For this year’s family trip (we actually do a lot of family trips and I feel very lucky to have the opportunities to do this and to spend this type of time with my family, even when we fight and argue….a lot)…we went on a road trip! 
The trip lasted 7 days and we went from Philadelphia to Boston (overnight) to the White Mountains of New Hampshire (North Conway overnight 2 nights) to Montreal (overnight 2 nights) to Lake George (overnight 1 night) and then home. The map above is not completely accurate since we had originally planned to go to Quebec, but it ended up being too far. We sort of planned the trip at the very last second (literally the night before), but we weren’t sure about everyone’s plans so this is what worked out and it was great! It was the perfect mix of city and nature and I really think this was one of my favorite vacations to date.
When planning the trip, we only booked the first two nights and left the rest open-ended so that we could plan as we went since some of us are prone to getting famiphobia- the claustrophobia you start to feel when you’re in the car for extended periods of time with your family.
Day 1-2: Boston
The first day of our trip brought us to Boston. We made the drive from Philadelphia to Boston and what should have been a five hour drive turned out to be 7 ish thanks to a mistake I made with the GPS. Luckily, my family is a group of kind, understanding people….. not. haha… we were all in terrible moods (especially me) so I sat out the group activities of the night and instead opted to go walking along the river along Cambridge, which was BEAUTIFUL.
Actually, Boston in general is beautiful. It’s clean, full of life, lots of stores and bars and restaurants and definitely a place I could see myself living, but I’m sure it’s a pricey city!
The next morning, both my Mom and I couldn’t sleep since everyone was snoring, sleep talking, etc., so we opted to get out of bed and take a (very) early morning walk along the river and over into Boston.
We walked for about an hour and a half and it was so nice to be up early (6 am!) and out. We had a couple of cups of coffee, but the time my Dad and brother were up, I was more than ready for breakfast. We grabbed a Lyft and had him drop us off in Harvard square where we immediately bee-lined for Mike’s Pastry, which was recommended by two different people for incredible cannoli.
The cannoli were very good (we had plain ricotta and chocolate chip) and a blueberry scone. Can I just go on a small tangent for a second? WHY is it a thing in the US that places don’t post their prices? The cannoli prices were not posted anywhere in the store (and yes we could ask). but then you do the whole (and how much is this….and this…. and this…?). I think it should be a law that prices be clearly visible so that consumers can decide what to purchase! Multiple stops on our trip were price-free and we would have to ask for the prices. At one beer brewery, we asked for a few of the prices but the waitress wasn’t exactly sure and I find it annoying to even need to ask. This is something I never noticed before, but now I find it obnoxious! Tangent over.
After breakfast, we went to Harvard… yes, I went to Harvard 😉 Harvard was incredible! Beautiful! And perfectly manicured! Once we finished walking around, I felt much, much smaarter…
In the afternoon, we walked around Feneuil Hall, then walked to Beacon Street, Acorn Street (apparently the Most Instagrammable Street in Boston) and then had lunch on Boston Commons.
We picked up falafel and ate in the park. Full and happ(ier), we headed back to the hotel to get the car and start making our way here- to New Hampshire where we dropped off our things and then headed out to find dinner.
I’ll be back with more soon.