May and June in Photos

Grandma visits

Grandma visits

Made toilet paper roll crafts with Grandma

Made toilet paper roll crafts with Grandma

BBQ at the Balds!

BBQ at the Balds!

Frogs at AMNH

Frogs at AMNH

Frogs at AMNH

Frogs at AMNH

Pavan's BD party at Chuck E's

Pavan’s BD party at Chuck E’s

Isabella's BD party at bowling alley

Isabella’s BD party at bowling alley

roller skating!

roller skating!

Postal Service at Barclay Center

Postal Service at Barclay Center

Miss Cregg card I made

Miss Cregg card I made

Pandora bracelet for Miss Cregg

Pandora bracelet for Miss Cregg

Stepping up ceremony

Stepping up ceremony

Stepping up party

Stepping up party

Camera Obscura class at Little Bird Studio

Camera Obscura class at Little Bird Studio

Nico's birthday at Owl's Head

Nico’s birthday at Owl’s Head

Last Day of School!

Last Day of School!

Last day of school!

Last day of school!

Metric at Mazda event

Metric at Mazda event

Mini Road Trip

Last weekend, I went on a mini East Coast road trip with my friend Joy. This would be the first time I was every away from Sienna overnight. I don’t know why this was the first time, I guess I just never had (or made) the opportunity to do this.

We left Saturday morning and I had done some research on good places to eat. I’m on a never ending quest to find awesome homemade corned beef hash (the best being what I ate in New Orleans at Quarter Moon restaurant, pre Katrina so don’t even know if it is still around!) We made it to O’Rourke’s diner around 11:30. I eagerly ordered a side of hash and since I already had eggs that morning, decided to go for something sweet and got Babka French Toast. Honestly, I would not order something so sweet for breakfast but this was technically lunch.
BabkaFrenchToastORourkeHash
The Babka French Toast was super yummy! They make the babka on site as well as some bread they put on the table for us. Their spicy chocolate banana bread was delicious! I was disappointed in their hash. It tasted dry but I wonder if it was because it was late in the morning. Joy got the casino omelet (no photo) that had crab meat and bacon inside. Tasty!
CTSpanBridge
I liked this bridge we encountered as we left the diner. One of the few non food photos I took.

We made our way up to Seabrook, NH and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, which is actually the same one me and Sienna stayed on our way up to Maine last year! It was over 90 degrees so it was HOT! After checking in, we decided to head over to the Kittery Outlets 15 minutes away. I’m not an outlet person but figured hopping into air conditioning would be ok. I ended up buying a nice dress for a late July wedding!

For dinner, with Yelp’s help, we went to Robert’s Maine Grill. I had my first raw oysters and they are delicious!
EatOysters
OysterPlate
BrusselSproutsBacon
CodandClams
Scallops

We enjoyed everything! For entree, I got pan fried cod and little neck clams. Joy got grilled scallops and we shared a side of brussel sprouts with bacon. No room for dessert!

I took a quick dip in the pool after we got back to the hotel and then we just hung out in the room for the rest of the evening. The next morning we had the hotel breakfast before heading to Wal-mart (have to hit a Wal-mart when we are out of NY!) Yves will be proud to hear that there was a Joann’s fabric store in the same shopping complex that I DID NOT GO IN!!

So the main reason I chose Seabrook, NH was to hit either Markey’s Lobster Pound or Brown’s Lobster Pound. They are right across the street from one another and both have good reviews. I’m sure going to either one would be good so we chose Markey’s only because they were on the same side of the street we were driving down. MMMMMM!!!! This is what we shared; lobster roll, crab cake (ok, that was all me), fried oysters, fried calamari and steamers. Enjoyed it all but the steamers were my least favorite as the large ones were not as tasty as the smaller ones. The fries were a sorry state as they barely looked cooked and I love a good fry but really, you’re not going there for fries!

LobsterRoll

CrabCake

FriedOysters

FriedCalamari

Steamers

Markeys

Since we had time to kill before being able to check into Mohegan Sun (Joy’s contribution to the weekend trip), I thought we could be more touristy and check out Portsmouth, NH. Got some yummy ice cream at Annabelle’s, caramel cashew cluster and mint summer night’s dream. It’s a cute little town but honestly, all those port towns look very similar to me (Bar Harbor, Port Jefferson, etc).
AnnabelleIceCream

At Mohegan Sun we were able to book a massage for 8 pm. Joy went to gamble and I went to the hot tub beforehand. It was so nice and relaxing! The massage was heavenly and always hate it when it’s over as it seems to go so fast. There were quite a few dining options offered in the casino/mall. After the relaxing massage, we headed to Frank Pepe‘s Napoletana pizza, another place I had on my list. Their original location is in New Haven, CT. We ordered the White Clam pizza and original pizza with anchovy. I enjoyed both of them as I am a fan of thin crust. They were both a tad salty which I know is the nature of anchovies.

MoheganSunView
The view from our floor.

LightSculptureInside the mall/casino

Anchovies

WhiteClamPizza

WhiteBirch

For breakfast, we went to Hash House a Go Go, a place Joy encountered in Vegas and marveled at the size of their portions. She did not lie! Joy ordered the chicken and waffles and I had to get their original hash with eggs. All was delicious! The hash was shredded and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Still thinking about it. LOL

ChickenWaffles

HashAGoGo

The journey home on Monday morning included a stop at Bishop Orchards. A place Joy will never let us forget about since this was the place with the fabulous peaches. They have changed! From a small little orchard to a bigger market! Because of traffic, I did not make it in time to pick up Sienna after school. I had a little ordeal with the pick up but basically Jessica and my mother in law picked her up.

All in all, a very fun getaway! Just wanted to note for documentation that Sienna cried when we skyped. Saturday night she was sad and had wet eyes. Sunday was full fledged crying! Yves said she was basically fine the whole time except when we skyped. I guess seeing me was too much! I was feeling guilty about not making it in time to pick her up after school since I promised her I would be there. I wondered how mad she would be but turns out, she was ok and just wanted to play! You never know how upset she will be about things. Usually things that I think won’t affect her so much, she is over the top about and things I worry and guilt about are not a big deal! Sigh! Will I ever figure it out?