Babymoon

Things that needed celebrating:

1. Sunday, September 25th: Our 5 1/2 year anniversary together 
2. Monday, September 26th: Our 2 year wedding anniversary 
3. Saturday, October 1st: Our 5 year anniversary of living together

I was so excited I didn't even realize my sister was trying to hand me back my bouquet! Duh

We decided to take this opportunity to go on a Babymoon. I have been feeling so much better and we both used this getaway as an excuse to do something for ourselves before the baby is born. Instead of going away to one place, we decided to take day trips and spread it out over 3 days. It saved us money since we didn't have to stay over anywhere, plus there was a lot we wanted to do.

Babymoon #1: Saturday, September 24th 

We started out with breakfast at a diner. Dan went across the street to the ATM to get cash while I went in to get a table. When Dan came in he said the lady at the front asked if he was looking for his girlfriend. Too funny. We ordered: yummy scrambled eggs, home fries, bacon, and toast for me. Dan got the same except his eggs were over medium, oh, and he got sausage instead of bacon. So, OK, not the "same" thing. I do like my eggs over medium also, because dipping toast in the yolk is yummy, but I can't do that while pregnant. I ate almost the entire plate while Dan had a good amount of home fries left over. I sure can eat! I blame it on Lily making me hungry.

After breakfast we made our way to Massachusetts to see the Norman Rockwell Museum. Norman Rockwell will forever be a reminder of our wedding since he was being exhibited during our reception at the Nassau County Museum of Art. Luckily it did not rain all day, but it was a little muggy which made for lots of flying bugs swarming around our heads.

Norman Rockwell's studio

We first paid for admission then went to the cafe where Dan had an italian sandwich and I had a sandwich with grilled chicken, lettuce, and pesto mayo. The sandwiches were good, but were they worth the $7.50 each? I don't think so. Inside the museum, we saw all of Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers and a variety of his paintings. We then made our way to his studio where he worked. Dan said he noticed people looking at my belly - like they never saw a pregnant lady before. I'm glad we went this time of year because the leaves were already changing colors in Massachusetts which made the scenery beautiful.

On the way back home we stopped in at Louis' Lunch in Connecticut for a hamburger. Louis' Lunch was where the hamburger was born back in 1900. It was a lot smaller than we had expected. We got there around 6:30pm and it was packed. Packed being around 15 people. Luckily, while we were waiting to order, seats opened up and I sat down to claim two for Dan and myself.

This was their menu: 

•  A Burger with or without cheese, onions, and tomato, done medium rare unless you say otherwise.
• Chips or potato salad (spelled Salid).
• A drink - variety of bottled sodas and water.
• A variety of pies for dessert.

They think it a crime to add ketchup and/or mustard to any hamburger so they do not offer it. The burgers came on lightly toasted bread instead of a bun. It was a really good burger. We also had a slice of caramel apple pie with whipped cream, which was really yummy as well. All in all it was a good dinner.

On a side note, Louis' Lunch is right around the block from Yale.

Babymoon #2: Sunday, September 25th

Our next trip was to Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay. It actually turned out to be a pretty nice day even though we thought it might rain. Dan had never been to Sagamore Hill and I think I was there once, maybe in elementary school. When we arrived, we went to the visitors center to buy tickets to do the house tour. For those who may not know, Sagamore Hill is where Teddy Roosevelt lived. His house was beautiful, except for all the taxidermic animals decorating every room. After the tour, we ate lunch at the picnic tables by the visitors center. They don't have a cafe or anything so before we got there, we had stopped at a deli for some food to bring.

Teddy Roosevelt's house

We walked around the grounds for a little bit before driving to the other parking lot where the Teddy Roosevelt museum was. It was interesting learning about his life. The most interesting and heartbreaking, and actually, unbelievable day of his life was in February of 1884. His first wife, Alice, gave birth to their first daughter on February 12th. Two days later, on Valentine's Day, Alice died. Not only did he lose his wife, but a couple of hours earlier on that same day, his mother passed away. Geez! Talk about a black cloud.

After our trip to Sagamore Hill, we made our way home to get ready to go out to dinner. We wanted to try new things on these trips, so we went to a restaurant we both had never been to. Keeping with the Oyster Bay day we had, we made our way back and went to a great little restaurant called Grasso's located in Cold Spring Harbor. They call their food New American, whatever that means. I had Penne Bolognese and Dan had Red Snapper. Both were really good. For dessert we shared Cheesecake and a 3 Layer Chocolate Mousse Cake. Scrumptious!

Babymoon #3: Monday, September 26th

Our last day trip was a ride out east to go apple picking at Seven Ponds Orchard in Watermill. It's the only U-Pick for apples on Long Island. Let me clarify, the only real U-Pick apples with tall apple trees or bushes (whatever they were). It ended up being a really sunny day and very warm. Before we made our way out east, we went to a diner for breakfast. Dan got a belgian waffle with bacon and a side of home fries, I got pancakes with bacon and a side of home fries. I've decided that I make a hell of a lot better pancakes than this diner. We definitely should've shared one side of home fries, there was so much left over.

When we got to the orchard, we started at one end and made our way back picking one apple of each kind. After weighing the bag, we decided to pick one more of each kind of apples. I wanted a lot more, but they only took cash and we had about $27 between us both.

We got two each of:

• Ginger Gold
• Gala
• McIntosh
• Honeycrisp
• Macoun
• Cortland
• Empire

It's fun to pick your own apples right off their branches. I can't wait to bake an apple pie and an apple cake. If we got more apples I was going to attempt to make my own apple sauce. Oh well. There's always next time.

For dinner we decided to stay in and get chinese delivered. All the driving we did for three days definitely put a toll on our bodies. We were so tired. While we ate, we watched our wedding video and reminisced about what a great day that was 2 years ago. I hope I can get back to having that same body after Lily arrives. Hmm…fat chance? Hopefully I'll be able to do it.

Babymoon #4: Tuesday, September 27th

Dan took off both Monday and Tuesday, but because we did so much on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, we decided not to do anything on Tuesday. We just wanted to relax and stay in our pajamas all day. Of course, that's not exactly how it stayed. We did laundry and cleaned the apartment a little. Oh well, at least we didn't go on any long drives.

In the morning right after Dan woke up, I called him over to me and had him place his hand on my belly. He felt Lily kick for the first time. Actually it was the second time, but he thought I just had gas bubbles when he felt it before. This time, there was no mistaking that it was Lily in there kicking away!

A Few Babymoon Pics


The Norman Rockwell Museum

Sagamore Hill

Seven Ponds Orchard