5 States in 8 Days: A Whirlwind East Coast Trip

Hi friends!

I’m fresh off of a whirlwind trip to the northeast that included everything from a graduation celebration and playing with my nephews to boating excursions. We were there for eight days and spent time in five states! I know the states are small in the northeast, but it still felt like one big blur because we spent time with so many people and had so much going on.

Since I haven’t done any fun weekend recaps lately, I thought I’d share with you guys some trip highlights. Let’s chat about what I’ve been up to!

My hubby’s MBA graduation festivities. The primary reason why Adam and I flew cross country was for his MBA graduation ceremony from Temple University in Philly. He’s been a student in their online MBA program for almost two years, and since he’s worked so hard going to school full-time and working full-time to complete the degree in the shortest amount of time possible, he wanted to walk at his graduation.

At the graduation, his parents and grandparents, along with my parents, joined us. Afterwards, I planned a graduation dinner party. I was looking for an intimate, authentic Italian restaurant, and found exactly what I was looking for in Cucina Forte. I think it’s kind of a hidden gem of a restaurant, but I happened to find it after doing a lot of research online.

Highlights of dinner were Cucina Forte’s homemade gnocchi and Nutella ricotta cheesecake. Everyone died and went to dessert heaven eating the latter! I’m not even a cheesecake fan, and I loved it.

My husband has seriously worked his butt off earning this degree, and I’m so proud of him. It was nice to be able to make the trip to Philly to celebrate him and kind of mark the conclusion of this period of him holding meetings with classmates every weekend, working super early and late weeknights on projects, and what felt like endless hours of studying.

Spending time on the Jersey shore with my parents. We got to spend a few days at my parents’ shore house in Rumson, NJ. The house is on this little unique island that is special to my family, and I’ve been going there my whole life, so it’s always nice to have the chance to be there.

We relaxed at the house, spent some time outdoors walking at the park and drinking wine on the beach, and the area has some awesome restaurants, so we had a couple of great dinners out together.

Exploring Connecticut for the first time. I was up in Connecticut for a day of the trip and got to explore there a bit. I found this adorable local vegan restaurant chain called Green & Tonic, where I enjoyed the above açaí bowl while getting some work done.

Everything is blooming right now in the northeast, and while my allergies don’t exactly love it, I enjoyed getting to see all of the cherry blossom trees blooming everywhere. I kept taking notice of how pretty they are!

Eating at my favorite college town restaurant, Veggie Heaven. When I attended Montclair State University in North Jersey, my favorite eatery was this vegan Chinese food place called Veggie Heaven. Since moving away from the area, I order food from there every chance I get.

Adam and I had a chance to grab a bite there one night, and it continues to be the best Chinese food ever. Veggie Heaven is heavenly (pun intended!).

Dinner with my best friend. One night Adam and I met my best friend Meaghan for dinner, and it was so much fun catching up with her. We actually had dinner at the place where Adam took me on our first date, which remains an adorable, popular, little Italian restaurant called Queen Margherita in Nutley, NJ.

Boating to Chesapeake City, Maryland. My father-in-law has a boat that he loves spending time on, so while we were staying at his house, we took the boat from South Jersey to Maryland for the day.

Revisiting our wedding venue spot. Adam and I got married at a little winery in Jersey, and we took a trip over there with his mom and grandmom one day. It was fun to be back there and reminisce about our wedding day a bit.

Having visited five states last week, I started thinking about 1.) how expansive California is, and how strange that was for me when I first moved here, 2.) how it’s kind of fun to pop into different little states, and 3.) how the northeast is a cool region to do a road trip to see a bunch of states, especially if you’ve never spent time there before. You could easily see Washington, D.C, Baltimore, Philly, New York, the Jersey shore, and Boston in one trip.

Tell me… Have you ever road tripped around the northeast? When was the last time you went on a whirlwind trip?