We arrived at historic Jamestown as soon as it opened on Thursday morning, exploring the glasshouse and fort buildings before going to the archaearium and visitor center (taking in a 360-degree film there–best NPS movie theater I’ve seen!), where I added a cancellation to my NPS passport book. The guide […]
Wednesday morning of spring break 2018, we parked at the visitor center and walked across a long bridge that’s supposed to take you back in time a few hundred years, into colonial Williamsburg. I needed coffee, so our first stop was the Liberty Lounge, which offered free coffee and snacks […]
On Tuesday of spring break 2018, we awoke in downtown Richmond and arrived just after 9am at Tredegar Iron Works to see the national park service visitor’s center, so the children could get yet another junior ranger badge whilst we toured where the CSS Virginia (FKA the “USS Merrimack”) was […]
We’d barely finished our “Easter eggs Benedict” and put away the chocolate wrappers littering the den area rug when the 5 of us loaded up in my car to head up I-85 north for a Spring Break road trip of national parks in Virginia and the Carolinas. We were still […]
Sunday morning, we boarded the Four Winds II charter boat for some snorkeling and snuba, heading out into the water toward the Molokini crater awaiting our exploration. Sadly, the wind was such that the “weather permitting” caveat for that excursion meant we diverted to the Coral Gardens location, but we […]
We awoke early on Saturday for eggs at Betty’s Beach Cafe and reported to Goofy Foot Surf School by 9am. Brothers Keith and Nick were our instructors, with one teaching my youngest (who’s 7) and the rest of us with his brother. After some instruction on the beach, we went […]
We arose at 4:20am, quickly donned winter coats, and headed out for the winding uphill climb to Haleakala Observatory. We parked the car at 5:30am and walked to the observation tower; it was 20-something degrees outside and windy, but we were determined to experience the famous Haleakala sunrise. Unfortunately, the […]
We awoke early and watched the sunrise from our lanai in Hana and then headed counterclockwise along the road we’d followed the day before (since construction prohibited our continuing clockwise as we’d planned). On the way, we stopped to check out the black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park–another phenomenon […]
This springtime’s “where’m I gonna use my Delta companion pass this year” question was easy to answer. Since going to Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris last June and to Ketchum, Idaho last fall, I’ve been a voracious Hemingway reader–both of his works and of the biographies about his adventures. […]
We landed Tuesday evening at Kahului airport, took the shuttle to Avis, and drove our Ford Explorer to Mama’s Fish House for dinner before sleeping at its inn. Our kids’ Christmas present was finally beginning. I had the “traditional Hawaiian” meal for dinner, and the smoked wild boar was the […]