Author: dadcation

2019’s trip to Saint Simons Island

My annual workers’ comp law conference didn’t coincide with Columbus Day weekend this year, so we didn’t get a 5-day weekend like last year, but we made time for our 8th annual photo on the Gnat’s Landing bulldog, and I won some great bottles of Four Roses and a weekend […]

the Temples of Abu Simbel

We boarded a passenger van for the 3hr drive to Abul Simbel from Aswan at the crack of dawn, so that we’d beat the groups of tourists flying there (and to beat the nearly 120-degree-temperatures). When we arrived, it was immediately obvious why the place is so popular. It’s next […]

Aswan, Egypt

We landed in Aswan at 9:30am. We went straight from the airport to the Nile River, where we boarded a small boat piloted by a child to Isis Temple at Philae. This was our first temple in Egypt; my bride and I were amazed at how well the carvings had […]

glamping in the Smokies

We spent last weekend in a giant tent with a bed, hardwood floors, a shower, and a bathroom next to Great Smoky Mountains National Park; the children were in a much smaller teepee (called a “hive”) 20 feet away. This was how my bride wished to spend the weekend following […]

Ramadan in Cairo

After 8 hours to Rome and another 4 to Cairo, a friendly brown-skinned man met us to take us to baggage claim, looked incredulous when we told him we didn’t need such a stop, led us through passport control, into a van, and to our hotel. Shortly after, the guide […]

spring break in Italy: Rome

It was Saturday, April 6 when we woke up in Rome, and my kind bride had scheduled the most fitting activity I could possibly engage in at that moment in that place: gladiator training followed by a trip to the Coliseum. Why? Because Monday, April 6, 2009 was the first […]

spring break in Florence, Tuscany

We arrived by train in Florence and navigated the throngs of tourists toward our AirBnb, a unit requiring climbing several flights of wooden stairs with steep rises. Its exterior doorway opened onto a sidewalk maybe 6” wide before a curbed one-way street where Italian men liked to exceed 40 mph, […]

Jean Louise, aka “Scout”

After losing Winnie last fall, several months passed before I would even contemplate looking at, or for, another dog. But sometimes, I’d look at rescue dog websites or talk to friends I know who volunteer as foster dog parents. We even went by the Humane Society one weekend a few […]