One of my favorite “weird and wonderful” nearby locations is the city of Durham. We live in the Triangle of North Carolina, which is formed by the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, plus a lot of other surrounding cities and suburbs. Though we live in Cary and used to live in Raleigh, Durham remains our favorite city to eat, play, and spend time … Continue reading Keeping Durham Weird
In keeping with my theme of the weird and the wonderful in travel locations this month, I wanted to talk about two places that keep Seattle funky. Those of you who know me, or anything about where I love to travel, Seattle is high on the list. There are so many reasons why I like Seattle, but the fact that it has no shortage of … Continue reading Wanderlust Wednesday: Seattle’s Gum Wall & The Fremont Troll
This month, I’m going to be focusing on weird and wonderful places. Though I missed last week (whoops), I hope you’ll enjoy this collection of random and eclectic places I’ve been.
Up first is a city I can’t wait to do a full post on, New Orleans. I recently visited there for the first time this summer and loved it more than I expected! Continue reading “Not Your Everyday History Lesson: New Orleans Pharmacy Museum”
Welcome to Wanderlust Wednesday! This month, in the spirit of Parks and Recreation Month, I’ve been covering national parks, state parks, parks in other countries, and finally, a park that’s close to home. At the end of each month for Wanderlust Wednesday, I’ll be doing a local edition, focusing on a location close to where I live, which for now means in North Carolina in the United States. Continue reading “Wanderlust Wednesday, Local Edition: Yates Mill”
Two years ago, I was in one of my favorite places in the U.S. — the Pacific Northwest. It feels traitorous of me to say that, given my Southern roots, but my husband, who is from Olympia, Washington, has converted me into an avid lover of that temperate, misty, beautifully green region. I’m especially in favor of it right about now, when I’m pretty done with … Continue reading Wanderlust Wednesday: Mount Rainier National Park
Oh, Venice: you were my favorite part of the trip. As close as Cinque Terre came to winning that title, the City of Canals won its way to my heart.
I was worried it was over-hyped. That years and years of people telling me how much they loved Venice, of seeing stunning pictures of it, of hearing its praises sung by every travel guide, of reading novels set in its watery streets — that somehow the prestige would lessen the grandeur. How wrong I was. I actually considered leaving Venice off our itinerary, afraid we would be exhausted by navigating tiny streets packed with tourists. I’m so glad I didn’t. Continue reading “Venice, the Floating City”
I’m featuring parks this July for Wanderlust Wednesday, and today I want to talk about Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia, a place we visited about a year ago after visiting Athens for a University of Georgia football game. (Go Dawgs!) The Georgia State Parks website describes Tallulah as “one of the most spectacular canyons in the eastern U.S.” Two miles long and nearly 1,000 … Continue reading Wanderlust Wednesday: Tallulah Gorge State Park
Continuing with the parks theme this month, I couldn’t resist a throwback to my honeymoon in Nova Scotia, Canada. A few shots of Cape Breton was all it took for my then-fiance to convince me that we should abandon the sunny beaches of traditional honeymoons for the cooler, craggier coast of Nova Scotia. Our week and a half there was remote, romantic, adventurous — and we couldn’t have asked for … Continue reading Throwback to our Canadian Honeymoon: Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton
While Florence’s city center is dwarfed by Milan’s, its size is deceptive. Known as “the cradle of the Renaissance,” Florence packs endless amounts of history and art into a small space.
As we only had two nights in Florence, we could only see so much. When I travel, I prioritize flexibility over the impossible feat of “seeing it all” — and Florence was no different. In our case, we discovered the huge city market somewhat by accident, but we didn’t make it to the Uffizi or Galleria dell’Accademia. Traveling with time constraints while also embracing the ability to make spontaneous decisions sometimes means that you take the path less traveled at the expense of missing a major tourist attraction. Most of the time, I’m okay with that. Continue reading “Florence, the Cradle of the Renaissance”
One month ago, my dad started an epic bicycle ride across the country. Just last week, he sent me this awesome picture of himself and his bike, with the Grand Canyon in the background. And that’s where my wanderlust wants me to be today, somewhere wild and free and scenic like the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, the only time I’ve had the pleasure of visiting, I was … Continue reading Wanderlust Wednesday: Grand Canyon National Park
Welcome to a new feature I’m starting called Wanderlusty Wednesday. Today I’m going to be stepping back in time to my second trip out of the country to Spain, focusing on Barcelona! (P.S. Most of my posts for this feature won’t be this long, but every now and then I might do a full-on, throwback city guide.) Continue reading “Wanderlust Wednesday: Barcelona”
While 
browsing a used bookstore a few months ago, I peeked into the travel section to see if they had anything on Italy. Amid abandoned copies of Under the Tuscan Sun, I found Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa.
Confession: I’m no history buff. I don’t read all the plaques at museums, and I don’t seek out history tours. I appreciate history, and I like to understand its cultural relevance, but that’s about where it stops. It’s really not like me to voluntarily read an entire book on a monument’s history.
But maybe it’s something I should start doing. Continue reading “Tilting Towards Pisa: A Day Trip & Book Review”
Cinque Terre, meaning “five cities,” is located on the northwestern coast of Italy, and is just as picturesque as it looks. I already mentioned in my preliminary Italy post that this was one of the highlights of our trip, and the pictures make it easy to see why. I’ve arranged our day in this area based on my favorite cities, from most to least, although they were all beautiful in their own way. Continue reading “Cinque Terre & Italy’s Stunning Coastline”
Already recognized as a world fashion capital, Milan is well on its way to becoming a major destination. And with airfare into its international airport — Malpensa — routinely coming in hundreds of dollars cheaper than surrounding airports, I think it may soon become a popular hub for European travelers.
More than just a place to fly into, however, Milan possesses history and charm all its own. Continue reading “The Glamor & History of Milan”
As I mentioned yesterday in my reflection on the joy of being home, we just returned from vacation a few days ago. As we spent ten days in Italy, and the ‘I’ day fell just a few days after our return, it seemed fitting that I post something about the trip today. There will be more detailed posts coming, but for now, here are three of my favorite things from the trip. (Read all my subsequent posts on Italy.)
Continue reading “I is for Italy: 3 Favorite Things from our Italian Vacation”
Booked & Ready 