‘Travel’ Articles at Sweetnicks, Page 2

Spring Break 2017 {That Time We Visited Canada}

July 10, 2017 · Narrative, Travel

Usually when I say I’ve never been somewhere, my mom usually replies, “Oh, you were there when you were little.” And I totally don’t remember much before age 8, except for some scant randomness, so if I don’t remember it, it can’t count, right?

But this time I was right … I really have never been to Canada, and it was high time to correct that.

Visiting Niagara Falls has been on my bucket list forever, and I finally crossed it off during our Spring Break trip this year, and what a fun trip it was!

I plan to cover some of the specific places we visited during our trip in separate, follow-up blog posts, but today it’s more about visiting Canada overall.

I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous about Border Patrol. I told the kids ahead of time that they weren’t allowed to make any jokes with the Border Patrol officers, no sarcasm, and they weren’t to offer additional information. Just answer their questions in a polite, straight-forward manner, and all would be fine. Just like at the airport. You just never know when an offhand comment will be taken the wrong way, and I didn’t want to find ourselves denied at the border. And, of course, all was fine.

Phew.

The part that surprised me the most about crossing the border? That it only cost three dollars! I don’t know what I was thinking it WOULD cost, but only three bucks to cross the border into another country seemed like a veritable bargain, and it totally was.

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Visit: Wild Bill’s Nostalgia {Middletown, Connecticut}

May 18, 2017 · Narrative

Wild Bill’s Nostalgia in Middletown, Connecticut is a quirky, eclectic must-stop for any collector of the weird or the wonderful, or lover of the 70s.

A friend and I were in Connecticut last Saturday morning, and discovered Wild Bill’s. If you happen to follow me on snapchat (I’m cateomalley there), you know I had a hard time tearing myself away because it’s pretty much a photographer’s dream … and, well, heaven if you’re a collector too.

I found Wild Bill’s by googling “fun things to do in Hartford,” and it popped up. After reading a few reviews, and seeing it was on our way home, we decided to stop. Judging by the descriptions, I knew we wouldn’t have a hard time finding it, and I was right. As we pulled into the large parking lot, they were just opening up and I couldn’t wait to go inside.

Sitting on 45 acres of property, there are a few different buildings. The main building on the left is the nostalgia center and is seriously crammed from floor to ceiling with an eclectic mix of both new and collectible items from seemingly every generation. Old vending machines to Donald Trump bobble heads, movie posters and pins, t-shirts, lunuch boxes, games, and so much more. Whether it’s a new item or a piece of history, everything seemed very reasonably priced, and I think you’d be hard pressed to walk out of there empty-handed.

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Visit: Nantasket Beach Resort {Hull, MA}

May 6, 2017 · Narrative

A quaint hotel with a gorgeous view right outside of Boston … let’s visit the Nantasket Beach Resort!

Last year, for Spring break, my kids and I met up with Sarah and her kids for a whirlwind day in Boston. Because I’m only slightly crazy, we spent the night in Hull the night before, to break up the long day of driving for me. Although it would have been more convenient to stay in Boston, I picked a spot outside of Boston because the price is dramatically less expensive.

When I’m looking for a hotel, I always start with Groupon and LivingSocial to hunt for the best deal. My kids have two criteria for hotels … a swimming pool and room service. This one had neither, but it had an in-house restaurant and a stunning view of the beach across the street, so it was still a winner.

We were only in the area for the night, and headed straight to meet Sarah in Boston the next day, so we didn’t really poke around too much, but I CAN tell you that there was a drive-thru Dunkin’ Donuts, which makes this caffeine-driven mama very happy. The town, however, has an interesting history. It is long and narrow, with one main street going down one side along the water, and the other side to exit, and it feeds into the Boston Harbor. Because of its convenient location to the waterway, it was originally set up as a Trading Post for Indians back in 1621!

The parking situation was a little odd at this hotel. Guests park a block down from the hotel. It’s not a terrible distance, but when we arrived it was raining, so it was a bit of a pain. It is, however, free parking, so bonus points for that.

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Visit: Krispy Kreme {Jersey City, New Jersey}

April 29, 2017 · Narrative

The flashing “hot donuts” sign beckons you. The taste keeps you. We finally have Krispy Kreme in New Jersey.

If I mention I’m excited about a Krispy Kreme donut location opening up, some parts of the country might roll their eyes.

But Krispy Kreme hasn’t really migrated into New Jersey until recently. They finally opened a flagship location in Jersey City a few months ago, and I was dying to go.

The first time we had Krispy Kreme donuts was on our trip to Tennessee a few years ago. We ordered a few donuts and my kids were not excited. Not at all.

