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...
Blog posts from Food & Drink
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...
NC Mountains Summer 2021: food and drink
Frog Level Brewing - Waynesville After a 4.5 hr drive we were happy to be out of the car and ready for a beer! I took Pasha for a quick walk while Leandra scouted the brewery for seating options....
NC Mountains Summer 2021: Blue Ridge Parkway
On this trip we managed to get to the Blue Ridge Parkway twice, Sunday and again on Friday. On Sunday we decided to have a picnic dinner, first stopping to pick up food from Ingles and Publix, then...
NY Summer 2021: Wine and beer tasting
Much like previous summers, we spent a few afternoons visiting local wineries and breweries in July. Lenz Winery, Peconic We've been members for years now, and Lenz always has some interesting wines...
NY Summer 2021: shucking oysters!
A few days after we arrived on Long Island I started noticing "Local Oysters" placards popping up along the side of the main and north roads. Normally, I would get my oyster fix once or twice a...
NY Summer 2021: daytrip to Orient
On a Thursday with beautiful weather we set our emails to out-of-office and drove with my parents out to Orient, the very end of the North Fork of Long Island. Our first stop was at Opties and...
NY Summer 2021: Food
We were much more active this summer compared to 2020, and since things were generally open, we were able to return to old favorites as well as try some new spots. In general chronological order:...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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....
NY Summer 2020: North Fork Food + Drink
With coronavirus restrictions we were very selective about where we went this year, but still got to try a few restaurants, breweries and wineries. Food A Lure Chowder House - This was the first...
Coronavirus cooking adventures
Because of the pandemic currently affecting the world, we are grounded for the foreseeable future and my hobbies now include trying to get our money back from airlines and puzzles. In between Zoom...
Grand Cayman: food
Grand Cayman is known as a pricey destination, and we definitely found that to be true. However, we were pleasantly surprised at the general quality, so at least you are getting a commiserate value...
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)