Massachusetts Archives - Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com

Day 9: Rhode Island // Connecticut // New York

Isaac Church — Sat, 19 Aug 2017 02:15:19 +0000

This morning, we decided to once again skip breakfast (save our scant leftovers from Mike’s) in favor of eating an early lunch. We left Boston and drove south into Rhode Island, stopping in Newport to grab an early lunch at a food truck we discovered last year called Newport Lobster Shack. We each got a lobster roll and an ear of corn for for a tasty lunch.

Newport Lobster Shack

Newport, RI

You can’t beat fresh-off-the-boat lobster, especially when eaten dockside!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Rhode Island Coast

After lunch, we traveled around the coast of Rhode Island to several lighthouses, including a lighthouse museum/aquarium, an abandoned fort, and more. It was raining too hard at one of the lighthouses for us to get out of the car, but we were able to enjoy the view at the others and to learn a bit about the towers’ histories.

Rhode Island Coast

Dinner // Connecticut Coast

We finally finished our lighthouse exploration as it neared evening, and drove to Noank, CT to Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough, another place we discovered on our last trip. We enjoyed two types of soup and crab cakes to split, and an ear of corn and a lobster roll apiece.

Note: I’m revoking Abbott’s restaurant stars. While it was really good the first time we ate there, we were very disappointed this time.

New York City

After supper, we drove I-95 through Connecticut towards New York City. Though the traffic was terrible, we did get to enjoy a nice sunset and views of the city on our way to our hotel on Staten Island.

Conclusion

Tomorrow, we will explore New York City and then head south through Philadelphia and Baltimore to Washington, D.C.

That’s all for today! Thanks for reading.

Rhode Island Coast

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Day 8: Boston

Isaac Church — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 01:31:51 +0000

This morning, we got another late start, since we didn’t get to bed until around 01:30. We opted to skip breakfast and take the red line into downtown from Alewife Station.

Galleria Umberto

After a short walk back to Hanover Street in the North End, we headed to a family run pizza place called Galleria Umberto. They have a tiny menu (only cheese pizza, calzones, and a few other items), limited seating, long lines, and cheap prices (only $1.85/slice!). We got some slices, a panzerotti (crispy mozzarella-stuffed potato cake), and a spinach-cheese-sausage calzone. It was excellent, and a neat experience.

Galleria Umberto

Boston, MA

This is the definition of a no-fuss pizza restaurant place. They make just a few things, but make them exceptionally well. You can tell it’s a great place to eat when people from all walks of life wait in line for a slice.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Modern Pastry

After lunch, we went down the street to try Modern Pastry, another local pastry shop on Hanover Street. We got limoncello cake, a cream puff, a amaretto fruit cream cake, and a small almond macaroon each. It was all good, but not as good as Mike’s from yesterday.

Modern Pastry

Boston Harbor Cruise

We walked back through RFK park toward Long Wharf, and boarded a Boston harbor cruise that came with our trolley ticket from yesterday. We waited in line for a bit, boarded the ship, and enjoyed a tour of the Boston harbor for 45 minutes.

Faneuil Hall

Once ashore again, we walked a short distance to Faneuil Hall marketplace (Quincy Market), and walked around for a bit, doing some sightseeing and shopping, and occasionally stopping to rest.

Quincy Market

Dinner - Giacomo's

Giacomo’s

It was now nearing 16:00, so we opted to walk back to the Italian district to seek out some supper. We stopped at Giacomo’s, a famous but tiny (maybe seated 20) Italian restaurant famous for its great food and long lines. We waited in line for almost 40 minutes, but were able to get seated with the first round of customers. We each ordered a salad, and then enjoyed our dinner. Mom got chicken Marsala, Dad got shrimp and scallop linguine with house sauce, and I got seafood fusilli with house sauce. All the food was outstanding, and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal, even though it was a bit cramped.

