Previous years-in-review – 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 2021 was another slow(er) travel year - no international travel, but following our vaccinations we did take several road trips plus a few domestic flights in the fall. Memorable moments: January-March: movie-inspired dinner nights April: fully vaxxed, road trip to FL May: road trip to the NC Outer Banks (our first time!) July: family-time on Long Island August: NC mountains ... continue reading...
Chicago, December 2021
A trip to meet up with Leandra's sister and family in early November fell apart, so we decided to fly up to Chicago for a long weekend in December. Since we also had a free Hilton night we needed to use we started our trip with a night at the Chicago Waldorf. On arrival we were escorted to the front desk and assigned a room on the 22nd floor. It included a lovely tub plus a small seating area with a working fireplace! Our stay included a $50 food credit that could be used at any of ... continue reading...
Longwood Gardens
I've long wanted to visit Longwood Gardens, one of the most well-known gardens on the US east coast famous for its water features and formal gardens. Since we would be driving (relatively) nearby—and we didn't have a dog with us—we decided to finally visit on our return from New England. We arrived a few minutes before their 10am opening and got in line for tickets. After a brief issue with their staffed credit card machines we obtained our tickets from the automated kiosk and made our way ... continue reading...
New England, October 2021: Maine food & drink
When I was planning the Maine part of the trip I knew we would have to visit Allagash, but I also stumbled across the large list of sours and dark beers at Barreled Souls Brewing -- definitely a place that fits both our tastes! The entry is around the back of a shared building, with the tasting room in a basement space with several nooks. With so many sours available I couldn't choose just one so I went with small pours including: Sourpuft Girls - blackberry, strawberry, ... continue reading...
New England, October 2021: Maine sights
Over our 2.5 days along the Maine coast we explored a few different areas. On the drive to Portland we stopped at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. The 1 mile loop was a nice place to stretch to our legs after the 2 hour drive, and offered up some views of massive wetlands. Kennebunkport was a short drive away. We parked in the free lot on the north edge of town, then walked in to explore. The day was fairly overcast and a bit drizzly, so we were a little surprised at the ... continue reading...
New England, October 2021: New Hampshire food and drink
On our first evening in NH, we went to Covered Bridge Farm Table for dinner right around sunset, where we managed to snag a table looking over the river and famed Blair Covered Bridge! Eric had the mac & cheese with buffalo chicken paired with a cider, while Leandra tried the New England seafood bake with a glass of Malbec. Both were really good, and the mac & cheese was more than enough for leftovers. We started the next morning with bagel sandwiches from White Mountain ... continue reading...
New England, October 2021: covered bridges
It's hard to visit Vermont or New Hampshire without seeing the scenic covered bridges, and each has a different story and setting. Some you can drive across, others are pedestrian only and some are view only (on private land). We stopped to photograph five on this trip. Packard Hill Bridge (no 67) Blair Covered Bridge (by Covered Bridge Farm Table restaurant) Riverwalk Covered Bridge (Littleton) Jack O'Lantern Resort Covered Bridge Albany Covered Bridge (Kanc Hwy) ... continue reading...
New England, October 2021: New Hampshire hikes and sights, part 3
The forecast for Saturday was rain, especially in the mountains, so we decided to start south and work our way back. After breakfast we drove down to Castle in the Clouds for the Shannon Brook trail with multiple falls and cascades over a 1.5 mile RT hike. A classic car show happened to be taking place at Castle in the Clouds, so after our hike we wandered around and checked out some of the vehicles. Next we took several lovely backroads, and eventually dirt ... continue reading...
New England, October 2021: New Hampshire hikes and sights, part 2
On Friday we started fairly early on the popular Kancamagus Highway ($5 day use fee for all stops). Our first stop was the Pemigewasset Overlook, which was a little underwhelming. I think we are spoiled by the Blue Ridge Parkway. Next up was the popular two-tiered Sabbaday Falls accessed via a short paved hike with a bunch of stairs to different viewpoints. Our next stop was the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, which had several spots of fall color, plus the rather serene Falls ... continue reading...
