“Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before.” –Dalai Lama

 

There are several things I am passionate about in this life.  If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you know right off how passionate I am about God and my family!   Travel is also a passion of mine, as I love exploring and going on adventures!

Each year I look forward to planning vacations for my family.  I simply will not solely exist only to work and pay taxes.  No, I want more out of life.  There is a great big world I have yet to see or experience.  So, we go on as many adventures as possible in order to make great memories together!

This Spring Break I realized there is only ONE more Spring Break before my youngest daughter graduates from high school.

MY HEART!!

I am NOT going to handle the empty nest well at all.  Let me just go ahead and put that out there.

Thankfully, my daughter has only shown an interested in the small college near our house and doesn’t appear enthused at all about touring bigger colleges or the dorm life.  My heart is grateful every time I hear her talk about staying at home a little longer.  Thank you, God!!   I have already told her she can stay until she is 35 years old, and that would suit me just fine!

Now back to Spring Break …

This year’s adventure took us by plane to Rhode Island.  A new airline was introduced at the end of last year, so we decided to give them a try!  Breeze Airlines had a really good deal, but there are only certain cities they fly nonstop in to.  We looked at the areas and found it was just a short drive from Rhode Island to Maine!  What does Maine have to offer?  Portland Head Lighthouse is in Maine, and it is a lighthouse I have longed to see ever since I first saw it in pictures across the internet!

So, off we went!

We arrived in Rhode Island on a Thursday, picked up the rental car (making sure the contract stated “unlimited mileage”) and made our first rounds the next morning seeing the local sites.  Then, we headed to Salem, Massachusetts.  Witch Country.  Ha!

Hocus Pocus has been around for years, and both of my daughters enjoyed this movie.   Allison’s house from the movie is actually in Salem, so the hunt for all things witchy began.  Don’t worry, we played it safe.

Do you recognize this house from Hocus Pocus?   It is none other than Allison’s house mentioned previously!

When I was a little girl, I LOVED watching the sitcom Bewitched.  I remember trying to twitch my nose just like Samantha Montgomery, but alas, I couldn’t make anything spectacular happen with the twitch of MY nose.  Ha!   Imagine how I almost squealed with delight when we saw her bronze statue!

We were having a marvelous time exploring Salem, and even went to a re-enactment!  Stories were told of those that were stricken with illnesses or afflictions who were thought to have been possessed.  Sadly, those innocent victims were hanged when they truly were not witches.  Here is a cute little picture of my daughter and I outside of the building where the re-enactment took place.

Stay tuned, as there is more to come of our adventure.  Thanks for reading our New England Road Trip – Part I.