Giacomo’s

Giacomo's

Boston, MA

This is the most famous Italian dinner spot in Boston for a reason. While it’s hard to get in for a table, the food is amazing and the atmosphere is one-of-a-kind.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Conclusion

Walking back to our train, stopping briefly at Mike’s Pastry to grab something to eat later. We stopped briefly at Boston Public Market to look around on our way to the subway.

Once back the hotel, I went for a run on the Alewife Brook Greenway while Mom and Dad rested in the hotel lounge. We retired for the evening, exhausted from our day in the city.

Tomorrow, we leave Boston and head through Rhode Island and Connecticut en route to New York.

Boston Public Market

Quincy Market

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Day 7: Boston

Isaac Church — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 03:59:46 +0000

Today’s post will be a short one because we got a late start, and didn’t get back to our hotel until late.

Breakfast - Flour Bakery

This morning, we drove into Cambridge to Flour bakery and got a breakfast of Boston cream pie, a lemon-ginger scone, and a blueberry muffin.

Flour Bakery

Boston, MA + Other Locations

Flour is an essential stop in Boston for breakfast, or for a cafe lunch. We own their cookbook and love their baked good!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Lunch - Carmelina's

After breakfast, we drove to Alewife Station, parked, and rode the train into downtown Boston. We explored some of the city via bus/trolley, and ended up stopping in the North End on Hanover Street to seek out an authentic Italian lunch. We found a place called Carmelina’s, and enjoyed a lunch of a Risotto Caprese appetizer, Carbonara, Pollo Cardinale, and Rolatti di Pasta.

Carmelina’s

Risotto Caprese

Carmelina’s

Carmelina's

Boston, MA

A delicious lunch stop – we’d definitely visit again. All the food was exceptionally fresh and well-prepared.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Mike's Pastry

After lunch, we walked across the street to get dessert at the famed Mike’s Pastry. We got a lobster tail puff, a Boston cream puff, and a chocolate chip cannoli.

Mike’s Pastry

We spent the afternoon exploring some of Boston’s historical sites. We saw Paul Revere’s House, the Old North Church, the Bunker Hill Monument, the USS Constitution, and more. We toured the Old State House museum, and then caught the red-line subway back (via a handful of transfers) to Alewife to pick up our car and head to the hotel to change clothes.

Mike's Pastry

Boston, MA

People keep coming back to Mike’s and waiting in the crazy line for a reason – it’s amazing! You have to get the Boston cream and the cannoli.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Red Sox vs. Cardinals

Our next stop was our parking deck for Fenway Park to see the Red Sox play the St. Louis Cardinals. We explored a bit before the game, and enjoyed the game for the rest of the evening, returning to our hotel around midnight. The Sox didn’t play so well for the first 8 innings, but managed to score 3 in the bottom of the 9th and win the game on a walk-off double from Mookie Betts! It was an exciting game, and we were glad to wade through the heavy post-game traffic and return to our hotel for the evening.

Conclusion

That’s all for today! We’ll be in Boston again tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Atop the Green Monster with the sun in our eyes

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Day 6: Maine // Boston

Isaac Church — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 02:40:19 +0000

Sadly, today was our last day in Maine. Happily, we started our day with a visit the the #2-ranked bakery in America, The Standard Baking Company in Portland. The bakery was a short walk down the street from our hotel, so Dad and I walked down and bought a box of pastries and brought them back to our hotel’s lobby to eat.

We intended to only get a small breakfast, but Dad and I are dangerous in a bakery, so we ended up with a significant haul. It was all outstanding, and we thoroughly enjoyed making ourselves sick trying to eat it. If you’re ever near Portland, I’d highly recommend visiting.

Standard Baking Company

Portland, ME

This place is ranked as one of the top bakeries in the US, and I agree. Everything we’ve tried from here has been fabulous.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Freeport

After breakfast, we drove back up I-295 to Freeport, Maine to do a little shopping. We went in the L.L. Bean Factory stores, Patagonia, The North Face, Clarks, and a few other outlets that caught our attention. We soon left, however, because it was such a tourist trap, and we were trapped tourists.

