Reminiscent of our experience at the World of Birds in South Africa, this NC bird park located in Scotland Neck had a reasonably photogenic collection of birds to check out, only 2 hours from RTP. We got there near the end of the day, so it was uncrowded, which was a bonus. More photos on Flickr! ... continue reading...
NC Outer Banks, May 2021: Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park and Museum
On the way to the beach Leandra surprised me with a stop at this fun little park in downtown Wilson hosting a collection of large whirligigs - the blue skies were a great backdrop for the colorful sculptures. Casita Brewing Company, Wilson We spotted this brewery next to the Whirligig park and decided to check it out, and we're glad we did. Interesting beers on tap, and a relaxed environment. Koi Pond Brewing & The Tipsy Tomato, Rocky Mount Leandra had been to ... continue reading...
NC Outer Banks, May 2021: beaches and lighthouses
Bodie Island Lighthouse We didn't try to go up the lighthouse, but enjoyed the views from the ground. On the far side is a boardwalk through part of the marsh where we saw an Eastern King Snake and an egret. Cape Hatteras Fairly incredible that you can move a lighthouse! But they did just that to protect this landmark from erosion in 1999. This tower is currently closed for repairs but it's free to park and walk around the base and the nearby history museum is worth a quick ... continue reading...
NC Outer Banks, May 2021: Introduction
With full vaccinations (!) and a desire for a quick getaway, Leandra planned a two night trip to the NC Outer Banks for my birthday. There were several firsts on this trip: (surprisingly) the first time we'd ever been to this part of NC in the 15 years we've lived here. our first trip without Pasha since early 2020. the beach restaurants were the first places we went that didn't require a mask on entry. We used some points at the Holiday Inn Express in Nags Head - it was as generic ... continue reading...
We’re vaccinated – let’s go to Florida!
After completing our second vaccinations, our first activity was driving down to Florida to visit family. Since we drove and were staying with Leandra's folks we brought Pasha, who definitely enjoys the open lanai (even if she does not understand why we go in the pool). Pasha occasionally gets bossy with Al, but despite his expression here, he is quite tolerant of another dog in the house. This was a working trip, so we were on our computers during the day, but had the ... continue reading...
Making bread without yeast: a lesson in patience
Like many people I have been making A LOT of baked goods over the last year while stuck at home during this pandemic. I've made English muffins, Pão de Deus, focaccia bread, bagels, chocolate donuts, the best chocolate chip cookies ever, Brazilian cheese bread, taralli, cinnamon rolls, baguettes, etc. A friend of mine gave me the Tartine Bread cookbook for Christmas. I can only assume as a challenge. The first recipe in the book is for "Basic Country Bread" and it's supposed to introduce the ... continue reading...
Pandemic “Dinner and a Movie” Nights
Since we are still mostly housebound and missing travel we came up with the idea of pairing meals (and wine!) to the location of a movie. We've been wanting to watch the Before trilogy for a while, and it was a great starting point since they take place in foodie places like Vienna (Before Sunrise), Paris (Before Sunset), and Greece (Before Midnight). You can see all the photos from our pandemic date nights on Flickr. Movie: Before Sunrise Setting: Vienna Menu: Chicken schnitzel ... continue reading...
2020 Year in Review
Previous years-in-review – 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 Obviously we did not have the travel year we originally planned. Trips to Jordan, Scotland, Canada, the Azores, and Spain were scrapped and Leandra spent hours (upon hours!) on the phone to get our money back for these cancelled flights. Although were were grounded for most of 2020, we did spend some time with our families and tackled a bunch of home improvement projects. Some of our travel stats ... continue reading...
Building a fire patio
We've used a small copper fire bowl for our backyard fires for years. Normally we'd set it up in the middle of the yard, clearing a small patch of leaves and pine needles. It worked ok, but it could be rather messy after a good rain, and sparks could occasionally get to leaves or pine needles. Since we have been home all Fall we finally splurged on the flagstone needed to make a small patio for hosting our future fires. We found a lovely grey and rust flagstone labeled 'Rustic' that seemed ... continue reading...
