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Hiking Fenwick Mines and Waterfall in Southwestern Virginia

Hiking Fenwick Mines and Waterfall in Southwestern Virginia

The silver lining of this year of Covid is, for us, more incentive to explore our local area besides the standard, well-known spots. Because of the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Roanoke, Virginia, vicinity, there are a lot of very popular hiking spots, particularly during the shoulder seasons and especially for the fall colors. A few weeks ago, we headed to one such spot and ended up simply eating our picnic lunch in the car before heading home. Being on a crowded trail right now? No thank you!

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Exploring Central Virginia’s History: Spotlight on Poplar Forest

Exploring Central Virginia’s History: Spotlight on Poplar Forest

A man of the Revolution and a man of the Renaissance all in one, Thomas Jefferson was a man uniquely of and beyond his time. In some of his most public actions, Jefferson was the primary author and signatory of the Declaration of Independence.

Beautiful Scenic Fall Drive in Southwestern Virginia - Craig and Botetourt Counties

Beautiful Scenic Fall Drive in Southwestern Virginia - Craig and Botetourt Counties

If you are looking for a beautiful fall drive in the Blue Ridge, absolutely add this one to your list! En route to the hike and then taking an extra long return trip home (No, GPS, we will not make a U-turn!), we found gorgeous rolling hills, golden fields, the protruding tops of mountains, and trees all shades of color from lemon through burnt umber.

Exploring Central Virginia’s History: Spotlight on Appomattox

Exploring Central Virginia’s History: Spotlight on Appomattox

The town of Appomattox, Virginia, is nestled in a county by the same name. They are named for the local Algonquin-speaking Appomattoc tribe that lived in the area and were one of the five original tribes of the so-called Powhatan Confederacy and were one of the tribes that John Smith and early European settlers interacted with upon landing at Jamestown.

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Exploring Central Virginia’s History: A Weekend in Appomattox, Lynchburg, and Poplar Forest - Spotlight on Lynchburg

Exploring Central Virginia’s History: A Weekend in Appomattox, Lynchburg, and Poplar Forest - Spotlight on Lynchburg

In April 2012, my mother and I booked a long-weekend trip to explore some new parts of the state. We stayed in Lynchburg as a central point, explored that city as well as made short trips to both Poplar Forest (Thomas Jefferson’s home, a retreat from Monticello) and Appomattox, a small town most famous as the site where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865, officially concluding the American Civil War.

Summer in the Great Smoky Mountains: Cades Cove

Summer in the Great Smoky Mountains: Cades Cove

Cades Cove is a valley that had been frequented by Cherokee hunters and was settled in the 1820s by Europeans who built a community in the valley. About 100 years later, the states of Tennessee and North Carolina were purchasing land for what would become the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and Cades Cove was in the middle of the area. Some of the community sold their property willingly, others signed agreements whereby they could live out their lives on the land and that it would be granted to the national park posthumously, and other families fought the efforts in court.

Summer in the Great Smoky Mountains: A Long Weekend Getaway

Summer in the Great Smoky Mountains: A Long Weekend Getaway

To celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary in 2012, we booked a long weekend at a cabin in the mountains near Gatlinburg, TN, with the primary purpose of exploring the Great Smoky Mountains which neither of us had visited before.

Charleston: Spring Break in the South - Days 3-4

Charleston: Spring Break in the South - Days 3-4

Charleston’s historic downtown is remarkably walkable and each street offers its own views of stately antebellum houses, many of which date to the early 1800s. We decided to spend our third day in the area touring Charleston entirely on foot.

Scotland: Itinerary for 2 days in Edinburgh

Scotland: Itinerary for 2 days in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is a relatively compact city that can be toured by foot, which is what we did. Depending on the amount of time you have in the city, your interest in walking, and how much you’re trying to see, you may prefer to look into public transportation or other options as well.

The main part of the city of Edinburgh is comprised of the West End, Old Town, and New Town, descriptive in their origins. The entirety of our time was spent in New Town and Old Town.

Charleston: Spring Break in the South - Days 1-2

Charleston: Spring Break in the South - Days 1-2

In April 2016, we spent 4 days in Charleston with a day-trip to a really cool island off the coast. We actually had to cut the trip a day short because we got sick and so got to miss seeing a few other sights but still had a wonderful time.

