Two Weeks in Western Europe

So, resurrecting this dinosaur today!

It’s been a few years since I’ve written about anything on here. Not sure why. Blame it on the pandemic. Was I worried blogging had fallen out of fashion? I decided I didn’t care!

Tim and I got home a few weeks ago from a two-week trip to Western Europe. We visited the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France. It was in celebration of our 20th anniversary.

I keep saying I can’t believe it has come and gone already!

All the planning and research, and two weeks of vacation gone in a flash! All the worrying. I am kind of a worrier when it comes to getting to places. Not that I am scared to travel, but I am always worried that something is going to be delayed or not go just right. But worrying never does anyone any good. Even if something does go wrong, it won’t be one of the things you worry about, right?

Like at 4 a.m. when we were backing out of the garage for our trip to the airport and Tim ripped off the garage sensor because the pickup got tangled up in one of our seven bikes! We couldn’t get the garage door to shut until I held it down until it closed completely, and then ran out the front door! Ha! Thank goodness for neighbors you can text to keep an eye on the garage door!

But by about the second day into the trip, we’d both forgotten about the silly garage door incident and were instead focusing on the day’s itineraries.

We started out flying into Amsterdam. A short train ride from the airport took us to Utrecht, where we checked into our hotel room on a canal and started exploring this foreign place.

We were so tired but forced ourselves to stay awake until it got dark! We instantly fell in love with the winding streets of the city center and made plans to climb the 465 steps to the top of the Dom Tower and take in the spectacular views from the top.

We couldn’t believe all the bicycles here and in Amsterdam when we visited.

This was a common site in so many places. Just hundreds of bikes. After dinner, we made our way to a grocery store to get a few provisions. I always love to wander around grocery stores wherever I go and see what different things there are to eat. Does anyone else like to do that?

After a good night’s rest, we hopped on a train and went to Amsterdam for our Noon tour of the Anne Frank House and Vincent Van Gough Museum later that afternoon. You must make reservations for both of these places. We also made a spontaneous visit to the modern and contemporary art museum, Mocco and enjoyed apple/bacon and bacon/gouda pancakes that day.

After all that, we were ready to hop back on the train and take in everything we’d just experienced. It was quite a full day with lots to think about.

We planned to take it easy the next day, and slept in a bit, but then ended up doing the Dom Tower climb that afternoon.

The next day we visited Zaanse Schans, which is a neighborhood in the Dutch town of Zaandam, near Amsterdam. We took in the historic windmills and distinctive green wooden houses that were relocated here to recreate the look of an 18^th/19th-century village. We learned about making wooden shoes and cheese!

That afternoon we had stroopwafels and enjoyed beers and jenever at Amsterdam’s oldest pub, Three Little Bottles. Located right off Dam Square, this place has been serving up spirits since 1619. Before we knew it, we were chatting to folks and had a wonderful time before ending the day with a canal cruise.

It was a big, magical day.

The next day we traveled to Brussels. This was on the high-speed Thalys train, which you must also make reservations on in advance. The other trains you just buy your tickets the day of.

We got into town about 2 p.m. and immediately started exploring after checking into our hotel.

First stop: Grand Place, the central square of Brussels, Belgium. Immediate awe. The opulent Baroque guild halls of the former Guilds of Brussels were amazing. Look closely at the fronts of these buildings, that is all real gold.

It wasn’t hard to find places to eat chocolate and drink beer from there while concluding our night with a big pot of mussels and Belgium fries.

The next morning, we hopped on a train for a day trip to Bruges.

I think it was at this point of the trip that I really forgot about everything back home. And wow. Bruges was so beautiful. We strolled through town, stopping to have a bit to eat at a sidewalk café, took a canal cruise of the city and bought more chocolate – ha!

We absolutely loved this day.

The next day back in Brussels we toured the Cantillon Brewery and Museum in Brussels where we learned about Belgian beer in the 100+ year-old building. After spending some time in the tasting room, we purchased a few bottles to enjoy throughout the trip!

After that, I wanted to tour the Comic Book Museum and learn more about my favorite cartoon growing up – the Smurfs!

But first, we had lunch at 58 Rooftop on the way. We thought we could just waltz in there the night before, but the line was around the block! Lunch was no problem, though. And the views were magnificent!

