east coast road trip: part 2

PENNSYLVANIA 

May 31, 2017

We had a pretty lax itinerary this trip-just a few sites and cities listed that we wanted to stop at along the way so we would just drive, listen to bizarre podcasts about "can you stay conscious after you are decapitated," find hotels the night of on hotels tonight, and make plans as we went (like seeing an instagram post about baby goats at an Amish farm in Intercouse, PA & rerouting toward Amish land). First we stopped in Lancaster, PA where The Amish Village is located. This place was legit and so fascinating but mostly because... hellllooooo goats!! (But real talk, I'm super knowledgeable about Amish people now so if you have any questions hmu!) Then we hunted down the real life Amish farm where the instagram baby goats were located, bought some of their homemade lemonade, paid a quarter to feed the goats, and then I proceeded to steal the baby goat for an hour while Megan had a phone interview. Yes we basically set up camp and the little Amish girl probably thought we were crazy for not leaving. But it's probably one of my favorite memories from the trip so whatev. 

In Philadelphia we visited Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, got some Philly Cheesesteaks (not a huge fan probably due to my meat aversion), and we went to the new Philadelphia temple which was so beautiful and felt like heaven after being in the crowded, smelly streets of Philly- not to diss or anything but I'm totally not a city girl and I can't handle the chaos.

NEW YORK

June 1, 2017

Now onto the the main event, NYC! This was my first time in the city during summer and it was dang hot but probably better than freezing my buns off at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013. So I wasn't complaining...alright I was complaining, but only a little bit. Walking 9.0 miles, 19,000 steps, and 18 flights of stairs in black pants was not a smart move. Since we came as a family to New York  my junior year of high school, we didn't go to all the famous places again but rather got to see some new places. We got to walk The High Line, eat at Chelsea Market, and see the Oculus. I also loved visiting the 911 Memorial. It was so humbling and devastating, especially the voicemail recordings of the victims sent to love ones (they almost had me crying because I was missing Sam bad by this point) and then we met up with one of our oldest friends, Maddy who is a big deal working on Wall Street ;)
We all went to the Anastasia musical which was probably my favorite thing ever! I loved it, almost to the extent of tears. Missing Sammy + cheesy love story = all the feels. Then we ran to a tiny pizza place at 11pm to catch the last half of the Warriors game like any loyal fans would and were all entertained by mom's commentary. 

June 2, 2017

The next morning we rented bikes and literally biked all of Central Park, a feat in itself because we all know how good I am at biking...And as we biked we would stop at places along the way like Sarabeth's for brunch, the Natural History Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. Then we had some yummy Asain food at Nom Wah Tea Parlor with Maddy, explored Canal Street and Megan made some friends speaking Mandarin, and stopped at Momofuku Milk Bar for a little treat. 

June 3, 2017

It was our last day in the city so we headed to the financial district, rode on the SeaGlass Carousel at Battery Park, and ate lunch with a view of the statue of Liberty. We stopped for treats at Dominique Ansel Bakery and ordered a frozen s'more and cronut, but they were out cronuts! For shame! Then I took a train to the Newark, New Jersey airport and flew home while Meg and mom continued up to Palmyra and Niagara Falls.

It was such a fun trip with my girls, minus Sara (we missed you big time!). It was probably the first time  we had been on a trip together, just the 3 of us, and who knows when that will happen again. Thanks for being fun travel/ road trip buddies. Love you guys!  

east coast road trip: part 1

This trip all started because there was a deal for cheap rental cars in Florida so long as you didn't return them to Florida, hence the road trip up the East Coast. I'm so glad I got to take some time of work to adventure with Mom and Meg. Poor Sara still had school and was unable to join us and we missed her sass daily. jk sara we love you ;) We did so much in such a short amount of time so this is mostly just a quick recap (& photo dump) for my future self. 

FLORIDA

May 28, 2017

We took a red eye to Orlando, picked up the rental car, and started our drive running on about 4 hours of sleep (probably not the best idea). S/O to mama bucks for driving the entire time!! After a few hours we stopped in St. Augustine for church, visited the St. Augustine Lighthouse, grabbed some gelato and walked around the cute historic town. Next stop Jacksonville for the Jazz Festival! It was insanely hot and there were tons of people but our fave was the dance routines by the Jacksonville Pepper Steppers. 

Check 'em out! 

GEORGIA 

May 28, 2017

 After Jacksonville we made it past the Georgia state line and stopped for dinner at The Smokin' Pig for bbq in a tiny town called Midway bc we were starving and couldn't wait until Savannah. I don't know if it was because we were starving or because the food was so good but we literally ate every single bite of food in front of us. Then we found a hotel outside of Savannah and called it a night at around 9pm. 

May 29, 2017 

We woke up bright and early, ate our continental breakfast, and headed for Savannah to explore the River Walk. Then we visited the Bonaventure Cemetery (famous for its swampy trees and bc it was in some sort of movie) which seemed fitting because it was Memorial Day. Then we rented bikes and toured downtown Savannah in 95 degree weather with 100% humidity. One word: sweaty. But it was fun because every few blocks there are little squares/parks that are so cute and the scenery is not too shabby either--so many darling houses and pretty trees. The hardest part was keeping up with Ms. Speedy! Mom was cruising without a care in the world and I'm over here stopping at stop signs, almost falling off my bike every time I try to get going fast again, and trying to avoid getting hit by cars because it's against the law to ride on the sidewalks! Then we visited the Wormsloe Historic Site which has the famous 1.5 mile arch of oak trees. 

SOUTH CAROLINA

May 29, 2017

Next city on our list was Charleston and this was probably one of my favorites! First we stopped at Middleton Place, explored the 100 or so acres, saw a baby alligator (not a fan), and all tried our hand at milking a cow. Meg was a natural and got it on her first try but mom even got the two hand milking down. Then we visited all the cute houses on Rainbow Row which I loved and explored downtown. It was the cutest city and I loved the vibe. 

May 30, 2017

Woke up at Surfside Beach, walked along the shore collecting shells for my girl Cortney, loved all the colorful houses again, and ate brunch at Lulu's Cafe. The rest of the day we spent covering some ground and mad it all the way up to Richmond, Virginia. 

Part 2 with the northern states coming soon...