An East Coast summer has always been a dream of mine. Living in Utah, our summer trips have almost always consisted of Southern California, Bear Lake, Jackson Hole, etc, (no complaints here! All incredible places that I love so much!), and I’ll be honest, Instagram convinced me that I needed an East Coast summer in my life! It all looked so beautiful and right up my alley. A classic dream come true kind of trip!
I also really wanted a trip this year that was just the seven of us! We feel so grateful for the annual trips each of our families take with all of my siblings and their kids, but I knew I wanted to carve out time this year for the seven of us to connect and be with only each other for a week straight, so I’ve been thinking all year where we should go together!
I have followed House on the Cape on Instagram for years, and once I saw they had four days open in July (the only dates open all summer!) I frantically made a decision to just book the trip! They had a full refund policy up until 30 days before the trip, so I had time to decide if we were really going to do it, and when I saw a great deal on flights, I knew we had to do it! I then went to Instagram and asked you gals for your recommendations, and you all absolutely pulled through for me. We truly had the best trip, and I owe so much of it to you gals, so thank you! Here is our itinerary and what we did!
I also saved every single recommendation I received from the question box to this Google List. It was so great to open up my Google Maps when we were at certain places to see if something was close that you recommended!
*Please note I do acknowledge and feel silly giving any recommendations when I’ve been somewhere ONCE, so please consult locals or official tour guides for something more legitimate than this!
Our entire trip was 8 days. I felt as though it was the perfect amount of time for our kids’ ages. Enough time to adjust to the time zone difference, take it slow, and find time for naps each afternoon, etc. We felt as though it was time to go home at the end of the trip, which is always a great feeling!
Swipe for outfits from the trip!
Day 1-3: Boston!
Day 1:
We flew into Boston Logan International Airport, checked into our hotel, went and walked around the city, found some dinner, and then went back and slept.
Where we stayed: We stayed at the Omni Parker Hotel. I chose this hotel due to its close proximity to the Boston Public Garden and Commons; however, I wouldn’t book it again. The location was very busy/packed, and it felt hard to get the kids in and out of the car safely in such a busy part of town. The hotel itself has a ton of history and is where the Boston Cream Pie was invented, where JFK had his bachelor party and proposed, etc. They also recently did renovations, but I think next time I’d prefer to stay somewhere less busy! We walked past some hotels over near the Public Library, and I think that area appealed to me more!
If anyone has a favorite hotel in Boston, comment it below! A lot of the hotels were quite pricey that week due to the World Cup just ending, and I felt as though the Omni had a reasonable price, but I’d love to hear other people’s favorites!
Day 2:
Our exploring Boston day! We went to Tatte Bakery for breakfast (a favorite of mine and highly recommended by you gals), and then had the Duck Tour starting at 10:30 AM! The Duck Tour was an absolute blast. It’s covered, so no matter the weather, you’ll have a great time. You see a majority of the city and hear facts the entire time from the guide and even spend some time on the Charles River.
After the Duck Tour, we grabbed some Chick-fil-a (sorry, not sorry) and then Will went and napped the twins while Penelope and I went and shopped on Newbury Street! This street is a must if you love shopping. After naps, we met up on Charles Street and explored more of those shops, drove over to get Regina Pizzeria, ate it in the park, and then had J.P. Licks Ice Cream for dessert. We also stopped on Acorn Street for an iconic photo since it’s the most photographed street in the USA!
Day 3:
Will & George did a tour of Fenway this morning and had the BEST time! I knew the younger girls could care less about baseball stadiums, so I didn’t really want to pay for them to do it, and honestly, I’m so happy they had this one-on-one time together. They loved learning and seeing so much of the stadium and said it’s a must-do! Then we went to church, I went to the Cambridge Antique Market (four floors of antiques?! Heaven!) while Will grabbed us Sweetgreen for lunch, and then we started our drive down to the Cape! We stopped at Plymouth to see the rock on the way down and then made our way to Sandwich, which is where our Airbnb was located.
Day 4-7 Cape Cod + a day on Nantucket!