After the museum, we needed a waffle and coffee stop and a little rest before dinner, where we ventured to a restaurant that served nothing by giant meatballs. We had eye-balled it on our first night and had to make a stop on our last night.

The next day we were ready for some new scenery and got on the high-speed train to Cologne, Germany.

We were both super excited to visit Germany and chose Cologne because it was a close and easy stop before Paris. My sister also recommended this a city she also loved.

We stayed at a cool hotel in an old water tower that also had a cool rooftop bar.

We ventured to the city center right away and took in views of the Rhine River and Cologne Cathedral and didn’t waste any time to try a Kolsch beer. The Kolsch style of beer originated in Cologne. It is served in a tall, thin cylindrical 200 ml glass. The server carries a whole tray of these beers and keeps bringing them to you until you put your coaster on top of your empty glass. The server also keeps track of how many glasses you’ve had on your coaster.

It was a delicious cold and almost fruity-flavored beer that we both enjoyed very much. Maybe it was the hot weather, but you can easily drink a few of these!

The next day we ventured to the Ludwig Museum and again enjoyed some Kolsch before retiring back at our hotel. We needed a bit of a rest day. The air conditioner didn’t work in our room the night before, so we were upgraded to a suite the next two nights! We stayed in and ordered room service that night!

The final day we ventured to the Chocolate Museum and also the Cologne Museum before exploring the Belgium Quarter and having one of our favorite meals of the trip. Tim had a creamy veal Bolognese and I some pecorino ravioli.

The next day it was the stop I was most anticipating – Paris! We got on the 6:44 a.m. train out of Cologne and made our way to Paris by late morning. It took a while to get a taxi and travel to our hotel, but we were delighted when we got there, and our room was ready!

We got settled and started out the day with a trip to the Luxembourg Gardens. So magnificent even in the rain. After that, it was a late lunch of croque monsieurs at Le Paris Paris. It was the cutest little restaurant and had the prettiest cocktails. Another favorite restaurant of our trip.

We wandered around a bit more, enjoying the shops and atmosphere. I even found a couple of new blouses! After that, we got a few provisions for back at our room and had a couple of drinks before enjoying the hammam at our hotel.

The next morning, we enjoyed our hotel’s daily petit dejeuner of crepes, croissants, pastries, fruits, juices, meats and cheeses. We were excited about our visit to the Musee d’Orsay.

That afternoon it was a trip to the Pompidou Center. We decided to Uber to save some steps and enjoyed another wonderful lunch at Le Bouledogue Brasserie.

We walked back, passing Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, Shakespeare and Company (I wanted to stop in, but there was a line) and yummy crème puffs at Odette.

It was then back to the hotel for happy hour. We ventured to an Italian place that night for dinner, which neither of us liked. We both ordered pasta – Tim carbonara and me a pistachio pesto dish with seafood. It was OK, but we wished we would have gotten pizza. I think the place was more known for that and I can’t even remember its name!

The next day we didn’t have anything too planned. After breakfast, we ventured up to Montmartre on the Metro to see the Sacre Coeur

We took the Metro to the Abbesses station and stopped by the Love Wall, had a little lunch and made our way to the Sacre Coeur. Both the Love Wall and Sacre Coeur were so crowded! You were constantly walking through people’s photos and running into hucksters trying to sell you lockets and key chains. We did a loop walking by the La Maison rose, Moulin de la Galete and the Moulin Rouge.

That evening we had reservations at Procope. The oldest restaurant in Paris. They even have Napoleon’s hat on display. I had not got onion soup yet, so enjoyed that for my first course, followed by sea bass in a puff pastry. Tim enjoyed the braised beef checks. We passed on dessert and went back to our hotel for its Jazz Night and a nightcap instead.

Friday was our last day. I couldn’t get a reservation to the Louvre until this day, and I even went to do it 6 weeks before! So, if that is on your list to do on your Paris visit, be sure to do it right away!

Tickets for this were also sold out on the Paris Museum Pass, which wouldn’t have been cost-effective for us anyways, only visiting 4 museums over 3 days. To make that cost-effective, I found you had to visit 2-3 each day over 2 days. We didn’t want museum overload. And that is probably another piece of advice. Don’t plan every day. Some days you just want to sleep in and wander around.

The Louvre was amazing and also overwhelming. You could visit it a dozen times and not see everything We, of course, had to see the Mona Lisa and took in a few other things. We weren’t even sure if we were going to visit the Louvre on this trip to Paris. There are just so many things to see, but we were glad we did.

