Day seven of our honeymoon saw us begin our trek homeward, while we finally arrived back in Buffalo on the eighth day. This part of the trip saw me enter two new states: Rhode Island and Connecticut!

After checking out of our hotel in Burlington, MA, we headed toward Rhode Island. This drive was a little bit out of our way, but we figured – why not just go for it! We’re in the area, we’ve got time… let’s see a few more states.

We ended up stopping in Pawtucket, where we found a few gift shops and had lunch at KitchenBar before continuing on into Connecticut. We really didn’t have any plans heading into this leg of the trip, but everything ended up working out really well!

Once in Connecticut, we found Westfarms, an upscale shopping center with stores including Tiffany & Co. They also have a Pinkberry, so I had to allow myself a special treat on this 90-degree day with some chocolate-hazelnut frozen yogurt. Yum! We did just a little bit of shopping around the area before heading back out on the road.

Our end destination for that day was the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Chester, NY, about halfway from home. I’m really glad we ended up doing this; it helped break up the drive home and made the days feel much more manageable.

Monday morning, we headed for home fairly early – but not until after our final breakfast at the hotel, of course. We hit some pretty bad rain near Binghamton, to the point that we had to pull off the highway and sit under an overpass for 10 minutes to let it clear up. Not going to lie – that was a little scary.

Thankfully, eventually, we did make it home safely! Now, several days later, I’m still unpacking and trying to get everything sorted while also getting back to reality. This trip was an absolute blast, one of the best I’ve ever had. My husband (!) and I traveled through seven states, including six new states for both of us, and had so many wonderful experiences and made so many lovely memories that we’ll cherish for a long time. Our New England honeymoon was a great start to our married life and I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Now, it’s time to start thinking about next summer, when we’ll be driving to Texas!