So Redina & I love to get away as often as we can but, we’re really not the spontaneous types so we tend to plan small trips in advance. This past weekend we weren’t really in a good mood, or feeling positive by the end of the work week. I thought an impromptu weekend getaway was exactly what we need. From here out everything was really quick, short sighted and chaotic planning. We were trying to get everything figured out during work on Friday so that we could meet at home shower pack and go that evening. First we thought Connecticut, then New York, or maybe New Hampshire we just couldn’t settle on a place, or even what to do when we got there. By the time we got home nothing had been decided, but we were determined to get out of town. So we showered, packed the car, and drove off. This was our adventure.
Everything happened so fast and spontaneous, so that’s how I’m going to tell it. As we left the house I just started heading north, thinking maybe we’d end up in New Hampshire, soon after I saw signs leading to Salem, Ma. We’ve really enjoyed it up there in the past, especially during the fall leading up to Halloween. The fall is definitely our favorite season, anyways that’s where I went. We walked around the town a bit, and despite this being kind of their off season, the city was very full of life and packed with places to go. It was around 8pm so we decided to get dinner and figure out where to go next. We ate at Rockafellas. Normally when we’ve been through these parts we’ve seen this place jamb packed so we’ve never had the opportunity to eat here. Now that we have, it was totally worth it. Food was great, so good in fact we barely discussed where we were going next. One thing I wanted to do was go fishing in the morning, cause its like my thing these days. I had read that western Massachusetts has some awesome places so we had a direction and we left.
On the drive Redina did some research while I drove west. We found a pond to fish in the morning in Tyngsborough, MA called Flint Pond. I couldn’t wait til’ morning… So we went straight to the pond, I didn’t catch a fish. We found a Motel 6 nearby in Nashua, NH. Figured we’d stay nearby and hit the pond in the morning to redeem myself. We’ve stayed at some questionable places in the past, we do what you gotta do on a budget. This one wasn’t so bad but there were some shady characters making tons of noise right upstairs from us, annoying but other than that it was fine. At 5 am we were up again ready to fish, we got some really good pictures at sunrise. I didn’t catch any fish. Anyways it was time for breakfast and Redina found a diner nearby to cheer me up after a rough morning.
[metaslider id=”1447″]It was called Dream Diner, and it was a really nice atmosphere, food was good the staff was friendly. We took this time to find out what we were doing next. Turns out the place is a Phantom Gourmet hidden gem and it definitely put us on track to a good day with a good breakfast.
We found a farm nearby called Parlee Farm and figured why not. Normally the only time we get to a farm is in the fall for apple picking, apple cider doughnuts and pumpkin patch. So we were excited to go no matter what we were picking. Turns out it was blueberry picking season, and apparently it’s kind of a big deal seeing as the freaking road was packed with cars by the time we got there and they hadn’t even opened yet. Anyways not long after we were in there, we were bumping old ladies out the way for some ripe blueberries. They had their chance. Seriously though these people weren’t playing, they were filling buckets of blueberries like there was a famine in this town. All jokes aside this was a really nice farm, it was very organized and clean, we might visit this farm this coming fall. It even had a petting zoo with chicken and goats. It was more than we could’ve asked for.
[metaslider id=”1453″]We bagged our blueberries and were on the road again headed west. We spent the next hour and a half looking for interesting places to stop at on the road. Some places were just meh, others were kinda creepy, one place was pretty cool, but also creepy. There were tons of “antique” stores all over the place. I don’t know what qualifies as an antique but these places weren’t pulling the wool over my eyes. In our travels we ended up near the Mohawk Trail. If you don’t know, this area in known for its incredible foliage and picturesque landscape in the fall. We haven’t been here during that time, we’ve only read about it, but it’s on the top of our list now. We came across an business called the Mohawk Outpost, I’ve only ever been to the Kittery Outpost in Maine. So I was excited to see what this place had to offer. This place had some really weird stuff. I don’t know about you but I think an entire section of fake cats in baskets in varying sizes is a misuse of retail space. Just a creepy little store in the backwoods. So we got a basket of cats and we were out of there.
We came to this really cool place down the road called Three Sisters Sanctuary. This place caught our eyes and you can see why. I didn’t get the story on this place but it looks like the people who run this place collect discarded items and turn them into art, it was a very creative use of what many would deem as trash. It was definitely an interesting experience if nothing else and worth a look. They do ask for donations to tour the sanctuary but don’t expect much.
[metaslider id=”1475″]We continued on our road trip and found ourselves in Cummington, MA. At this point we were kind of getting worn out but we saw a sign advertising a renaissance fair, and we just had to see it! So we put the address in the GPS and were on our way. We get there and I have to say, I wasn’t really impressed. I mean it’s not like I’ve ever seen one before, I was just expecting more. Especially for the steep entry fee of $20 per person. I don’t want to knock it because that’s where the negatives end. The people were extremely nice, everyone was in character, they really made it an entertaining environment to be in. We caught a parade, and followed that up with a jousting event. We really had a great time at this place and were impressed by the performers.
[metaslider id=”1476″]By this time it was time to go home, I had work on Sunday and we had a three hour drive ahead of us, so we packed in again and we were on our way.
We’re always looking for new experiences, but we’re always looking far and wide. We’ve lived in Massachusetts forever. It’s our home but we’ve never really experience everything it has to offer. Even now we’ve only scratched the surface. It’s just goes to show, you don’t have to go far to experience new things and have an adventure.
Reading this all back it just feels like we were scouting areas for the fall, cause we’re crazy. We really weren’t, we’re just weirdos who think everything is better in the fall. Also this is our first spontaneous mini vacation and I think it went great if I do say so myself.
Here’s to many more adventures to come.