After that we decided to hop on one of the pedi-cabs waiting outside museums. I somehow read the price wrong and who knows, maybe they had two prices, I don’t know. But I thought it was 22 Euro for both of us for a ride to the Arch de Triomphe. Yeah, it was 22 apiece. Yikes. And the guy didn’t even take us the entire way. He said he had to stop at the Torch of the Alma Bridge because of the Rugby Village that was set up. We still had another mile yet to walk. Next time, we are avoiding the pedi cabs. We have had good luck with them in other cities, but not Paris. So, beware. An Uber would have cost a quarter of this.

We walked up the Champs Elyees anyways and took in the Arc de Triomphe and steak and frites for lunch at Brasserie L’Alsace before heading to the Musee de l’Orangerie.

It was our favorite stop of the day. It takes about an hour to visit the entire museum, with the highlight here being Monet’s Water Lilies. After that we enjoyed the Tuileries Gardens, taking a seat and putting our feet up just taking it in.

The evening was our sunset dinner boat cruise.

Our cruise on the Siene was a definite highlight. Our meal was nothing fancy, some veal stew and yummy mashed potatoes, but good. The views were spectacular, especially of the Eifel Tower.

Paris was a wonderful place. We are already planning where we’d like to go next time. What a magical city! Au revoir!

Happy Holidays!

Happiest of holidays! I can’t believe 2019 is nearly over. And I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about our wonderful trip to Hawaii in September!

I’ll use this final blog entry of the year to reflect on both! We took our sixth trip to the Islands, this time returning to the Big Island and adding a new island, Molokai.

As usual, we based ourselves on Oahu because we had a place to stay there. Our first night there was September’s full moon. Seeing the moon above Waikiki reflect off the Pacific Ocean was so amazing. I could stare at this picture forever.

We spent the first few days hiking and enjoying the beach, my favorite being Kailua. We did the Pillbox hike which was a new one for us — wow! I thought it was tough! And enjoyed our fair share of tiki drinks.

Molokai was a new experience for us. If you are ever looking to “get away from it all” this would be the place to do it. You’ll have roads and beaches all to yourself as you can see below!

The highlight of our trip was heading to the Big Island where we did a night manta ray snorkel. Words can not describe the beauty of these majestic creatures and the awe I was in. I wish I had a decent picture to share, but alas the battery died in my waterproof camera! I’ll throw in these other pictures just for good measure!

As you may have read, earlier this year, we went to the Florida Keys, and, of course, had some great times at Lake Okoboji this summer with family and friends. And with that, I’m signing off for 2019. I think I need to make a point of blogging more in 2020. Wishing you all a wonderful 2020!

 

 

Loving Summer

It’s still summer, and I’m happy.

Summer is by far my most favorite time of year, followed by spring then fall.

It’s been a busy spring and summer, but it’s been good. Work kept me pretty busy for a large portion of it (travel, new projects), but I was able to squeeze in a few travel adventures.

The highlight was a week in Florida in May.

Some folks may think Florida is a tad too warm this time of year, but Tim and I have always been heat-lovers. The first part of the trip was a work trip for Tim, but for me, it was relaxation at Saddlebrook Resort near Tampa.

This 480-acre nature preserve was beautiful. I enjoyed daily walks on the nature trail, hours by the pool and a day at the spa.

After work was over, we were both ready to conquer our drive down to the Florida Keys for the weekend. Again, the drive was half the fun!

Had a glitch not hit Hertz’s computer system delaying our journey, the day would have been perfect. Travel glitches make things ever so interesting, though, right? Because of this, we didn’t get on the road until after 10, which landed us in Miami right at the start of rush hour traffic after 3. But the drive on the overseas highway made up for it. I never get tired of looking at “blue blue” water for hours on end.

We pulled into the Hilton Garden Inn Key West just in time to figure out where we’d go for dinner. We went with Tim’s pick of the Hogfish Bar & Grill. I was a little skeptical of this place when we pulled up, but the fresh seafood was so good. This place is totally out of the way on Stock Island, but worth finding. We had Key West Pink shrimp, conch fritters and the daily fish specials while watching a beautiful sunset. I would probably go back if I ever returned. It sure did beat the more touristy places lining the streets of Key West.