Day 4:
This morning we made breakfast at our Airbnb and then drove over the east side of the island to Nauset Lighthouse and Chatham. The Nauset Lighthouse is the lighthouse on all of the Cape Cod bags of chips which was exciting and something we’ll always remember seeing. We loved eating at the Chatham Fish Market and driving around the town. There are so many adorable houses, and I could’ve stayed over there for hours. I think next time we’ll try to stay at Chatham Bars Inn instead! We drove all the way back to Sandwich to nap the twins, Will took the kids mini golfing, and I went to the Sandwich Antique Center when they got home. We ate pizza at the Brown Jug for dinner.
Day 5:
This was our Nantucket day! We took the first Steamship ferry over around 8:45 AM and did the high-speed one since I knew containing the twins for 2+ hours would be difficult, and I’m really happy we paid for the high speed. We arrived at the island around 10 am and hit the ground running. We ate at Born & Bread for breakfast, wandered in and out of all of the shops, walked over to Something Natural for lunch, and then walked around the neighborhoods, grabbed Juice Bar for an ice cream cone, and then it was time to board the ferry to go back! We didn’t nearly have enough time. I do think taking over all of our cribs/luggage in this stage of life would’ve been too difficult, so a day trip was really the only thing in the cards for us, but as the twins get older, you betcha I am booking a week stay there one day! I also guess flying right to Nantucket is an option, but that seems pricey? Right? Maybe not?
All of your recommendations are listed here for Nantucket as well.
After we got off the ferry, we went and drove around Hyannis and saw the Kennedy Compound, etc., and grabbed an easy dinner on the way home (okay, fine! We at Chick-fil-a again, sue me!!!)
Day 6:
This was our beach day! We went to Mayflower Beach, and it was so packed. Go early in the day if you’re going, bring some chairs, and have the best day. We left around 1 pm to nap the twins, but we could’ve stayed all day! Beautiful beach with great water temperature. We loved it! Go to Captain Frosty’s after. It’s so adorable, and we loved the food for lunch. That night we decided to drive all the way over to Provincetown since that’s an area of the Cape we hadn’t explored yet, and to be honest, I wouldn’t go back, but it was really fun to see! We ate at the Lobster Pot, which was a fun experience, but there wasn’t much to see there. We went to the Drive-In on our way back, and it was a highlight of the trip.
Day 7-8 Rhode Island
Day 7:
This morning we packed up and made our way over to Rhode Island! Once I saw it was the same distance from Sandwich and Newport back to Boston, I knew we needed to go see it, and I am SO glad we did! It was probably my favorite place we visited! We ate lunch right in Newport and walked around to all of the shops and the pier, went to the hotel (Residence Inn in Middleton lol) and napped the twins, and then made reservations for Castle Hill Inn that night. Another absolute HIGHLIGHT of the trip! You need to eat there! Or even better, stay there if it’s in the budget for you! The food was delicious, and you can’t get a better setting. We all loved it so much.
After dinner, we went and drove around to see all the mansions and walked some of the Cliff Walk. Loved!
Day 8:
We only stayed one night in Rhode Island, but I could’ve stayed longer! Truly was an unexpected favorite. We drove back to Boston first thing in the morning since we had an afternoon game at Fenway for the Boston Red Sox! They had a doubleheader, so we did the afternoon game so I could pack everything up that night, and we had so much fun at the game! After the game, we went to Harvard and walked around, which was neat to see and show the kids. That night we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott right next to the TD Garden (I stayed here back in 2019 on my work trip!), and we loved this hotel. Very clean and a great price point compared to other ones I was looking at.
And that was it! The morning we flew out, we went to Pop-Up Bagels, and I wish we did that every single morning in Boston. Best bagels of my entire life?!
I would love to hear what must-haves are for you when it comes to Boston/Cape Cod/Rhode Island so please comment them before if you have any!
Swipe for outfits from the trip!
If you want to see my Google Maps shared List, you can join it here!
That’s all! Already dreaming of where we’ll go next year!
xx
