Henderson Family Vacay

Back in the day, a classic Henderson family vacation consisted of a cross-country trek in a minivan full of ice chests of soggy sandwiches and heavy doses of Dramamine as we stopped into relatives homes (slash any random acquaintance's house who has a problem saying no) along the way. Well, it's been a few years since we embarked on one of these journeys and decided this year we would step things up. We were going to leave behind the Waffle Houses and toll-free highways of the South and venture into the Northeast-- land of the lobster roll and maple syrup. Up to this point, we had never travelled through these states. Obviously, if we had known there were so many cheese and cider sampling shops, we would have explored this land LONG ago.

I met up with the fam in Boston (where they had already had a week of fun without me while I made the big bucks in Brooklyn-- no summer break is lame!) and we began our 4th of July weekend o'fun. I took a bus from New York to Boston and was supposed to arrive around 10pm. Of course the bus was over an hour late and we sat in traffic in the Bronx for another hour so I didn't get there until after midnight. I was unable to read or watch anything on the trek because I forgot to take my Dramamine. It was the only appropriate beginning to a Henderson vacay. Apparently I can only go on road trips if my mother is there to administer my meds.

Moving on..

On our first day, we travelled to Cape Cod with the sole task of taking a tour of the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory.

We made a brief stop off in Plymouth where we made every attempt to stand on the rock...

And took a shockingly natural-looking pilgrim photo. They were going to give Dad a muskett too but at the last minute decided to give him the Good Book. Naturally.

The day was off to a great start, but tragedy soon struck. Apparently the whole of the Northeast decided it would be a great idea to go to the Cape at precisely the same time as us-- causing us to reach the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory five minutes after the last tour ended. I think the pictures best depict our disappointment.

But we pressed on. Saturday we headed up to Maine where we spent the day tasting taffy, reviewing lighthouses, pretending the Ocean wasn't freezing, and devouring lobster rolls...

This is apparently the only picture I took of Mom and Dad on this entire trip. Sorry parents! It was apparently necessary for Stacy and I to have daily sister photo shoots.

We made up a ranking system for the taffy assortment pack. A simply 1-10 wouldn't do. We developed five different options: the sunburst, for when the flavor burst forth when you chewed it, the lawn mower- for when eating that taffy was like a CHORE, A roller coaster for when the flavor was CRAZY, A cliff... for when you wanted to jump off a cliff after chewing it, and sleepy eyes for when the flavor was just boring. Safe to say we have taken car games and taste testing to new levels.

Stacy and I also spent a good part of the day re-enacting The Little Mermaid "Part of Your World" routine. It took more upper body strength than I was prepared for, but we were both naturals.

We settled in Portland for the night and played a rousing game of Quelf. It's hilarious- go buy it immediately for your next family game night.

We headed out the next morning with the goal of sliding down the Longest Alpine Slide in America. It was raining which meant the slide was closed and we somehow ended up ended up at the LL Bean outlet posing on a large shoe and trying on overly large backpacks...

This outlet mall looked like one of those pretend villages you walk through in Disney World. It was equally magical when we discovered the Maine state dessert- the Whoopie Pie. Naturally they had excessively large ones as well. This was an apparent theme at this outlet mall...

We ended up finding an alternate alpine slide later in the day and survived both the slide and the even more treacherous ski lift up the mountain...

He was terrified.

We're masking our fear with smiles.

That's Josh's victory face.

The next day was the 4th of July and our final day altogether on the road. We packed it full of cheese, maple syrup, apple cider and chocolate tastings-- all appetizers for the grand finale-- the Ben and Jerry's Factory Tour.

It was a day of deliciousness and probably the sole reason I have not noticed any weight loss after all this half marathon training. But I digress...

We dropped Josh off at Julie's parents house and spent the night in Connecticut watching fireworks on the hotel TV. Hey-- those free samples can be exhausting. And keep in mind, hotels are still a luxury the Henderson family is just beginning to explore.

We woke up bright and early and headed to NYC-- just in time for Mom, Dad and Stacy to take naps and me to head to work. Seriously, being a grown up is awesome.

We spent the next week exploring everything free NYC has to offer since we spent most of the trip fund on lobster and whoopie pies. Whoops! I took exactly ZERO pictures while they were here so if you need a visual of our adventures, feel free to reference Stacy's facebook page. What? I'm not gonna download and upload all those pics!

All in all, Henderson Family Vacay 2011 was a resounding success. Sure I'm still mourning the loss of the potato chip factory, but I guess we had to leave something for next time. Who knows what 2012 holds!