonauts coloring book. WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD. June is deep into an Octo phase and this was literally the only entertainment she required for the car ride (and most of the following week, ha).
2. This small, lightweight lap desk. Perfect for Octonauts coloring.
3. A reacher grabber. Call me crazy or call me genius – but if you have a child who insists on throwing his stuffies in hard-to-reach places and then immediately screaming for you to get them, this will allow you to retrieve them without risking life and limb by unbuckling at top highway speeds. I put a little video of the grabber in action on my Stories today :)

In Massachusetts, we opted to stay at the Lakehouse Inn. (Our first preference would have been an Airbnb, but we could not find one that fit our criteria.) We were both a bit nervous about staying in a public space, but we felt comfortable for a few reasons:

— They had just opened the week before – we may have been the first ones in our room!
— The inn is small, and seemed to be at about half capacity. We saw about 6 other parties over the weekend and never saw anyone else besides staff inside.
— The staff was vigilant about wiping down surfaces, distancing, creating one-way flows through the common spaces, and more. They also had made accommodations like not offering breakfast or cheese at wine and cheese hour. There was no housekeeping during our stay.
— Among other precautions, our family wore masks in all common areas, regularly sanitized, and kept our windows open.

Everyone has a different level of risk they’re comfortable with right now, which I completely respect. We were grateful to be able to stay within our risk tolerance for this trip!

The inn itself was lovely – perched on a little cliff above a small, warm, clear lake. Adirondack chairs dotted the lawn and there was a fire pit and small beach area with a dock and kayaks and paddle boards to use for free (those were wiped down after every use, too!). We also were able to stay in two adjoining rooms, which gave us room to spread out and relax after the kiddos went to bed.

Though the Inn is technically in Lee, it is about 100 yards from the Lenox border, and almost all of our trips “into town” were to Lenox. Lenox’s adorable, historic downtown is about 5 minutes away (it’s where Tanglewood is located!). I wish I could have spent time exploring the cute shops, although I’m sure John was grateful COVID prevented it :)

On Saturday, we brought muffins, croissants, and a breakfast burrito back to the Inn from Haven Bakery & Cafe and ate them overlooking the lake – a pattern we’d repeat many times in our short stay! Then, we hopped into a pair of kayaks and paddled around for a bit before drying off and driving a few minutes to The Mount, Edith Wharton’s homestead.

My beloved sunhat – I go almost nowhere without it! Love my swimsuit, too (order a size up!).

Though the house was closed, the grounds were absolutely gorgeous, with formal gardens, fountains, tree-lined avenues, and wooded paths. We bought lunch from the little cafe on site and picnicked in the garden and pretended we were on our private estate :) It wasn’t hard – there were only a handful of other guests. Admittance to the grounds is free.

When you’re trying to get one child to take your photo and the other child steps in – ha!

We headed back to the Inn in the afternoon for Shep (and John, as it turns out) to take a nap, while June took her BGQH outside. I think this made her feel very special and grown-up, and it was a sweet time for just the two of us. She colored while I read my book, and then we took a dip in the lake. It was the perfect temperature – so delightful!!

We grabbed a yummy Italian dinner from Frankie’s and brought it back to our Adirondack-chair home base, eating it as the sun began to set. (Lest you think this sounds a little too perfect, both kids were covered in bolognese by the end of the meal!)

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast to go from the No. 6 Depot in West Stockbridge on our way to Bash Bish Falls.

The hike to the waterfall was about 45 minutes gently uphill, and though we were able to avoid people on the trip in, the waterfall itself was mobbed. So, instead of making that our destination, we turned around and splashed in one of the many exquisite pools alongside the path. Hardly a sacrifice! We picked up lunch at the No. 6 Depot on our way back to the Inn because we’d enjoyed it so much that morning!

After another indoor/outdoor quiet hour, we took the paddle boards all the way across the lake and then swam some more by the Inn’s beach. Is there anything better than an early evening swim, a shower, and dinner outside?!

On Sunday night we brought our Alta takeout to the Lenox town green so that we could get ice cream afterwards. John did indulge me with a walk around some of the historic neighborhoods once we had our cones, which was lovely.

After a last cliff-top breakfast, we were off to Maine the next morning with very grateful hearts and sweet memories! I don’t know if our schedule will always allow it, but I really hope we get to return to Lenox to break up the drive on future trips to Maine! Still gotta peek in those boutiques :)

North Carolina gained an estimable new resident when my friend Madeline moved here last year. When she mentioned she was hoping to explore more of her adopted state in the coming months, I immediately volunteered my services as informal tour guide. We have gained much from her presence, and now it’s time for NC to give a little something back to her through new experiences, memories, stories, and delicious tastes!

