Coastal New England
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February 5, 2020
When I picture New England, a rocky beach and a lighthouse are the first things that come to mind. So, of course, this coastal scenic view was at the top of my list when visiting the area. I’m so glad to say that I found it! While this lighthouse is smaller than I anticipated, it’s surely much better than the first lighthouse we routed to (who remembers the disappointment on Instagram stories? Ha!).
Coastal New England Travel
Since we didn’t really have enough time to head to another state, we opted for Marblehead and Salem for our day trip from Boston. I wasn’t super impressed with Salem (more on that later), but I did absolutely love Marblehead! It was amazing to see coastal New England in real life. The homes were absolutely gorgeous and the shops and restaurants were so quaint. Marblehead was the only place I visited in New England where I could actually picture myself living. Definitely not full time–we all know how freezing anything under 60 degrees is to me–but I didn’t feel out of place there like I did everywhere else.
Like I always say, renting a car and driving around is the best way to see a new place and I’m so glad we did that on this trip! We got a Mazda 6 and it was amazing. I was so blown away by the beautiful interior and the advanced technology. It was seriously just as nice as my Audi! I’m totally a Mazda fan again. The only other two cars I had before my Audi were both Mazdas and I loved them both but man, technology has really come a long way! I totally felt like I was in a luxury vehicle.
For our drive along the New England Coast, I went with a nautical blue theme for my outfit. I just got these bell bottom pants on super sale so I knew I had to wear them on this trip. I wore a really cute white crop top under the sweater, but I should have known I’d never take the sweater off in these frigid temps. I did think the blueish grey sweater was the perfect color to pair with these pretty navy velvet flares!
After driving through Marblehead, we headed up to Salem. I was so excited to go at this time of year so I could see all the spookiness and learn about the Salem Witch Trials. Boy was I in for a rude awakening. Salem was pure chaos. There were tourists everywhere, some dressed up in cheap Halloween costumes, others with 4 kids in tow. It looked like a cheap carnival and I didn’t even want to get out of the car. We finally stumbled upon a little brewery that actually had a parking lot, so we stopped for a quick beer before heading back to Boston.
Since Salem was a bust and I did still have my dream of seeing a pretty white lighthouse in real life, Ryan surprised me and found one on Winter Island, a short 8-minute drive from Salem. I was so excited, I had to jump out and take these photos. It’s a little guy, but I still love it. It gets dark at around 5pm in New England this time of year, so after the photos, we were ready to head back to town.
On the way though, we had to stop at just a few more liquor stores in hopes of finding some rare bourbon. We ended up with another Michter’s 10 and a Michter’s Toasted Barrel. We really lucked out with some awesome Michter’s finds on this trip! Since we got back to town pretty early in the evening, we decided to go to the Celtics preseason game to watch Tacko Fall, their new 7’7″ player, play in the NBA for the first time. He dunked within 30 seconds of being in the game and did an amazing job for his first time out on the court with the Celtics. It was an awesome day all around and I’m so happy with the photos we got!
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Have you ever been to Coastal New England?
Photos by Ryan Carpenter.
October 9, 2019 @ 11:41 am
Love those bell bottoms …….. New England is usually beautiful in the fall ….this time of year is usually when I miss living up north. Too bad you didnt have more time to travel though because Maine has amazing lighthouses!
October 10, 2019 @ 8:31 am
Yeah I definitely wish we could’ve driven a little bit more!!! I’ll have to go back for sure 🙂
October 10, 2019 @ 10:03 am
BTW when we go to PR…….Alberto is taking us to an amazing cliffside lighthouse he found on his last trip!
October 11, 2019 @ 8:18 am
Omg yes!!!! That sounds amazing!!
October 10, 2019 @ 12:01 am
Looks so beautiful there and I love your outfit babe! These jeans are so cute on you!
Kileen
cute & little
October 10, 2019 @ 8:30 am
It was so pretty!! Thank you! I love them! 🙂
October 10, 2019 @ 7:54 am
I’ve never been to New England but I always thought it would be so fun to see this coast! Your pictures make it look how I imagine! Also, you are rocking those pants! It’s always so fun to follow along on your adventures!
October 10, 2019 @ 8:07 am
Ahhhhh it looks so beautiful there! I would love to visit New England soon! My husband grew up there and we have been wanting to go back!
October 10, 2019 @ 10:09 am
It has been years and years since I’ve been up to New England, but I’m thinking an autumn trip is in order, because this looks like magic to me. Chilly and cozy, yes please!
October 11, 2019 @ 8:18 am
It was soooo chilly!! I was freezing!!! Lol anything below 60 degrees is SO cold to me. It was fun to pull out some cold weather pieces though!
October 10, 2019 @ 10:48 am
Ooh! I want to go to Salem. I haven’t been there since I was a kid. I LOVE New England. Everything is so quaint and pretty up there!
October 11, 2019 @ 8:17 am
I really want to go back at a different time of year!!! I wanted to see more of Salem, but there was no way I could handle all the crowds and craziness. I loved driving around Massachusetts though!
October 10, 2019 @ 11:19 am
You look awesome! Those pants are so cute on you!
October 11, 2019 @ 8:16 am
Omg thank you!!! I love these pants!! AND they’re on major sale. Score!
October 10, 2019 @ 11:24 am
You look so cute! I’ve never been to the Northeast but this makes me want to go so bad!
October 11, 2019 @ 8:15 am
It was so fun!! A really cool change of pace from Atlanta!
October 10, 2019 @ 11:45 pm
It looks gorgeous there!! And your pants are amazing!
October 11, 2019 @ 8:15 am
It was sooo pretty! And thank you!! I’m sooo in love with them!
October 15, 2019 @ 12:57 am
I’ve never been to New England, but I hear it is beautiful. Definitely on my bucketlist.
October 15, 2019 @ 12:39 pm
It was really pretty! I definitely want to go back and do some more exploring!
October 16, 2019 @ 8:25 pm
Love your bell bottoms babe! Such a fun deep blue for the coast too. Enjoy your travels.
October 21, 2019 @ 11:27 am
Thank you!! I felt like they were so fitting for our destination!
October 20, 2019 @ 2:02 pm
New England is always so beautiful! The winters there aren’t fun but it’s gorgeous year-round!
October 21, 2019 @ 11:22 am
It really is!! Yeah, I could definitely NOT handle the winters! Lol