It’s been a while since we’ve posted, but fear not, we haven’t stopped traveling! We just got back from spending the holidays in Sri Lanka and Malaysia. I just started writing up my journal for that trip, so I wanted to write up a few quick notes about some long weekend trips we took over the past six months.
Labor Day weekend in Maine
Jaime and I spent Labor Day weekend visiting my aunt and uncle who have a summer home on the ocean. They are very generous and let us stay with them and showed us around. I have been to Maine a few times, but this was Jaime’s first time. We got in very late on Thursday night because our flight attendant decided to no-show and the FAA requires that one be on board, so we had to wait several hours for a backup to arrive.
On our first full day, we went to the Blue Hill Fair which was billed as “what the world’s been waiting for”. It didn’t have too many people on a Friday afternoon, but we got stuck in an hour’s worth of traffic the next night so we got to see how popular it really is. It had some of the staple fair events such as a vegetable competition, flower arrangement contests, and tractor pulls. We were there at the wrong time for the tractor pull, but we did get to see the “famous” Rosie’s Racing Pigs and we both had our first lobster roll, which was delicious.
A pending storm on Saturday put a bit of a damper on our plans. People are a bit gun-shy when it comes to potential tropical storms, so our boat trip was canceled and our backup train journey was also canceled. We ended up spending the day at The Black House (also known as Woodlawn) where some of the oldest original furniture in the US exists and is well preserved. In the afternoon, we took a tour of Brooklin, visited E. B. White’s grave, and spending some time on the water’s edge taking in the views.
Our last full day in Maine was spent at the wonderful Acadia National Park. There is so much to see in Acadia, so we just hit the highlights mentioned on an audio CD guide we had. The park is on several islands, so there are sweeping views and gorgeous lakes throughout. The trip culminates at Thunder Hole where water gets sucked into a large crevice and shoots water up above the crowds with a roaring noise. We definitely plan on going back to Acadia for some more hiking next time we’re there.
Pictures from this weekend can be found here:
www.planetnothing.com/photos/v/maine2010/
Weekend in St. Louis
In mid-October, we went on a road trip to St. Louis where Jaime went to Law School and where one of her good friends recently moved back to. Our first night there, we met up with Jaime’s friends Amanda and Richard who Jaime knew from Law School. We stayed with them the last time we were in St. Louis, but this time we had a deal on a hotel elsewhere in the city. After dinner and drinks, we went to check out their new house and called it a night.
On Saturday, we started off with the obligatory Anheuser Busch Tour. It’s actually quite impressive. It’s like a little city with streets, lots of buildings, and even an old schoolhouse. The tour is very informative and includes two free beers at the end of it. The best part is that it’s all free!
In the afternoon, our friends Bob and Marisa went to the top of the arch while Jaime and I mingled around the base. We had just gone up to the top a few months before, so we sat this one out. After their cramped ride to the top, we all strolled around downtown. We stopped at the Old Courthouse, Kiener Plaza, City Garden, and the Serra Sculpture Park.
The evening was spent having dinner with Jaime’s old roommate Melanie who has recently moved back to the St. Louis area, where she grew up. It was an afghan restaurant that we had a Groupon for. If you haven’t heard of Groupon yet, check it out, but be warned it’s very addictive! The food was excellent and we hung around there afterward for a while chatting into the night.
On our way out of town Sunday, we went to the City Museum. Do not be fooled by the name, it’s not your typical museum. It’s an endless funhouse full of sculptures and metalwork on the walls and ceilings that you can climb all over and throughout. There is a massive cave section with literally 10 stories of twists and turns, with slides everywhere. There is more of it outside, complete with a gutted plane on a pole and an old school bus hanging off the roof! You will get sweaty and worn out, but you feel like you’re 5 years old and it’s completely worth it!
Pictures from this weekend can be found here:
www.planetnothing.com/photos/v/st-louis-2010/
Weekend in Lake Geneva, WI
This past weekend over MLK Day, we went to a timeshare resort (thanks Dad!) in Lake Geneva with Jaime’s high school friend Natalie and her boyfriend Rick. Rick has been there several times but it was new for the rest of us.
On Saturday, we went to the nearby Wilmot Mountain to go skiing. It was my first time and everyone else was at least a decade out of practice. While everyone else picked it back up quickly, I took my time learning on the bunny slopes. They were tackling the Blue Squares and Black Diamonds, I was proud to just have conquered the Little Turtle! The rest was mostly just a relaxing time playing games at the resort or eating out in the downtown area. We did find a local microbrewery called Sprecher’s, that had a great variety of different beers and sodas, where we watched the Bears playoff game with about 30 other fans.
Stay tuned for my journal from our holiday trip to Sri Lanka and Malaysia!