Independance Day Vacation

Where better to spend July 4th than in the New England States, where this whole "new land of the free" thing got started?

My brother had a free round-trip ticket that was going to expire July 13th. You know it didn't take much motivation for my travel-friendly family to jump all over that. =)

So the research began. We ordered travel guides from AAA (free with membership). We wanted to go on the trip but we didn't really have extra money to spend. We've learned in the past that a little research can save you a lot of $$!

Our goal was to visit Maine, New Hamshire, and Vermont. These are the only 3 states in the north east that we haven't visited. We checked all of the major airports in the area. We orginally were going to fly into Albany and drive from there. However, it turns out tickets to Hartford were a lot cheaper.

My parents and I flew into Hartford, Connecticut on July 2nd. Dustin had a class he couldn't miss so he flew out the next morning.

We didn't spend much time in Hartford but the little we did see, we loved. The Capital buildings and monuments are very impressive.

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Bushnell Park

We cracked up when we saw this at the McDonalds next to our hotel. Welcome, Sweet Tea and Southern Style Fried Chicken! New England will be forever changed.