You Can Go Home Again

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I was talking with my Dad a few days ago about how great it is to live in New England. I was raised in Maine and came back to live in Connecticut after college. Six years ago my husband and I moved out West on a lark, and moved back last September. There were a number of reasons, mainly that we were new parents and wanted to raise our children back East, so that they could enjoy the many things that we believe make living in New England priceless. I also desperately missed my parents and my sister, and my Mom's health was failing and I just wasn't comfortable being 3,000 miles away.

We have been back nine months now and are still in awe as to how many things we missed about living in New England. There are so many wonderful destinations to explore, many of which are doable as day trips. Since moving back we have been hungry to get reconnected with the area. So many places are available to us that we are out pretty much every weekend. This past weekend's adventure was a drive to Newport, RI.

Chris and I are HUGE fans of clam cakes, and so we stopped at a favorite place of ours called the Country Chowder Shack in North Scituate on the way out. Have you ever had a clam cake? FANTASTIC. If they are done right, in my opinion they are hardly greasy at all, crispy on the outside and dense and chewy on the inside. The cakes at the Country Chowder Shack do NOT dissappoint!

We also had several RI Weiners--called such because they are truly different from a NY Dog, or a Chicago Dog. These are smaller, steamed, with natural casings. They are made with a coney-like sauce that has a secret ingredient (I swear it is Old Bay) and then served with mustard and onions. FABULOUS.

Next we hit a Del's Frozen Lemonade stand and James slurped away happily as we headed into Newport. First the Jamestown bridge, then the Newport Bridge--this kid is bridge crazy, so he loved going over them.

This past weekend was the Great Chowder Cook-Off, so the place was unusually busy. We headed straight for Bellevue Ave. to look at all the summer shacks (I mean mansions). Can I just say, these places are unbelieveable. Truly amazing.

Next out to the beach, where we got out for yet another Del's (I might have to look into getting a Del's truck of my very own) and watched the many kite enthusiasts that were out enjoying the windy weather. James has kites on the brain lately, so he was mesmerized watching all of the different kites sail up, down and around on the ocean breezes.

We headed back to Newport and walked up and down the main drag, enjoying people watching, looking out at the harbor and dodging tourists who were not very respectful of our stroller. We spent some time reminiscing about a vacation in Narragansett we took almost ten years ago during which we were not yet married and enjoyed the night life with friends in Newport. That is one of the things I love about being with Chris--he has always been adventurous, and that has provided us with many great memories that keep us laughing.

All in all it was a great day trip--we came home exhausted but happy, piled the kids into bed and and went to bed shortly after ourselves. Laying there going over the day's excursion, I was really thankful to be back in New England--BACK HOME.

I think it was Thomas Wolfe's novel, You Can't Go Home Again that started the saying "You can never go home again" but I think that you can. I know that when I fell asleep on Saturday night, I was smiling.