Weekend getaways: Maine

The drive up with pretty foliage

I'm a bad blogger, I know. It's been a month since I've unleashed my thoughts on the cyber world. In my defense, it's been a hectic couple of months. Work has been busier than usual, my boyfriend and I are searching for our first apartment together, and I've only been on one small, weekend trip up to Maine.

I know, I know ... it's no excuse. But I'm trying to make myself feel better, here. Anyway, this month was a fluke. And now I'm back. So here goes.

So the boyfriend and I did a quick trip at the end of October up to Wells, Maine, a small town on the Eastern coast of our northern-most state. I have to say, unless you're a lobster fanatic (which, luckily, I am) or an avid antiquer, there's not really much to do up in that part of Maine. Especially past mid-October.

Maine Diner's famous lobster pie

Twin 1-lb. lobsters

Unfortunately, a lot of the outdoor attractions closed for the season the weekend before we got up there, as did many of the outdoor restaurants. But, as I've said before, my main requirement for a successful trip is that I'm not at home, so even though the trip was rather uneventful on an events scale, it was quite nice just relaxing, driving around, walking through small Maine towns and gazing at the beautiful fall foliage that surrounded us -- not to mention the massive amounts of lobster I consumed at half the price it would be at home.

The harbor at Kennebunkport

Our little weekend getaway served its purpose -- we both needed a break from the same old weekend spent in our respective NYC apartments.

Weekend getaways: Philadelphia

As I prepare for an upcoming weekend getaway in Maine, I thought it was time for another installment on the blog.

In June, my boyfriend and I took a quick trip down to Philadelphia. Not surprisingly, he thought of planning the trip because there was a Comic Con in Philadelphia that weekend, but it doesn’t bother me, because I’m not all that picky as to the catalyst of our travel plans, as long as there ARE travel plans.

I, of course, have been to Philadelphia before — I’m pretty sure it’s a staple in any child’s life who went to elementary school in New Jersey. You took a trip to Philly to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and all that.

Philly's Magic Garden

My love at the
Magic Garden

This trip, we specifically avoided those places and instead chose to wander around the city. We incidentally got a great deal at a very nice hotel in what we were told was the “posh” part of the city. Unfortunately, we happened to be there on one of the hottest weekends of the summer.

I had done a little bit of research before we left, so we had a couple of planned stops, including the Mutter Museum at the College of Physicians, which houses all kinds of medical specimens and samples and lots of things floating in jars; and the “Magic Garden,” a building and outdoor space covered in mosaic taken from all manner of “junk” for some, and treasure for others, including tires, bicycles, bottles and other such things.

South Street

Beyond that, we just wandered around exploring the city, mostly walking down South Street. Of course we partook in some Philly cheesesteaks for lunch and simply had a nice time being together.

Weekend getaways don’t need to be anything fancy or elaborately planned. Sometimes all you need is a little change of scenery and some alone time with a person you like having alone time with.

Can’t wait to tell you all about Maine!

Weekend getaways: Chicago

Even though I certainly do love my long vacations, there’s a lot to be said about weekend getaways. After all, that’s how I saw most of Europe during my semester abroad in London. Jetting off for a three-day weekend to Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin and Brussels was easy when each was less than a two-hour plane ride away.

Yummy stuffed pizza at Giordano's

Though our country is much bigger than all of Europe, anything within a three-hour plane ride is pretty manageable for a long weekend. And there’s plenty of the states that I’ve never stepped foot in. So I’m starting a mini-series on the blog of all of my weekend getaways — starting from the more recent ones close to home, then going back to my European ones and topped off with exciting new ones as they happen.

First up: my April trip to Chicago — my first time there. The boy and I left New York after work on Thursday evening, arriving in Chicago in time to grab a dinner of delicious deep-dish, followed by an early night to prepare for the next day.

Cloud Gate (a.k.a., the Bean)

On Friday we were up nice and early and set off on our separate adventures for the day — him to C2E2 (Comic Con) and me to explore the city center. Lucky for me the day was a gorgeous one and I had my fill of walking around and snapping photos of Chicago’s landmarks. In the evening we had a lovely dinner on Navy Pier at a swanky restaurant and then went to an 11 p.m. show at Second City.

Wrigley Field

The next day we slept in a bit (we were on vacation, after all) and headed out to Wrigley for a Cubs game. Following that we walked around Wicker Park and Lakeview and finished the night by strolling through the Loop checking out Chicago by night.

Museum of Science and Industry

On Sunday we had a flight in the early evening, so we checked out, left our bags at the hotel and headed down to the Museum of Science and Industry. After several hours there, we picked up our bags and headed on over to O’Hare and went on our merry way home. I feel like a got a good sense of Chicago (at least a touristy sense), and felt much more rested than if I had just hung around home for the weekend. And I only cashed in one vacation day.

A nice, brief weekend getaway is a great way to mildly quell the itch from that pesky travel bug bite ... at least for a little bit.