First, a short geography lesson - Charleston is a 17 mile long peninsula sandwiched between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. At its tip is Charleston Harbor, an inlet just off of the Atlantic Ocean. In the downtown portion, the width of the peninsula is about a mile, with the downtown area in a 4-5 square mile area. In short, it is incredibly walkable. And with so much to see, walking around the city is a great way to go!

Bermuda: Off-Season Sights to See

Bermuda: Off-Season Sights to See

If you were playing a game of word association and someone said ‘Bermuda’, the words that would likely come to mind would be warm-weather related words like beach, ocean, and snorkeling. Bermuda also has a good number of off-season options if you prefer to explore the other activities provided by the island nation and - better yet - to avoid crowds.

Bermuda: Food + Drink + Dining

Bermuda: Food + Drink + Dining

We weren’t really sure what to expect from Bermuda’s dining scene before we went. Visiting without any preconceived notion, we found ourselves surprised by the multicultural and eclectic options. It became evident in our experience that Bermuda has combined the flavors from many parts of the world and put its own Caribbean spin on some classic dishes.

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Bermuda: 6 Travel Tips

Bermuda: 6 Travel Tips

We found Bermuda to be a very easy place to visit, but there are some tips that we would recommend you consider when planning your own trip to Bermuda to ensure your trip goes smoothly and you’re prepared!

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Bermuda: Getting Around and Transportation Options

Bermuda: Getting Around and Transportation Options

Bermuda is just a tiny dot of an island in the middle of the ocean, so transportation around the island must be a breeze, right? It turns out that transportation options on Bermuda can get a little complicated and so planning ahead is a must so that you can enjoy your trip and have easy access to whatever is most important to you.

In this post, we’ll cover the general lay of the (is)land and the various spots you may wish to get to and from, the transportation options available to you, and tips and lessons learned to help you plan accordingly.

Bermuda: Off-Season Packing Tips

Bermuda: Off-Season Packing Tips

If you’re planning an off-season trip to Bermuda and wondering what to pack, you’ve come to the right place! We weren’t fully sure ourselves when we took a 4-day trip in late November. Here are the tips we picked up while there.

Bermuda: Getting to and Exploring Blue Hole and Tom Moore's Jungle

Bermuda: Getting to and Exploring Blue Hole and Tom Moore's Jungle

If you’re looking for some outside time exploring a less populated part of Bermuda, we’d recommend you check out the small area that holds Blue Hole (a bright blue swimming hole), Tom Moore’s Jungle, and Walsingham Nature Reserve.

Bermuda: Hamilton + Eastern Hamilton Parish (Days 3-4)

Bermuda: Hamilton + Eastern Hamilton Parish (Days 3-4)

For the second morning in a row, on Saturday we returned to Dangelini's Cafe and Bakery along Front Street where I ordered a cappuccino and ham and swiss cheese croissant, and Dustin had a mocha with a turkey, egg, and cheese melt on an English muffin. For breakfast dessert, which is totally a thing, we split an apple turnover, which was delicious and not overly sweet, which is how breakfast desserts should be! We noticed that at least in the off-season, Dangelini’s wasn’t open on Sundays so made a mental note that we wouldn’t be able to return the following day.

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Bermuda: St. George's (Day 2)

Bermuda: St. George's (Day 2)

Our destination for the day was to be St. George’s, the parish at the opposite tip of the island and closer to the airport. While Bermuda is a small island, the roads are curvy, narrow, and roundabout so that getting anywhere takes longer than the mileage would suggest it should.

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Bermuda: Hamilton + Royal Naval Dockyard (Day 1)

Bermuda: Hamilton + Royal Naval Dockyard (Day 1)

Arriving in another country at night is an odd experience because it’s nearly impossible to get a sense of the place. We knew we were driving on a causeway over the water right after the airport but could only hear it, not see it. We got flashes of brightly colored houses as the taxi’s headlights shifted on the curved, narrow road (more on Bermuda’s roads later).

Bermuda: Trip Overview

Bermuda: Trip Overview

For some reason, Bermuda has always piqued my interest. Maybe it goes back to my childhood and watching Bermuda’s Olympians marching in during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in their Bermuda shorts. Maybe it’s that an island isolated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of miles from any other land mass seems like such a different way to live.

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