We’ve been planning this road trip for a year now and luckily my crew recovered from their summer crud in time to hit the road feeling good! I’ve not spent much time in the northeast and was really looking forward to the adventure. We took off at 5:30 AM, knowing we had 11.5 hours we planned to drive on day one: North Carolina to Connecticut.

The drive itself went super smoothly. We watched the sunrise in Virginia and had so much fun coloring in states on the map that we don’t often get to experience, like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even crossing the Hudson River in New York. David and I listened to podcasts and then kids plugged into their iPads, listening to audiobooks and watching downloads.

Around 5:30 in the evening we pulled into our hotel, Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale. It had a historic feel and our room had a wonderful view of Yale! The best part, though, was that mom was there waiting for us, and ready to join us for the rest of the trip.

We dropped our items and took off the find dinner. Well, I say “to find” but in reality we knew exactly where we were headed, because when you tell people you are going to New Haven, you quickly understand that you only have one choice- Frank Pepe’s! Actually, Sally’s and Modern were also highly recommended, but not to the level of Frank Pepe’s.

It was a short walk and though it had a line out the door, it moved quickly and soon we were seated in a booth, inhaling the aromas of woodfired pizza. We ordered a salad and a few pizzas that arrived quickly. We were not disappointed; the thin crust pizzas were fresh and delicious!

We walked home afterwards and tucked ourself into bed, ready to get up and explore the next morning.

The next morning we were up and out, walking to Willoughby’s Coffee to caffeinate before our self-guided tour of Yale. I really wasn’t sure what to expect of the area besides knowing Yale is a historic university (founded in 1701) known for it’s architecture. Well, WOW. What a beautiful campus with so much to see.

We wandered three miles through campus, in awe of its beauty. Some of our favorite stops were:

• St. Mary’s Church, which gave me chills immediately upon walking in. Even the kids were captivated. Mom lit a candle for dad, who would have loved the beauty of this Catholic Church.
• The Beinecke Library of rare books and manuscripts, where we got to see books from the 1400’s and earlier. I mean this as a compliment, but it felt like something right out of Harry Potter!
• The Grove Street Cemetery, which was so peaceful and shady, with graves dating back hundreds of years ago.

The whole campus was neat though. So much unique architecture and shady courtyards. We, the kids included, really enjoyed our self guided tour. David loved getting to teach them about 3d printers and we poked our heads into a few of the open labs that were open and marveled at the research and learning being accomplished.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to pack up our things and make the two hour drive north to Boston, MA! To be continued…