New England, October 2021: New Hampshire hikes and sights, part 1
The majority of our trip was spent exploring in New Hampshire, and as usual, waterfalls were a significant component. We finally arrived in NH on Wednesday afternoon (Sept 28) and managed to hit Profile Falls along the way to the White Mountains. We parked in a pullout just after the stone bridge, then followed a small trail along the river for about 0.1 miles. On our way to dinner that evening we took a detour to check out Campton Falls, which is viewable off the roadside, and ... continue reading...
New England, October 2021: introduction
We've wanted to experience a New England autumn for years, but other trips always took precedence. This year we found a great airfare deal to Manchester, NH, so we booked a week-long trip. With patience we even found a good rental car deal and were all set to explore New Hampshire and Maine. Unfortunately, nine hours before we were scheduled to fly, Southwest canceled our flights - with the standard unbelievable claim of weather (of course). That lead to a mad scramble, as we checked for ... continue reading...
Oregon 2021: wineries
Because of COVID we had to make reservations in advance for each place, so we only did 1-2 places per day, which forced us to relax at each a bit more than in previous trips. Arborbrook Our first winery of the trip, and one we've visited many times for their Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. We were seated at a small table on the patio for our tasting. Sadly, they only had one Pinot Gris left on the menu, but thankfully it was quite nice. Leandra tried the Reserve flight which was all reds and ... continue reading...
Oregon 2021: Willamette Valley restaurants
Rosmarino Osteria Italiana, Newberg Probably our favorite restaurant in the valley (other visits), if they had been open on Wednesday we would have gone for our anniversary. Alas, this year they were only open Thursday-Sunday, so we made a reservation for Sunday night - which was quite necessary, as they were turning groups away the entire time we were eating dinner! I went in fully expecting to order the amazing blue cheese and walnut gnocchi, to the point where I didn't even look at the ... continue reading...
Oregon 2021: Willamette Valley sights
In addition to the coast and our wine tastings, we also checked out two parts of McMinnville, downtown and the Mason-Rivera Sculpture Garden. It's been a few years since we'd last been in McMinnville, and downtown felt a bit livelier. It was a lovely evening, so after dinner we walked around checking out the business storefronts, and shaking our heads at the wine puns at several street crossings. On our way to the coast we noticed the Mason-Rivera Sculpture Garden and noted it ... continue reading...
Oregon 2021: coastal drive
We left our Monday free of wine tasting reservations in the hopes of visiting the Oregon coast, and thankfully, the weather cooperated with our plans. Our plan was to check out the section from Pacific City to Newport, about 50 miles total. Given our many stops it took us about five hours. McPhillips Beach - We found a spot in the small rocky parking lot and walked down to the beach. This beach allows cars to drive on the sand, but I wasn't willing to brave that in our rental car! Plenty of ... continue reading...
Oregon 2021: Portland
Our Oregon trip was bookended by days in Portland. On Sunday morning, we checked out of the Holiday Inn and headed to the Gateway Breakfast House for breakfast. They were busy! After a short 10 minute wait we got two seats at the small counter, our own little nook, and ordered a classic ham and egg scramble with hash browns for Eric, and biscuits and gravy for Leandra. Very tasty, and we were full until dinner. With a few hours to spare until our first wine tasting reservation we tried ... continue reading...
Oregon 2021: introduction
If you asked us in 2019 where we would go for our 20th anniversary, we likely would have replied with somewhere in Asia, or perhaps the Pacific. Fast forward to 2021, and we did end up along the Pacific! This was our first flight in 18 months (!!) and we weren't up for the potential hassles of international rule changes, so we stayed within the borders of the US, and decided on Oregon. We always enjoy our trips (2008, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), plus we are members of several wineries, so ... continue reading...
NC Mountains Summer 2021: waterfalls + hikes
Although this was a 'working vacation' in western NC, we still had plenty of time with a full weekend plus some late afternoon days to do some exploring in the late summer sun. On Saturday, we headed north (almost in Tennessee!) to the Big Creek Trail which included Midnight Hole Falls and Mouse Creek Falls along with some extra cascades thrown in for good measure. Our friend Leah leads guided hikes and she showed us how to find salamanders and listed off all the blooms we were seeing along ... continue reading...
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