After a leisurely drive from Portland we reached our first stop along the coast, Ecola State Park. The road through the park takes you through a lush green forest before ending at Indian Beach and...
Blog posts from Travel
Summer 2018: North Fork food + drink
Since we spent half of July on Long Island we had plenty of opportunities to try out a variety of restaurants, breweries and wineries. Food Porto Bello - Eric's parents had eaten here during a...
Alsace: an afternoon in Luxembourg
To avoid French toll roads, we took a route through southwestern Germany that reminded us of North Carolina with rolling hills, farms and small towns. This routing also took us right through the...
Alsace: Strasbourg
Using our parking ticket / tram pass we took the train into town and disembarked at the central Grand Rue stop - less than a ten minute journey from the hotel. We needed a snack, so our first order...
Alsace: Colmar food + drink
It will come as no surprise that we ate well across Alsace! Thursday After settling into to our apartment we walked over to the Casino Supermarket for some groceries - orange juice, milk, granola...
Alsace: Day 3 – Riquewihr + Obernai
Riquewihr This little village really looked promising on the drive into town... However, once we parked (car lots were 3€ for two hours with no option for less time) and noticed bus loads of (mostly...
Alsace: Day 2 – Eguisheim, Munster, Ammerschwihr, Kaysersberg
Eguisheim Another item on Eric's must-see list was this small village ringed by roads with names like Rue de Riesling, Rue de Traminer, etc. Luckily we found a free parking spot near a park just...
Alsace: Day 1 – Haut-Koenigsbourg, Saint-Hippolyte, Rorschwihr, Ribeauville
Haut-Kœnigsbourg Our first day in Alsace was predicted to be the sunniest, so we decided to start explorations here to take advantage of the views. It was one of the top three items on Eric's...
Alsace: a brief stop in Metz
After sailing through customs, collecting our luggage (that we were forced to check for no good reason due to an inconsistent/jerk BA gate agent) and picking up the rental car in Luxembourg, we...
Euro summer trip 2018: overview, maps, and where we stayed
For summer 2018 a trip to the UK for work materialized, meaning a return to London and the Berkshire county area last visited in January. Since Leandra could travel with me we decided to tack on a...
UK July 2018: where we stayed
On the UK portion of our July trip we stayed in London and Wokingham. Ampersand Hotel - South Kensington Eric had stayed at the Ampersand once before and was happy to return for this trip. This...
Wokingham: eat + drink
Sunday After an easy check-in to the hotel, we walked 15 minutes into town for a cider at The Ship Inn. We ordered at the bar and sat outside in the shade as the air temp was gorgeous. The beer...
London: food + drink
Friday After my missed connection adventure it was nice to go out for some comfort food, so a trip back to Vicino for dinner was in order. We split the Sicilian Rosato special (a mix of sangiovese...
London: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Eric surprised me before the trip by finding tickets to the Harry Potter show, parts 1 + 2 for Saturday! Part one runs from 2pm to 5pm and Part two runs from 7:30pm to 10:15pm so we made...
London: Trump protests, Hampsted Heath
Since Leandra's arrival was delayed I had the afternoon in London by myself. By chance I was in town the same day as Trump, and protests were planned for several spots around London. Given the news...
London: getting there the long way
The original plan to get to the UK for this trip was for both of us to fly IcelandAir through Reykjavik, Iceland onto London. However. Right after Eric bought my ticket, the price for the same...
Scotland 2018: long layover in London
Continuing the trend of nice weather on this trip, we were treated to a beautiful sunny day in London. We thought heading towards the Thames would be a good way to enjoy the weather, so we decided...
Scotland 2018: Speyside food + snacks
Thursday On our way to the Tomintoul Distillery tour, we grabbed some caffeine at the Caoldair Coffee and Craft Shop. I had a scalding hot latte that took me forever to drink (I finally had to get a...
Our Itinerary
2026 Trips
Parrish, FL (Jan)
Medellin, Colombia (Feb)
Wilmington, NC (Apr)
Madrid, Spain (May)
Asturias, Spain (May)
Galicia, Spain (June)
London/Cotswolds, UK (July)
Long Island, NY (July)
Ireland (Aug)
Vietnam (Nov)
Laos (Nov)
Cambodia (Dec)
Singapore (Dec)
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls (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)
day trips from Bologna (Oct)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
Greensboro, NC (Nov)