Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and a little something extra...

This weekend, Jason and I decided to get out East to see Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard...

We knew it was going to be beautiful,

We knew we could not count on the weather,

(Nantucket's nickname is the Grey Lady for all its fog)

but we also knew that we needed to go and make the best of it...

What we didn't know was how amazing this day would be!

The Hy-Line Ferry departed from Hyannis, MA which is located smack in the middle of Cape Cod.  From Stamford it is about a 3 hour drive and with weekend traffic, it really made it about 6 (I'm not kidding either!)

We spent the night in Hyannis, and got up bright and early to take the earliest ferry to the island, Nantucket first...

We got there before the island woke up and could really appreciate the views...

Here is the cobblestoned Main Street...

We decided to start with renting some bikes to go see other parts of the island...

Our first stop was this beautiful beach with the Brandt Point Lighthouse...

It was just so pretty!

The beach was beautiful with water that was so warm!  As you can see from the pictures, there was still some clouds in the sky, and we were expecting light rain any second!
But no worries, the rain never came.  We were so lucky!

After the beach, we started to ride around the island on the cobblestone streets... 

The homes were my favorite part, with beautiful flowers, white picket fences and signs depicting the history of the homes...  I got a lot of ideas for our next home in California!

After riding bikes for what felt like forever, (I'm not a cyclist, I will admit)

we turned them in to finally go shopping!

Woo Hoo!

 One of our stops was Murray's Toggery Shop where we both got some Nantucket Reds.

We plan to wear them for every picnic from now on, just so everyone is aware!!

 We really tried, but pictures really can't do this island justice... It was just so beautiful around every corner!

By this time it was getting pretty busy and pretty hot on Nantucket.  (Look at the difference between this view of Main Street and the first picture!)  One of the locals told us that it was the Nantucket Film Festival this weekend which is why there were so many people here.  We decided to just relax at the dock, get some lunch and wait for our ferry to take us to our next stop on Martha's Vineyard.

We were just minding our own business...

Looking at the sights of Nantucket...

I was taking some pictures for this blog...

 When, what!?  That woman looks like Diane Keaton!

Wait!

It IS Diane Keaton!!

How cool.

We boarded the Ferry for Martha's Vineyard thinking this day could not get any better...

The sun was shining, not a speck of fog, not a speck of rain.

How did we get so lucky?

After a short trip, we pulled into Martha's Vineyard.

VERY different from Nantucket, but very beautiful all the same...

Jason and I kept saying to each other how we felt miles and miles away...

Here, my first stop was Vineyard Vines.

I have been waiting to go to this store forever!
They have other stores on the mainland, but Martha's Vineyard is where it all started and I wanted to go to the original!  I was not dissapointed!

 Of course I bought something!

It was a very cute sweater if you were curious.

Martha's Vineyard definitely had better weather than Nantucket, it was hot!  This morning we were remembering to bring our umbrella, now we were bummed that we didn't bring our bathing suits!

The beaches were beautiful and had a very East Coast feel about them....

In a complete contrast to Nantucket where the houses were very similar in color palate, giving the island a calm, cool feel... Martha's Vineyard had an abundance of Victorian-style homes in every color you can imagine.  It was interesting to see the little cottages with their "theme."  

Definitely not what we expected!

By late afternoon, we were literally exhausted from all the excitement, unexpected but welcomed sun, and walking around to see all the islands had to offer.  We dragged ourselves to a dockside restaurant and put our feet up while enjoying the views...

-A beautiful end to a beautiful day-

I already miss Nantucket (obviously my favorite of the two islands) and want to go back immediately!

We will see how the rest of this assignment goes!

The next morning, we woke up at our hotel, packed our things and started our trip back to Connecticut...

Now, here is how the next part of our weekend went, paraphrased, of course.

Jason: "Oh look, Boston is only about an hour away from here..."

Janey: "Wow, that is closer than I thought.  We should go."

Jason:  "Do you want to?"

Janey: "Why not, what else do we have to do today?"

Jason: "OK"

And off we went!

Life is crazy as a traveling physical therapist, I must say!

After driving to Boston for, yes, that's right, 1 hour, our first stop was the Flour Bakery for their famous Sticky Buns... (I heard about this from Food Network, of course)

They were AMAZING!  Jason practically was licking the paper his came on!
(I was too, there is just no photographic evidence!)

We decided that we would do the Freedom Trail that day, as a good introduction to Boston...

 

The freedom trail is a walking trail through the city that takes you to see all the historic sites Boston has to offer from the colonial times...
It is marked by a brick line through the busy city...

Ok, here we go!
(BTW, ignore the leggings and sandals, we thought we were going home!)

This next part is probably going to be very boring for everyone else reading this, 

but I want to remember everything we saw so just bear with me!

1.  Boston Common

Beautiful fields with people sunning themselves

2.  State House

3.  Park Street Church

This is the site where the song "America" was first sung!

4.  Granary Burying Ground

Here is the cemetery where many famous historical Americans are buried including Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and John Hancock.

 5.  The King's Chapel
Built pre-revolution right on top of a cemetery!  Creepy!

5.  Old Corner Book Store

This is one of Boston's oldest surviving structures, built in 1712 and was a meeting sight for many famous authors including Nathanial Hawthorne.  Jason and I thought it was so funny that this historical site now is a Chipotle.  Seriously.

6.  Old South Meeting House

Where secret meetings for the Revolution were held, 

as well as the starting point for the Boston Tea Party.

Right across from the previously mentioned Chipotle...

7.  Old State House 

This was the sight of the Boston Massacre

 8.  Faneuil Hall

Along with it's grasshopper weathervane!

sidenote:
This area had lots of old taverns and even the Union Oyster House which is the longest running restaurant.  I hope to go back and eat soon!

9. Paul Revere's home
We actually got to go inside!

sidenote:  the alleys and buildings were so neat!
We could not imagine living here in the winter though!

10.  The Mall
This is where Paul Revere rode his horse to alert that the English were coming!

11.  The Old North Church
"One if by land, two if by sea"
Remember!?

12.  Copp's Graveyard
By this time we were getting very tired after our long weekend and miles of walking through Boston.  In all honesty, I can't even tell you what was interesting about this graveyard.  Sad, I know.
Long story short, we had a long weekend and it was time to go home! 

We know we have much more to see in Boston...
Even driving out of the city we saw the Cheer's bar!
(Jason made me take a picture of this)
So much to see and so little time!!

 Current Location:

Stamford, Connecticut