L.L. Bean Factory Store

Kettle Cove

We backtracked back down I-295 to just south of Portland and headed over to Kettle Cove at Crescent Beach State Park to enjoy a view of the ocean.

Ogunquit

We hopped back on the Interstate and drove south to Ogunquit, which is just south of Kennebunkport. We drove out on a peninsula to an acclaimed tiny seafood shack called Perkins Cove Lobster Shack. It was delicious and a great value; we ended up splitting their specials for the day: two lobsters with corn, a lobster roll with chips, slaw, and clam-haddock chowder.

Perkins Cove Lobster Shack

Perkin's Cove Harbor

Cape Neddick Lighthouse

We finished our meal and traveled down Highway 1 towards York, Maine, to go to the Nubble Light at the Cade Neddick Lighthouse. The lighthouse is situated on an island a short distance from the coast, so you can’t actually approach it, but you can enjoy a pleasant view of the ocean and the light from the shore.

Nubble Light

We walked to a nearby restaurant on the point called Fox’s Lobster House to get dessert-blueberry pie with ice cream. Mom and Dad thought it was delicious, but I wasn’t 100% impressed. It was still a nice refreshing dessert for the afternoon.

Fox’s Lobster House

Santarpio's Pizza

We got back on the dreaded Interstate 95 and traveled south through Portsmouth, NH to Boston. We drove through the tunnel under the Back Bay to East Boston and stopped at the famous Santarpio’s Pizza, a cash-only, family run joint. We split a pizza (they only had one size) with homemade Italian sausage. The restaurant didn’t look like much from the outside, but it certainly had outstanding pizza. The service was friendly too, and it was good to have an authentic Italian restaurant experience.

Santarpio’s Pizza

Santarpio's Pizza

Boston, MA + Peabody, MA

It’s in a bit of a weird location, but the pies are incredible, and I can’t quite articulate how awesome it is to walk into a pizza restaurant and see meat dangling over an open fire.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Toscanini's

Now mostly full after our busy day, we decided to get another small round of dessert at an ice cream shop called Toscanini’s in Cambridge near MIT. We got two flavors each, including: almond joy, strawberry, gingersnap molasses, and their signature B³ (brown sugar, browned butter, and brownie). The ice cream was great (and probably not the greatest decision on a full stomach, but hey, it’s vacation), and we left full and satisfied, and drove through Harvard’s campus to our hotel near Alewife Station.

Cambridge

Toscanini’s

Conculsion

That’s all for today! Thanks for reading, as always.

Tomorrow, we explore Boston. Goodnight everyone!

Nubble Light

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Introduction // Church Trip 2017

Isaac Church — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 21:00:22 +0000

Before we get too far into the details of this post, I think I’ll give a quick update on what’s going on with the family.

If you’d like to skip all that and get to the new stuff, click here. If not, you can keep reading at your own risk.

I completed my Master of Science in Accountancy degree from Appalachian this June, and I’m currently in the second half of my graduate program working on an MBA in Data Analytics. Mom has been working on the pastoral search committee at church, and Dad has been keeping the Town of Granite Falls functioning amongst a collapsed bridge and a massive fire.

Graduation (Halfway Point) // May 2017

In May, I studied abroad in the Alps to complete the global requirement for the MBA program. You can click below to read about my adventures in Switzerland, Italy, and France!

Lausanne

In July, my roommates and I conducted a water taste test (long story), so if you’d like to find out what brands of water to buy/not buy based on the scientific observations of a handful of college students, click here.

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While I’m on the topic of blog posts, click below to subscribe to future posts.

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Church trip 2017

For those of you who don’t remember, our family went on an unprecedented trip up north last summer. I’m still not quite sure how we got Mom to travel that far, but she enjoyed it so much that she essentially demanded that we take a similar trip this summer!

It didn’t exactly take much convincing for Dad and me to agree to travel back to the land of Red Sox games and lobster rolls. Since we now have some experience galavanting around the New England, we hope that this will be a more streamlined, yet equally adventurous trip.

