Cape Cod Trip 2020

Last month we met up with all three of the kids for our annual family vacay at the Cape House! 

(FYI - long post with lots of pics!!)

Despite gallbladder surgery (missG) and COVID restrictions, we all made it to North Falmouth for the whole week and then some. If you have kids, you know how hard it is to get all of them together once they are all grown up. Plus,  COVID has been wreaking havoc on everyone's travel plans. We were thrilled to have all three, plus one fiancé and one boyfriend! 

We spend a lot of time hanging out at the house and on the beach together, but each year we make a point to do some new things. This year we weren't sure what that was going to look like, but in the end we had just a great of a time as usual.

We took a day trip up to Provincetown. It seemed like a good idea since tourism is down and the traffic would be lighter than ever. We were right. On the other hand, Provincetown was hopping with many more people than we expected. The Monument was closed and there was a mandatory mask zone, but we still enjoyed walking around. We explored MacMillan Pier and missD decided to join the locals and jumped off when we weren't looking! We had a drink at Ross's Grill at Whaler's Wharf - great views and nice seating indoors or outdoors. Then grabbed some food at The Canteen - basically takeaway food that you eat at picnic tables behind the shop.

Another day we went for a bike ride on the Shining Sea Bikeway to Woods Hole and back. This has become a yearly tradition and I love it. It's about a 20 mile round trip ride. In Wood's Hole, we stopped for food at Wood's Hole Market. There was something for everyone, from smoothies to sandwiches to pizza to chips and salsa! The best part was the super secret deck seating with a view upstairs. We're practically locals, haha!

When we were down to just the five of us, we decided to go play mini-golf. Cataumet Light Mini Golf was open with social distancing - easy enough on a hot and sunny day. The kids are super competitive, but we had a lot of fun. missD got the lowest score but mrC got three hole-in-ones!! We celebrated with acai bowls from Absolutely Juiced in Mashpee. 

Of course the acai bowl gets its own pic

We make a point to walk to the beach for as many sunsets as possible, although at the request of one, we limit group pictures to one night. It was sooooo windy the night we chose, but someone in the parking lot was nice enough to leave their headlights on so we could get the sky behind us without being dark figures. 

Just like last year, when we left the Cape we headed to our second favorite place ---> Newport, Rhode Island. This year, everyone was able to come for at least one day.

Our first adventure in Newport was taking a harbor tour on the Rum Runner II. Full disclosure, we were expecting a sailboat, but booked the wrong thing. However, we were not disappointed in the least with the East Passage Express tour. Great views, great information, great guides. I highly recommend looking them up at Bannister's Wharf. We had lunch at The Lobster Bar (a favorite) and dinner for the first time at Bar and Board Bistro. Our table for dinner was outside on what was formerly a parking lot because we were a large party (COVID rules), but it was nice.

We squeezed in one more group activity before half the group had to head home for that thing called work! But first, we had a big break-FAST at Belle's Cafe at the Newport Shipyard. After years of saying we were going to do it, we finally went to Norman Bird Sanctuary for a hike. There are quite a few trails so you can mix and match to do long or short hikes. My friend Nancy had just posted about doing the Hanging Rock Trail and it looked fun, so that's what we choose.

It was time to visit family in Springfield. We stopped in Hopkinton on the way in and out of town to see mrC's aunt who was in hospice (so glad we did that). In Springfield we spent most of our visits chatting with mrC's dad through the house windows, but when we started taking sibling pics on the last day, he wanted to come out. I am so glad that he did! I'm also really glad that my sister-in-law made her famous gluten-free blueberry muffins and brought some to share.

Our next stop was Portsmouth, New Hampshire to see missD and S's new condo and meet the future in-laws! The condo was beautiful and totally suits their personalities. I loved their neighborhood and that it is walking distance into downtown and the waterfront. 

