Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
All in Vacation
This would be the only full free day before Melody’s conference started so we booked a couple tours. We started with a swamp tour, then went on a plantation tour. We then navigated down Bourbon Street on the way to dinner and ended with a ride on the streetcar.
The last trip in a travel-packed October is to New Orleans where Melody is attending the American Translator’s Association conference. I tagged along since I’ve never been to the city (Melody was last there a few months after Katrina.) Monday was a travel day which started very early.
Celeste being in town, we drove across the state to Spokane to visit Neal, their uncle. Rockwood had changed quite a bit the last time we were there, so we were looking forward to how much else was different.
Melody's sister Celeste came into town, so one of the things we decided to do was spend a few days in Vancouver to give her a taste of the city. It was a packed trip.
Having heard a professor Melody knew at WSU passed away this spring, we made plans to go to a memorial service for him in Port Townsend. We decided to arrive a couple days early to spend some time in the area, including hiking along Dungeness Spit.
My dad’s family started doing family reunions a while ago, and each time it’s great to see everyone. At the last one, I was talking with one of my cousins about having a get-together with the cousins, which would be a smaller group. We could plan a long weekend and recapture the bond the cousins have had since we were all younger. Everything came together and this past weekend seventeen of us gathered in Chicago, spending time together and reconnecting during our first Cousins Retreat.
On our last full day in New York, we went down to the Financial District and to Chelsea to check out the High Line and Chelsea Market.
Back to a museum, this time the Museum of Modern Art. After that, Melody and I divided and conquered; her to explore more at MoMA and go to a film with Celeste, me to Yankee Stadium and walking a bit around Penn Station.
A Brooklyn day which started by walking across the Brooklyn bridge. We also did a walking tour through Brooklyn Heights. A short day, getting ready for the last couple days before we return to Seattle.
A much lower-key day planned for Saturday. We walked around the Lower East Side and visited the Tenement Museum. Oh, and tried out other places for food (duh). Oddly enough, hardly any photos for the day.
We had a busy Friday the 13th. The United Nations in the morning, an East Midtown walk in the afternoon, and a musical in the evening. Fortunately, we had room in the schedule for downtime.
Having gone up and down Manhattan, this time we circled the island on a boat tour. Then an afternoon walking tour through Chinatown.
We went way uptown to walk around the Cloisters and said goodbye to Marion and Lester, going to a hostel in Harlem.
We spent the first part of the day at the American Museum of Natural History, and the afternoon doing a walking tour through Greenwich Village with Celeste.
Monday was a quieter day. We were planning on one attraction, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Looking at the weather and sky, though, we saw that it would be worthwhile to go up the Empire State Building, so we did that on the way. We relaxed for the late afternoon and evening. It's nice to have some planned downtime.
Part of our Sunday was spent driving back to NYC, but a larger chunk was spent at Storm King Art Center, a huge outdoor sculpture park west of the Hudson River, not far from West Point.
Even though we'd only been in New York for a couple nights, we took an overnight side-trip to the Hudson River Valley. Our plans for the day were to visit the FDR Library and Museum, then have dinner at the Culinary Institute of America.
Our tourist activities for Friday centered around Central Park, and dinner once again near Union Square. And once again considered the Empire State Building.
For a long time we had intended to go to New York to visit Celeste, and this was finally the year. We got a later start than we intended, but after a red-eye flight, we took it easy for our first day in the City.
We once again made the annual trek to Southern California to be with family and play tourist for a bit, this time at Exposition Park. We also get the opportunity to thaw out a bit in the warmer weather.
