Wedding Blog
Mr Frenchie and I left very early the Monday morning after our wedding. It was nice to have a complete day to relax by the pool at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. (Fun little fact about RB Inn: they have 3 pools - 1 is at the Spa, 1 is the “adult pool”, and the last is the “kids’ pool”. The bar is at the “kids’ pool”! But don’t worry, we stopped off at the kids’ pool and got drinks to take to the adult pool.) I would advise any couple to take a day after your wedding to relax before hopping on a plane (or in a car) to your honeymoon destination. I don’t care where you’re going, traveling can be stressful (especially if you’re flying). It was so nice to wake up at a reasonable time, go to our morning-after breakfast, relax by the pool, and go to dinner with some friends.
Okay, where was I? Oh, right! We left at the crack of dawn on Monday morning. Papa Frenchie dropped us off at the San Diego International Airport long before it was this light outside, and we were on our way.
Mr Frenchie and I had grand dreams of telling the lady behind the ticket counter we were on our honeymoon and getting bumped up to first class, or moved around so we would have an entire row to ourselves. No such luck! Our flight was completely packed, the lady at the counter pretty much laughed in our faces.
After a layover at Dulles International Airport, we arrived in Burlington, VT around 6:30 PM. At the rental car counter the “It’s our Honeymoon” line FINALLY worked and they guy upgraded us to a bigger and newer car. We had booked a compact and ended up with a brand new Nissan Rogue.
The Rogue was perfect! It was small enough to easily drive around the tiny streets of Old Quebec City and Montreal, but sat up high enough for a good view of an area we weren’t used to driving around. Oh, and it fit all 3 of our suitcases. That’s right, I brought 2 suitcases. What? We were gone for 9 days and I needed a LOT of shoes! So, it doesn’t hurt to occasionally bat your eyelashes and say, “It’s our honeymoon, do you think we could get something newer?”
We stayed in Burlington one night before driving up to Quebec City. I found us an awesome hotel in Burlington on Priceline for about $50.
The hotel was called The Essex, and it was also the home of the New England Culinary Institute. We missed out on dinner in one of their restaurants, so we hung around long enough to have lunch at The Tavern.
Mr Frenchie graduated from Cal Poly Pomona and got a taste of the culinary school experience in a 3-quarter long class working at The Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch. It was extra fun to see another school kitchen in action!
I had to get Mr Frenchie’s picture with the student chefs. (Please ignore, the funny face, I believe I caught him with bread in his mouth.)
Being the bad honeymoon blogger I am, I forgot to take pictures of all our tasty food, but I did get a shot of my SUPER YUMMERS shrimp tacos.
All in all, I would give The Essex and The Tavern an A. The hotel is gorgeous and our room was really quaint.
We loved Burlington! Heck, why do you think we came back early?
Did you want your husband try out the,”It’s our honeymoon” line to get any upgrades or free stuff? Did it work?
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Share this post: Frenchiemoon: Vermont, Part 1
oh we used the honeymoon line everywhere we could. In fact after our Italy honeymoon, I feel like we may just try to put on that wedded glow and try the honeymoon line on our next trip too!
Haha, it got me a few exit rows with the airlines but nowhere in Zihuatanejo seemed impressed. Pft. 
hooray for burlington! on our honeymoon there was a “private beach” for the people staying in the suites. well, there wasn’t anyone, so they said “you can go ahead and use it.” sweet!
and hooray for burlington 
can’t wait to hear about canada.
I’ve been to that restaurant!! Burlington is so great. I’m sure it was a wonderful place to honeymoon. Can’t wait to hear more about it and the rest of the ‘moon.
I wonder how long that line lasts, we won’t be doing a honeymoon right away. Way to work it!
good for you! i am such a wimp when it comes to trying to get upgrades…hopefully the new hubby will step up…
You guys look so cute and happy! We tried the airlines thing too but the best we got was an exit row.
That’s so awesome that you got your car upgraded!! I’ll definitely have to try that =]
So far we haven’t gotten anything but a trip to the special dinner night (not sure what its called) on the cruise we booked. But the girl at Carnival told me to make sure I tell everyone, so they will buy us drinks to celebrate!
We’ll definitely try it out! I’m glad that it worked for you at least some of the time!
I just had to jump in and say yay for Cal Poly Pomona and the RKR! I went there and, though I didn’t major in hotel/restaurant management, I definitely took advantage of having an awesome restaurant on campus while I was there 
Oh, and I hope to use the honeymooner line soon, too! ^_^
thats a cute little tool! - I cant wait for your recaps!!!!!
