• Travel

    Sight-seeing in D.C. Day 2

    February 15, 2019 - By 

    Here is the last post for our time in Washington, DC. Metro ride to start off the morning. Riding the elevator inside the Metro station Walking from the Metro to the Air and Space Museum Long line at the Museum that Sunday morning, but it went fast. I really enjoyed going to this museum mainly because my Grandparents took me here when we did our DC trip. However, the boys weren’t huge fans of the place and if I would have thought of it sooner we would have left and gone to the National Museum of American History instead. Live…

  • Site-Seeing Washington, DC
    Travel

    Sight-seeing in D.C. Day 1

    February 2, 2019 - By 

    Continuing my posts from our D.C. trip. If you missed the last post about this trip you can click: SAAM & National Portrait Gallery DC After a good breakfast at the hotel, we took the Metro to Arlington Cemetery. This place gets me every time. Just the sheer number of white marble headstones is breathtaking. If you decide to visit Arlington Cemetery, be prepared to go through security similar to airport security to enter. We were there early so the line wasn’t long. We followed the signs first to the Kennedy Memorial. The Kennedy Memorial and burial site for John…

  • Naval Academy & National's Game
    Travel

    Naval Academy & National’s Game

    November 16, 2018 - By 

    Here’s the next post about our DC trip. So if you remember from the last post, our boys flew in on Thursday night. Friday morning we got up, checked out of the Gaylord, and headed towards Annapolis, MD. We got into Annapolis, parked just outside of the Naval Academy, and made our way through security. We were in contact with Joe, Drew’s best friend (who you may remember from here or here) as he is a midshipmen at the Naval Academy. We seemed to get there just as class was letting out and we were able to meet up with…

  • Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery - D.C.
    Travel

    SAAM & National Portrait Gallery – D.C.

    October 18, 2018 - By 

    My last day of being on my own before Rob was done with his conference and the kids flew into join us, I had decided I wanted to check out the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) & National Portrait Gallery (NPG). I took the Metro in and after a short walk from the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Station Metro stop, I was there. This museum is massive. Somehow I didn’t get a map when I went in, but I managed to see everything I wanted to see and more. Half of the building the SAAM and the other half is the…

  • Afternoon in Washington, DC
    Travel

    Afternoon in Washington, DC

    October 2, 2018 - By 

    Here’s another post from our trip to DC. After having lunch with Rob and some folks from the conference back at the Gaylord, I made my way over to the metro station. I decided on using the Anacostia, because it was going to be cheaper and faster than the one closest to National Harbor. However, what I wasn’t aware of was that parking is not where the actual station is that shows up on the map. So after nervously figuring out that situation with some help from the Metro employees, I made my way on to the correct train and…

  • Morning in Old Town Alexandria, VA
    Travel

    Morning in Old Town Alexandria, VA

    September 27, 2018 - By 

    Today I’m continuing my posts from our DC Trip. Rob’s first full day at the conference, I decided to do something that wasn’t on my list of must does so that I could get back to the hotel for lunch (since it was included in the guest fee that we paid.) I drove over to Old Town Alexandria, VA. I didn’t have anything specific I wanted to see or do, but you know I just enjoy driving to a place, walking around, taking pictures, and exploring. I’ve always heard that Old Town Alexandria is such a lovely place so I…

  • Travel

    Fun Day in National Harbor, MD

    August 28, 2018 - By 

    It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about our Boston to Washington Trip. Here’s the last post in case you missed it: Philly to Maryland So Day 4, we woke up in our hotel that we stayed in for the next several days, the National Harbor Gaylord Hotel, which is where Rob’s work conference was being held. He had a meeting that morning and since I didn’t think I’d have enough time to go out and come back and meet him for lunch. I made the decision to just walk around the Gaylord and relax. Inside the atrium area of the…

  • Travel

    Long Weekend in Louisiana

    August 14, 2018 - By 

    Rob’s sister, Shawna, from Nevada was in Baton Rouge recently and since we haven’t seen her in 14 years, we knew we had to go for a visit. Our new favorite place to stop on the way to Baton Rouge is The Boiling Pot. Drew and I got the Shrimp & Grits. I had Gumbo and Broccoli Cheese rice as my sides. Rob and Alex got the Shrimp Po’Boys. Anyway, so when we go to Baton Rouge, we usually stay with Rob’s cousin’s house; the Lindsey’s. Their 2nd oldest son, Cameron, is about the same age as Alex so they…

  • Vacationing in the Mountains of North Carolina
    Travel

    Vacationing in the North Carolina Mountains

    August 10, 2018 - By 

    Mountains, waterfalls, and serene views were calling our names for 4th of July this year. You may recall that we had an annual 4th of July mountain trip tradition going for a while (2010 2011 2012 2013), but we have done other things the last few years. Saturday We got up early Saturday morning, hit D Square donuts on our way out of town for a little sugar, and then got on the road. Our first planned stop was Tallulah Gorge, but we saw signs for great views at the Tallulah Point Overlook, which is basically a tourist trap. They…

  • Hiking Smith Mountain - Jacksons' Gap, AL
    Travel

    Smith Mountain – Jacksons’ Gap, AL

    July 24, 2018 - By 

    Sunday before Memorial Day we went over to Lake Martin (Dadeville, AL). Our usual tradition of camping at the lake with our friends got derailed mainly due to weather. However, Sunday turned out to be a hot sunny day. It’s crazy that as many times as we’ve been to Lake Martin, we had actually never been to Smith Mountain. There’s a .8 mile loop from a parking lot to the fire tower and back. Once you get up to the tower there are some beautiful views even if you don’t go up the tower. After hiking back down, we stopped…

