Northern Spain Road Trip: 2 Week Itinerary
Northern Spain Road Trip Like many tourists, our first taste of Spain was Madrid. We spent about two weeks there in the spring, but since we were mostly working, we were left with a desire to return. Our first impression was lasting, so when we had free time in Europe later last year we head […]
Genealogy Travel: Climbing the Family Tree in Alsace
What is Genealogy Travel? If you’re a regular visitor to this site, you probably love travel. Have you ever heard of genealogy travel? Ever thought of traveling with the goal of seeing where your ancestors were born or to learn more about your family history? We seem to have been practicing genealogy travel long before we […]
Thumb-Sized Berries at the NC Blackberry Festival
NC Blackberry Festival Fairs and festivals are always a great way to experience some local color. When said fairs and festivals involve food, we know immediately we’ll have an extra good time. This past weekend we spent the day at the North Carolina Blackberry Festival in Lenoir, NC. Main Street was converted into block upon […]
Colombian Hospitality: Intro to Bogota
Hospitality Every culture has its own form of hospitality. Some people make us feel at home right away, while for others it takes more time to warm up to new people and new situations. As an exchange student in Japan, my “favorite” host family, the one I still keep in touch with, welcomed me as […]
4th of July Celebrations in the US
4th of July, Independence Day In the US, the 4th of July is Independence Day, a day to celebrate freedom. It commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which declared independence from Great Britain. Since it’s a national holiday, people generally have the day off from work and school to […]
North Carolina Roots
On a pleasant May morning, descendants of Ernest Willis gathered not far from the small town of Cashiers, North Carolina to explore a tract of land donated by their ancestor for its perpetual protection. Ernest donated the land through his estate to the Nature Conservancy of which he was a lifetime member. As descendants of Ernest, Donny (second cousin […]
Don’t Skip: Adelaide
[mappress mapid=”1″] Intro to Adelaide When asked what cities we’d be visiting in Australia, we mentioned Adelaide as our second stop. A common response was , “Why?” even from Aussies themselves (maybe even more so). Unassuming Adelaide is often overlooked on the average itinerary. Travelers think first of more famous spots like Sydney, the Gold […]
Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons
For this week’s photo challenge I’ve decided to use an image that speaks to the “Changing Seasons of Life”. This photo includes myself, my father and grandfather. We three share the same name so there is a Sr, Jr and III represented here. Enjoy!
The End of the Line
THIS is exactly what we pictured as the quintessential English countryside. The last stop on our world trip was the Peak District of England, an area of wild beauty: rolling green hills, narrow canals through open moorland, hundreds-of-years old stone houses and buildings along narrow lanes. Growing up on Cape Cod (where there are lots […]
Edinburgh
With a castle that sits atop a dormant volcano, countless historic places and spaces, Gothic cathedrals, amazing architecture, modern museums and galleries, and ghostly underground vaults, Edinburgh has a lot to offer! The Royal Mile The Royal Mile, which runs between the Castle at the top down to Holyrood Abbey, is geared toward tourists, and […]