Road Trippin'!
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The Grill at Great Marsh
My daughter, Ellen, attends college in Massachusetts, 7-8 hours away from home. It’s a drivable distance but most often on the trips to and from college the focus is on getting there and getting home. We don’t build in much opportunity for seeing the sites, which is unfortunate because the North Shore of Massachusetts (Cape Ann) has SO much to see!
On our first visit up there we visited the Essex Peabody Museum in Salem. It is a MUST see. It was so good. We also toured around Salem a little bit. We’re not into the whole “witches” thing that most people associate with Salem, but the town does have some cute shops, yummy restaurants, and a to-die-for French Patisserie! The historical stuff is very interesting.
Those 2 in the background dipped their toes into the ocean. I did not.
When I drove Ellen back to campus in early February this year we had extra time and tried to go to the Essex Peabody Museum again because there was a really awesome traveling exhibit we wanted to see. But alas, Massachusetts was actually enforcing their COVID travel restrictions and since we did not have proof of a negative COVID test we were not allowed into the museum. We drowned our (deep) sorrow in delicious pub food from the restaurant across the street and ate our take out in our hotel room. Not wanting to repeat that scenario this time around I took my youngest daughter Lily for a COVID test 2 days before we traveled, per the MA travel advisory. Since I was fully vaccinated I didn’t need to be tested.
Hammond Castle
Lily is almost 13 and we have never been on an adventure like this, just the 2 of us. We were excited! We left PA before 7am, stopped once about half-way through the trip and arrived at our destination by 2pm. Our mission: to pack up and move Ellen’s belongings out of her dorm room and into the car. Ellen was still going to spend that night on campus because she was ushering for commencement the next day. Somehow we successfully jammed everything into the car. I was metaphorically (and in reality) sweating it because I realized I should have removed one of the back seats before I left! But those Tetris skills paid off, nonetheless.
Isn’t she just adorable?!
In the midst of packing up I decided to call the office where Lily had her COVID test to see if they had the results. I was told they would be texted to me but I was impatient. “Yes,” they told me. Her test was negative. “Great!” I said. “Please email me a copy of the results because I’m out of state and need proof.” “Oh, we can’t email that to you.” “Ok, I was told I would receive the results via text. You can text it to me.” “We can’t do that. Here’s 2 phone numbers you can call.” I called the first number. It’s not in service. I called the second number and spoke with someone who was very confused as to why I was calling her. Eventually I was connected to Diane at the office where Lily had the test. Here’s the kicker: the lab has the ability to text the results ONE TIME. But they had my phone number wrong. It was off by one digit. So of course I never received the text. Ok, have them resend it. They can’t. They can only send it once. I explained that the whole point of the test was for me to have proof of a negative test for travel purposes. I needed the results. They can’t be emailed. They can’t be texted. But you know how they can send them?? FAX! Welcome to 1999! How is that more secure than emailing them to me?? I checked with my hotel. Yes, they have a fax machine! But Diane can’t fax it until I am physically there to receive the fax. May I give my verbal consent over the phone? No, that would need to be in writing! This is just comical now! The farcical story finally ended with me calling Diane back after I checked into my hotel later that evening and I did indeed receive the fax! The second kicker? No one in Massachusetts ever asked to see proof of a negative test. Of course. Am I a rule follower? Yes. Yes I am.
The many stages of Lily tasting her first cannoli!
Once we stuffed the car full to the gills we set off to find some grub! We headed to the famous Woodman’s of Essex for some fried seafood but the line was long and Lily declared she was not waiting in the line. Two doors down was The Grill at Great Marsh, a local brew pub, so we went there. Now, we were really hungry by this point, having eaten breakfast at 5:30am and no lunch to speak of, but that food was SO good! Lily is still raving about her crab-topped Mac and cheese. My Baha tacos were scrumptious and Ellen’s fried fish sandwich and fries was mouthwatering. The girls then asked for ice cream and I thought they must be joking because we couldn’t eat one more blessed morsel. I used the oldest Mom-trick in the book: I told them maybe we’d get ice cream the next day. The girls also had their hearts set on visiting the beach. There was talk of donning bathing suits and jumping into the surf just to say that they did. But I talked them out of that craziness. Dipping their toes was enough since the sun was setting by then and temperatures were taking a dive. Singing Beach in Manchester by the Sea is a favorite spot for Ellen. She and a group of girlfriends would drive there on Saturday mornings to watch the sunrise, in all kinds of weather, most of it very cold! Eventually we took Ellen back to campus and Lily and I settled into our hotel room.
The beach in Gloucester
We didn’t need to wake early the next morning because Ellen needed to work commencement from 6am-5pm. Since the class of 2020 missed out on commencement last spring, the college held 2 separate ceremonies—one for the class of 2020 in the morning and one for the class of 2021 in the afternoon. It was outside on the quad, rain or shine. Thankfully, it was literally the perfect spring day and it was gorgeous! Lily and I had booked a tour of Hammond Castle for 11:00 and we made it there with a few minutes to spare. That’s one of those places that people keep telling me I need to see so I was determined to make it happen on this trip. It was interesting. I’m glad I went, but it was a little disappointing because some of the rooms were not accessible due to an extensive restoration that is happening. We still had several hours to occupy until Ellen would be ready, so we headed to downtown Gloucester. We browsed and shopped and then made our way down the street in search of food. We mostly let our noses guide us and soon enough we came across an Italian market with several people waiting on the sidewalk out front. A woman passed us and said, “Go inside and order and then they’ll bring your food to you outside.” Ok! They had an extensive menu of hot sandwiches. Lily chose the breaded chicken cutlets with prosciutto and cheese and I ordered the eggplant with prosciutto and cheese. Fun fact about me: I LOVE breaded eggplant. Fried or baked, I could eat an entire eggplant. Being in an Italian bakery I made the command decision that Lily needed to have her first cannoli, so we bought one of those to share. We left the shop with our booty and found a bench outside to sit and eat. Heaven.
Once having eaten tremendously large sandwiches and rich Italian cannoli, we needed to move our bodies. There’s a huge park in Gloucester, sight of the first settlement on Cape Ann. We went there and discovered a tiny sandy beach—heaven on earth! It was just what we needed after all that food. We laid down on the beach and tried to nap off our food coma. I refused to even put my feet into the water because I knew it was freezing. The high temperature that day was in the mid-70s. It was the first truly warm day in New England so far this spring. But there were kids swimming in the water. Crazy! Those New Englanders are made of hearty stock!
Isn’t that the cutest little beach? It kind of reminds me of Gilligan’s Island!
After our rest we reluctantly left the beach and drove back to campus. Ellen still had another hour of work so we waited for her. FINALLY we were able to get on the road. But remember that ice cream I promised? Thankfully there was a delightful local creamery literally right off the highway in the direction we were traveling. We were now fortified for our long journey into the night. We were on the road by 6:30pm and pulled into home at 1:45am. Lily drifted off after our stop at 10pm. Ellen stayed awake except for the final 1.5 hours. But we did it! It was a whirlwind of a trip but it was so much fun! The weather was perfect and Lily and I had a great time making memories together. New England truly is charming!