Author: dadcation

We were the “Somebody” to feed Phil!

Shortly before we went to Italy for spring break, we watched Phil Rosenthal’s travel/dining episodes for Florence and Venice so that we could visit some of the portrayed restaurants, and I also started following his instagram page. A few days after we got back, we saw this post, inviting followers […]

Father’s Day weekend in Birmingham

Traveling and seeing live music are 2 of my favorite activities. Three Father’s Days ago, I saw Kenny Rogers at Chastain. Last year, we toured Hiroshima. Two years ago, we saw U2 in Philadelphia–combining both loves in a Father’s Day extravaganza. In that vein, we loaded up the Model X […]

spring break in Italy: Venice

We arrived at the Milan train station at 7am and arrived in Venice just before 10. I couldn’t wait to lead my family out of the train station and toward the Grand Canal where we could stand and look across the water at the most beautiful city I’ve ever visited. […]

spring break in Italy: Milan

The children’s Christmas present this year was our first international Spring Break; we landed on April Fools Day in Milan and dropped off our bags at our AirBnB by the Galleria del Corso before walking 500 feet to the beautiful Milan Cathedral. We’d pre-booked tickets to explore the inside of […]

10 days in Colorado’s National Parks

Last Summer, we flew into Denver for over a week of exploring the national parks in Colorado; I wrote a partnered post with Hanes but never fully described the “rest” of the story, so here it is. After we landed, we headed south toward Great Sand Dunes National Park, which […]

the 2019 Mom 2.0 Summit in Austin

I was excited to go to my 4th Mom 2.0 this year for several reasons: 1) I hadn’t been to Austin since 2012 (the first Dad 2.0), and I’d read there are several great speakeasies and dive bars that commanded my attention. 2) my bride had never been, and I’ve […]

a 3-day weekend in New Orleans

It’s been a decade since I’ve gone to New Orleans for anything that wasn’t a) Mardi Gras, b) an Alabama football game, or c) a Dad 2.0 conference. All 3 of these are normally cold events in January or February, so a trip in late March for some warmer weather […]

Halloween weekend in Las Vegas

When an organization whose Board you’re on schedules its annual conference in Las Vegas, you sign up for the tax-deductible vacation. When you find out an artist you’ve loved for 35+ years has a very rare live performance at the same time, you go early and make it a weekend […]

New York City at Christmas

Ever since watching “Miracle on 34th Street” as a child, I’ve wondered what it’d be like to experience New York City at Christmas. Seeing Buddy the Elf and Kevin McAllister do it in 2003 and 1992 (respectively) only heightened such desire, so when I learned there was a workers’ comp […]