Our itinerary includes, among other things: Hershey and Amish Country, Baseball Hall of Fame, northern Appalachian Mountains, Maine, New England, NYC, DC, and more. Along the way I expect we’ll have lots of good food (I know that’s shocking—I’ve been researching hole-in-the-wall restaurants for months), see some beautiful scenery, explore some new territory, and experience some inevitable craziness.

For those of you who would like to follow our adventures, you can subscribe by email. (If you’ve subscribed to a previous blog, there’s no need to subscribe again.) Once again, the link so subscribe is below.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to sharing our adventures with you!

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Day 4: Boston

Isaac Church — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 00:24:51 +0000

Today was our second (and unfortunately last) day in Boston. This blog post will be very short because I’m writing it very late at night for reasons that I’ll explain shortly.

Flour Bakery

We began our day by driving to the MIT area to eat breakfast at a bakery called Flour that was ranked the #3 bakery in America by USA Today. It has multiple locations across the city, but the MIT location provided convenient parking, so we went there. I think it definitely lived up to its reputation. We ordered coconut pie, a croissant, and Boston cream pie, which were all wonderful.

Flour Bakery

Boston, MA + Other Locations

Flour is an essential stop in Boston for breakfast, or for a cafe lunch. We own their cookbook and love their baked good!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Boston Commons // Public Garden

After the bakery, we headed to the Alewife train station, parked the car, and hopped on the Red Line inbound to downtown. We got off the train at State Street and walked around Boston Commons and Boston Botanical Public Garden.

Boston Public Garden

Swan Boat in the Garden

We knew we had a lot to see and were limited on time, so we opted to take a brief tour bus loop around the city. It turned out to be a wise decision. Our tour took us past a variety of sights, including (but not limited to) Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, the original Cheers, Boston Symphony Hall, Harvard, and much more.

Lunch - Legal Sea Foods

Around 12:30pm, we hopped off the bus at a different part of MIT to grab some lunch at Legal Sea Foods, a seafood restaurant with its origins dating back to 1904. We knew we wouldn’t be able to eat much else the rest of the day, so we ordered an appetizer as well.

We all ordered the same thing: a lunch seafood casserole with shrimp, sea scallops, whitefish, cheese, and breadcrumbs (with a cup of clam chowder and steamed broccoli). For an appetizer, Dad and I split Oysters Legal (which is essentially Oysters Rockefeller). All the food was great.

Oysters Legal

Legal Sea Foods

After lunch, we got back on the tour bus and saw a variety of other sights in Boston, including the Boston Tea Party site, the Old North Church, Paul Revere’s House, the USS Constitution (nicknamed ‘Old Ironsides’ during the War of 1812), Beacon Hill, the Omni Parker House, the Bunker Hill Monument, Chinatown, and more.

The tour concluded, and we walked down Washington Street to get back on the Red Line train out of the city and back to our car. From the Alewife Station, we headed back to the Back Bay for the most exciting part of our day!

FEnway Park

Fenway Park

We parked a few blocks away from Fenway Park and walked over for the game: Red Sox vs Yankees. Seeing a game in Fenway has been on Dad’s (and my) bucket lists for years, but seeing a BOS/NYY game was beyond what we could have hoped for. After we made it through the gate and to our seats, Mom sat down while Dad and I explored the stadium, including going on top of the Green Monster and taking quite a few pictures.

On top of the Green Monster

Fenway Park

We ordered some hot dogs and a sweet Italian sausage for a lite dinner, and headed to our seats to enjoy the game.

I won’t bore you with too many details, but the game was fantastic. The Red Sox won, the benches cleared because there was almost a fight because a Yankees player was being stupid, we got to hear everyone heckle A-Rod, there were plenty of exciting plays, and we got to sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ in the 7th Inning Stretch and ‘Sweet Caroline’ in the middle of the 8th.

Conclusion

After the game, we left the city and headed north to our 11th and 12th states, New Hampshire and Maine. We arrived at our hotel in Portland, ME just shy of 1:00am, so I’m just now wrapping up this post around 2:30am. Since it’s so late, I’m not going to include a I.A./Bonus section. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the coastal area of Maine near Portland!

