Since we spent half of July on Long Island we had plenty of opportunities to try out a variety of restaurants, breweries and wineries. Food Porto Bello - Eric's parents had eaten here during a...
Blog posts from beer!
Memorial Day Weekend: NC waterfalls, day 2
Waterfalls We only got to see one waterfall on Sunday due to unpredictable weather and simple bad luck. Elk Falls was closed due to an accidental drowning and several other falls were inaccessible...
Memorial Day Weekend: NC waterfalls, day 1
Where We Stayed I decided on Morganton as a base for our waterfall weekend and found an Airbnb rental within a ten minute walk of restaurants and breweries downtown. We had our own en suite bathroom...
London: food + drink in Berkshire Co.
Bracknell The Yorkshire Rose — We weren't terribly hungry after a substantial Sunday roast lunch, so we were drawn by the options of small plates. Not too busy on a Sunday night with just two other...
Shanghai 2017: Nanxing
After a leisurely breakfast, we spent a couple of hours Friday morning on FaceTime with family and friends wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving back in the States (where it was still Thursday...
A warm weekend in Minneapolis / St. Paul
In late September we flew to Minneapolis to visit friends and explore the area, and lucky us, it was warmer there than back home in NC! The heat made us a little lazier than we might have planned,...
Winter Weekend in London: Overview and Thursday
In November we found an outstanding deal for the direct flight from RDU to London, so we booked a long weekend trip for February. London is a favorite city to visit (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012...)...
Malaysia: a day in Hong Kong
On trips to Asia it often makes sense to spend a long layover in Hong Kong on the way back (much like we do for London on return trips from Europe) so we don't have to catch crazy early flights for...
Marlborough: mussels and Cable Bay
After checking out of the hotel at 10am and packing up the car, we walked into town to do a little shopping at the local souvenir shop. On our way out of town we stopped at one last winery before...
Marlborough: wine tasting, day 2
The weather today was quite random - sunny and calm one minute, windy and raining the next. A good day for indoor wine tasting! Lawson's Dry Hills - Our first stop of the day, we just beat a large...
Nelson: wine tasting on Thanksgiving Day
After sleeping in a bit we headed out on foot to pick up snacks at the grocery store and explore Nelson. Eric went into the city center to check out some gardens and I picked up a tea towel with...
Wellington: flights & arrival
After a fairly long 12.5 hour flight from LA in AA's Main Cabin Extra seats we landed in Auckland. I got pulled out of the automatic immigration line (again) because of the angle of my face...
Leandra’s 40th: food & drink
Thursday First day in the city, we checked into the hotel then walked a few blocks to a cider place nearby - Cider Riot!. Eric had a nice collaboration triple with cascade while I had the dry hopped...
Eric’s 40th: Reykjavík
We spent our first and last evenings in Iceland's capital and main city, Reykjavík. Tuesday Our apartment was two blocks from the famous Hallgrimskirkja, a church design inspired by the Icelandic...
San Diego Breweries
Looking back through my draft posts, I realized that I never completed the beer post from last year's trip to San Diego. So! To keep better records, here is what we tried in 2016 and a list with...
Beijing 2015: food & drink
Friday Great Leap Brewing #6 - located in a hutong, this brewery was a bit tricky to find - thank goodness for working GPS! We grabbed a table in the nearly empty tasting room and ordered a sampler...
Seattle 2015: Breweries & Pubs
Post Doc Brewing - Our flight landed a bit early, so we had just enough time to stop in here for a quick beer before they closed. The bartender was very friendly and mentioned there was no rush as...
Istanbul 2015: Asian side
After spending several hours at the Topkapi palace we decided to take the ferry across the Bosphorous and explore Kadıköy, a neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul. As soon as we exited the...
Our Itinerary
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
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)