the greatest part about living in new england is the vast amount of places to visit without driving more than a few hours. we can get to the mountains, lakes, the ocean and so many cities, all without ever stepping foot on a plane. and people, if you've never visited new england, there is so much charm here.. each season brings a new layer of wonderful.
instead of visiting the same places we love multiple times (except nantucket because that is my favorite place in the whole wide world), we've been making a point to discover new locations whenever we have the chance.
a couple of weeks ago, we packed the car and headed to newburyport, massachusetts.. neither of us had been before and we were so pleasantly surprised with how lovely this town is. one problem of having random week days off.. specifically mondays or tuesdays.. is that many places aren't open these days! we find this out the hard way all too often but we always find plenty of other shenanigans to get into. a couple restaurants and breweries we were hoping to visit during this trip were closed.. guess we'll have to come back!
we stayed at the essex street inn which was perfectly situated within walking distance to town, clean, friendly and served a cute little breakfast each morning. unfortunately, it rained most of our trip so we weren't able to enjoy outdoor seating or walks along the waters edge but headed to sea level oyster bar for a lunch filled with appetizers and a drink.. oysters (obviously), buffalo calamari and chicken skewers.
after lunch, we wandered around the shops downtown and stopped for coffee at shuffles. their coffee was so yummy and served in the cutest cups with a pink lid! we grabbed a coffee cake and cookie and found a window seat to people watch while we sipped away.
then we headed back to the hotel room for a quick nap on an incredibly comfortable bed (we both worked the night before and hadn't slept in at least 24 hours) before heading back out. we met some goods friends who live in the area at a newer restaurant called the poynt and chatted away over dinner.. ben and i both got salads.. his was way better than mine! he always ends up ordering better stuff than me.. thankfully he shares!
since our friends have normal jobs and had to work the next day, they headed home and we decided to check out another bar. we went to the paddle inn, "a playful midcentury surf shop-style space." the bartenders were so nice.. and although we had every intention to just order a drink (just kidding, i didn't, ben did. i always want to try new food.. and plus, i only had a salad for dinner!), i wanted to try their tuna poke bowl which was my favorite meal in a long time and super healthy. we completed the meal with ice cream tacos and were overly stuffed when we left.
the next morning, i woke up early and dropped in for a workout at crossfit full potential. the staff and members were all super friendly and, in my opinion, there is no better way to start a day than with a good workout!
after showering, we headed to breakfast.. well, more like dessert.. at buttermilk baking company. the cutest little rustic cafe with some of the yummiest treats ever.
after "breakfast" we hopped in the car and drove over to plum island.. since it rained on and off all day, we drove around exploring the island and headed out to the parker river national wildlife refuge for some site seeing. it was a beautiful drive with lots of birds and a massive turkey hanging out by himself.. ben gobbled at him and the turkey gobbled back!
when we arrived back in town, we stopped for lunch at agave mexican bistro which was refreshingly healthy after eating too many pastries and headed home to our pups. the perfect little getaway.
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