Every year, I struggle to get through these 3 days in a healthy way, and it hasn’t happened yet. Last year, I ended up completely blitzed in Tahiti. In the year after he died, the day after I placed his ashes in his grave with his family, I ended up drunk on the beach in Galveston the very next day.
There was no bruising or blood which indicates that she was probably already deceased when she ended up in that position. That’s how my mother found her later the next afternoon.
When Heather was brought down from her room in a velvet body bag, they let my mother tell her she loves her and then she kissed her daughter goodbye one last time.
Let’s talk about miso. Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning consisting of a thick paste made from soybeans fermented with salt and koji, a filamented fungus used in Japanese cuisine.
With boarding minutes away, we checked our Hyatt app to make sure our reservation was still in order and alas, it had disappeared. Perhaps our room had been…
Oh, the lavender fields. They’re so beautiful this time of year. You can’t tell because they’ve already been cut. Womp womp. This is an iconic site to photograph in the summertime when the lavender fields are in full bloom, usually July. Nestled between two hillsides, it’s a quiet place in the Provençal valley where you can see beautiful tints and shades of purple dancing in the summer fields as the sun sets, leaving their pale shadows hovering in the mists of the morning.
So now at 36 years old, as soon as I stepped on the ice, I felt an instant rush of panic, but only for a few seconds. I knew the only way to get over it was just to skate and see what happens. If you fall, you fall. Do your best to be careful and not injure yourself too badly.
While planning a trip to Savannah, I had asked around for restaurant recommendations and this was the most talked about place. The house drink, the Pink Lady, would be a great choice for those who don’t drink much and don’t like the taste of alcohol because of how sweet it is. I loved their chili pepper-infused Bloody Mary. It was a delicious drink and since Savannah allows you to walk around with an open container just like in the French Quarter, I ordered one to go!
Dating back to 1771, the original structure was only a quarter of what it is today. One feature of the house was the white paint slathered over the stucco-plaster exterior. Unfortunately, the hot, humid summers caused the white paint to drip off, exposing the pink stucco underneath. They had to reapply a coat of white paint each year that would subsequently dissipate each year in the summer humidity. After sitting vacant for a number of years, the house was converted in 1812 into what would become Georgia’s first bank, Planter’s Bank.
I’ve become a Bloody Mary connoisseur lately, but I’m still new to the game. I saw the Thumber’s Bunny Mary on the menu which is vodka mixed with a house-made, fresh-pressed carrot-ginger juice, topped off with a pickled vegetable garnish. It’s not your typical Bloody Mary. She told me you have to like carrot quite a bit to enjoy it. I don’t even like carrot cake, but I figured I’d plunge a little deeper in the Bloody Mary game and try something new.
“Moonshiners put more time, energy, thought, and love into their cars than any racers ever will. Lose on the track, and you go home. Lose with a load of whiskey, and you go to jail.” – Junior Johnson, NASCAR legend.
The house gained fame after the family had some local mafia members murdered on the back gallery. After falling into disrepair for a number of years, it was purchased in 1926 by New Orleans architect, General Allison Owen. A group of local women established Beauregard House Inc. to prevent the house from being turned into a macaroni factory and convinced Gen. Owen to preserve the house as a memorial for Gen. Beauregard. How fitting that Owen’s father, William Miler, was one of the founders of the Louisiana Historical Association.
We found a site that is like AirBnB for cars. Car owners can rent out their vehicles for a price and can also rent with insurance and other options. I wanted to use Turo again on my solo trip to Los Angeles in 2019. And again, I chose a new convertible – a 2018 Fiat Spider – and it was the smoothest transaction all around. I just hopped on a bus right outside the baggage claim at LAX, which is free to and from the airport. I rode ten minutes down to the last bus stop, as the owner instructed. He came down and gave me some minor instructions. Off I went to drive the Pacific Coast Highway for 4 days!
Many believe that much of New Orleans is haunted, that spirits still roam the streets today. After all, the infamous voodoo priestess Marie LaVeau practiced her magic in New Orleans during the 1800s and is now buried in St. Louis Cemetery, a place you can only visit by tour unless you have a relative buried there.
In Waikiki, a free hula show is hosted on Kuhio Beach just before sunset. You have to show up early to grab a good seat or bring a selfie stick to extend your camera. But try to be considerate of people around you. There is also a hula show in the plaza. We brought beach chairs and chicken nuggets and enjoyed the sounds of Hawaiian music from the hula show behind us, as the sun was setting on the beach.
As we walk through the trees to the beach, I was growing more sure this was the place. This is where the sea turtles are! We both instinctively sped up our steps and didn’t even stop as we shed our clothes and bags on the beach. We already had our snorkeling gear ready to go and marched straight into the water to swim to the turtles. We swam out separately and began searching the waters for any swimming turtles. We popped our heads up out of the water every now and then to show each other thumbs down, indicating we hadn’t seen anything. Then we’d explore in other spots. We were going farther and farther out and still, nothing. After about 25 minutes, defeated, we gave up and brought it in. Is this the wrong place again? Is it the wrong time of day? Where are the sea turtles?! Show me the sea turtles, man!
On the evening of New Year’s Day in 2018, my sisters and I visited the Jardins des Tuileries, we drank vin chaud (hot wine) at Place de la Concorde, and then we strolled down a rainy Champs-Élysées under the twinkling holiday lights that glistened in the puddles on the sidewalk. The buildings were lit up with lights, everything looked like it was glowing. We reached the Arc de Triomphe at dusk and tried to take photos from across the street despite the hectic traffic in the background. The site itself was closed for the #holiday, so we planned to meet Anthea in the tunnel below.
On my first visit, we got to check off some classic New York “must dos.” We walked through Times Square and ice skated in front of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center where a couple get engaged…
A popular travel question is: Have you been there? Some people include simply flying over a state or territory as having been there. What would you say? Does it count?