richmond: children's museum

While Ben was working, I took the kids to the children's museum in Richmond. They had so much fun and loved every exhibit. I finally dragged them out of the museum a few hours later and we picked up donuts from Sugar Shack and then picked up Ben from the hospital where he was working and headed to the zoo.

I think he liked it better when he had the microphone.

Road Trip: Maine (Marginal Way)

We saw Congdon's Doughnuts on our way to Ogunquit and obviously had to stop (I had read about it in my travel book). The doughnuts were soooo good. The maple creme and raspberry were out of this world, and we scored some of their famous honey dip doughnuts fresh from the fryer. Melt in your mouth goodness. Good thing a long walk was next on our agenda.

We headed to Ogunquit to walk the Marginal Way, a beautiful trail along the coast that ends at Perkins Cove. Everyone loved climbing around on the rocks.

Road Trip: New York City

Our plan was to continue north after the Statue of Liberty and spend the night in Providence, Rhode Island. We couldn't be so close to Manhattan and not stop so we made a spontaneous decision to drive into the city.

Our first stop was the Doughnut Plant. I ran in and snagged as many different donuts as I could while Ben waited in the car with the kids. Best donuts EVER. Both the yeast and the cake donuts were amazing.

We didn't really have a plan after that and needed to get back on the road soon (of course my only plan in nyc involved donuts) but then I remembered my great desire to check out Eataly so we made our way there next (thank goodness for phones and GPS). Eataly was overwhelming in a completely good way. It was HUGE with multiple restaurants inside and an incredible Italian marketplace. It was so fun to wander around and check out all the offerings. I bought a few different things to try. Ben found a parking spot right outside and waited with the kids again (which was good since Eataly was super cramped and crowded inside) and then he took a turn walking through the store. We thoroughly enjoyed our paninis and focaccia bread before making our way out of the city. (My favorite thing from Eataly was a cold panini with heirloom tomatoes, fresh housemade mozzarella and olive oil on the most delicious crusty baguette.)

It was a Friday afternoon so traffic was pretty bad all the way up through Connecticut. We finally made it to to our hotel in Providence late that night, exhausted. It was almost painful to be in New York City for such a short amount of time. We really wanted to just get out of the car and start walking and exploring but we were glad we at least made a few food stops there.

Driving through Chinatown.

We were in a different hotel almost every night for the first five nights which got pretty exhausting. Simon loved to help push the luggage cart and as usual, the kids were always thrilled about the continental breakfasts.