Weekend Road Trip

I'm behind on my blogging, yet again!! Let's start with last weekend.

Friday night, I went out to dinner for Mindy’s birthday. Her mom was in town so it was the 3 of us, plus Mindy’s roommate. We went to Penelope, which is my favorite Brunch spot, but this was my first time to try it for dinner. It was great! It is such a cute restaurant and the food was really good and pretty inexpensive. I will definitely have to go back here! By the time I got home from dinner Friday night, my mom had made it in to NYC and was waiting at my apartment! She is in for a whole week and it has been so much fun!

Saturday morning, we woke up and left for our weekend road trip. We spent Saturday exploring the cute towns in Connecticut – mostly Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, and Westport. We drove around each town and got out to explore some shops. New Canaan was my favorite – it is just adorable! We also liked Westport a lot and had lots of things to see and do there! We saw Martha Stewart’s old house.
We also saw the huge mansion on the water where Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas live. So fun! Mom really wanted to see the Westport Playhouse that Paul Newman started and his wife, Joanne Woodward, still helps run. She also wanted to go to his restaurant, Dressing Room, which is next to the Playhouse. Unfortunately, the restaurant closes for the afternoon, which is when we were there. But, we lucked out at the Playhouse. I had researched earlier and they did not have anything playing the weekend we were there. But, when we got there, it was clear that the Playhouse was packed out. After investigating, we found out that they were doing a tribute to Paul Newman’s life since he passed away recently. They were playing a movie of “Our Town” and Paul Newman was in it. So, we got to go inside the Playhouse and watch! We weren’t there when it started, so we didn’t see the whole thing, but it was fun to see the Playhouse.

After exploring Connecticut, we made our way to Newport, Rhode Island, which was our destination for the next 2 nights. We stayed at the cutest Bed & Breakfast. It was one of the best I’ve ever stayed in! So cute and cozy and the hosts were so hospitable. There was constant food and drinks available. They bake cookies every day!! The breakfasts were amazing, as well. They had a comfy sitting area with a fireplace where we loved sitting at night drinking hot tea and reading or talking. It was so much fun to stay there and I’d love to go back!!

On Sunday, we explored Newport! We spent a lot of time driving around – checking out the shops, and driving through the huge mansions there and also on Ocean Drive, which gives great views of the ocean, as well as more mansions!

I felt funny driving this mustang for 3 days!

I love Oreo Cows!Cute building covered in ivy

There are several mansions that are now open for tours. We opted to go in only one of those – The Breakers, which is a Vanderbilt home. It was so cool!! I’d explored their Biltmore estate before and loved it. This home wasn’t quite as big or extravagant as that, but still more extravagant than any other home I know! It was a great tour and the mansion was decorated for Christmas, so that was fun, too.

Mom & I in front of The Breakers

The back of The Breakers
The backyard!

We also saw the church where JFK and Jackie O
were married. It was such a cute church!

Since it was Sunday and everything closes early, we went to a movie after dinner. I love movies and since moving to New York, I never go anymore! We saw the Changeling and it was really good.

Monday morning, I managed to drag myself out of bed super early and go for a run on the Cliff Walk…which goes along the ocean and behind some of the mansions. It was great!! After breakfast that morning, we packed up and headed out. On the way back to NYC, we had more stops to make. First, was Mystic Seaport. Not my favorite Connecticut town, but still quaint. Our main destination in Mystic was Mystic Pizza, of course! It looked just like the movie and the pizza was fantastic!

The next stop was Yale. I loved this campus. It made me want to go back to college! It is absolutely beautiful and sounds like such a fun place to go to school. We went on a tour and while our guide wasn’t the best, we still learned some interesting things about Yale. So, after being disappointed in Harvard, my goal of visiting all the Ivy League schools has been renewed! I’m going to UPenn this weekend!

There were tons of these little courtyards

There were also tons of these arched entryways
that led to little tunnels to the next section

We got to sit in one of the common areas
inside one of the colleges

The library was built like a chapel
It was really cool!

Inside the library

Our final sight-seeing stop was the home of Bill & Hillary in Chappaqua. Yes, my mom and I are crazy like that. Plus, my mom has an obsession with Presidents. She actually saw Bill once in San Diego and swears he winked at her. The drive to their house alone, was worth the extra 30 minutes this drive-by took us. They live in a beautiful area on the border of Connecticut/New York. When we pulled up to their house, which is on a tiny cul-de-sac, we had a secret service man on our tail. He got out as we were making the circle and then mom wanted to take a picture of the house with him standing right there!! I was too embarrassed, so I drove away and then came back after he had gone inside. I’m sure he was still in their security booth watching us, but it was less embarrassing this way! This all we could really see of the house...It was a great weekend – a trip I’d do all over again!