While the kids were working from home, mrC and I walked. First we had acai bowls with missD at Fresh Press and then walked to Prescott Park, Pierce Island and Four Tree Island. We walked A LOT, haha! That evening, we crossed over the state line into Kittery, Maine to see the wedding venue at Pepperrell Cove (gorgeous) and meet S's parents for dinner at Frisbee's Wharf. Can you tell we like outdoor dining with a view?

What we ate. Over the two weeks, we had a nice mix of meals. At the Cape House, we have a fully stocked kitchen. This year, we rotated cooking duty among all of us for dinners and it was GREAT. The menus included baked salmon with asparagus, coconut cod tacos, GF spaghetti, BBQ chicken and squash, beef burgers, taco salad and GF pizza. 

Even though we were walking quite a bit, I couldn't go two weeks without doing some structured workouts. The FASTer Way program makes it so easy with options in the app like banded workouts, travel workouts, or I could just do the regular at home workout for the day. Working out at the Cape House was super easy because I had so many space options inside and outside and my strength bands work so well in place of weights. 

It is always hard to say good-bye after such an incredible visit, but we always look forward to the next time we will get together. 

Extra big thanks to missD for picking us up and dropping us off at the airport and chauffeuring us around for almost two weeks. The view from the backseat of the Jeep is pretty fun!

 

Already looking forward to next year!

Does your family vacation together or make an annual trip together?

Scenes from our Newport Weekend

I know it's Wednesday, but I still wanted to share a little from our trip to Newport, RI over the weekend. 

It was a little rainy Saturday morning when we crossed over the Pell Bridge into Newport. Crossing that bridge will always bring back fun memories.

We killed some time indoors at the Navy Exchange until the drizzly weather had passed. Wanting to soak up as much of fall as I can before we go back to China, I took mrC to the Newport Harvest Fair. It was the perfect place to pick up some gifts from the arts and crafts vendors while enjoying little tastes of autumn.

After a late lunch/early dinner at The Red Parrot and dessert at Kilwin's, we did the traditional Ten Mile drive and checked out the Newport mansions at night.

On Sunday, instead of going to mass at Chapel of Hope on base (where we were married), we decided to go into town and attend mass at St Mary's. It's a beautiful church. JFK and Jackie were married there, so a lot of people visit. I've walked by MANY times, but this was my first time going inside.

Fun fact ---> mrC and I met in church in Ohio (true story) and pew 42 has special meaning for us. We noticed that we were sitting across the aisle from it during mass.

After church we walked to The Franklin Spa, an old-school diner popular with the locals, for some off the grill breakfast. It's moments like this that make Newport one of my favorite places.

mrC promised to take me to the top of Newport, so we climbed up to the Miantonomi Park Memorial Tower. The 100 foot tower was built in 1929 as a memorial to veterans of WWI and is located on the highest natural point in Newport. The tower is only open twice a year (Memorial Day and Veteran's Day) so we did not get to climb to the observation deck...this time.

On our way out of town, we saw a sign for an Open House and played House Hunters. It was fun to see the inside of the old Victorian and check out the renovations. It was a cute house with a nice front porch, a great deck and backyard, but it wasn't OUR HOUSE. Needless to say, it was easy to drive away and start thinking about our immediate future of apartment hunting in Hong Kong in just a couple of weeks. 

So far this week, I've been sticking to low intensity workouts. After another relaxing weekend, I was just getting the feeling that my body needs a little break. 

Instead of fast paced HIIT workouts, I've been enjoying some restorative yoga sessions. My darn heel is still bugging me, but I can stay on my toes and get through most of the poses without aggravating it.

 And daily walks. Every morning feels colder than the last, but my hilly route still feels amazing when I'm done. I only walk my SIL's dog around the yard when I'm done because she's a loner and not a fan of her furry neighbors. We rocked a little pink for #WearPinkWednesday to support BCA.

PS ---> my new yoga pants are also great for cool morning walks.

Apparently Saturday was National Walk Your Dog Day. I hope all the dogs out there got at least a walk around the yard. I know my favorite dog gets lots of love from the retirement village down the road when he goes on his daily walks with his adoptive family in Hopkinton.