We headed back to our hotel, enjoying our balcony and some wine the rest of the evening.

Day 2 was another great day. We got up early for a morning snorkeling tour. The boat ride around the key was beautiful. Again, I can never get enough “blue blue” water. We snorkeled two spots, both of which were murky due to high surf. It was OK, though, the boat ride was still fun.

Following our excursion, we grabbed lunch at the Half Shell Raw Bar. As you know, Tim and I both love oysters, so a dozen was in order along with some fruity drinks. We also shared some buffalo shrimp, salad, and of course, another Caribbean favorite, conch fritters! We cruised around Old Town, Duval Street and Mallory Square until we decided we were too hot and needed a break in our hotel pool! The Hilton Garden Inn and a few other of the hotels in the area where we stayed share a shuttle that takes you to and from Mallory Square. So, that was a nice benefit as parking is minimal in that area. We stayed a bit outside of the touristy area at the entrance of the island to save some money on hotel costs.

We enjoyed the afternoon at our pool along with its happy hour specials. For dinner, we got ready and headed back into Old Town. We didn’t have a particular place in mind this night, and ended up at A&B Lobster House. We weren’t disappointed. We shared conch fritters and barbecue shrimp, while I also had some conch chowder. We, of course, had to have the key lime ice cream for dessert.

We walked around a bit more along the waterfront after dinner and then decided to call it a night.

On Day 3, we got up and visited the Southern Most Point of the Continental US bouy, and saw Ernest Hemmingway’s home. Next, it was time for some brunch at the Cuban Coffee Queen. This was one of my favorite places. The coffee was amazing (took a couple of pounds home) as was the Cuban Queen Sandwich. Holy cow, the pressed Cuban bread! So yummy. We wandered around the Bahama Village a bit, grabbed a slice of key lime pie, and hit the road to head back up on the Overseas Highway, stopping in Marathon at the Turtle Hospital.

We then made our way up to Ft. Lauderdale, where we stayed that evening and had another highlight of our trip — the Mai Kai!

As you may have read before, Tim and I are huge tiki fans, and the Mai Kai is quite the tiki landmark. Often in Top 10 lists of tiki bars across the US, the Mai Kai is a Polynesian-themed restaurant and tiki bar built in 1956. Just look for the thatched palm A-frame building along Federal Highway and you’ll know you’ve found this kitschy tiki bar like none I’ve ever been in before. We enjoyed tropical drinks, Chinese fare and an atmosphere of gardens, fountains and tiki statues galore. It was a great way to close out our Florida trip.

Other than that, we’ve had a few long weekends in Okoboji with family and friends this summer and a couple of family reunions will round things out. I can’t wait to tell you about our upcoming adventure! Where are you planning to travel next?

Merry Christmas From the Karstens!

Here is the 2018 Karstens Christmas Card! Wishing you the happiest of holidays!

This year we celebrated two milestones! To celebrate, we, of course, traveled.

For my 40th birthday, we spent a week in June visiting Palm Springs, Disneyland and LA.

In September, we celebrated our 15th anniversary. We took a road trip to New England. Our highlight was hiking and touring Acadia National Park.

To round out 2018, we drove to Chicago to celebrate Thanksgiving with sister Sallie and bro-in-law David and toured the Chicago Art Institute (above).

Wishing you a healthy and happy holiday season and 2019!

I am looking forward to more blogging about our adventures! What are you excited for in 2019?

New England Roadtrip Continued

The second half of our September New England road trip started with two nights in Newport, R.I. A thunderstorm followed us from Boston to Newport, so when we arrived we were tired of driving!

We enjoyed a late dinner that night at Rheas’ Inn & Restaurant which we really enjoyed. We just happened upon this place which was perfect after a long day. It was warm and cozy and had great food. If I were to return to the Newport area, I’d definitely consider staying at the Inn here. For dinner, Tim had pasta, while I had the freshly baked sole that was topped with Ritz crackers. I didn’t know breading fish in Ritz crackers was a New England thing! I  may have to try this at home sometime. After dinner,  it was to bed, as we had a jam-packed day planned ahead.

The next day we got up early to do Newport’s famed Cliff Walk. The beautiful architectural history of Newport’s gilded age along the beautiful and rocky Newport shoreline was quite fascinating.

After that, we drove the Ocean Road through more historic mansions of Newport. Next up it was time to explore the downtown/waterfront area. We also had booked a sunset cruise that evening on the Rum Runner II.

