The Southern Belle's Road to New England

If you've known Shane and me for any amount of time, you know that we both nurse a pretty gnarly sweet tooth . We will make any excuse for desert or a treat any day of the week- especially when we are out of our normal routine on vacation or with visitors- or, in this case- moving from Alabama to Rhode Island and wanting to do as the locals do! Before we moved to Tiverton , I scoured Yelp for local hot spots and local's favorite restaurants (bonus for those with an expansive gluten free selection!). One common thread on reviews around Tiverton was ice cream. Being that I recently traded my dairy-free lifestyle for a gluten-free one (among 19 other things that my body despises. Long story for another post if you're really interested), I was excited to be in a position to try out all this famous ice cream touted by Tivertonians (I may have just made that up). One thing was evident: people in Tiverton had very strong alliances to either Gray's or Helger's ice c

Before moving to Rhode Island , I scoured the internet for every list and blog that spelled out what local Rhode Islanders did for fun, ate as staples, and went for coffee (Dunkin, obviously, but there are other great choices too! Coming soon to the blog.) One of the  events I kept seeing pop up on lists about how great Rhode Island is was the Bristol 4th of July Celebration . Now that I live in one of the 13 original colonies, I am surrounded by so much amazing American history! The very first 4th of July parade strolled down the streets of Bristol, Rhode Island in 1785! That's 231 years of patriotic parading... I just knew I had to be there. Shane and I arrived in Bristol an hour or so before the parade was to start. As soon as we pulled off the highway, streets were covered in parked cars and peppered with pedestrians donning their red, white, and blue. After a little walk, we found a great spectating spot near the water and passed the time until the parade was to sta

If you didn't yet read how we came to move to Rhode Island, check out my previous post here ! Wednesday June 15 came quickly. We previously sold quite a few belongings and packed up a moving truck that was on the smaller side and a real gamble as to whether or not all of our stuff would fit. We cleaned our home, ready for the next family who would make precious memories there, and shed a few tears. Okay that's a lie, we shed a LOT of tears. So, on that Wednesday, with all too fitting weather (torrential downpour for days), we put our last few things in the back of the truck, drove one car up the trailer behind the moving truck, and got our furbabies settled in the SUV. That's right- Shane drove one vehicle and I drove another. We would be embarking on this 23 hour drive as a caravan. This would be interesting! I experienced quite a flood of miscombulated emotions. I wept for the home that I now saw in the rear-view mirror but glowed at the life that was still bef