While much of the East Coast was affected by the power outage, my husband and I spent the week in New England with no power interruptions.<br><br>Started our trip in Cambridge, Mass at the Sheraton Commander. Nice, old but well kept hotel. Very New England, lovely staff, great bar where you could still smoke which was not the case in many of the Cambridge/Boston bars, and restaurants. <br><br>We easily found the way out to the “T” and took the red line into Boston. Walked through the Boston Commons and went to the original Cheers. Visited Faneuil Hall, and Quincy Market. Decided to have dinner at the Union Square Oyster House (the country’s oldest restaurant). Great lobster, oysters, and chowda! The waitress (Mary) gave us some good tips about where to eat and visit. <br><br>The next morning we visited one of her suggestions, Henrietta’s Table at the Charles Hotel. A great place for breakfast with homemade, and organic foods. My husband had an omelet with a “ham” chop. It was an enormous looking pork chop but had more of a ham flavor. With the bone in, it did appear to be a pork chop. Never had anything like it. I went with the apple wood smoked bacon and homemade alamanda bread. I am not a breakfast person but this was great. <br><br>We decided to return that evening to hang out at the Regatta bar since the waitress told us about both and she was on the money with breakfast. Unfortunately the Regatta was closed due to a flood. The entire top floor had a flood so it was closed for construction. <br><br>Took the” T” back to Boston the following day and walked the” Freedom Trail”. I loved the old cemetery’s where Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and others are buried. We followed the red line, which is painted (brick “red”) on the ground and is bricked along the “ Freedom Trail” and walked the entire length. It was an extremely hot and humid day and by the time we were nearing Bunker Hill I was exhausted and wanted to give up but my husband reminded me we only had two more stops and we should complete the tour. Happy to say we finished the trail, but “cabbed” it back to Quincy Market.<br><br>Had dinner at Jasper White’s original restaurant in Cambridge and were NOT disappointed. Great fun place. Huge steamers in plain sight where they were throwing in lobsters, crabs, and corn. I had the Jonah crabs steamed with spices $18.95. Three large crabs and 2 Mojito’s (excellent). I was given a wooden mallet to smash the crabs (very messy) with and was very sorry we hadn’t taken the video camera. It was a really fun evening.<br><br>I should back up and tell you we had some great Martini’s at the Millennium Hotel in Boston, and also one of the best Bloody Mary I’ve ever had was at the “Salty Dog” (see John the bartender), outside Faneuil Hall. I had my first lobster roll that day in the marketplace and it was very good at “Boston & Maine Fish Co.”.<br><br>SIDE TRIP<br>Our side trip consisted of driving west on Mass pike for a short distance to exit 16 to Rt. 16 west (south) for a few miles to: Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Mass and we were NOT disappointed. Although Ming wasn’t at the restaurant it was topshelf class all the way. His staff told us starting this October he will be filming for PBS and no longer on the Food Network. It was too much of a trip for him to film in New York with his business and family in MA. <br><br>Service was impeccable, (Melissa was our waitress). We had his signature dishes for both appetizers and main entrée. Crispy Fried Calamari with Thai Dipping Sauce, and Shiitake and Leek Spring Rolls with Three Chile Dipping Sauce. David had the Wok Stirred Poke Seafood with Steamed Coconut Rice Green Papaya-Grapefruit Salad and Candied Pistachio, and I had the Sake-Miso Marinated Alaskan Butterfish Wasabi Oil, Soy Syrup and Vegetarian Soba Noodle Sushi. Wonderful dishes with subtle flavors and just the right portions for lunch. Melissa suggested a lovely South African white wine with lunch that was crisp and flavorful but not too sweet or dry. <br><br>CAPE COD<br>Leaving Wellesley take Rt. 495 south, not back to Rt. 95 to Rt.93 to Rt. 3 it is Not as scenic as it appears on the map, we lost about a half an hour in doing so they both end up at the STUIPD rotary that backs up any way.