John and I put our heads together and came up with this list of our absolute favorite North Carolina places, foods, sights, and experiences. It goes without saying, but even this lengthy list hardly scratches the surface of all the wonderful things the Old North State has to offer — but it’s a place to start! (And, it must be said, it’s Triangle-heavy, since that’s where we both reside.)

Though many of you live places other than North Carolina, I hope this serves as a helpful guide if you take a trip to our state! From the mountains to the sea, from barbecue to Laotian dim sum, it’s truly a wonderful place.

In no particular order and without further ado…

1. Attend a service at Duke Chapel.
2. While you’re there, stroll through Duke Gardens (we love to bring a picnic from nearby Foster’s Market).
3. And, if you can finagle it, watch a men’s basketball game in Cameron.
4. See an outdoor summer movie at the North Carolina Art Museum Art Park (go early to wander the grounds and see the outdoor art installations).
5. See an outdoor movie or concert at Koka Booth Ampitheatre.
6. Take the ferry to Bald Head Island for the day (or a week). Rent a bike and ride all over.
7. Stay at the European-feeling Old Edwards Inn in Highlands.
8. Swim in the Eno River (we prefer the Few’s Ford access, and like to pack a picnic from nearby Picnic!).
9. Eat a BLT at Merritt’s.
10. Plunge into the icy waters of Sliding Rock, a natural water slide on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
11. Catch the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra at an outdoor concert (often in September).
12. Order a chocolate souffle to-go from the Fearrington House Inn and eat it in the Adirondack chairs facing the cow pasture.
13. Visit the quaint coastal town of Beaufort — eat at Beaufort Grocery, see the wild ponies on Shackleford Banks, and stroll the charming streets.
14. Walk the beautiful neighborhoods of Raleigh: Oakwood, Mordecai, and – my personal favorite – Hayes Barton.
15. Cheer at a Durham Bulls game (best ballpark snacks you’ll ever have!). Park in the parking deck and walk through the beautiful American Tobacco Campus to get to the game.
16. Sip a farm-inspired beverage on the edge of the growing field at the Honeysuckle Tea House.
17. Hike a Southern bald. We’ve done Black Balsam Knob, and have our sights on Grassy Ridge.
18. Experience the magic that is Brewery Bhavana: flower shop, brewery, bookstore, and dim sum restaurant in one.
19. Experience the magic that is the NC State Fair: goats, biscuits, giant watermelons, and more.
20. Check off at least one of James Beard Outstanding Chef award winner Ashley Christensen’s restaurants. (You can’t go wrong with any of them, but we especially love Chuck’s and Death and Taxes. Okay, and Poole’s.)
21. Walk the paths of the WRAL Azalea Garden. It usually blooms right around Palm Sunday and Easter!
22. Climb the fire tower at Hanging Rock State Park.
23. Pick apples in the mountains (try Altapass or Justus Orchards).
24. See a show at DPAC, the Durham Performing Arts Center (it’s where we saw Hamilton!).
25. Get an ice cream sandwich at Parlour.
26. And a cone at Maple View, complete with view of the generous cows who provided the milk.
27. Visit the Saxapahaw General Store (get a BLT there, too!).
28. Eat at Vin Rouge, a French restaurant transplanted into Durham and a vanguard of the Triangle’s impressive restaurant scene.
29. Drive the NC peach trail, including a stop at Kalawi Farm Market for a basketful.
30. Feed the giraffes lettuce at the NC Zoo.
31. Grab a bagel sandwich at Benchwarmers in Transfer Co Food Hall.
32. Last but certainly not least, spend at least a weekend in Asheville. Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, tour the Biltmore (it’s so worth it!), hike at Crabtree Falls, white water raft, and for the love of everything good, eat at White Duck Taco.

And now, a few things still on our bucket list: Jolie and Poole’side Pies, the Front Porch Artwalk in Mordecai, a Snap Pea adventure dinner, the Lost Colony performance in Manteo, Chef and the Farmer, Joyce Kilmer forest, the Oakwood Lantern Light tour, and the Fried Turkey Sandwich Shop :)

Now, friends, I know you’ve got them, so let’s hear your additions in the comments! What would be on your North Carolina bucket list?