Fenway Park

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Day 3: Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Boston

Isaac Church — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 17:19:05 +0000

Newport, RI

Today marked the third day of our grand adventure across the Northeast. We were all worn out from yesterday’s trip to New York City, so we slept in and ate breakfast at the hotel instead of getting an early start. Around 11:00am, we finally checked out of our hotel and headed east to Newport, Rhode Island.

Newport-Middleton Beach

Newport and Middleton are both on an island in the Narraganset Bay area of the state, and are beautiful coastal towns. After we crossed the bridge into Newport, we saw the Naval War College and a good bit of the downtown area before heading to the shore to see the beach and wildlife preserve.

newport Cliff Walk

Mom and Dad dropped me off at the Newport Cliff Walk–a winding, rocky path along the shoreline–and I explored about a mile of the coastline before they caught up with me at the Forty Steps overlook.

Cliff Walk

Forty Steps Overlook

Newport Lobster Shack

By this time, we were once again hungry (shocker), so Dad did the Google, and we headed to a place called Newport Lobster Shack for lunch. It was basically a food truck with some picnic tables, but the food was outstanding because they only served what they caught that day – they also had a small seafood market in a shack.

Once again, we opted for the “order almost everything and split it” method, so we placed our order and chowed down. We sampled a whole lobster, a traditional lobster roll (served cold with celery and a mayonnaise sauce), lobster cakes with a spicy dipping sauce (think a cross between a hush puppy and a crab cake, but with lobster), roasted corn, and slaw.

Newport Lobster Shack

Newport Lobster Market

Lunchtime view

Newport Lobster Shack

The bib was very necessary.

Newport Lobster Shack

Newport, RI

You can’t beat fresh-off-the-boat lobster, especially when eaten dockside!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Boston // Mike's Pastry

After lunch, we left Newport and headed up the bay through Providence, and enjoyed a nice view of the city skyline from the car. I wish we’d been able to stop, but we were a little low on time. About 50 miles and 1 stop for gas up the road, we could see the Boston skyline. Dad was like a giddy child as soon as he saw the back of the Green Monster on our way into the city.

A small sample of Mike's goods

Once we entered the city, we went directly to Mike’s Pastries in Little Italy, just off of the financial district in the North End. Dad was once again giddy. Mike’s has been open since 1946 and is famous for all kinds of Italian pastries. Once again opting for quality and quantity, we ordered two Boston cream puffs, a lemon turnover, a cream cheese croissant, a chocolate chip cannoli, and a slice of fudge cake. Yum! It was lots of food, but we devoured every bit. It was definitely the best Italian-style bakery we’ve ever been too.

Mike's Pastry

Boston, MA

People keep coming back to Mike’s and waiting in the crazy line for a reason – it’s amazing! You have to get the Boston cream and the cannoli.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Boston Waterfront

After we recovered from our sugar comas, we headed down Atlantic Ave. to the Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park. We easily found a parking spot and explored the Long Wharf area, walked down the Harbor Walk, and snapped a few pictures.

Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park

Boston Inner Harbor

View of Downtown Boston from Long Wharf

Mom was getting pretty tired again, so she opted to sit on a bench in the park while Dad and I made a lap around a few blocks to see the Old State House and City Hall (Dad took a picture so he can have ideas in case Granite Falls ever renovates).

Old State House

Quincy Market

Dinner - Boston Burger Company

Pretty soon, it was time for food again, so we drove back to the Fenway district and ate at Boston Burger Company. BBC has been featured on Food Network and received rave reviews online, so we were excited to see if it lived up to our expectations. It did. Our order was so grand it’s going to require some bullet points to complete, so here goes:

Mom’s order: The “Killer Bee” Burger – bacon, a stack of beer-battered onion rings, honey bbq sauce, and american cheese with house-made chips and Boston baked beans
Dad and I split: The “Mac Attack” Burger – homemade 4-cheese mac & cheese and bacon with house-made chips and Boston baked beans AND Pterodactyl Wings – a bowl full of wings coated in a teriyaki/barbecue mixed sauce served with homemade ranch

Boston Burger Company

Conclusion

Our meal was a fantastic closer to a great day. After dinner, we drove to our hotel outside the city in Waltham. On our way out of the city, we got to see the Charles River, MIT, and the Harvard Yard. Tomorrow, we’re going to tour Boston, hunt for some Boston cream pie, and see a Red Sox vs. Yankees game in Fenway Park!

