Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Road Trip Day 3: Plymouth Rock to New York City

Day three began reeeeeally early--like darkness early. We were picked up from our hotel {by Kelly...I'm telling you, she's the best} and taken to the airport to get our rental car. Our ultimate destination for the day was New York City, but we had a few stops to make along the way.

First up: Plymouth Rock! Quite literally a small rock on the beach.


We had breakfast at a place called Gunther Tooties and, honestly, could not stop giggling at the name. While in Plymouth, we also stopped at a CVS, where Sara carried on a conversation with one of the pharmacists about overweight cats, obviously; over what else might one bond with a Plymouth pharmacist?

Our next stop, on paper, was our hotel in New York, but we decided that the only way to say we'd actually been to each of the states was to make a stop in each state. So, Rhode Island it was! Last year, we were so excited to stop at each state line. This year, this was the only sign accessible to us--crazy highways!

When we pulled off the freeway to get to downtown Providence, we saw this beautiful building and knew it would be our stop for the state. We passed RISD {Hey Seth Cohen!} on the way to The Rhode Island State House. {Cute Sara, frolicking on the steps.}

There you are, Fall!

Connecticut was our next state and it could not have come at a better time! We'd been in the car for awhile. What better way to make our Connecticut visit official than coffee and pastries at Yale?

My roommate and I had just started the Gilmore Girls "Rory at Yale" years, so it was only appropriate to make a few Paris Gellar jokes. Oh, and we saw some Yale students playing Frisbee on the lawn--Ivy League students are just like us!


I was diagnosed with bronchitis the weekend before we left for the trip, which means I spent three days in bed, watching the most recent season of Pretty Little Liars, making playlists for each state we'd visit and googling "what to do in _______ during the government shut down." 

I was so sad to find that I had not packed the audio cable, which meant we could not listen to my kick-A playlists on the drives. {I don't know that Cathi and Sara felt the same.} However, we did have XM Radio in the car--and had great luck with the 80s, 90s, and Pop Hits stations: including the FRIENDS theme song as we crossed the New York state line, and Empire State of Mind as we drove over the Brooklyn Bridge! Driving in the city was a completely new experience for me--much less anxiety-inducing than I had expected!

About a month ago, a woman I work with told me she wanted to give us money to have a fancy dinner in New York. Sara contacted a friend who frequents the city and narrowed it down to a few delicious options. We'd planned to eat at the opposite end of Manhattan so we could walk all the way back to our hotel and soak up as much New York as we could in our quick 18-hour trip.

And so, courtesy of Mariana, we ate an amazingly delicious dinner at JG Melon on the Upper East Side. Burgers and fries and beer. Hip Hip Hooray for Saturday night!

Though the girls had been to New York several times, neither had been to Serendipity. So, as cliche as it may be, we put our name in, and wandered over to Fifth Avenue to take a look around and have Sara's broken iPhone looked at. 

About an hour later, we were enjoying these: Frozen Hot Chocolate and Frozen Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. Dang, this place is worth the hype.


Back at the hotel, we had to repack--it's amazing how quickly items can become too large for the suitcase! Cathi watched in the lobby as the Red Sox won the World Series...Sara and I recounted the adventure of the day and prepared for yet another journey on Sunday.

Look out Rocky--we're headed to Philadelphia!

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