5 States 5 Weekends: Part 3

After going up to Rhode Island and Maine in the last 2 weekends it was time to go a little further so I went north to Vermont with some friends and stayed the night up there. Vermont is known as the Green Mountain state and is even named for Les Monts Verts (the French for Green Mountains). It’s also the prettiest New England state in my humble opinion.

We stayed in Burlington and went to the Ben and Jerry’s factory (it’d be rude not to), Citizen’s Cider, Lake Champlain Chocolates and we also watched a beautiful sunset over Lake Champlain. This was only my second visit to Vermont but I love the beautiful mountains and the laid back hippy vibe of the locals and I’ll definitely be back.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely the sunset over Lake Champlain but we also went to the house of Ethan Allen (a Revolutionary War person) and saw a well full of snakes that was like something out of Indiana Jones. The guide was like “I should warn people about that”. You’re not wrong, friend. I hope you like the photos from my trip!

Sunset over Lake Champlain

Another sunset photo

Exterior of the Ethan Allen house

Interior of the Ethan Allen house

Some of the snakes at the well of doom (there were also tons in the well but my phone camera didn’t love the darkness)

Tasting at Lake Champlain Chocolates

Lake Champlain during the day, looking towards New York State

5 States 5 Weekends: Part 2

After spending a day in beautiful Maine last week I decided to go to Rhode Island for the day today. In case you missed the last post which you can find here, I’ve challenged myself to visit 5 states in 5 weeks to make my spring a little more interesting. I was lucky in that it was a beautiful day because the weather has been terrible for most of the week. 

Canada!

This week I find myself in Canada, staying in Toronto. It’s my first time in Canada and I’ve really liked being here. I’ll post some of my impressions on Canada next week but here are some of my photos from the last few days. Hope you like them!

View from the ridiculously high CN Tower!

If you go to the top level of the Tower you can look down on skyscrapers!

The glass floor of the observation deck. If you don’t like heights it’s maybe best to avoid!

The most Canadian graffiti in the world?

I walked along the waterfront for a few miles to get a skyline view.

One million dollar gold coin in the Royal Ontario Museum.

Calm Before the Storm

I’m on the Amtrak train back to Boston as I write this (thanks for the free WiFi guys) and figured I’d share some photos of sunrise I took in Portland, ME, this morning before I left. If for no other reason than we have 12-18 inches of snow coming tomorrow in a big storm and I need to convince myself that it’s still worth living in New England. Hope you like them!

Happy New Year!

It’s that time of year again, welcome to 2018 and Happy New Year to you all! I don’t do resolutions because honestly I don’t really believe in them. I have, however, come up with some things that I want to work on this year and I thought that if they were public I’d have to at least make some effort or else people would think (know) that I’m a quitter. Here they are then…

How to Have a British Christmas in America

This year I’m spending Christmas in the US and as I’ve only had one festive period when I’ve not gone home to the UK since I moved here I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m going to make my holidays as British as possible. Let’s be honest that’s the best way to not be homesick, probably (it might have the opposite effect). I thought that I’d share some of the tips that I’ve thought of with you.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

This weekend I went to Newport, Rhode Island, home to the famous Gilded Age mansions overlooking the sea. The mansions get decorated for Christmas every year and it’s a major tourist attraction. I took a tour of The Breakers, the opulent summer house of the Vanderbilt family and the biggest mansion of them all.

Warm Weekend

It’s been a pretty warm weekend here with temperatures here currently 32C (90F) and showing no signs of cooling down. I’ve been out and about by the coast to try and keep cool and have shared some of the photos below.

10 Year Green Card!

Returning back to the US this weekend I discovered among the piles of junk mail that I actually had some good news; the Removal of Conditions (ROC) on my green card had been approved!

Happy Friday!

I’m back in my hometown and wanted to share some photos with you all and wish you a happy Friday! I hope you at least some of you are as silly as I am and enjoy the final photo.

A street in my hometown, Exeter

Exeter Cathedral

Side view

Rural walk

Friendly cows

Interesting street name…