13 Jul Honeymoon Road Trip to New England
This summer has been action packed for myself and my husband, Vince. We got married on June 4th, 2022. It was a small intimate backyard wedding with only family in attendance. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and great company. Like all weddings, we had our share of hiccups along the way. For example, our original wedding photographer and close friend came down with COVID three days before our wedding and we had to scramble to find a replacement. Luckily for me, as a photographer I happen to have many close friends who are photographers as well. Luckily, my friend Neil Colman stepped up to capture our day. Here are two photos of Vince and I on our wedding day.
We originally planned to go to Yukon for our honeymoon, but travelling by plane right now is a bit messy, so we decided on a road trip down the American east coast instead. I had already been to New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island before with my dad and brother when I was 16 years old. But, Vince had never visited, so it was fun exploring new and familiar locales with him. Here are a few spots I think that are worth exploring in New England.
The World’s Largest Filing Cabinet – Burlington, Vermont
Something fun and quirky to see. Strangely, seeing the world’s largest filing cabinet brought me a lot of joy and was a highlight to our trip, even if it was our first landmark. I love seeing weird and unusual things. This matched the description.
Church Street Marketplace, Burlington, Vermont
We stopped and checked out Church Street Marketplace, also in Burlington. I had an amazing Caesar salad there while Vince had a fancy cocktail. Did you know they don’t put bacon on their Caesar salads in the States?
Vermont State House – Montpelier, Vermont
My favourite State is Vermont. It is absolutely beautiful (especially in fall). Vermont State House was highly recommended when searching cool spots to check out. It was a very picturesque spot.
Texas Falls – Hancock, Vermont
Kinda weird to call a waterfall after another different State, but it was fun to see. The falls are not that big, but this was a great little spot for a 30 minute stop to view and/or take photos.
Conway Scenic Railroad – North Conway, New Hampshire
I pictured this location quite differently in my head from the photos I saw online. The train yard with its vintage trains and railway vehicles was tucked behind the station, all smushed together, which made it hard to take good photographs. There was also another public parking lot wedged back there so there were cars interrupting the perfect shot as well. I am sure you could get some awesome photos if you knew ahead where the active train was going and you planned a good spot to wait to capture it. This is not what we did.
Camden, New Hampshire
Camden is such a pretty town to visit. We checked out the local shops and then went to have dinner on the harbour. Vince had a lobster meal and I sampled a taste. Camden is a great place to unwind after being on the road all day.
The old Christ the King Catholic Church – Bethlehem & Omni Mount Washington Resort – Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
The nice thing about road trips is you can stop whenever you see something nice you want to photograph or check out. That’s what we did for the church and for the luxury hotel juxtaposed in front of Mount Washington.
Stephen King’s House – Bangor, Maine
I very much felt like a paparazzi standing outside this celebrity’s house, which was a bit awkward. But, because my mom is such a big Stephen King fan, we did a quick stop and snapped some photos. There was a cool wooden structure in his yard which I am sure relates to various themes/character in his books.
Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory Bridge – Stockton Springs, Maine
We stumbled upon this bridge by accident, and stopped at Vince’s request. The bridge claims to have the tallest public bridge observatory in the world and is taller than the Statue of Liberty. The sky was perfect for landscape shots, and you can see remnants of the old Waldo Hancock bridge in the foreground.
Kennebunkport, Maine
Kennebunkport, a name that takes awhile to get used to saying. I really liked exploring Kennebunkport, a small coastal town in southern Maine. We walked around the downtown area where there are a lot of shops and ice cream parlours. Vince took some photos of the harbour while I gave my arms a rest. I mostly took videos of each location with only a few photos. I am having a lot of fun learning videography as a new skill, but the one downfall is having to carry around a tripod. On a positive note, I am getting stronger arm muscles!
Desert of Maine – Freeport, Maine
The Desert of Maine is 40-acre expanse of glacial sand dunes, surrounded by a coastal forest. There are lots of playgrounds and activities for kids here. It was pretty cool to go to a very small desert so close to home. There was also a really cool vintage car (1924 Model T) and some vintage agriculture props to see.
Nubble Lighthouse – York, Maine
The Nubble Lighthouse is located on an island that you can’t get to, but from the coastline across from it you get an amazing view. I did a lot of video footage at this location but did snap one landscape of the location. This was another highlight to our honeymoon for me. I liked this lighthouse the best.
Bass Harbor Head Light Station – Tremont, Maine
The line up to view this lighthouse was intense. There is a country road leading to the lighthouse, and dozens cars were lined up waiting for a parking spot. The good news was that most people didn’t stay for more than 10 minutes or so, and we didn’t have to wait very long.
Portland Head Lighthouse – Cape Elizabeth, Maine
We saw a lot of light houses while driving on the east coast, can you tell? Portland Head Lighthouse had the most walking space around the lighthouse amongst the three that we saw. It was nice to have a sidewalk to get to to the good viewing spots, as opposed to climbing rugged rocks with camera gear. I never pack light and my camera bag alone weighs 50 pounds, so this was a boon. This may be something I need to reconsider on future hikes.
Cheers – Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is such a pretty and clean city. I really enjoyed checking it out when I was younger. This trip we didn’t spend too much time in Boston but we did swing by the restaurant Cheers to check it out. When we got there, tons of people were already taking selfies with the sign. I just took a quick iPhone shot.
Salem – Salem, Massachusetts
On one of our first nights on our road trip we watched a ghost hunter show about Salem, so we added it to our list of spots to stop at. While we were there, we walked through the wax museum and checked out a gay pride festival happening near the museums. Salem was packed with tourists and pride-goers and lineups were huge everywhere. We ended up spending more time checking out the festival then actually seeing the all the witchy stuff that Salem had to offer. I have no regrets.
3rd Largest Garden Gnome – Kerhonkson, New York
Kerhonkson, another weird name for a town. The 3rd largest Garden Gnome was once the first largest, but sadly not anymore. Kelder’s Farm, where the large garden gnome is located, has an amazing store with fresh veggies and fruit (we got a bunch of cherries) and also has an outdoor mini putt for family fun. I would definitely recommend stopping here next time you are in New York.
Ausable Chasm – The Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks – New York
This was the very last place we visited on our road trip. We only did a self-guided tour because we had planned to do the 3-hour drive home after this stop. There is a lot you can do here. There are guided tours that end in you taking an inflatable tube down the Chasm’s rapids. It looked like a lot of fun. The first photo is a photo of the Elephant head, named after the rock formation that is shaped similar to an elephant’s head.
I hope this gives you some ideas of places to visit the next time you are in the New England area. We had a lot of fun exploring the states near us and plan to go back to Vermont in the fall when the leaves change colour.
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