Weirdos.

Flash forward a few years, and a few more attempts, and they’ve come around.

So when I announced an afternoon sojourn to check out the new Krispy Kreme donut shop, they weren’t exactly upset.

The location is easy to find, but parking is another story. There are a few spaces in front, and after three trips around the block on a Saturday afternoon, we got lucky enough that one opened up. I didn’t notice any parking lots or significant street parking in that area, so be forewarned.

When we walked in, the line wasn’t too bad, ten people deep. It snaked in front of large glass windows where you could see inside what appeared to be a factory setting. On a perfect day, I imagine there is staff behind the glass, making donuts in front of the happy waiting (and drooling) customers. On this Saturday afternoon, there was just one employee puttering around, but we were nonetheless mesmerized by the sheet of glaze that was pouring down over the (donut-less) belt. If you look at the below picture, the white you see in the exact center is the glaze pouring down. I wish there was more action going on, but alas, it was not meant to be.

There is a good selection of donuts available, and the, um, calorie count was displayed with each one. Sometimes it’s better not to know. YOLO and all that. My kids chose the original glazed, and I went with the jelly. So light, flaky, and soft, the donuts did not disappoint.

The cashiers were friendly and helpful, completely understanding our need to check out the donuts before making our choice. If you’re in line, you can’t really see the donut selection until you’re right at the register, so there isn’t really a good way to check out the varieties until it’s your turn (and unless you’re a regular who knows the menu already).

Four dollars later and we had the goods.

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Visit: Desert of Maine {Freeport, Maine}

March 9, 2017 · Narrative

A forty acre desert in the middle of a pine forest in Maine? Yep, it actually exists. Let’s check it out.

Last year, my kids and I trekked up to Maine to visit Sarah and her kids. Although she moved to Maine a few years ago, we try and make an effort to see each other, and are actually fairly successful with 2-3 visits a year in various states. Because, have car, will travel.

My daughter, Madeline, had Maine in her sights and desperately wanted to visit, so it was the perfect opportunity to combine it with a social call on Sarah and her crew. Despite my sister going to college and getting married in Maine (and her and her family, and our parents making several annual visits to Maine), Maddie has never been. A wrong that surely must be righted.

And despite all my own visits to Maine while my sister was in college, I had actually never heard of the Desert of Maine, which is surprising because it’s actually a pretty popular attraction.

In the late 1700’s, the Tuttle family lived on a 300 acre farm. They were quite the farming family, and produced potatoes and hay for many years. Unfortunately they neglected to rotate crops, and with so much acreage, massive soil erosion became a problem, and ultimately exposed this hidden desert underneath. They tired, without success, to control the land and bring their farm back to its glory, but the spreading sand was out of control, and the Tuttle family eventually surrendered to nature … and the overwhelming amount of sand … and let the desert take over the property. One of their original buildings, the barn, still sits on the property to this day, and, over the years, the Desert of Maine has become a popular tourist attraction.

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Visit: Portland Head Light & Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

October 17, 2016 · Narrative

A gorgeous park, water view, and lighthouse … let’s visit Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

When we were talking about things we wanted to do over the summer, one of the places that my daughter, Madeline, wanted to visit was Maine. I don’t think she knew much more about it other than it’s a place her grandparents and aunt and uncle visit often, but she’s never been, and we have friends there, so a plan for a little getaway quickly came together.

Since my fellow blogger and friend, Sarah, has lived in Maine for two years now, she put together a short list of fun things we could do together during our visit, and as soon as I saw a lighthouse on the list, that was a no brainer. Because Madeline loves lighthouses.

Fort Williams is a former US Army fort that was operational for nearly 100 years, ending in 1964. This is a great resource if you want more background on its military usage. Once it officially closed, it was reestablished as Fort Williams Park and, true to form with most lighthouse properties, the area is gorgeous.

Like, I could sit there all day and take pictures and just listen to the crashing waves against the wall.

And that’s exactly how we spent a few hours there.

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Visit: New England Aquarium {Boston, MA}

May 10, 2016 · Narrative

If you’ve been a regular reader here, it should come as no surprise that if we’re traveling, we’re going to find a local aquarium or zoo to visit. I’ve lost count at how many we’ve visited, but it’s one of our favorite things to do.

And our recent visit to Boston was no exception.

Although I had a relatively ambitious list of things to do and see in Boston, there were a few non-negotiable items.

The New England Aquarium being one of them.

Interestingly enough, Madeline and I had just seen the movie, Miracles from Heaven, which had scenes shot at this aquarium, so that was a fun reference, but if you’re looking for the tank with the fish swimming over your head from the movie … you’re not going to find it here. Apparently that was some swift editing and creative license on the part of Hollywood.

