Where I've Been

I took a wee break and hopped on a boat with my mom to the Eastern Caribbean.

We layed in the sun -- and looked at the sea.

Did a little bit of shopping

And sightseeing...but mostly just enjoyed the lovely shades of blue of the Caribbean...

Time to get back at it.

Puerto Rico

 

We went on a quick Memorial day getaway to the island of Puerto Rico! It was lovely (and hot) and we made the best of it despite losing a day to some terrible weather.  RDU delayed and cancelled flights due to some terrible thunderstorms.  We would have missed our connection in the ATL so we had to come back the next day for another flight (boo).  

Once we arrived, all was well and we explored the old area of San Juan on foot for a day.  The colors are so very pretty. In fact, the whole island is more colorful that you'd expect. A big old box of crayons in some places, really.  

 

We were able to balance a little sightseeing with some Caribbean sea-soaking too. 

Whew!

We've been back from California for nearly a week and I'm still playing catch up.  For some reason, I'm having trouble getting into the swing of things.  Plus, blogger was giving me fits last night.  All seems well now.

We had a fab time in San Francisco and Los Angeles.  We got to fly Virgin America for the first time and it was glamourous.  I need more mood lighting in my air travel. Another highlight was meeting Alice, a dear friends newborn.  So tiny and sweet!

Project time is coming back -- I've got some sanding, painting, stripping and other things to work on for the rest of the winter.

Dollywood

We hit up Pigeon Forge, TN, Dollywood and the Great Smoky Mountains over the Labor Day weekend. I'd never been and it was a *trip*. Not a place I'd want to spend a ton of time but a great long weekend getaway. If you like mini-golf, chain food and never ending traffic, that is.  But we had fun.

Pigeon Forge and the surrounding area is gorgeous.   Dollywood itself is a pretty little theme park.

Dolly's bus!  This is a home/whatever blog so I thought a quick peek into her bus might be interesting.  It's done up in cherry cabinetry, tooled leather seating and what one might deem "RV posh".   It can make the trip from Nashville to Los Angeles without needing to refuel. Dolly also loves to cook and will whip up entire meals in her tiny little kitchen!

Her bedroom takes up the tail end of the bus and is complete with a large bed, vanity and flat-screen TV. There's also a bathtub right outside her bedroom with a tub that's about 10" deep. Kinda comical but Dolly's tiny so I guess it works.

Charleston Pt 2

A few more snaps from our trip to Charleston. Our first night in town, we had an early dinner at Fleet Landing. Mom's tilapia looked pretty:

The decor in the restaurant was charming - the wall was decorated with old school life preservers.


Over on Sullivan's Island, we hit up Poe's Tavern, where the bathroom was wallpapered in pages torn from Poe's books.

Back in the historic district, we hit up some more sights: towering oaks, sleeping kitties, old cemeteries and sassy signs:

Charleston, pt 1

My mom and I took a mini break away to Charleston, SC over Memorial Day weekend. I had no idea it was such a charming city! The houses in the historic district are just too wonderful. We took a few tours of homes and it was so amazing to see restored homes from the late 1700's and get a peek in to life in that time.

I didn't take too many photos, too busy just soaking it in, but here are a few of my favorite things:

Love the color of this front door.

Secret gardens everywhere


Vintage (french) house number?


Love the walkway, fern and fence


Huge, huge hydrangeas everywhere

More Costa Rica

Geared up for zip-line touring!

Hiking through the Monteverde Cloud Forest. The source of this stream was just a few meters farther up.

La Fortuna waterfall near Arenal.

Approaching Arenal. We had one remarkably clear day and 2 totally socked in with clouds. Glad we got to see the cone!

Our Daihatsu Bego. I think it might have been powered by a riding mower engine.

Winter Break

We went to Costa Rica. There is good fishing there, however we are not fisherpeople so I can't report on that.

We also saw monkeys which were quite naughty and loved to steal people's things.

We also saw crocs!

It was gorgeous and tropical.

More to come...

Vacay

We're off to Costa Rica for Christmas. See ya on the flipside!

Beach Update

We hit up Ocean Isle Beach, NC for a long weekend. Ben posed, mamaw soaked up the sun, I fried and tried to fly a kite and we all ate seafood boil. Well, Jake ate mac and cheese.

Next year, it's gotta be a full week.

Nylo Hotel Providence/Warwick

While up in RI we stayed at the Nylo in Warwick. We got it through Priceline at a steal. It's a great little hotel in a former textile mill. The complex is the old headquarters of Fruit of the Loom.

Each room is stylishly decorated and features polished concrete floors, comfy beds, a great coffeemaker and a flat-screen TV.

Although we didn't eat at the restaurant, it's got a hip little bar right on the river. There's an outdoor patio that looks great for warm weather relaxin'. I love the hanging ball chairs throughout the lobby and bar.

Easter Recap

My brother and Burt, kicking it at the marina.

Vicious dogs, fighting on the boat.

The two families unite, pizza is consumed.