A few things to note from today:

We all noted how much nicer and cleaner Boston is than New York. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and really loved the atmosphere more than NYC and Philly. Plus, it’s much easier to find parking, and there seems to be a classier selection of just about everything–including restaurants, streets, clothing choices, wildlife, and people.
I mentioned we had roasted corn for lunch. I meant corn on the cob. A rant: it really bothers me that we call ears of corn “corn on the cob” and kernels of corn “corn”. That is backwards. That’s like calling a dismembered version of myself “Isaac” and normal me “Isaac all together”. As such, I refuse to use that term whenever possible.
Dad could not think of the correct term, so we had a good laugh about “parking” boats in the harbor rather than “docking” or “anchoring”. He did admit, however, that he only drove by the Naval College in Newport, and never actually learned anything.
I didn’t count Mom’s Germ-X usages today, but I did count how many times someone heard Dad say one sentence and then immediately asked him where he was from. I counted at least six times.
One way streets are the bane of my existence.
For those of you who’ve been counting, Rhode Island was our ninth state of the trip, and Massachusetts our tenth. That doesn’t include D.C.
*Bonus*: please enjoy the following Snaps (with real, authentic comments)

Mike's Pastry

Notice how tightly she's clutching that plastic spoon

Not to mention bacon...

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An Introduction: Part II

Isaac Church — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:56:03 +0000

A follow-up to my last post: Once I finally relented to Mom’s (and several other people’s) requests to create a blog for this trip, I realized I needed a good name for the blog.

After consulting a few of my esteemed colleagues, these are the options I considered. Please don’t cringe too hard.

“Church Family Road Trip 2k16”
“Eating Our Way Through New England”
“Our Moose Hunting Trip”
“Our Food Hunting Trip”
“The Maine Adventure”
“Churching the Most Unchurched Part of America”
“Where is Canada?”
“Churches Migrating North for the Summer”
“Discovering the States in Which One Cannot Make Left Turns”
“15 States, 1 District, 2 Countries, 9 Days”
“Are there Moose in Maine?”
“How Many Consecutive Days Can a Very Southern Man Tolerate Northerners Before Exploding?: A Semi-Scientific Experiment”
“The Hand Sanitizer Habits of a Woman Under Germ-Induced Duress: A Semi-Scientific Observation”
“Which Genres of Music are Best for Lulling a 22-Year-Old to Sleep in a Car?: Another Semi-Scientific Experiment/Observation”

I thought these might be worth sharing. I do however realize I probably just lost at least half my potential readers.

I finally settled on “Church Trips: Adventures, Food, and the Occasional Wildlife Sighting” for sake of simplicity, and so I won’t have to start another separate blog for any future trips. That way, if we get real wild and head up to Ashe County one day, I can document it for your viewing pleasure.

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An Introduction

Isaac Church — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:02:06 +0000

As with all good stories, one must start at the very beginning. So, to explain why I’m writing an adventure blog for the rest of the summer, we must backtrack about a couple months.

Many months ago, I committed to go on a mission trip to Cleveland to work with the Syrian refugee population there. Our church planned the trip for the second week of August. Even after many months of preparation, fundraising, prayer, and planning, interest in our trip had gradually dwindled and many participants had to cancel, so we reluctantly decided it was best to cancel the trip (due to lack of interest), and to donate any fundraising dollars to the CMA mission group in Ohio.

