Taste of New England

Thank ALL of you for your congratulations about the PANCE!  I am so incredibly happy to be done and proud to be a certified PA!  If any of my Alaskan friends know of any good jobs... let me know :)

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After the mayhem in Boston, we could not wait to get as far away as possible. After our subway experience on Tuesday, we drove to Gloucester and Rockport with my parents for a little New England tourist time.

Gloucester was beautiful, although we didn't hang out for long.  Just enough to almost get blown away by the wind and snap a few pictures.

Beautiful Atlantic

For all those lost at sea...

Don't mind my hair.

Rockport was adorable.  Quaint shops downtown...

This is where The Proposal was filmed!  Recognize it?

the smell of cold sea air...

the sound of waves crashing on the algae-covered rocks...

It was perfect.

This is Jake's "Really, another picture?" face...

The main reason for our detour to Rockport was to find a Lobster or should I say Lobstah, for Jake.  

Time to get serious.

Success.

Shellfish and I aren’t the greatest of friends, so I enjoyed a delicious fish salad and got to laugh at Jake’s lobster shucking skills.  

This was my favorite sign at the restaurant.  Do not drink the water. Noted.

After Jake savored every morsel of Mr. Lobster, we walked around for while longer and enjoyed the scenery.  We said our goodbyes to my parents who left for Utah, and Jake and I took a road trip north to Vermont where my cousins live.

Vermont is probably one of my favorite places outside of Alaska that makes me feel like I’m back at home.  The tall trees, the mountains, the friendly people, the fact that it's the birthplace of Ben and Jerry's...  It's love.

The 3 days we spent with my relatives in Vermont were very relaxing.  By relaxing, I mean involved food 99.43% of the time.  I mentioned it before, but Italians live, breathe, sleep, and talk food all day every day.  We would literally be finishing breakfast and already my Aunt would be getting lunch ready.  If it wasn’t meal time, we would either be talking about the next meal or being handed a snack. If you need to put on a few pounds, go visit my relatives in Vermont!  Every meal is an elaborate feast!

Dinner with my amazing Aunt and Uncle!

Vermont is well-known for their micro-brews and white wines, so we took it upon ourselves to try as many local beers as possible.  

Beer Analysis 101. Clearly we're pros.

No words needed.  

Very fun.

I don't really know what's going on here, but I think the tiger really makes this picture. 

He never fails to make me smile :)

My legs were feeling better each day, so Jake and I got to do a couple nice & slow recovery runs together.  It felt great to be back on the streets, even if my legs did feel like giant leaded weights!  I think we probably could have walked faster than I was running. :)  (On a side note, I just wanted to congratulate my sister on her very first marathon today!!  She is my hero rocked the SLC Marathon today!)

It was a great stay in Vermont, but entirely too short!  Luckily we’ll be back in August for a wedding and more family time!  Can’t wait!