Be prepared for some mass blogging here in the next couple days!  My goal was to be (mostly) caught up by the time I headed into “wedding season” which officially starts this Saturday with Marc and Jenna in Cleveland!  I can’t believe they are calling for it to be in the 80s!  When did Ohio become Georgia? Wasn’t it just sub something ridiculous? HOW IS IT ALREADY MAY!?  Anyways – I’m starting off the massive blogging with some pictures from our trip out to Connecticut for Timothy and Megan’s wedding.

Whenever I travel in the winter I always make sure to pad the travel time so in case of any crazy ice storms or blizzards I’m still going to arrive within time for the wedding and this was no different for Timothy and Megan’s wedding.  It ended up being a good thing because while the weather wasn’t an issue, the plane apparently was and for the first time in my travel history our flight ended up being cancelled due to a broken plane that couldn’t be fixed.  We ended up rebooked on a later flight and ended up getting in about 14 hours later than originally intended.  We didn’t have anything planned so it was fine and luckily we were able to still get our rental car and checked into our hotel without any issues.

Whenever I travel I really have fun staying at hotels that aren’t chains.  This past fall in Maine I found most of my hotels by perusing Google Maps so I decided to do the same whenever I discovered that there were no hotels near their reception venue.  I stumbled upon the Madison Beach Hotel and immediately booked it for our entire stay.  From the moment we landed in New Haven, we kept hearing rave reviews about the hotel from those with the airline to those with Enterprise.  When we arrived I was worried I’d be disappointed but instead they surpassed my expectations.  I absolutely adored my stay and I hope to return again someday – maybe for a wedding?? We saw one taking place when we were there and I would LOVE to photograph a wedding here!  A little under a week later Anderson Cooper would be staying here to report on a winter storm hitting the area.

What our morning view of the Atlantic Ocean looked like from our room at the Madison Beach Hotel.

The next day we had the whole day to do whatever we wanted… so of course the first thing I did was drag my husband along to a lighthouse I didn’t see on my last trip to Connecticut!  The bonus is that Five Mile Point Light is right next door to the reception venue so I was able to scope both out with one trip.  At Christmas Lighthouse Point Park, where the lighthouse is located, is turned into a Christmas light display which you can drive through so it was a bit interesting seeing all the lights (I would get a chance to see them at night later).

After the visit to Five Mile Point Light, we spent the rest of the day bouncing around the various outlet malls and finishing up our Christmas shopping.  It was about 20 degrees warmer in Connecticut than it was in Ohio so the sun felt good and it was a great day to spend shopping!  We ended up making it back to the hotel just in time for sunset on the beach.  I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful the hotel was lit up with the last rays of sunlight before sunset.  The beach also may have had the most shells of any beach I’d ever seen, it was amazing!

The next day we also had another day free to do whatever we wanted (see what I mean about padding time?) so we ended up heading over to one of my favorite places in Connecticut that I didn’t get to explore nearly enough on my last trip, Mystic.  We started out at the Mystic Aquarium – and we both could have easily spent the entire day playing with their Beluga Whale, Juno.  He’s the one you may have seen that plays with kids and fake scares them.  He is SO curious, friendly and a great mimic.  We had a blast interacting with him and watching him interact with a baby that was there.  If you are in the area I highly recommend a visit, especially if you have kids.

Once we headed inside we enjoyed the jellyfish, fish and of course, the aquarium’s Titanic exhibit which was really well done.  I liked how it focused on Ballard’s thoughts of the ship and how bringing up artifacts is like robbing a gravesite.  If you get a chance to visit, I HIGHLY recommend a visit!

After the aquarium we took a spin through Olde Mistick Village which may be my favorite shopping village ever.  We picked up a few more Christmas gifts but the best part of this shopping center – besides the fact that there’s no chains and all of the shops were independently owned and operated, was our stop in Vault Coffee Roasters where I got a Hot Caramel Apple made with Clyde’s Cider from BF Clyde’s Cider Mill.  I cannot describe how delicious this was but if you’re ever in the area in the fall or winter you MUST go to either Vault or Clyde’s.  After our adventures in Mystic we took a trip out to Stonington where I got another picture of the Stonington Harbor Light.  I wasn’t thrilled with my last set so I wanted to return since we were nearby.

It was another night where we timed arriving back at the hotel just in time for sunset so I headed out to the beach to watch the sun slip beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean before we headed inside for dinner at the hotel (we ended up eating there on most nights as the food was DELICIOUS and the service was lovely).

After the wedding the following day, we were done early enough to take a quick spin through the Fantasy of Lights and I got to see what the lighthouse looked like lit up for Christmas.  Kind of disappointing to be honest but I can now say I’ve seen a lighthouse lit up for Christmas!  The rest of the lights were charming though and it’d been a few years since we’ve done anything like this (actually, I’m not quite sure if we ever have!) so it was fun to see regardless.  These were taken from a moving car so I apologize for the quality!

The following day we flew back home but not before I got to check another thing off of my strange bucket list of things I’ve always wanted to see – SNOW ON THE BEACH!  We woke up and saw that the beach was coated in snow!  It was just as beautiful as I always thought it would be!

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Corey Ann

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Latest posts by Corey Ann (see all)

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