We planned to meet Sarah and her kids at the aquarium as we rounded the corner and approached the front entrance, we noticed two fire trucks and all the patrons outside.

Alrighty then.

Luckily whatever was going on (likely a false alarm) was resolved quickly because by the time we came back some fifteen minutes later, everything was back to normal.

There is a parking garage right in front of the aquarium, which is incredibly convenient and not outrageously overpriced. I think it was around $20 for our visit. Sarah ended up being late, so we started without her, did the whole aquarium, and then did it again once she got there. So we got our money’s worth, both on the admission prices and the garage fee.

As for admission, you can bet I flashed my Student ID to get discounted admission, and if you have AAA that will save you a few bucks off as well. Once we got our tickets, we headed inside. There is a gift shop and an area where staff members are taking your picture (which we skipped), and then we were off to explore on our own.

The inside is in a circular pattern, so as you’re following the winding pathway, you’re circling a giant round tank in the middle. Once you get to the end, you can see the top of the huge tank (and it’s open), and that’s where there is a demo with some staff divers, and they tell you a bit about the giant turtles.

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Do: Boston Duck Tour

April 20, 2016 · Narrative

If you’re looking to get a thoroughly fun tour of Boston, hop on a duck tour!

Two weeks ago, during Nick and Madeline’s Spring Break, we headed up to Boston to spend the day with Sarah and her kids. She moved to Maine two years ago, and we haven’t seen each other in forever. Boston is kind of a halfway point for us, and my kids have never been. I couldn’t think of a better reason.

My “to do” list for Boston was definitely ambitious. In fact, I think we only got through half of it. There is just so much to see and do there, such a great town that is so rich with history … we’ll just have to make a repeat visit. I used to go often when I was in my early 20s, but I’ve been remiss in taking my kids.

Doing a duck tour was definitely on our short list because we’ve never done one before (and Denise from Chez Us highly recommended it), and I thought it would be an awesome mix of both fun and educational.

Spoiler alert: it was.

You can hop on a duck tour at three different locations in Boston, and we chose the Prudential Center location. If you know you’re going to be visiting and doing a tour, check Groupon or LivingSocial to see if they have deals on the tour tickets (LivingSocial had a current deal when we were there). You can also save a few dollars if you have a student ID (and yes, I totally whipped mine out). First word of advice: buy your tickets ahead of time. Although the tours run frequently, they ARE popular and, especially as the nicer weather is upon us, they do sell out.

We arrived, as requested, fifteen minutes before our tour was scheduled to leave and waited at their benches. MC History, our tour guide and driver (or “ConDUCKtor”), showed up, and he was every bit as fun and friendly as you would imagine. He definitely knows the city backwards and forwards and had fun little tidbits to share about different buildings, movies that were filmed there, famous people that had lived there, and historical facts. He was pretty much a walking encyclopedia of all things Boston.

*This church was voted one of the Top 10 Architectural Buildings in the US
*Edgar Allen Poe’s childhood home…

Visit: Cold Hollow Cider Mill {Waterbury, Vermont}

January 27, 2016 · Travel

A cute not-so-little mill and general store, the Cold Hollow Cider Mill is a must-stop if you happen to find yourself in Waterbury, Vermont.

On our Spring Break road trip to Vermont last year, I kept our schedule a nice balance between planned and wing it. Which means I scouted out a bunch of stops that I thought we should hit (both fun or history-based), and left time in our schedule to stumble upon places to stop on our own.

Because that’s the beauty of road trips … sometimes you just go where the wind takes you.

The day that we discovered Cold Hollow Cider Mill was easily our favorite day in Vermont. We were staying at a really nice, centrally located hotel with an indoor swimming pool and restaurant (two perks we routinely look for), and all of our stops were in the same general area, which was awesome.

As we were heading to the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory Tour, we passed by the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and made a mental note to stop in on our way back.

A cute little place with a parking lot set back from the road, we visited soon after it opened and had the place to ourselves. The smell of apples … cider, pies, you name it … hits you as soon as you near the front door, so we knew we were in for a treat. As soon as we walked in, we noticed the bakery window to the right, where we could watch the staff making fresh apple pies and dumplings.

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How to Survive a Road Trip

December 24, 2015 · Narrative

If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat (cateomalley), you might have noticed that we took a little road trip in August.

And by little, I mean driving through eight states with over thirty-three hours clocked behind the wheel.

New Jersey to Miami, Florida.

It was awesome and nerve-wracking all at once.

There is no one I would rather road-trip than with these two. They were truly wonderful the entire trip, even working on keeping me awake as we did the return trip in one fell swoop, breezing through DC at 2 am.