  • Alabama Bucket List
    Travel

    Alabama Bucket List

    July 20, 2018 - By 

    Many travel lovers are always looking where to go next. So often we don’t stop and think about traveling our own state. Each state is unique and has good stuff to offer. I know my state of Alabama is rich in history and technology; from the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the US Space and Rocket Center. It also not lacking in beautiful landscapes from falls to state parks. I’ve gathered up a list of 50+ things (hopefully I didn’t duplicate any of them.) What are your must do’s in Alabama? Did I leave anything off? Nocculula Falls Fort Gaines Monte…

  • Heading to Maryland
    Travel

    Philly to National Harbor – Headed to Maryland

    June 26, 2018 - By 

    After spending the morning in Philly, we headed towards Baltimore, MD, but we had a couple planned stops along the way. One of our goals during our commute from Boston to D.C. was to drive through as many states as we could and see as many capitols as we could. Here’s the route we took. As you can see in the map above, we went a little bit out of the way to hit the Delaware capital, Dover. This is William V. Roth, Jr. Bridge in Delaware going over the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal that we passed along the way.…

  • 24 hours in Philly
    Travel

    24 hours in Philly

    June 12, 2018 - By 

    Today’s post covers my trip from Montville, NJ to Philadelphia, PA; our 2nd day of exploring from Boston down to DC. If you missed my first post from this trip, you can read about our day in Boston here: Day in Boston. First thing was first. We got up and drove from our hotel in Mahwah, NJ to Montville, NJ which wasn’t too far. The significance of stopping in Montville was to go see where Rob’s grandparents lived back when he was a toddler. This is their house now: Then we thought it would be good to have breakfast at…

  • Day In Boston
    Travel

    Day in Boston

    May 17, 2018 - By 

    Back in April, Rob had a conference in DC. Well we always like to extend it out so he can have a little vacation before he’s at work at the conference. Well, we got a crazy idea to start our trip in Boston. Being that Rob is a huge baseball fan, he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see the Red Sox. It worked out for us to fly into Boston and spend a little less than 24 hours there before venturing towards the DC area. We flew into Boston Logan International Airport late Friday night, got to our hotel…

  • Spring Training Trip :: Twins ~ Red Sox ~ Braves
    Travel

    Spring Training 2018

    April 2, 2018 - By 

    Earlier this month we ventured back down to Florida for another Spring Training trip. This year we went to 3 parks; two of which we have not been to. Here’s a quick rundown of each place and tons of pics! We left Auburn after work on Friday and got to Rob’s Gramma’s house in Spring Hill, FL. We popped out of bed to visit and make an early exit to head to our first game in Fort Myers. Once we got to For Myers, we went by the hotel and could not check in yet. We went over to the…

  • After Christmas Texas Trip 2017
    Travel

    After Christmas Texas Trip 2017

    January 13, 2018 - By 

    Dec. 26th The day after Christmas we got up, went and got our rental car, and headed to Baton Rouge. We stopped at The Boiling Pot in Mobile, AL. Really great shrimp po-boys, pricy, but overflowing with shrimp so it was worth it. Next stop was Rob’s cousin, Candi’s house in Baton Rouge. We stayed with his other cousin Sara and her husband Phillip. They have 2 of the coolest pets. Dec. 27th Wednesday we hung out back at Candi’s house some more. We ended our visit there with a visit to our good old standby, Brew-bachers. From there we…

  • Texas Trip Report
    Travel

    Texas | Trip Report

    December 5, 2017 - By 

    The Friday before the Auburn vs. Texas A&M game we drove to Atlanta to catch a plane to Houston, Texas. The next morning we got up early and headed from Hunstville, Tx where we stayed with Rob’s Dad and Step-Mom, and drove to College Station for the game and pre-game festivities. We were standing around waiting for the team to arrive for Tiger Walk. However, as we stood there we were told they weren’t doing a Tiger Walk. When the team arrived we figured out why. At Kyle Field the visiting team arrives in their buses and drive straight into…

  • Atlanta Trip Report - Read about a short stay in Downtown Atlanta.
    Travel

    Atlanta | Trip Report

    November 15, 2017 - By 

    A couple weeks ago, Rob went to Atlanta for a conference and I decided to come along and do fun stuff while he works. You may remember he’s been to this conference in Atlanta a few years ago, but it was in Midtown. However, this year they did the conference in downtown Atlanta. We stayed at the swanky Marriott Marquis Atlanta. I always remember this hotel for the really cool view as you look up or down from the 42nd floor. Apparently, a couple scenes from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 were…

  • Pros & Cons to Driving p Pikes Peak
    Travel

    Pros & Cons of Driving Up Pikes Peak

    November 9, 2017 - By 

    When Rob and I were in Colorado Springs, we had plans to ride the Cog Railway up to Pikes Peak. We were well aware of the risk of accidents that we even discussed do I need to speak to insurance after getting rear-ended. Drivers who will get injured in a road accident may seek the services of a car accident injury lawyer or an auto accident attorney to ensure that their rights and interests are protected. What you should know is that when it comes to seeking legal counsel, a car accident law firm will be better equipped to assist…

  • Rock City - Lookout Mountain, GA
    Travel

    Rock City – Lookout Mountain, GA

    September 24, 2017 - By 

    Rock City is a tourist spot on Lookout Mountain in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, which is about 6 miles south of Chattanooga, TN or about 120 miles northwest of Atlanta, GA. If you’ve driven anywhere in the Southeast or Midwest U.S. you’ve probably seen advertisements for it painted on roofs or sides of old barns that say “See Rock City.” These were painted from the 1930’s to the 1960’s by Clark Byers who was hired by the owner of Rock City. Rock City has several sections to walk through and enjoy. I recommend covering the entire park and I’d recommend at…