Restaurants I really wanted a Cuban sandwich so the first stop after getting our rental car was West Tampa Sandwich Shop. We each got the 'regular' size which was plenty. I got the honey (Obama...
Blog posts from USA Travel
Weekend in Florida: a bird sanctuary, beaches and nature parks
To pass some time between lunch and when we could check into our apartment, we stopped at Weedon Island Preserve and walked the boardwalks to a few overlooks. Didn't see a lot of wildlife or birds...
Weekend in Florida: overview and where we stayed
For years we have been taking a trip to Florida's Gulf Coast area in the January / February time frame to visit family, usually driving and staying for 1-2 weeks. This time we found some good...
2024 Year in Review
Previous years-in-review – 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 In 2024 all our international travel took place via four trips to Europe. And on...
Long Island Summer 2024: wineries + breweries
Lenz Winery We've been members for years, and we love visiting in the summer in the shaded courtyard. Service was great as always across our four visits! On our first visit with our friend Leah, we...
Long Island Summer 2024: food + restaurants
As usual, we tried out some new-to-us spots while returning to old favorites for things like pizza and bagels. Watershed Kitchen + Bar We ate outside on the back patio as it was a pleasant...
Long Island Summer 2024: sunsets at Bailie Beach
Once we secured the correct sticker for beach parking (why does LI have to make things so complicated!?) we headed over a few times during out four week stay. This year we saw a good number of...
Long Island Summer 2024: overnight in Lancaster, PA
As we've done in previous years, we split our drive to NY with a night in Pennsylvania. The drive up was fine, with typical traffic near DC. Left at 8:45am and pulled into our friend’s driveway just...
European Spring 2024: 30 hours in Chicago
Our flight to Spain left Chicago O'Hare on Monday, so we decided to position ourselves in the city on Sunday just in case of travel delays. Unfortunately, Southwest only had an early Sunday morning...
Florida’s Sun Coast: overnight in Savannah
For our trip back to NC we decided to spend a night in Savannah - it would break up the trip into two easier driving days, plus we had a free night certificate at an IHG hotel that we needed to use....
Florida’s Sun Coast: Sarasota sights
During our two weeks in Sarasota we were a 10 minute walk from Crescent Beach so we visited multiple evenings. Even when the color wasn't great we were entertained watching the pelicans and terns...
Florida’s Sun Coast: restaurants
During our two week stay we tried lots of restaurants, ranging from classic breakfasts to a beach cocktail spot, and from in-restaurant to take-away. Breakfast Original Word of Mouth - Quite busy on...
Florida’s Sun Coast: breweries
With two weeks on the west coast of Florida we had multiple opportunities to explore local breweries. First up was Corporate Ladder, our favorite brewery in central Florida - we stopped by three...
San Diego 2024: sights
While most of our time in San Diego was spent working, we did have some time to enjoy the sun and sights. North Park Most of our time in this neighborhood was spent in restaurants or bars, but while...
San Diego 2024: food & drink
Thursday This year we arrived in San Diego in the early evening, so after checking in to the hotel {link to hotel blog post} we drove to Hillcrest Brewing to check out what they had on offer....
San Diego 2024: where we stayed
Where We Stayed Much like in 2023 and other years past, we divided our week-long stay between Hotel Circle and Pacific Beach. Holiday Inn Express - Mission Valley Located within a few minutes walk...
2023 Year in Review
Previous years-in-review – 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 In 2023 we focused on longer, slower trips. That led to less total flying than in...
Oregon Wine Tasting, a weekend with friends in Willamette Valley
A Southwest airfare sale spurred us to look at some options for a quick weekend trip in December, and much like 2019, we choose a weekend of wine tasting in Oregon's Willamette Valley. On this trip...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)