While it was overcast most of the day, the sun finally decided to pop out while we were on our cruise. The cruise was the perfect way to end our day in Newport. After the cruise, we enjoyed dinner at The Wharf, where we had seafood chowder and fresh oysters.

I definitely had my fill of seafood on this trip. I never get tired of it!

The next day we were off to Mystic, CT and our final New England state! We had to stop for lunch at Mystic Pizza, of course.

The pizza was OK, but Mystic, CT was super cute. We strolled downtown before the start of our trek home and stay in Hershey, PA. No trip to Hershey is complete without a stop at Hershey’s Chocolate World. What a crazy place! Now that I have been there once, I don’t think I’ll ever need to go back! So many people!

On the second day of our drive back home we stopped at House on Falling Water.

The hike to the Frank Lloyd Wright house near Mill Run, PA, and the view was amazing! We had lunch amongst the trees at the cafeteria on the grounds before making our way back on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (which I never need to drive on again!) and to Cinncinati, OH. After two days of driving, we needed a break, so had a pit stop in Louisville, KY, where we toured some of its famed distilleries and made another stop the next day in Columbus, Ind. If you love mid-century architecture, Columbus, Ind. is the place for you! The small city is a unique place for noted Modern architecture and public art. Definitely a place I’d return if I were ever in that area again.

After this, it was time to head home. Remember what I said about not driving too much? Well, yeah, we did that on our last day of the trip. Road construction and two-lane highways slowed us down quite a bit. We were on the road for nearly 14 hours. But finally made it back to Lincoln, NE with good memories, maple syrup, cider, chocolate and bourbon to enjoy throughout the fall.

49 States!

This summer’s trip to New England brought up our state count to 49! Just an Alaskan cruise left, and we’ll hit 50. When we take that cruise, I have no idea. But I am hoping in a few years. Travel is a funny thing. It can’t always be planned perfectly. Sometimes you just have to live in the moment and go where and when you can. We traded Spain last year for New England and did New England this year. I wanted to see all 50 by 40, but it’s OK I didn’t. And yes, I am really kicking myself that we didn’t go on an Alaskan cruise back in 2007 when we had the chance. So far, my only regrets in life have not been traveling when an opportunity presented itself!

Besides a trip to Chicago to see my sister this fall, I believe we’ve finished up our travel for 2018 and are already making a few plans for 2019 and 2020.

But now, let’s talk about our big trip of 2018. It was a 12-day road trip to New England.

Many folks couldn’t believe we were driving. They’d be like, “where are you flying in?” And I’d be like, “oh, we’re driving.” The journey is half the fun, right?

We left on a Friday after work. Luckily, we have family that lives in Des Moines and Naperville. So those were our first two stops. Along the way, we had a fun stop at Cedar Ridge winery and distillery near Swisher, Iowa, and dinner at a new restaurant in Naperville called Quiubo. I think the key to a good road trip is to not burn yourself out driving too much.

Our second full day was a little longer as we drove across Indiana, into Michigan and Ontario, Canada. We’ve always wanted to visit Toronto and spent the night there. We got into town early evening and enjoyed a stroll and dinner in The Distillery Historic District. We really loved what little we saw of the city and could definitely go back.

Toronto

Toronto

Day three was onward to Vermont and our first day in New England. Before settling in Burlington for the night, we took a scenic drive along Lake Champlain. Early evening, we sipped on cocktails on the lake and visited a local cidery called Citizen Cider. Rounding out the day was a wonderful dinner at The Great Northern. The food here was really good. I really enjoyed Burlington.

Lake Champlain

New Hampshire

Day 4 was our drive across Vermont and into New Hampshire, but first, we had to make stops at the Ben Jerry’s Factory and Cabot Creamery. The good thing about Vermont and New Hampshire is that they are very small, and we made our way into Maine by lunchtime. The highlight of the trip and really our goal was Maine. We really feel in love with Maine. We stayed in Bar Harbor for two nights.

On our first night in Bar Harbor, we didn’t waste any time finding a good place to get a lobster roll. This was at the Thirsty Whale in downtown Bar Harbor. I had a wonderful lobster roll and salad while Tim had a really good chicken sandwich. If I were to come back to Bar Harbor, I would definitely stop here again.

