My Summer Vacation

With Cole heading back to school soon, I know that he will be asked, "So, what did you do over summer vacation?". As a form of travelogue and memory jogger for him (and me) I wanted to capture the great weekend trips we took this past summer.

Hershey Park - Without a doubt the most fun I've had in a while. The park is fantastic if you are a roller coaster fanatic and the chocolate doesn't hurt either! We stayed at the Hershey Lodge and had free shuttle bus service to the park and attractions much the same as a stay "on property" at Disney. Except when you check in at the Grand Floridian they don't give you chocolate bars. The Lodge had a special check in just for Cole which was cute and the room was comfortable. The restaurants on the property were however terrible and the breakfast buffet was particularly bad. I think the next time we go to Hershey we will try the Hershey Hotel which is a bit more upscale. On the way to Hershey we stopped at the Crayola Factory which was a perfect way-point on the road to Hershey. Legal fireworks on the way out of Pennsylvania sealed the trip with a bang!

Boston - I have been to Boston several times on business in the past few years and was so enamored with the city I decided to take the family up for the weekend. We stayed at the Hilton Financial Center conveniently located near Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market as well as the New England Aquarium and Children's Museum. We spent the first day at the Children's Museum which was a great way to get Cole acclimated to Boston. The Museum is far better than the nearby Bridgeport or Norwalk museums and I think I enjoyed myself as much as Cole did. We dined at one of our favorite (chain) seafood restaurants Legal Sea Foods after spending the day at the Aquarium. I have to say that I was a bit taken back by the "Market Price" for my lobster, but what can you do - easy come easy go. We finished out the trip with a ride on the famous Boston "Duck" boats. An amphibious ride around the sites of Boston followed by a cruise up the Charles River. A city I definitely wouldn't mind living in...

Cape Cod - Our annual summer pilgrimage to Cape Cod found us at a new hotel this year - the Town Crier Motel. Nothing fancy, but we bought into a "Whale Watch" package that included breakfast buffet each day, a dinner voucher for the Lobster Shanty, and passes to the Dolphin Fleet whale watch tour. I had some great recommendations from a friend of mine as to beaches, restaurants, kettle ponds, and side excursions that Laurie and I hadn't hit in our last six summer trips. The first of which was a swashbuckling pirate adventure aboard a ship out of Orleans. Cole was in heaven shooting cannons at an aptly named pirate "Stinky Pete". We went on the whale watch out of Provincetown on the second day and hit the beaches the third with a trip to the Wellfleet flea-market on the fourth and final day. The recommendation's of Cahoon Hollow beach and Mayo beach were right on the money for the extended family this go around - despite the "heart attack hill" death march back up to the car. Next year I think we will rent a house for the week and try that out. So far we have tried a B&B, hotel, motel, and camping - might as well try renting!