Planes, trains and automobiles.....

With Hamp already in Washington DC, it made for the perfect excuse to meet him there and road trip up the East Coast. I realized that there were several dear friends & family between Richmond, VA up to Hartford, CT that I would love to visit - not to mention great cities in between like Philadelphia, New York and Boston! Add in some tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway and the vacation nearly planned itself... 

Day One: Washington DC

We literally only made one stop in DC before meeting Hamp - Sam & I went to the National Zoo for one reason and one reason only: PANDAS!!!!!

We enjoyed a full hour observing the three resident pandas - and Sam was all smiles the whole time.

Day Two: Richmond, VA

Just south of DC we found Lori and her family in Richmond, VA. Lori is my childhood best friend from our days in Marietta, GA and we hadn't seen each other since 2003 when she and her husband visited Meeker! 5 kids and many life adventures later, we had no problem picking right up with long talks on the porch and plenty of laughs!

Day Three: Cumberland, MD

From Richmond we headed north where cousin Lydia and her husband Tim have a most excellent life - a cool house and garden, successful businesses, a burgeoning local co-op, a podcast, a sweet dog named Marley and a very fascinating macaw named Max!

Day Four: Keyser, WV

We hopped over the MD - WV state line to spend a day visiting Aunt PJ and Uncle Stephen at their home. We were treated to lunch with Elvis, a tour of their very prolific gardens (and subsequent canning operation!) and time well spent with family.

Day Five: Philadelphia, PA

I had never been to Philly and it was a perfect stop as we drove up I-95. We hit the historical places lightly - a walk-by of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell - but spent some good time wandering through Reading Terminal Market and through downtown, savoring all the flavors (cheesesteak!) and sights and architecture and people.

Day Six: Wilton, CT

When I worked for the Hyatt in Greenwich, CT a long, long time ago... I had some very good friends. Kim is one of the best! She took us into her home and let us play with her sweet family. Her musician husband, Ray entertained us while the kids all played baseball in the backyard and Kim & I reminisced about many fun times and trips together!

Day Seven: New York, NY

We took the train into the city where we were lucky enough to meet up with a friend from Meeker! Meg works for the NYTimes and took a moment out of her very busy schedule to give us a hug and walk with us through Central Park.

... then we made out way to Times Square for...

Hamilton.

What can I say about something I have obsessed over since first hearing the musical in March 2016? I am a lover of musical theater anyway, but this particular show is so fun and inspiring and amazing and beautiful - I couldn't believe how lucky we were to get tickets! The show lived up to all the hype and left me completely enamored all over again. The boys loved it.... but it was the highlight of my trip for sure!

Day Eight: Hartford, CT

Another great friend from my Hyatt days is Molly, who hasn't changed a bit in 17 years! Other than she is now working as a trainer for State Legislators and has 2 beautiful daughters, it feels like just yesterday I was watching her marry Chris in NYC! We spent a morning at the annual Celebrate West Hartford festival (think art booths and funnel cake and ferris wheels!) and while the kids played, we enjoyed catching up and sharing stories from our lives. 

Day Nine: Boston, MA

After a week of visiting loved ones, the boys & I were ready for a couple of days to just explore on our own. As our last stop on the great East Coast road trip, Boston did NOT disappoint! We walked through Harvard Yard, took the T, explored Boston Commons, stopped at a playground in Cambridge, rode Blue Bikes through downtown, played at Columbus park and even stopped for a game of chess in Quincy Market!

Day Ten: Fenway Park

The Green Monster, the Red Sox, peanuts & hotdogs & cotton candy, the 7th inning stretch and baseball. The absolute BEST way to top off a trip!

While this trip was in the works for a while (Hamilton tickets were purchased last August!) the whole trip was relatively loose - which left a lot of room for either extra fun or major travel snafus. In fact, I admittedly had some mild anxiety about embarking on such an unplanned venture, but I mostly was excited about the possibilities of fun that could be discovered along the way. I learned that the boys are amazingly easy going when it comes to changing course mid-stream or finding your way on the fly. We found fun coffee shops when we needed to pee, and saw cool people and buildings when we wandered off course. We rode bikes through the city, took the subway, the train... and best of all our ride from city to city was a brand new, cherry-red Chevy Camaro!!! (it's a miracle I didn't get a speeding ticket) We each had a highlight (Hamilton, Red Sox, Pandas!) but I think we all enjoyed exploring together and meeting old and new friends. Most of all, I am so proud of the boys for being adventurous, friendly, and inquisitive.