After dinner, we strolled downtown and visited some of its cute shops. The next day, we started out with a hearty breakfast of blueberry pancakes and blueberry french toast! We had to get all of our Maine food bases covered. Then, the rest of the day was spent in Acadia National Park.

Acadia National Park is beautiful. It actually one of the Top 10 most-visited National Parks in the United States. With it being after Labor Day, there were very few crowds. We picked up our permit and trail brochure and went to the top of Cadillac Mountain right away. We spent a good hour on the top taking in the views and going on a short hike. Next, it was on to the Park Loop Road with several vista stops and another good couple of hours spent at Sand Beach and the Ocean Path hike. Sand Beach was my favorite stop. I could have spent all day there. We also stopped at Thunder Hole and Jordon Pond House. Jordon Pond House is must stop after a full day in the park. We celebrated with a popover (my third food must-have of the trip), a local cider and short walk around the lake.

Sand Beach

Jodon Pond

After our day in the park, it was time for some relaxation at our hotel’s pool and hot tub situated right on the oceanfront. That evening I enjoyed a whole steamed lobster for dinner served with seafood chowder and blueberry pie for dessert (Maine food checklist complete.)

The next morning, we began our trek down the Maine coast and on to Boston and then Newport, R.I. I’ll tell you more about the second half of our trip in my next post.

A Road Tripping Good Time

The family road trip sparked my love of travel.

Nearly every summer, we would pack into our car to head to places like Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone and Colorado.

This was the pre-Internet era, and in preparation for such trips I would mail postcards found in my Mom’s magazines to get travel guides.

We’d overpack, pack a cooler with pop and snacks and just get in the car and go.  Oftentimes, we would have no reservations and no real itinerary. Usually, my parents would yell to us kids to pack our bags that we were leaving on vacation with just a few hours notice. Being farmers, to take a summer vacation, you had to have just enough rain to be able to turn off the irrigation pivots for a week so you could get away.

One year we went with some of my parents’ friends and their son to the Black Hills. I sat in the seat in the middle in the front, and he in the middle seat in the back of our diesel Pontiac Bonneville. No seatbelts, of course. Those were the days!

Some dry years when we had to irrigate more, it was just a trip to Kansas City or one year to the Bridges of Madison County, Living History Farms and Adventureland in Iowa.

But some years, if we’d get a few inches of rain in early to mid-August. It would be Yellowstone, Durango or a week in Rocky Mountain National Park. My Dad took his mountain driving seriously. We didn’t just take Trail Ridge Road through RMNP, but the gravel Old Fall River Road. He always had to try and find an “off road” that might just give us more spectacular views of the mountains.

I often dreamed of flying to Disneyland in California or Walt Disney World in Florida. But we never ventured where the car, or later, the minivan, couldn’t take us in a day or two.

Other favorites were Pike’s Peak, Seven Falls and the Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs and the Royal Gorge near Canon City.

And, if we happened upon a Holiday Inn with a Holidome at a reasonable price — look out! I was in HEAVEN. We also stayed at plenty of roadside motels with outdoor pools placed right in the middle of the parking lot. If the pool had a slide — event better!

A book I recently read while Tim and I were on our own road trip this summer,  got me thinking about all these things. “Don’t Make Me Pull Over! An Informal History of the Family Road Trip” by Richard Ratay really was a trip down memory lane. It also got me thinking about a lot of things that now we take for granted.

For example, how did we ever find anything? It is so easy to just type in an address now and have Siri tell you where to go. On our trip this summer, we drove from Nebraska and toured New England. I’ll give you more details about crossing these six states off our list and moving our state count up to 49 (!!), in my next blog. But one funny story during the first part of our trip, after leaving Chicago, we drove to Toronto for the night. However, after entering Canada, we realized we didn’t add international data to our phone plan. We weren’t even going to be in Canada for more than 24 hours.  We should be fine, right?!? After a brief panic, we stopped at an Enroute that we saw had free Wi-Fi. We couldn’t get either of our phones to connect. So we bought some Canadian essentials — Coffee Crisps, Ketchup Lays and — a paper map!

We were able to find our downtown Toronto hotel just fine the old way — using a paper map. That is how we used to do things, right?! I loved being the map navigator on our family trips. I may even go out and buy a new atlas after this trip. For “just in case” on our next road trip. I remember my parents’ fancy atlas that we took along on every trip. It had a beautiful soft leather case with my dad’s name on it.  Those really were the days!