The Essex looks so beautiful. Glad you got an upgrade for mentioning it’s your honeymoon. It reminds me of the Friends episode when Monica keeps missing out on getting upgrades because the couple before her and Chandler mentions their honeymoon first. Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to try, right.
What a pleasant beginning of the honeymoon. Can’t wait to hear about the Canadian part of it We did take a day off before going on our trip and I would suggest that to other newlyweds. No matter how romantic it is to leave as soon as possible, weddings and traveling are exhausting. I do not think we really told anyone that we are on a honeymoon. In fact the plane was so packed we did not even get to sit together on the flight to our destination 
Mmm culinary school food!
FI and I got upgraded into a Rogue for a friends wedding. It was such a nice ride.
Cool! We tried the “it’s our honeymoon” line, but sadly, didn’t get ANY upgrades. Oh well, it was fun anyway.
Mrs. Frenchie! I am so glad you enjoyed my home state’s biggest city! I got really excited because I was home in Vermont while you were passing through for your honeymoon, making plans for our own wedding! I totally was looking out for you at the airport - hey! It’s a small state!
I definitely WANT to try the “we’re on our honeymoon” line (everyone says you have to do it!) but I think the Mr. and I are too chicken. Though I will probably be SO excited when we’re finally married that I’ll be shouting it at anyone who will listen! LOL
I know I will be so excited that I can’t help but tell everyone! We have rented a private condo for most of the honeymoon, but might end up with a few free drinks. We have to take 3 flights to get out there and 3 to get back, so definitely lots of time for flight upgrades.
I lived in Burlington and always enjoyed the Essex! We had conferences out there and the food was great.
we used it and got an upgrade at our hotel room!
p.s. those tacos make me hungry
@drealeah: YAY Cal Poly Pomona! Isn’t that restaurant great?
@Charm bracelet: I can’t tell you how many times I thought of that Friends episode while on our honeymoon.
@GwenMarieDC: That would have been so fun if we’d ran into each other in the airport! You’re right, it is really small
*sigh* oh how I miss the San Diego Airport! Now I’m in DC, so I’ve been to both of your honeymoon airport stops lol…
We will definitely try and use it but we decided to splurge and actually purchase first class tickets. We figure we wanted to guarantee that we had great seats and we would just rack up lots of good miles to use on a trip down the road.
We thought about not leaving until the Monday, but we are both strapped for vacation time so we are leaving the around 3pm the day after. Enough time for a breakfast.
This is great! Nice to see New England as the first stop on your honeymoon. And I can definitely see why waiting a day would be worthwhile- we’re getting married on a Sunday, and not leaving til Tuesday- I think we’re definitely need that day to recuperate!
We paid for the first class and the Spa Palace in Mexico is a total honeymoon locale so we got all the extras everyone else got - but still - we let lots of people know.
Burlington, VT is one of my favorite places of all time. The whole state is fantastic, but Burlington is so fun! If you go there again, definitely check out Church Street… it’s a pedestrian mall-type area in the center of the city.
What a cute hotel!! So glad you had a great time on your honeymoon! We’ve since postponed our honeymoon…but I’m sure Mr. G will try and pull that line, even though we’ll be on a delayed h-moon!
We’re honeymooning at the Rancho Bernardo Inn! It’s where we took our first trip together 8 years ago and its where we fell in love!
@Charm bracelet: I also thought of that friends episode while reading this post!
[...] After lunch at The Essex, Mr Frenchie and I piled our suitcases in to our trusty Rogue and headed for the Canadian border. [...]
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Mrs. French Bulldog, Orange County
Age and Occupation: 28, Administrative Assistant & Interior Design Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Purchasing Analyst
Engagement Date: November 8, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: Bernardo Winery
About Me: I've lived in Atlanta, Dallas and Laguna Niguel; although I've lived in Orange County, CA most my life, I'm a Southerner at heart. I work full time for a Commercial General Contractor (aka my father) and I go to school for Interior Design at night. I love modern design, music, wine, crafting, DMailing, my family, my Westies, and of course, Mr Frenchie! Mr Frenchie and I met 3 years ago on Match.com and have been best friends ever since. I love his "old soul" and how he laughs with his whole body, among many other things. We are planning our summer wedding at the winery near his hometown, just 45 minutes south of Orange County.
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