<br><br>Booked the Red Mill Motel in Yarmouth through Triple AAAs recommendation and it was a HOLE IN THE WALL!!!! From the outside appearance it looked nice. Nice outdoor pool, picnic tables with umbrellas, and bbq’s but……… the room was AWFULLLLL! The carpet was disgusting and I freaked out when I took my shoes off and the carpet was sticky. The wallpaper was dingy and I couldn’t wait to leave. We paid $95 for the night with tax compared to $75 the next night at the “Beachway Motel”. What a lovely little motel. Very clean room, nice bedding and shower. Nice outdoor pool and the owner even gave us a free video movie for the evening. Easy to find on Rt. 28 in Yarmouth, tell’em David & Louise from New York said hello and maybe you too will get a free “vid”. <br><br>We went to three different beaches, all public except for a short stop at the Blue Water motel (a Best Western) that had a beach bar. It wasn’t St. Martin but it was pretty nice. They were having a band on the beach but unfortunately after finding ”The Skipper”, and several martini’s, a Quahog, lobster roll, and some oysters later we had to call it a night. <br><br>I thought the lobster roll I had in Boston was good but the one in Cape Cod was awesome. Found a place across from the beach called “The Skipper”. Less mayo and celery and tons of pieces of lobster. I didn’t bother with the roll because there was so much lobster. My last lobster roll was at a take-out, called “Jerry’s” on Rte. 28 in Yarmouth on the Cape and it was also very good. On the small side but they brushed on some butter and grilled the roll before putting the lobster meat in and it added a very nice extra layer of flavor. <br><br>We received lots of recommendations for Captain Parker’s for dinner but again after the beach we found our way to Skipper’s and by the time we were ready for dinner it was packed. We were told you couldn’t get a bad meal so we went to “Molly’s Pub” and had wonderful prime rib. Fun place it hang out while waiting for a table, my husband played pool with some local guy’s and had a good time. <br><br>PROVIDENCE, RI<br>Didn’t have much time the first day since we spent most of the day enjoying the beach on the Cape so by the time we arrived in Providence we had to get ready for dinner. Westin in Providence was even nicer than the Sheraton Commander. Had a very federalist appeal with all the “heavenly” amenities. The bedding was all part of there Heaven line and it was wonderful. Great huge bathroom. Hotel is attached to the Mall which is convenient as we did spent the last evening dining at Fire & Ice after a few too many cocktails at the hotel bar. On the 8th floor of the hotel is a gym with nice pool and Jacuzzi. We took advantage of the following day. <br><br>First dinner was an”Andrea’s” on Thayer Street (Brown University area). Very nice Greek Restaurant. My husband had business in the R.I. area in the past so a former colleague met us for dinner. Large portions, good food, reasonably priced. <br><br>Next day (rained all day) we headed out towards the mansions. We did “The Breakers” and “Marble House”. The Breaker house had a tour guide that lasted about 35 minutes. She was very informative and took us through a lot of the “cottage.” The Marble House was a self-guided tour with your own audio and head set. I enjoyed both very much. They sure knew how to live. What opulence and in 1895! The Breakers was fully electrically when the Vanderbilt’s moved in but gas was also piped in as a back up. Very very ornate fixtures, some several hundred years old when they purchased them. <br><br>The only negative thing that happened to us during our trip was brunch at “Tucker’s Bistro” in Newport. What a disaster and WAY over Priced!!! It took 45 minutes to get eggs and a salad and besides the staff was VERY rude when ask where’s the order. We swear the waitress must have forgotten to put in our order but what got us is that we were ignored for so long, never told there was a problem and even after 2-3 times complaining we were given the cold shoulder. Food was good but the server’s attitude along with their non-chalant attitude is the reason I am giving them a BAD review and would not recommend them. It appeared so quaint and very Parisian but the staff acted like they couldn’t be bothered. <br>New England is beautiful and so much to see you need more than a few days at each port and good walking shoes not like my husband who forgot his sneakers at home and got blisters on the first day (big dummy) but that didn’t stop us from having fun and learning a lot about our country.<br>Lastly, if driving back to New York and beyond be prepared to scream out loud at the road construction as my husband did almost the whole way HA!HA!<br>Louise & David <br>Home sweet home!!! <br>