Charlestown - Bunker Hill Monument

Time to switch from some of our recent travels to sightseeing in our own back yard!

Growing up north of Boston, I came into the city quite a bit for school field trips, shows and some shopping. Every time I came in, I could see the Bunker Hill Monument in the distrance from the highway, but somehow never actually climbed it! Back when we did out Freedom Trail Pub Crawl the Monument was closed, so I was out of luck. This summer, though, after a year of actually living with views of the Monument, I was determined to make the climb. On a sunny Saturday, Nick and I wandered over to the museum and grabbed our free tickets to make the climb.

Bunker Hill Monument

J.T. Farnham's Fried Clams and a Day at the Beach

Another year, another last-minute realization that the time when dogs are allowed at Crane Beach was coming to an end! Since we had such a great time the last two years, we schedule a trip and hoped that it wouldn't be TOO cold or windy. Somehow we lucked out with blue skies and temps in the 30's, which was practically a heat wave given the winter we've had!

Nick the dog whisperer

The Naumkeag Ordinary - a Trip to Salem, Massachusetts

When you see friends' dreams come true, it is always something exciting.  This is definitely the case when it comes to Naumkeag Ordinary. After working as the GM at CoDa for a number of years, our friend Matt Brady and chef Dan Bitler took their culinary skills to Salem to open their own restaurant, which as most of you know is no easy task!  After a couple of months renovating the space of a former Polish restaurant, Matt and Dan opened Naumkeag Ordinary, which specializes in local cuisine and seasonal influences.  The bar has a rotation of beers on tap that can change daily depending on what the locals favor.  One beer was gone within the day after word got out that Naumkeag had it on tap!

Deviled Eggs

To give some context behind the restaurant's name: "Naumkeag" is the name of the native American tribe that originally lived in Salem and the name that was originally used for the town, and an "Ordinary" is a colonial term for a tavern.  The name harkens back to the history that Salem is so famous for (when you're there, you can see some cool historical photographs, including those of a baseball team with "Naumkeag" across their uniforms!)

Zip Lining at Gunstock Mountain - Scary Fun!

Recently, Nick and I were up in New Hampshire for a wedding.  Since the main event was actually on Sunday afternoon, we and some of Nick's family friends had an entire weekend to enjoy what the Lake Winnipesaukee area had to offer.  Turns out, Gunstock Mountain Resort is also home to the longest Zipline Tour in the continental US!  With amazing views in the heart of the granite mountains (seen at 65 mph), and October being peak leaf peeping, we knew this was going to be a fun time.

Mulling the liabilities...

Our group of 9 arrived at the mountain about 15 minutes before our 11AM appointment, checked in and waited to get suited up!

Apple Picking at Smolak Farms

For some reason, this fall I have been on an apple picking mission.  I haven't been on a true apple picking trip since elementary school, and I decided that this was my year to change that.  Given Nick's attachment to Smolak Farms and the two amazing Whim Dinners we have been to, we figured it was time to see the farm during its peak apple picking season.

Eating while picking :)

We arrived at Smolak Farms at around 10:30AM and while the Farm was crowded, there's plenty of room to spread out, so it never seemed too bad.  Shortly after parking, we walked directly to the Antique Orchard that had many varieties of apples not generally sold in stores.  It was about $5 more for a peck bag than the standard Macintosh/Cortland orchard, but it was so fun to get to taste so many apples!  In addition to Macs and Cortlands, the Antique Orchard featured varieties like Pink Ladies, Northern Spy, Winter Banana (which actually taste a bit like banana!), Smokehouse and Sheepnose.