Light-up house numbers
Our house is set back from the road making it hard to see our house numbers, especially at night. This year we finally addressed that by adding 12" numbers backlit by LED tape to the garage. We started with some leftover plywood as the base. Leandra used some leftover house paint so the plywood would match the house color. We glued several small pieces of wood to the plywood to elevate the numbers off the board and make room for the waterproof LED light strip. With some ... continue reading...
NC Fall Foliage
We've had some nice fall color in Durham the last few weeks, with different patches of the yard turning color at different times. dogwood in the front yard backyard view Japanese maple close-up Rose-of-sharon and Japanese maple - this only lasted two days ... continue reading...
NC Mountains, October 2020: Lake Toxaway
As mentioned in a previous post [link], Smoky Mountain NP was too crowded for us, so the next day we changed gears and headed south to Lake Toxaway, an area we've driven past but hadn't explored on earlier trips to western NC. Our first stop was Little Deep Ford Falls, located roadside in a golf community with beautiful views. Toxaway Falls is a bit hard to photograph as the best vantage point is on private property. Eric managed to get this panoramic shot from the hillside by the ... continue reading...
NC Mountains, October 2020: Smoky Mountain National Park
We have planned trips to Smoky Mountain National Park multiple times over the years, and each time something has caused us to cancel the trip - sick dog, bad weather, etc. This time we did finally make it, but in the end we left a little dispirited by the sheer number of visitors, even on a weekday. Starting in NC we drove north on 441 toward Tennessee. The start was quite pretty with lots of cascades and the small roadside Cliff Branch Falls. Most of the scenic pullouts were on ... continue reading...
NC Mountains, October 2020: Blue Ridge Parkway and nearby waterfalls
One of our primary reasons for staying in Western NC was the ability to access the very end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the only part we hadn't driven. Our first visit to the BRP was way back in 2002 and over the years we've driven all of the other parts with the exception of the last 30 miles. On this trip we finally completed that section, starting outside Cherokee. The drive was just as great as expected. Soco Falls is just a few minutes from the BRP, so we also stopped to ... continue reading...
NC Mountains, October 2020: waterfalls near Bryson City
There are three relatively accessible waterfalls just outside of Bryson City accessed via the Deep Creek Campground, and these made an easy start to our week. Though the sign clearly states "No Pets," we saw several dogs on this trail (Pasha stayed in the car) so it clearly wasn't heavily enforced. Tom Branch Falls is viewed across Deep Creek near the parking area. Indian Creek Falls was an easy walk and running quite nicely - thankfully it was in the shade! The full Juney ... continue reading...
NC Mountains, October 2020: Intro and Food
Facing a 14-hour drive back from Illinois, we knew we would want to stop somewhere along the way. As we checked over the map for options, Western North Carolina looked viable (~10 hour drive). It would also give us the chance to explore part of the state we've not made it to yet, so we decided to make it into a several day mini-vacation. Where We Stayed After checking through the list of pet-friendly options, we decided on an airbnb in Sylva, NC, that would give us a decent starting point for ... continue reading...
Midwest 2020: family time in the Chicago ‘burbs
Spending time with my sister and her four girls is always an adventure — exhausting but fun. I spent the majority of my aunt time baking with everyone (cinnamon rolls, cake pops, etc) and Eric was the play-time jungle gym ("pick me up! my turn!"). Because we had Pasha with us we couldn't stay with them (due to allergies) so pup spent her time between sleeping in the car and running around the backyard. All the while being admired by curious children. She was a trooper for sure. spying ... continue reading...
Midwest 2020: overnight in Cincinnati
In September we drove from North Carolina to Illinois to spend a week with Leandra's sister and family. Given it is a ~14 hour drive we broke it up into two days, spending a night in Cincinnati. We'd never been before so we made an effort to try a few things new-to-us. Aloft on the levee - since we were traveling with our mini schnauzer pup, Pasha, we made it a priority to stay at a dog-friendly hotel. This Aloft was great, with dogs staying free, and a nice location on the Kentucky side of ... continue reading...
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