Day 7 - Didn't go as planned, but turned out great!!

Odometer Reading:   58077

Starting Point:  Mansfield, MA

Destination:  Norwalk, CT

Miles driven today:  171

State Lines Crossed:  3 - MA to RI to CT

Lesson for the day:  flexibility is the key to a successful road trip

Quilt shop stops: 3 - (Mad About Quilts, Mansfield, MA, Blaine's Sewing Center, Cranston, RI and Christy's Quilting Boutique, Norwalk, CT)

The plan today was to leave a little later and hit a quilt shop in MA, then do the loop around Rhode Island, to Jamestown and then over to New Haven.  Unfortunately, Jackie woke up with a really sore throat so we decided to stay open to changing plans.  Also unfortunately, it was raining when we headed out and the rain seemed to get worse.  We talked about skipping the bigger drive and just heading to our stop for tonight, Norwalk, CT., but thought we'd wait till we hit our second quilt shop in RI to make that decision.  In the end, the rain just never let up so we headed from RI to CT.

This is our first stop in Mansfield, MA.  Tiny shop, but nice fabric selection, and the owner was very friendly.

The rain was bad

Next stop was Cranston, RI.  This was a bigger shop that sold a lot of machines, esp. Embroidery machines.  Not a big selection of fabric, but that didn't stop us from finding fun stuff.

There were trees and beautiful colors all along the way

Then off to Norwalk, CT for one more shop

The good thing was that as we were driving we saw signs for Mystic Seaport and decided that with memories of the movie Mystic Pizza, it would be good to stop.  We were so glad we did.  Lovely old town and they have turned the 1900's seaport into an educational area with demonstrations and lectures, ships and original old houses.  Really interesting and a great bit of history.

Then it was on to Norwalk, CT.  This shop has been opened for less than a year, but had fabric we hadn't seen before - I know, how is that possible?  The shop owner was really sweet and so excited to be doing what she's doing.  She carries the fabric from a couple of local designers, so she had Kate Spain and a couple of others who live nearby!

We asked her recommendation for a place to eat and she suggested Valencia, a Venezualen restaurant featured on diners, drive ins and dives.  Great recommendation. We got the Carlos, chicken, a avacado and fennel in a corn meal bun.  So delicious.

The other fun thing is that we are staying at a brand new hotel, EVEN, a health and wellness hotel.  They serve organic food, have fruit and veggie flavored water available all day in the lobby, and have exercise equipment, yoga mats etc in each room.  They also have fitness workouts available on the tv.  It's a great concept.  I hope they come to California....I think they would be very well received.  They have a standing desk along with everything else!!

Ok folks.  It's on to Philadelphia tomorrow with a couple of stops in between.  Then Friday we head to Morgantown to see Katie!!  Can't wait!