We went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park twice on our spring trip, once to the relatively close Cataloochee Valley in the early evening, and then an all day trip to the Tennessee side of...
Blog posts from USA Travel
NC mountains, April 2022: waterfalls
During our week in the mountains we made sure to seek out several waterfalls that we hadn't yet visited. On a beautiful Sunday we focused our effort along Forest Rd 475, hitting the following: Cove...
Week in Florida: Eat + Drink
Other Breweries Good Liquid Brewing - We originally planned to go to the South Manatee location, but at the last minute we noticed their newish location in Sarasota that was a little easier to get...
Week in Florida: Oyster shucking
After returning from our afternoon in St. Pete - my Dad informed me they had purchased 2 dozen oysters from Detwiler's! I had him pour me a glass of champagne and got started shucking. We ate them...
Week in Florida: Daytrip to St. Pete
We started our afternoon in the Edge district with cuban sandwiches at Bodega. We ordered at the outdoor window and grabbed an open table inside. We were so hungry we ate everything before thinking...
2021 Year in Review
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...
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...
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)...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Our Itinerary
2026 Trips
Parrish, FL (Jan)
Medellin, Colombia (Feb)
Wilmington, NC (Apr)
Asturias, Spain (May)
Galicia, Spain (Jun)
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, 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)
day trips from Bologna (Oct)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
Greensboro, NC (Nov)
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)