The Great Trip Part II – Binghamton to Salem

Tuesday morning, after saying our sad goodbyes (and tearing up in the car), we set out on the road again. We needed to make it to NYC by mid-day Wednesday so we decided to take the long way! 

We have always wanted to do a New England trip and decided that there was no better time to do it than the present!

We hit Vermont first. We drove for hours in some of the most beautiful mountains and valleys I have ever seen. Everything was stunning emerald green dusted and valleys dusted with yellow wildflowers. I have never seen anything quite like it! It almost looked like Tinkerbelle flew down and sprinkled yellow pixie dust all over the land (of course the Floridian would make the Disney reference).

We stopped off for lunch in the quaint little town of Rochester. We ate at the cutest café called Rochester Café, which is known for its wonderful baked goods and its devastatingly delicious espresso bar (which I took full advantage of).

The coffee here was my favorite coffee of the whole trip! I ordered the iced Green Mountain Latte, and it was to die for – check out the rest of the espresso menu here.

For lunch I ordered a salad from their special menu that, sadly, is not anywhere online – but I can tell you it was delicious! Ricky had a wild hair and ordered the Maple Chipotle Chicken Sandwich (WHICH WAS FANTASTIC).

For desert, Ricky ordered the Vermont Maple Cream Pie (which he claims is the best pie he has ever eater – and I’d have to agree after having a taste). 

I ordered a cone of the maple ice cream. Everything we tried was wonderful. We will definitely be visiting this town and café the next time we visit Vermont and you should too! 

Find the rest of the menus here.

After we each ordered an iced green mountain late for the road, we set off again. 

The next state we hit was New Hampshire, and maybe we didn’t hit a good area, but boyyyy was NH boring. We quickly got through that state, while only stopping once for a bathroom break.

Finally we made it to Ogunquit Maine. I can not describe to you how beautiful it was. I have never seen anything like it. Being from Florida, I am used to pretty beaches and sunsets, but I had no clue what I was in for. The rocks, the ocean, the lighthouse, and the mansions – it all went together like something out of a dream. I have decided that Heaven will look like Ogunquit Maine, in the spring/summer.

A beautiful Church on the rocks

We drove around for a little while, stopping the car to get out at lighthouses and beaches. I made sure to take lots of pictures and videos!

After such a long drive, we were in the mood for a mean Maine meal! We stopped off at a place called Beachfire Bar and Grille.

Most of the restaurants in the New England area are known for their seafood, but since Ricky and I don’t eat seafood we settled for marinated steak tips and a low carb burger. 

I became an alcoholic on this trip and tried to order an alcoholic beverage with most of my meals – starting at this restaurant. I ordered, for the first time in my life, a Dark and Stormy. It did not disappoint!

The food at the Beachfire Bar and Grille was good. 

The steak tips were outstanding, but the burger wasn’t anything special (I guess that’s what I get for low carb). What really made this place was the setting. 

They had a bonfire going outside, there were a lot of locals hanging out at the bar, and the service was great!

After our bellies were full, we decided to say farewell the Maine and set out for Massachusetts. The game plan was to get to Salem and do a ghost-tour before getting a room outside of Salem.

When we got to Salem, I expected to see touristy, witchy, scary things – but I saw NONE of that! It was just your normal boring town. They really don’t play up the witch factor at all, and I have heard that the town really doesn’t want to be known for murdering a bunch of innocent people.

So I guess it’s understandable. I later heard that the best time to visit Salem for the witchy stuff is around Halloween. Maybe I’ll go back one day!

We ended up setting up camp right outside of Salem, for we were headed for Newport Rhode Island the next day and could not handle another night on the road!

The Great Trip Part I – Orlando to Binghamton

After work on Friday, May 15^th my hubby and I set out for New York. We decided to drive through the night on Friday and make a few stops on Saturday before arriving in Binghamton NY.  By Saturday morning we were making our first stop in West Virginia.

What is so special about WV? I used to live there! My family and I had our roots set in WV for three long years before we decided to move to Orlando. This was my first time back in over 15 years. We drove by my old house, my old schools, and my old church! It was a wonderful trip down memory lane and it was amazing being able to share part of where I came from with my husband.

My old house!!!

My old church!!

My old school!

After spending a few minutes taking in the beauty that is West Virginia, we set out again. We had planned to visit Gettysburg, but we made a quick decision to skip it and head up to Niagra Falls. Because we had all left our passports at home we were unable to go over to Canada (who totally has the better view!). 

Since we wanted a better view of the falls we decided to do the Maiden of the Mist boat ride. It was like $20 a ticket and WELL WORTH IT.

There were a ton of people at the falls but we barely had to wait more than 5 minutes to get on the boat. We were given a rain coat and were told to tie it tight! I had no idea that we would get so wet from the mist! It was one of the most amazing experiences of the whole trip. Next time I will be bringing my waterproof camera!

View from the boat

After our fun at Niagra, we were back on the road and headed for Binghamton! The moment we got close enough, Ricky called his favorite pizza place and ordered us personal pizzas to be picked up.

The place is called Brozzetti's Pizza and I have been hearing how amazing and life changing it is for YEARS from my husband and his brother and anyone else who has ever lived in Binghamton. So it would be an understatement to say that this place was over hyped.

The first night I had just plain cheese pizza. How else can you judge a pizza place? If they can make a killer cheese pizza, then they are winners in my book.

The cheese pizza was veryyyyy good, great even, but I was I guess slightly disapointed for some reason. With all of the hype from my husband and his family, I guess I expected the pizza to be made of gold or something lol. It was damn good pizza, but I don’t think I would call it a “Life changing pie”.

The second time I got Brozzetti’s, I was much more impressed. I ordered the buffalo chicken pizza, and it was pretty damn close to life changing.

Other than Brozzetti’s, Ricky had other MUSTS on the restaurant list for Binghamton.

We went to Lupo’s and ordered a Chicken Spiedie (if you haven’t heard of them, you musttttt look them up and order the marinade).

We went to Cortese and I had some of the BEST french onion soup I have ever had in my LIFE, along with some of the best service I have ever had :D.

We also met up for brunch at the Park Diner, where I won at life with an order of coffee and a mimosa!

Believe it or not, eating was not the ONLY thing we did in Binghamton. Ricky has a lot of extended family in that area so I did a lot of meeting and greeting!

Ricky gave me the grand tour of the town, which is known for their Parlor Homes. I was able to see my hubby’s old house, along with the old mountain home (Beaver Meadows) 

that his grandparents own.

Us at Beaver Meadows 

Trying and failing to skip rocks!

I had so much fun seeing all of the sights and learning the history of the houses and the land from Ricky’s Grandfather (who lives in one of the oldest homes in Binghamton).

Fun Fact: Most of the homes in Binghamton do not have air conditioning. Being from Florida, I was blown away by this concept. How many states don’t have air conditioners? Apparently, A LOT of the North East.