Life is pretty darn fantastic when I’m given the opportunity to buy a new travel book. The occasion, you ask? Mr. M & I are headed to Iceland for the 4th of July weekend! From the pictures I’ve come across in my trip planning, Iceland seems to offer up unbelievably gorgeous natural scenery: waterfalls, glaciers, […]
Days #11,190: Having successfully completed our first Portuguese road trip, our band of six graduated to the next level: an overnight trip into the Porto region of the country. After Lisbon, Porto is perhaps the most famous region in Portugal, as it’s the birthplace of Port wine, that syrupy sweet moonshine listed at the bottom […]
Our trip to Australia predated my understanding that “Rainforest” doth not equal “Willy Wonka’s Wonderland of Animals.” While the rainforest may indeed be jam-packed with wildlife, thou shalt not see any. That’s so consistently the case across the continents that if I had a Ten Commandments of Adventure Travel, that would make it onto the […]
Saturday was filled with colonial history and Philly cheesesteaks, but Sunday… Sundays are made to be indulgent. Forgiving of obligation. (Even when said obligation is touristing through Philadelphia. Yes, it’s hard work. Don’t judge.) Day #11,300: Indulgence is defined by brunch, and that seemed like a damn fine place to start. After finding our first […]
We’d visited Philadelphia once before- almost ten years ago when Mr. M & I went on a we-just-graduated-college roadtrip from Connecticut back home to LA. My Operation: Roadtrip scrapbook confirms that our principal impression of Philly, circa 2004, was: “The Liberty Bell is a whole lot smaller than you’d imagine it to be.” Mr. M determined […]
Mr. M & I didn’t have the typical, chillax-by-the-Caribbean-Sea kind of honeymoon. This is for the best, as those Sandals commercials with handsome couples wearing all white and running hand in hand down the beach make me snicker. Who are these folk? Even at 15, Mr. M & I were never so desperately in love […]
The Northeast has a certain high-falutin’ way of naming its suburban wilds that somehow elevates them to the level of Inaccessible. For months I imagined that The Poconos (did I dare breathe its hallowed name?) was an enchanted playground for the rich & famous… not the birthplace of the in-room champagne hot tub. Similarly, I […]
Mr. M, Charlie, & I woke up this Friday morning to thick, fluffy snow swirling round outside our bedroom window. Mr. M, with his sizeable commute and morning errands, was a bit annoyed. Charlie Mae- upon setting one paw in an icy puddle on our stoop and immediately putting her gears in reverse- was horrified […]
**I just bought a ticket back to California to visit with friends & family (yay!) and thought it was time for another post on the places I consider to be my ‘hometowns.’ Consider it an impromptu and slightly disorganized mini-series. ;) ** ‘Home’ is such a loaded word. It has at once vague and incredibly specific […]
Although my decision-making process regarding what days to write about is generally pretty haphazard (read: non-existent… it’s a blindfold, spin, & point situation), Pope Benedict’s recent abdication had me thinking of our own visit to the Vatican City a few years ago. (It also has me wondering whether he can still insist on being addressed […]