Open Baladin. We decided to try all the smoked beers! Eric got 'Jenny the Smoker' scotch ale and I had the Open Garden Smoked Ale. We decided to split the stronger Imperial Ghisa, a smoked stout...
Blog posts from Food & Drink
Dublin: food + drink
Toner's — Located about a ten minute walk from our hotel, this pub was listed as the best place to try Guinness in Dublin so, of course, we had to check it out. On Friday night it was absolutely jam...
London: food + drink in Berkshire Co.
Bracknell The Yorkshire Rose — We weren't terribly hungry after a substantial Sunday roast lunch, so we were drawn by the options of small plates. Not too busy on a Sunday night with just two other...
London: Sunday Roast with Aunt Kim + Jules
We purposely left Sunday morning free to meet up with Kim and Jules, who proposed lunch at a pub on the Thames. To get out there we took the Tube to the Kew Garden station and met up at Tap on the...
London: Imperial War Museum, a Polish Kitchen + the death of my phone
Our flight landed early at Heathrow and because we have done this trip over a dozen times it took us no time at all to get to our hotel in Earl's Court. As it was Saturday morning there were...
Shanghai 2017: Nanxing
After a leisurely breakfast, we spent a couple of hours Friday morning on FaceTime with family and friends wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving back in the States (where it was still Thursday...
Shanghai: Thanksgiving Dinner
Before we left for our relaxing trip to Hangzhou, I had made a dinner reservation for Thursday night at Cucina at the Hyatt. Unfortunately, neither of us checked WHICH Hyatt the restaurant was...
Pacific NW: Efeste & exploring Bellevue
Our only wine tasting for the day was EFESTĒ to pick up our semi-annual allotment and try out some additional wines. Since it was Monday, we were the only people in the tasting room which meant a...
Pacific NW: Woodinville Wineries and hanging with friends
After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel we met my friend Barb (from high school) & her husband, Jon at Davenport Cellars at noon. Phil was our wine pourer and he definitely opened up a bit when...
Pacific NW: Willamette Valley and drive to Seattle
Stopped in at the Sweet Oregon Berry Co again for another round of raspberry and pumpkin hand pies, then headed to our old favorite Arborbrook Vineyards. Per usual, the tasting here was good, it's...
Pacific NW: Willamette Valley, day 2
We met our friend from college, Nate Wall, at Day Wines for a tasting and tour. Got to try a bunch of different wines and have a great conversation about wine making methods. Our next destination...
Pacific NW 2017: Willamette Valley, day 1
Our flight into Seattle landed at 10pm, so fortunately our friends Dave and Jake who offered to host us for the night live just a few minutes from the airport. Of course we stayed up talking and...
Paris 2017: food & drink
Thursday Lunch @ Le Petit Marche - Having just landed and dropped off our bags we needed lunch, quickly! Even at 1:30p this restaurant was packed, but they managed to squeeze us into a small table....
A warm weekend in Minneapolis / St. Paul
In late September we flew to Minneapolis to visit friends and explore the area, and lucky us, it was warmer there than back home in NC! The heat made us a little lazier than we might have planned,...
Scotland 2017: layover in London
What to do with a half day in London? How about enjoying art, beer, and a show? We started at one of our favorite museums, the National Gallery. Leandra hadn't seen Cagnacci's Repentant Magdalene (a...
Scotland 2017: Spirit of Speyside day 2
For our last day in Scotland we mixed several Spirit of Speyside events along with some drives and hikes through the beautiful countryside. I started off the morning with a photo session of the...
Scotland 2017: Spirit of Speyside day 1
The Spirit of Speyside event registration opened right after our return from Malaysia. A few days before that we went through the events available for Saturday and Sunday and made a prioritized...
Scotland 2017: Exploring the Highlands
Our second day in Scotland involved lots of driving, several waterfalls, one particularly rainy hike, and a few drams of whisky (naturally). We headed north out of Inverness along the A835 to Rogie...
Our Itinerary
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Doha, Qatar (May)
Bristol + London, UK (Jul)
Long Island, NY (Jul)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
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)