travel – Hello Hayley

In holidays, travel on

December 25, 2016

christmas eve in toronto

this year, I spent christmas with my boyfriend brendan and his family in london, ontario. on a whim, brendan, his sister and I decided to visit toronto, an at least two hour drive, to see canada’s largest christmas tree and do some last minute christmas shopping. toronto ended up being shockingly empty which made for some beautiful photos. we walked around in the freezing cold for a while trying to get a better look at the cn tower and find a five guys restaurant to eat lunch at, only to discover it was right next to where we parked! i’ll post some pictures of the amazing, massive christmas tree soon but for now, hope you have a great christmas celebrating friends and family but most of all Jesus, who loves us most of all.

hayley

In travel on

December 9, 2016

apple picking adventure

after going to the pumpkin patch, brendan and i went on an adventure to find an apple orchard to pick some apples. since it was late in the season, most weren’t open or were out of apples but we finally found one that was an hour away that sounded promising. we drove and drove thru the countryside and finally found the picturesque apple farm. seriously, this place is adorable! but when we went to the apple picking counter to get our bags, we were informed they were out of apples as of an hour before. rats! but we decided to walk around anyways and take in how pretty the farm was. we finally found one apple at the very tip top of a tree and with brendan’s help, i finally got my apple! other highlights of our trip to the apple farm was an adorable dog that happily followed us around and the yummiest frozen apple cider! it was so good we went back for more when we were done with our first glass! i’m gonna try to make my own soon so stay turned! overall, even despite the lack of apples, it was a great day!

hayley

In travel on

December 7, 2016

pumpkin patch sunday

i know christmas season is in full swing but i found photos of some adventures brendan and i had this past fall and i just had to post them! i saw the cutest little pumpkin patch and fruit stand on the side of the road one day while taking Colette to the groomers and i knew i just had to take brendan! we finally went when brendan visited east aurora a few weeks later and it was even cuter than I imagined. the pumpkin patch was next to a beautiful, tree lined river that was perfect for photos and they had lots of chickens and goats and pigs roaming around the grounds. brendan and i walked around and bought some pumpkins and explored the river and had an all around great time! here are a few of my favorite pictures from that day.

hayley

In eateries, travel on

August 17, 2016

nashville lovin

this past week, Brendan and I headed down to Nashville for a daytrip. we visited once before when we first started dating and we had a blast but I’m gonna venture to say this trip was even better! we started our day at Biscuit Love which was super yummy and since it was a monday, we got a seat in about 20 minutes, which was nice compared to the two hour weekend waits I read about on yelp. I had shrimp and grits which has been a favorite breakfast dish of mine lately and it was excellent! after breakfast, we headed to the Opry Mills Outlet Mall to escape the heat and do some shopping. we got some seriously good deals so I didn’t feel too guilty we went to an ordinary mall instead of site-seeing. next, we went to Crema, which I can honestly say I’ve been looking forward to visiting since we left the last time. they have this amazing concoction called coffee soda which is basically exactly what it sounds like: carbonated coffee! Brendan got a condensed milk latte which he assures me was great (I don’t like condensed milk but I’ll trust him).

Biscuit Love

Crema

we still had some time to kill before dinner so we headed back to the opry area to check out the Grande Ole Opry theater, which was closed but we wandered around anyways. i read on a travel blog that the hotel next door, The Gaylord Opryland Resort, had an indoor garden so we thought we might as well check it out. it was free to go inside but the parking was pricy so we opted to park at the mall and walk instead. it was a little bit of a hike, especially in the burning heat but WOW was it worth it! the gardens were beautiful and massive and the air conditioning didn’t hurt either. it was truly a phenomenal hotel! finally it was time for dinner at Rolf and Daughter, which I’ve literally been waiting years to try! we didn’t have reservations so we sat outside in the 100° heat (at 10pm!!) but the ambiance was so nice outside and the food was so good, I didn’t mind it much. I had the squid ink linguine, a dish I first tried while living in Nice at a wonderful restaurant on the beach, and I am happy to say this dish was just as yummy! we didn’t order drinks or dessert, which I’m regretting now but at least we have another reason to go back now.

Opryland

Rolf and Daughters

SCORES

Biscuit Love: 8/10

Crema: 10/10

Opry Millls Mall: 7/10

The Gaylord Opryland Resort: 10/10

Rolf and Daughters: 9/10

hayley

In travel on

April 12, 2016

rhode trip

this past weekend, Brendan and I took a day trip to westerly and newport, rhode island. we basically just went to westerly to see taylor swift’s rhode island mansion but it was a really enjoyable, abet a bit sleepy, typical east coast beach town. after walking around as long as we could bear in the chilly beach breeze, we got in the car and headed to newport.

we found a cute little coffee shop to get some mochas and boba (I’m obsessed even in the new england cold) then drove around to see the beautiful home newport is known for. we found some gorgeous mansions and great views and looped back to town in time for dinner at one of newport’s yummy seafood restaurants for oysters, lobster rolls and cheesecake. yum! newport is definitely my favorite spot I’ve explored while living here these past few months and I’m looking forward to going back again soon

{closest we could get to Taylor Swift’s house}

hayley

In holidays, travel on

December 21, 2014

a white thanksgiving

this year for thanksgiving, I went to my dear friend julia’s parents house in the woods of connecticut. i went here once before for thanksgiving during my freshman year at cedarville and it was a wonderful experience that i’m blessed to have the chance to repeat. we drove 12 hours thru the night the tuesday before thanksgiving because we heard there was going to be a snowstorm in connecticut wednesday morning. literally as soon as we arrived to julia’s, it started to snow and snow and snow. on thursday, we had thanksgiving dinner at julia’s grandparent’s house, which already felt familiar because of my last thanksgiving spent there. we played pictionary and apples to apples and had races to fill out maps of the US and Canada with some of the Canadians we had visiting. after thanksgiving, we had a pretty chill break, filled with homework in coffee shops, watching the original pride and prejudice, baking and candle lit dinners due to power outages. i had a ridiculously large amount of homework to do due to finals week starting right after thanksgiving break but i ended up having a great time of fun and fellowship regardless of my workload. i ended up missing the first monday back because we were driving but God is good and all my teachers moved back our assignments so i didn’t miss anything.

thanksgiving

victoria station

hayley

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