Do you still take road trips? Or are you more of a jet-setter? I can’t wait to hear about it. And, I can’t wait to tell you more about our New England adventure in my next blog. In the meantime, here are a few pictures to tide you over.

World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet in Burlington, VT.

A stop at the Ben and Jerry’s factory!

Acadia National Park in Maine

Boston Harbor

Newport, R.I.

 

 

Travel, Curiosity and State 43

I was listening to NPR one morning this week on my drive to work. A story came on which grabbed my attention right away.

The opening line: “There is great comfort in the familiar. But turns out the familiar may not be the best place to cultivate creativity.”

I thought, well, yes. And, this is my kind of story.

The story went on to focus on how allowing yourself to be influenced by another culture can spark increases in your own creativity. Definitely worth a listen.

However, it got me to thinking about travel. I have always regarded travel as an important aspect of my life. Not just a vacation. But traveling to see and do and learn new things. Travel not only sparks creativity, but travel also makes you happier, boosts your confidence and increases awareness. You’ll meet new people, learn new things and try new foods. The benefits are endless. You don’t need to travel around the world, either. There are adventures awaiting in everyone’s backyard. And if you can’t travel? Try to meet and talk to people more from other places, countries and cultures.

One of my travel goals has been to visit all 50 U.S. states. An ambitious goal, but not unattainable. And, I am excited to announce that I finally crossed off North Dakota (state 43) this last weekend!

We decided to take a little side trip from Okoboji last week and make the trek up to Fargo, N.D. We were really impressed with the city. It reminded us a lot of our own hometown of Lincoln. It had a wonderful downtown area, and we were able to visit the Woodchipper! (Yes, we are fans of the movie “Fargo.”)

On the way back to Okoboji, we took a drive through Minnesota, seeing the world’s largest dilly bar and pelican (I kid you, not!) And, what is more fun than a roadside attraction on a road trip? It’s a community’s representation of something they find important. They can be weird and wacky, but usually fun and a well-needed break along the way to stretch your legs.

And with that, I’ll leave you with some pictures of our most recent adventure. Happy travels!

Art, Tiki and California

So this is the year of crossing off a few places I’ve always wanted to go and upping my states visited list. I started off year No. 40 with a visit to a place I’ve wanted to go since I was a kid — Disneyland! Yes, it was magical. But first, I’ll take you to the start of our trip — Palm Springs.

Palm Springs is actually another place I’ve always wanted to go. And it is a place I’ll definitely return. We spent two nights in Palm Springs, which I cannot lie, were the absolute highlight of the trip.

We loved Palm Springs and its laid-back vibe. We loved the architecture and tiki bars. We especially loved the place we stayed: the Monkey Tree Hotel. It is weird how sometimes the place where you stay on a trip can totally make or break your time spent there. The Monkey Tree totally made our trip.

The hotel was designed in 1960 by Albert Frey and has since been restored to its mid-century splendor. We loved having coffee and swimming in the gorgeous pool each morning followed by a delicious continental breakfast. Each afternoon, we also searched out the pool to escape from the heat and enjoy happy hour before dinner. I can still see myself sitting by the pool enjoying the views of the San Jacinto Mountains and wish I could return!

Our first day in PS, we stopped by the Visitor’s Center on the way into town and then toured the Palm Springs Art Museum.

That night (after happy hour at the pool) we visited the Bootlegger Tiki bar.

As you’ve read before in my blog, Tim and I have a thing for tiki bars. The Bootlegger definitely ranks right up there with some of our other favorites like Hale Pele. It is a tiny hole in the wall, not really comparable to La Mariana or Trader Vick’s, but still a lot of fun. After a couple of tiki drinks, we ventured on to dinner at Ruben & Ozzy’s Oyster Bar and Grill where I had the best crab enchiladas like ever. Yum.

The next day we started out with a ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. This was the coolest tram I’ve ever ridden in. I definitely recommend it if you ever visit Palm Springs. The tramcar rotates as you ascend the cliffs of the Chino Canyon to the mountain summit. While at the top, we did a short hike, and then it was back down.

That afternoon it was a desert drive out to the Integratron. If you want to do a sound bath, be sure to book months in advance. We knew this, but still wanted to see the structure and a bit of Joshua Tree. Next time, I may have to do a sound bath!