Sometime in mid-June, I told my parents that I was now free at the beginning of August. Contrary to their recent behavior while I’ve been away at college, they invited me to join them on a vacation for that week. (For our family, a vacation always means eating lots of seafood somewhere north of Myrtle Beach.) And so, the discussion began. The conversation went something like this:

Mom: “I’m really glad you’re going to be able to come with us on this trip!”

Me: “Me too, I’m looking forward to eating some good seafood. Do we have a plan for the week?”
Mom: “No, we don’t actually know where we would stay. I haven’t planned anything yet.”
Me: *With slight sarcasm and not expecting serious consideration* “Here’s a crazy idea: why don’t we try going somewhere other than Cherry Grove?”
Mom: “That sounds like a great idea to me!”
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me: *Jaw dropped, and speechless*
Me:
Me:
Me:
Mom: “We could go to Niagara Falls! That’s what [some of our friends from church] did recently!”
Me: “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………….that sounds great!!”

For those of you who don’t know my mother well, I will now take time to attempt to explain why this might, in fact, be the single most unprecedented event of at least the past several decades.

For those of you who do know her and already savvy, feel free to skip this paragraph. — Let me begin by saying that to my knowledge, Mom has never traveled outside of the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia in my lifetime – maybe not even in her adult lifetime. And I’m not even sure about Virginia. Also, when I say Tennessee and Georgia, I’m talking Gatlinburg, one trip against her will to Watauga Lake, and a Braves game ten years ago.

Oh, and Dad and I dragged her to ASU’s championships in Chattanooga from ‘05-’07, but I know for a fact the first one scarred her for life, because after the first game she adamantly promised she would never go to another large public sporting event in her lifetime.

Because she likes to be very clean and, quite frankly, bacteria-free were it possible, hotels are somewhat of a nightmare, and any travel outside of the bustling metropolis of Granite Falls, NC (population 4,651) is almost always limited to a day trip. Flying is completely off the table.

As many wonderful things as I have learned and inherited from her over the years, my strong sense of spontaneity and adventure is NOT one of them. I can’t possibly describe to you how unusual this truly is.

For those of you who know me well, but not her, you know I may have never been at a loss for words, so that should give you a general idea. We won’t even mention how long it took me to convince her sister that this wasn’t an elaborate practical joke.

This message from the night we decided to go on the trip might help as well:

Now, back to another conversation that ensued.

Me: “I can’t believe this is actually happening! This trip will be so exciting, and I’ve always wanted to see that part of the country.”

Dad: *With great enthusiasm* “And there will be some really great food along the way!”
Mom: “How long does it take to drive to Maine from Niagara Falls?”
Dad and Me: *Repeat previous reaction*
Dad: “I hear there’s really great lobster up in Maine! That’s always been on my bucket list…to eat a bucket full of lobster.”

Side note: joking aside, I’m actually convinced that Dad’s ‘bucket list’, or at least a secondary list, is really just a list of foods of which he would like to consume an entire bucket.

After lots of Googling and quite a bit of planning, we determined that it was better to drive up to Maine first, and then head over to Niagara Falls. Of course, we figured we might as well stop along the way to smell the roses and taste the local cuisine.

One thing led to another, and this is what we ended up with:

The craziest part is that map doesn’t even cover everything. So, for those of you who were wondering “Why on earth did Isaac start a travel blog for his family?”, this is the reason. I promise my succeeding posts won’t be quite as long and lacking in the picture department, and I aim to make them as entertaining as possible.

I’ll cover our adventures, include some photos I’ve taken, and certainly document some of the food–the most important part of any adventure. I might even include a few I.A. posts with Dad’s quotes and lame jokes, documentation of how Northerners react to Caldwell County natives, and whatever else comes to mind.

Our current plan goes something like this: Granite Falls > Richmond > Washington, D.C. > Baltimore > Philadelphia > New York City > New Haven > Providence > Boston > Portsmouth > Portland > Bar Harbor > New Hampshire > Vermont > Syracuse > Rochester > Niagara Falls > Toronto > Pittsburgh > Granite Falls. Only time will tell if we’ll make it home (or past Greensboro, for that matter) alive.

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