On a walk ~ April 2016

How's your week going?
How was your weekend? (better late than never)
Where did you meet your spouse?
Did you celebrate National Walk Your Dog day?

Shred Day 15: Half Way Day, a Bridge, and an Aquarium

Today is the halfway point of the 30 Day Shred Program, so today I did some reflecting.

NSV (non-scale victories):
Bought a size smaller shorts, ran 3 interval sprint workouts ----> 5.44 miles, kept up with the program while traveling to 3 different cities and visiting with family and friends, learned how to use strength training machines

Goals: 
To stay on track with the group through the end, avoid processed foods as much as possible, work harder to hit my custom macros each day, keep running

Today was kind of a wing-it-day until I'm back in line with the Shred group. I did a modified regular calorie day because I've been struggling to hit my daily calorie goals. Although I didn't do a workout, I did do a lot of walking and maybe some random yoga.

Here's what happened...

After breakfast my mom and I went downtown to walk across the Purple People Bridge.

This is my new top

I guess you could say that I have a thing for bridges, since I also crossed this one and this one. The best one might have been this one. But the PPB is the only I did yoga on!

Did you see my other pose on Instagram? ---> here

On the other side of the bridge, we met up with my aunt, cousin, and other cousin's daughter for a day at the Newport Aquarium.

Ever since my snorkeling adventures (here and here) I am really fish. I loved walking around today and seeing all the underwater life. I even touched some things!

Yep! Totally touched both of these!

The best part was walking across the Shark Bridge (are you surprised?)

Afterwards we had lunch and then my mom and I walked back across the PPB for some more downtown time.

My eats today:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with ham, bacon, pb&j rice cake, coffee

Lunch: chicken quesadilla, water, chips and salsa

Treat: 4 Berry Smoothie

Dinner: veggie burgers, salad, diet dew

Tell me one of your NSV!
Do you like walking/running/biking across bridges?

Weekend in Newport

Just like our weekend in Newport, I am stuffing as much as I can into this blog post. There's just so much to do and too little time.

We always make a point to visit our favorite diner while we are in town. It's a small place right outside the naval base gate and since we stay on base it is super convenient. They have a great menu, great prices, and great service. 

We met up with my father-in-law and brother-in-law at the marina after breakfast on Saturday for some sailing. It was a picture perfect day for sailing and being on the water is so relaxing.

The Deck at the O'Club is one of our favorite places to eat when we don't want to go to downtown Newport because it has an amazing view and a great menu. In the summer it's even better with live music. Since our last visit, they have expanded the deck to make it even bigger. More room for people to eat and watch sunsets!

We walked to the fitness center on base to do our full body workout on Sunday morning. This center opened about three years ago, but this was our first time going inside. It is AMAZING! The machines are all high-tech. I even emailed my warmup summary to myself from the treadmill. At the end we used the blood pressure unit. 

After a little shopping at the Navy Exchange, we drove to the Cliff Walk. It had been awhile since we had been there, so we had some fun while we explored the trail.  

The Forty Steps is a popular place to get a closer view of the cliff side and ocean. Brave souls even climb on the rocks to enjoy swimming or just relax and enjoy the view.

There are many places along the Cliff Walk where you can walk and/or climb a little to get a better view and even dip your toes in the water. We weren't shy about venturing out and enjoying some of those places. 

Back in town, mrC scored a prime parking spot downtown, so we headed to The Red Parrot for lunch. We always have a good meal here and this time we even got a coveted seat at the window looking right out onto lower Thames Street, home to Newport's thriving atmosphere.

One thing I really enjoy about downtown Newport is that you never know what you're are going to see, but it is usually amusing. We loved the look of this cool dog!

That's a wrap on our weekend in Newport. We are hoping to make it back once more before our return to China, but it will just depend on the timing of things.


Ever spent time in Newport, RI?
Favorite summertime place?
Funniest thing you've seen recently?