With this holiday season signaling road trips for many families, I thought I would take a few minutes to highlight some sanity savers for surviving a long journey in the car.

When you stop, multi-task. Every time we stopped, I chose our spots carefully, making sure the rest area was clean, first and foremost, but one that we could also grab a quick bite to eat, use the restroom, and get gas all in one stop. There were a few rest areas that had a Starbucks and a huge gas station/Travel Mart, so that made it very efficient. Both in our trip down to Miami, and back, we were slightly under the gun with deadlines, so although I didn’t want to add any more pressure to my task, I wanted to make sure our stops counted.

Bring things along to keep everyone occupied. Everyone brought fully charged devices (iPads, phones, iTouches, and the like), books, coloring books and crayons, and more. I also printed out a few different versions of Travel Bingo that I found online. One was for restaurants you’ll find, one was the traditional license plate game, another for road signs. It was a great thing to whip out when boredom set in, which, surprisingly, wasn’t often.

Netflix and Amazon Prime. Many months ago, my kids convinced me to get a Netflix monthly membership. Netflix is SO much more than it used to be. When I was married, it was all about DVDs and updating your movie list and getting movies in the mail to watch, returning them, and getting more. This ain’t yo mama’s Netflix. NOW, it’s all about instant access to movies and tv shows right on your tablet, which was awesome. For only $8.99, we can stream whatever we want, and although I don’t want the kids glued to a screen more than necessary, it is a lifesaver for long bouts in the car. If you have Amazon Prime, it can also provide similar benefits as you can download and watch many movies and television shows for free.

Stock up on snacks. When we stopped for food, it was often a meal. For snacks, no stopping. A few days before we hit the road, we stopped at the grocery store and everyone picked a few of their favorite healthy snacks, and one not-so-healthy snack. And then I rounded our selections out with bottles of water and juice. Munchies strike, for sure, but pulling over to just grab a quick snack means losing about a half an hour of driving time, which I wasn’t keen on doing. Stopping only for meals, and bringing snacks and drinks with us was a definite time saver….

Visit: Robinson’s Seafood Delight {Bahamas}

November 6, 2015 · Narrative

Fresh conch on the island of the Bahamas? I think that’s a yes. Always a yes.

When it comes to exploring local cuisine, whether we’re near or far, I try to find out what is local and popular to that area so we can try something new, and really immerse ourselves. Because, really, isn’t that one of the highlights of traveling?

Which means that when I saw a conch stand on a trip to the Bahamas, we stopped. I have never tried conch, and neither have the kids, and a little seafood shack set up on the shore with live music seemed like the perfect place to do it.

Immersion like a local at its height.

When I say Robinson’s Seafood Delight is a shack, it really is. A tiny little place, with a picnic table or two in front, conch is what they specialize in, and there’s definitely no room for anything else.

Despite the small footprint of the shack, it cracked me up to find that they had WiFi. That’s a smart entrepreneur right there, selling his password to WiFi-craving tourists for $3.50 a clip. Not only do they have WiFi, they also have a pretty good following on their Trip Advisor page, and are, not really surprisingly, consistently lauded as one of the best eats in the Bahamas.

Which means only one thing > looks can be deceiving. …

Visit: Boardwalk Restaurant, Lake George, New York

September 17, 2015 · Narrative

A bustling restaurant with amazing views right on Lake George. Let’s pop into the Boardwalk Restaurant.

When we were on our way home from Vermont over the summer, I just wanted to get home. You know how that is, right? It’s wonderful to go away, whether it be for a day or a week, but it is so good to come home. But even though I was tired of driving, and didn’t want to add any extra time to our trip, my friend mentioned a wonderful restaurant right on Lake George, which was pretty much on the way home.

And I was sold.

Because, I mean, really.

Water views AND fresh fish?

Yes, please.

And, well, we needed lunch.

Easy to find off the main drag, the restaurant has its very own, albeit small, parking lot with an attendant. Get your ticket validated when you pay your restaurant tab and that gets you free parking.

Although the restaurant was pretty busy when we arrived mid-afternoon on a Sunday in the summer, they were able to seat our party of seven within minutes.

Once seated, I quickly scanned the menu to check out their fish selections. Neither of my kids will eat any fish of any kind … yet … which means if I’m out or they’re not home, I take full advantage to get my fish fix. They’ll come around eventually.

And then I saw it.

Boardwalk Fish Tacos
Batter dipped fresh Cod with southwest slaw and a spicy chipotle Aioli served in soft flour tortillas.

It checked all the little boxes of what I was looking for.

Fish. Quick and easy to eat. Light. Inexpensive.

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