Day 1
My friend from Jerusalem, Stacey Wright, is from Fairfax, VA, and her parents have a lake house in Mineral, VA, which is just 45 minutes from Charlottesville. It just so happened that on the same week as our road trip, 8 of my favorite people in the entire world were going to be on a couples trip to the lake house. We wished we could have gone the whole time... but it was perfect that we could at least go for a day! When we pulled up to the lake house I thought we were dreaming. I could not believe how beautiful it was.
The house is built on Lake Anna, which is surrounded by dense trees, and lush greenery everywhere. We took the jet skies out, went swimming, and I can honestly say I have never waterskied in a prettier place in my life. We had SUCH a blast with Stacey & Brock, Lani & John, Kelsey & Josh, and A.J. & Heather just laughing the whole time talking about Jerusalem memories, playing games, and eating delicious food. It's safe to say our trip was off to a great start.
Day 2
We said goodbye to our friends at the lake house and hit the road! Our destination now was our campsite in the Chesapeake Bay. On the way was stopped in D.C. for a couple hours and saw some main sights!
Layton especially loved the Jefferson Monument having a new respect for him being the founder of UVa. He is pretty much a superhero there! Everything is named the "Jefferson", the "Jeffersonian", and almost all the roads include his name.
3 hours was no where near enough time in D.C., but we knew we would be back... so we jumped in our car and headed north. We stopped in Annapolis, which is the most quaint, darling little fisherman's town.
We sat on a bench, took some pictures, and then continued our drive!
As we drove towards our campsite, we had beautiful views of the Chesapeake Bay. Over bridges and through small towns we were glued to the window watching our breathtaking surroundings.
We got to our campsite, which was on top of a cliff overlooking the Bay. It was absolutely gorgeous, and so much fun to camp in our little tent.
We walked down to the water as the sun set, it was beautiful.
Day 3
The next day was Sunday and our long drive to New Canaan, Connecticut. We stopped in Philadelphia for church, which was such a cool experience. It was a very diverse congregation and I loved hearing all the different testimonies in all languages and forms. One woman stood up and sang her entire testimony, while another man started to sing his as well from his seat in the congregation! It was very different than a ward in Utah... and I loved it. I think it's so important to expand your horizons, and open your eyes to the many different people even in your own religion. It strengthened my testimony to see these amazing people in Philadelphia, and I know the church is true.
That night we got to New Canaan, where we stayed with our family friends the Reads... and a surprise was waiting there for me... MY MOM! Haha we couldn't even last a week without seeing each other. It was so good to see her and hug her. Sure it's only been since Monday.. 6 days.. we are just that close! A girl needs her mom:) We were so excited that we were going to have an expert in NYC the next couple days to show us around and be our tour guide!
Days 4, 5, & 6
Start spreading the neeeeews! New York here we come! Layton has been by far the most excited for New York, and I could not wait to see his face as he saw it for the first time. It had been about 10 years for me as well so of course I was excited. With my mom with us, it was sure to be a blast! We took the train in from New Canaan, and once in the city we bought a hop on hop off bus tour of the city. It was such a fun way to see the city and have a ride everywhere when our feet started to kill. We saw so many sites, ate tons of street food, went to the 9/11 memorial, times square, statue of liberty, MOMA museum, saw Newsies, etc etc etc!!!
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| At Grand Central Station |
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| on the train |
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| Rockefeller Center |
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The view from the Top of the Rock   Some of our favorite buildings |
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| we love the NYC temple! |
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walking through central park with mom     
the 9/11 memorial
       
Ferry ride out to the Statue of Liberty!
    
Yummy food from the street, Serendipity, Carnegie Deli and more!
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Galavanting around the city
aboard the bus
Wall Street and the Bull were highlights for Layton
Starry Night and the rest of the MOMA museum was amazing
We loved Times Square by day
and by night
bikes through Central Park
We finished a fun couple days by seeing Newsies! It was AMAZING
We LOVED New York!
Day 7
After such a fun time in New York it was hard to leave and continue on north. It was especially hard to say goodbye to my mom all over again. But it was so worth it to have her in New York with us! She made it the amazing trip it was!
On day 7 we drove up north to Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. We took the Island Queen out to Martha's Vineyard. It was a PERFECT day, and after being constantly in the huge city, it felt so good to be outside at sea.
Martha's Vineyard is our dream retirement place. We absolutely loved it. Just a quaint, quiet, little beach town, yet it is so much fun and absolutely GORGEOUS. We were sad we didn't have more time... but we did well with the time we had! Lighthouses, riding bikes, and eating the best fish and chips in the world overlooking the Atlantic. Such a fun day.
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| Gingerbread houses |
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| the best fish in chips in the world! |
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| We were sad to see our boat come, we wanted to stay forever Until next time Martha's Vineyard! 
Day 8
After Martha's Vineyard, we drove up to stay the night in Boston with Layton's cousin Amy, her husband Beau, and their cute baby boy. We woke up the eighth day excited to hit Booston... only to look outside to the pouring rain. Did we let that stop us??? OF COURSE NOT! (also we had no choice...) So we braved the rain and hit a bunch of sights by trolley, foot, by unfortunately not by swan boats.
We started the day with a tour of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Layton is an Atlanta Braves fan and hates the Red Sox, but still was in absolute heaven because of the history of Fenway Park. Even me, a baseball doofus loved the tour and thought it was so cool to be in the oldest baseball park in America!
   
Faneuil Hall
 We went to Cheers for lunch and got out of the rain for a minute. Layton loved seeing Cheers because of the tv show... I never watched it, but the food was great!  
More of Boston...
   
Getting SOAKED! layton was laughing so hard at my bun underneath my hood. haha
a rainy day in Boston! we will have to come again when the sun is out:)
Day 9
The rain cleared up as we drove to our final destination... Maine! We camped in Ocean View Campgrounds in Wells, Maine. We absolutely loved Maine and spent our Saturday in Ogunquit, which is now my favorite place on earth. I went crazy with pictures in Ogunquit, because I literally could not handle the beauty surrounding me! We went to the beach for a little bit, but it was so crowded. Still so fun!
   
We walked to Perkins Cove from Ogunquit Beach and took a walkway that overlooked the ocean. Look how pretty!
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We went to dinner at the famous Barnacle Billy's, where my parents went when they were newlyweds! We felt like kings as we sat down to a fresh lobster dinner:)
That balcony is where we sat!
Fresh catch of the day
YUM!
After dinner, we walked around Perkins Cove and watched as boats came and went. So relaxing, peaceful, and absolutely stunning. We laid a blanket out and talked for a while just soaking it all in.
We got yummy ice cream sundaes for desert:)
The sunset was amazing as we walked back!
Ogunquit we loved you!
Day 10
So sad that our trip was over, Layton and I headed back down south to go home. We stayed with the Reads in Connecticut one more time to break up the drive, and then finished up our trip! It was such an adventure. I am so grateful for all the memories and laughs that we will remember forever!
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