After pool time and happy hour, it was another tiki bar — this time the Reef. Painkillers and coconut shrimp made for a perfect end to the day.

Day three was Disneyland! We drove to Anaheim that morning and checked into the Anaheim Hilton, got settled and made our trek just up the street to the park.

What did I love about Disneyland? I loved that everyone wears Disney-gear, I loved the people watching, I loved that you could get several food choices shaped like a mouse and I loved the fireworks, or Spectacular, at the end of the night. Disneyland really does speak its own language, everything moves like clockwork and it was a neat culture to experience. My favorite part of the park was Adventureland, where we took the Jungle Cruise, had a really good lunch at Bengal Barbecue and even saw a pirate! New Orleans Square was another favorite. I got my mouse ears here and the clerk was so nice to ask about our visit. By the time I was out of there we each had first-time visit pins, and I had a pin for my birthday. I was really impressed by the customer service. Another favorite was the Mad Tea Party and the monorail.

I wanted to go on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, but after standing in line for 30 minutes they had to shut it down for repairs.

By evening we were both starting to drag, and there were still a couple of hours to kill before the fireworks. So we took a seat, enjoyed a corndog and took it all in. This did put us in a pretty strategical location to watch the Spectacular. Another thing I forgot to mention is the volume of people. Crazy. The Spectacular was really amazing, and after the show, we wandered through Downtown Disney and visited Trader Sam’s. Yes, another tiki bar, and a really fun way to end our day. This will definitely be a favorite. The bar was really crowded, but a nice couple let us share their table. Ended up, they also love to visit tiki bars in towns they visit, so we had a nice talk. It was nearly 1 a.m. when we got back to our hotel.

The next day was a chill beach day at Huntington Beach. Lunch was at one of my Hawaiian favorites — Dukes! We got back to our hotel before rush hour, rested a bit, with dinner at another Hawaiian favorite — Roy’s in Anaheim. We’ll just call this the beachy Hawaii day, with a fireworks ending (we could see the Spectacular on our walk back from Roy’s to our hotel). Fitting for my birthday trip, right?

Day 5 it was time for a change of scenery, and we headed to The Getty. We got there mid-morning and finished up right around happy hour time — how convenient! This time we visited another tiki bar we’ve been wanting to visit since the last time we were in LA — The Tiki Ti! 

The Tiki Ti was really cool. Another little hole in the wall, but the atmosphere and people made it totally worth it.

We also changed hotels to an Airbnb in Sherman Oaks. Fun little story about our Airbnb — it was owned and operated by the American Girlfriend from Sixteen Candles. I kid you not! She gave us an autographed picture and everything! Dinner that night was at an amazing Mexican restaurant called Casa Vega.

Our final day we met a friend of mine at Venice Beach for lunch on the rooftop of the Erwin hotel. After that, Tim and I got in one more art museum: the Broad. We saved the best for last! This was an awesome contemporary art museum in a really cool building in downtown LA.

Monday morning it was a travel day, and the end to a great trip! Next up North Dakota and New England states, which will bring me up to 49. I can’t wait to tell you more about those!

Summer is Here!

Happy Summer Solstice!

It seems spring went by in a blur. It was a rather cold spring so maybe it was just unmemorable — other than the memory of it snowing on Easter and being absolutely freezing one April weekend as we walked to a Built to Spill concert at the Waiting Room in Benson.

When it wasn’t snowing or raining, we embarked on painting the outside of our house. Painting was quite the undertaking! As with any home project, it took twice as long as we thought it would, and we went through 2 more gallons of paint than we thought we would!  We are extremely happy with how it turned out, though! I couldn’t stop looking at the before and afters! Amazing what a little paint will do. We chose the color sealskin from Sherman Willians. They have the best paint! The door is Cayenne. (A quick fix until we can get rid of this ugly door we both hate and find something cooler!) Also love our new numbers!

We also embarked on a bit more landscaping. Bit by bit, year by year, one of these days our yard is going to look magnificent!

But alas, I do love summer. And I am glad our big projects got done this summer.

The garden is in, and I am content watching it grow from my patio.

Flowers are in bloom, and bike rides and pool time have begun.

Trips to the lake are on the horizon. I have an awesome birthday and birthday trip to tell you about in my next post! Can you guess where we went?

And we are planning an amazing road trip for late summer. I can’t wait! Who else loves summer?