My mom turns 80 this year…8-0!!!  That is insane!  I really can’t believe that she is 80.  We were throwing around ideas for her big celebrations, but in the end, we decided to have a girls trip back east!  It is one of her favorite places, with her favorite people, and we knew it would be a winner.  So unbeknownst to her, all of the girls arranged their schedules, we got flights and a rental van, we booked the hotels, and this week…we boarded a plane to Portland Maine!  The itinerary is to hit up Maine, then go up through New Hampshire and Vermont, and finally head back to the coast to make our way down through Rhode Island and Connecticut.
I knew that my mom would have to mentally prepare (and get anything last minute that she needed ), so we told her a few days before the trip.  Good thing she prepared, because once we got there…
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She surprised US!!!  She said no trip is fun, without extra cash to spend!  We all agreed!
Our trip was a blast.
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All of the favorite towns (like Kennebunkport here), had the cutest and best restaurants.  Literally, the food was good everywhere.  We had a lobster roll at this place that was literally to die for!
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The coast was so fun, and seeing places like the Bush Compound (above) and Hyannis were a little treat.
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The leaves were just starting to change, and when we were up in Vermont, it was amazing to see the brightest, most colorful trees!
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A favorite stop was this maple farm, that had a taste testing of all sorts of property-produced maple, and cheese from their cows!  I LOVE me a taste test!
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Mystic Conneticut was probably the cutest town we stopped in — no wonder Julia Roberts made it famous.
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But my favorite was just driving.  Driving along the old roads, and running into adorable little shops run by a family.  I could search for these places for days!
Ultimately, it was too short.  The “girls” decided that we need to do a few more of these trips in our near future.  My mom had a blast, and we all agreed it had been too long!  Happy 80th birthday mom.  Nothing could have been better than to have just spent uninterrupted time with you.  I am so glad we chose this trip over a party!
Now where should we go for the big 8-1?