Road Trip Adventures, Stop 3: Marblehead, MA

Sunday

After stopping in Alexandria and exploring DC, we reached our destination: Marblehead, MA – just outside of Boston.

The Hubs’ sister is attending graduate school at Salem State University. She has an adorable apartment that she agreed to let us to crash in for a few days while we explored the area {aren’t siblings the best?!}

Her apartment is in Marblehead which is on the coast and absolutely breathtaking!

Upon our arrival on Sunday, Cat showed us around some of her favorite spots.

It was windy and chilly, but totally worth climbing the rock for the view!

We arrived in the afternoon on Sunday so we spent most of the day exploring the area around Cat’s apartment and settling in.

Monday

Since it was supposed to rain all day Monday (and it did!), we decided to travel to Norwood. Why Norwood? Because the Hubs heard there was a MonkeySports Superstore there.

He has been ordering from Lacrosse Monkey and Hockey Monkey for quite a while and didn’t realize they actually had a physical location. Once he figured that out and realized it was within driving distance, we had to visit 😉

It was about an hour’s drive from where we were staying, but totally worth it [for him at least!]. His eyes totally lit up when we walked in. He was like a kid in a candy store.

Being that I know nothing about either sport [in my defense, I’ve tried to figure it out, but ultimately I’m just a clueless spectator], I found a comfortable place to sit for the hours he spent exploring.

{I had several fabric shops on my list so I took this as an opportunity to be very patient so I could remind him later 😉 }

Thursday

I’m jumping ahead to Thursday since we spent most of the day Thursday in Marblehead and this post is all about Marblehead.

While driving to the train station on Tuesday and Wednesday, we passed some of the cutest houses. I couldn’t wait to wind down the week and just wander through Marblehead to take in all the beautiful views.

Thursday was probably my very favorite day of our road trip. We woke up, walked out the front door and just kept walking.

My favorite thing to do when exploring a new place is to wander with no plan.

• Tip: Pack comfortable walking shoes and spend a few hours wandering around the area you’re staying. Despite the fact that travel usually means vacation, it can still be a bit stressful [even if just physically stressful]. Walking is something I find incredibly helpful with my anxiety and is a neat way to discover beautiful scenery you may have just buzzed right past if you were driving everywhere. Be sure to take a camera with you.
  • So far this has served me well in every place I’ve visited, but if you have a poor sense of direction or are staying in a not-so-safe-looking-area I don’t know that I’d recommend this tip for you 😉

• Where to Eat:
  • Shubie’s – it’s a cute, locally owned specialty grocery store with a tasty deli. My favorite part was that they had delicious samples all over the store {am I the only adult who gets crazy-excited when grocery stores have samples?! This is basically the reason I do the majority of my shopping at Trader Joe’s…}
  • Terry’s Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Shop – order yourself a small vanilla ice cream and ask for the warm cookie dough topping. YEP, you read that right: warm cookie dough.
    • This shop was walking distance from Cat’s apartment. I’m extremely proud to say we only went there twice {talk about serious self-control}.
• Shops to visit: 
  •  The Spirit of ’76 Bookstore & Card Shop – this independent bookseller is the coolest bookstore I’ve ever been to! They have a really neat section of books wrapped in kraft paper with a description written on the front (called a “Blind Date with a Book”). I couldn’t resist so I picked up one for my sister as a souvenir:

• Scribe Paper & Gift – this shop had the cutest card selection! I had already stocked up on cards at Paper Source in Alexandria so I didn’t buy as many as I wanted to. But I did find a super fun mug for my Dad {I haven’t given it to him yet or I’d show you, but trust me: this shop is full of quirky, unique souvenir options!}.

• Marblehead Outfitters – this shop reminded me a bit of our locally owned Backpacker. They had really cute t-shirts – I picked up this one for my sister:

We loved our time in Marblehead! Up next I’ll be sharing all about the fun spots we visited in Boston {including a lovely fabric shop!}.