San Diego has no shortage of great restaurants, so I did a little research before we left and set up an outline of places to have lunch and dinner plus some nearby options for grabbing a drink as...
Blog posts from USA Travel
San Diego 2014: where we stayed
In mid-January I attended a conference in San Diego, and after a busy weekend Leandra flew out for the remainder of the week. Though we've been to SD many times now, we still love returning and it...
2013 retrospective
Leandra recently completed our annual year-in-photos recap with a 4 minute video overview highlighting our adventures from 2013. videos from previous years- 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 Some of our...
Texas! exploring Hill Country wineries
Wanting to get a bit of a different perspective, we left Austin on Sunday to head out to the Hill Country for some wine tasting. We researched a few places in advance and decided to visit three...
Texas! exploring Austin, pt II
Late in the afternoon on our first day we decided to head back toward the Colorado River to explore, and along the way we stopped at an abandoned construction site (W 11th St & Baylor S) that is...
Texas! exploring Austin, pt I
We started our Saturday morning with a trip to Zilker Gardens. The signs are a bit disingenuous with a notice in small print that they charge extra if you are not a resident. We started by going...
Texas! overview
In mid-October we found ourselves on a plane to Texas. This is not all that strange; we fly through Dallas DFW airport all the time. Unique on this trip was that for the first time ever we would...
Portland: beer tasting
Heater Allen - Amidst all the wine tasting in McMinnville, we hear about a small brewery just a block away from The Eyrie, so we wandered over for a quick tasting of a few lager beers. The tasting...
Portland: Willamette Valley wine tasting
Arborbrook - One of our favorite Oregon wineries, we made this our first wine-tasting stop on this trip. Even though the tasting room has expanded since our last trip, the friendly wine maker was...
Portland: overview
Several months back we wanted to close a credit card that still had points available for free travel. After a few searches Leandra managed to find tickets to Portland in mid-September, so we used up...
Summer Euro 2013: Miami layover
Our international connection in Miami left us a choice of a one hour layover (a little short) or a seven hour layover. We opted for the safer long layover, but also to get out of the airport;...
Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee
Last weekend we took advantage of our Southwest Airlines companion pass to visit our friend Leah in Nashville. Saturday We arrived Saturday morning and were impressed by Nashville's arrivals area--...
A New York weekend: Long Island
Sunday morning we woke to sun, so after breakfast we headed over to Breakwater Beach in Mattituck. Looks inviting, but in April it is still chilly - After about 20 minutes beach combing for sea...
A New York weekend: NYC
The weekend after Easter we flew up to New York for a quick family visit and we decided stay in the city for the first night so we could make sure to see my niece (since we usually miss her during...
Asia/Australia 2013: Sonoma wine tasting
As you might expect, we visited a few wineries during our two day trip to Sonoma. Kunde Family Vineyards - this was on our lone wine stop on Thursday (i.e. the longest day of our lives) and we made...
Asia/Australia 2013: Sonoma food & lodging
Hotel Gaige House Back in November, Jetsetter was running a Cyber Monday deal for $75 off any available property. We still hadn't figured out where to stay in San Francisco, but when this hotel...
2012 retrospective
Leandra recently completed our now annual (2011, 2010, 2009) year-in-photos recap with a 3 minute video overview highlighting our travels (domestic and international) and home renovations (backyard)...
Christmas 2012: family time
We've been driving up to NY for the last several years to spend Christmas with Eric's family and this year we finally made it a little easier on ourselves with the addition of an EZ-Pass. Any time...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Valencia, Spain (Mar)
Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Bari, Italy (Sept)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)