Boston Trip: September 25-29, 2011

Mother-Daughter Trip! I will admit, I was worried when 2 days before we left my mom presented me purse. But not just any old purse - it was a coordinating purse. It coordinated with her purse!!! It was the kid-size version of the one she bought for herself. :) But this was a mother-daughter trip so it fit the theme! Plus I was happy to have a new purse! ;)

Day 0

Evening airline ride to Boston, hopped a cab and got to the hotel (Westin Waterfront) to have a late dinner at the hotel's restaurant, MJ O’Connor’s. It was an Irish pub that played top 40s music – a pet peeve of mine. The hotel room had a decent view of the harbor, but no washcloths for the entire stay – I guess that was our trade off.

Day 1

We were able to get up and start the morning in Boston fresh and ready for some sight-seeing. The hotel concierge recommended the Upper Deck trolley tours and that turned out to be a great tour for us. Padded seats, entertaining tour guides and easy to spot buses painted bright green and yellow. We traveled the route until we got to stop 7, the start of the Freedom Trail. But before we could start that we needed lunch, I spotted an alley that looked interesting and it had a restaurant tucked into it, Sweetwater Tavern. Great good and super yummy sweet potato fries. We then entered Boston Commons to walk to the beginning and first site of the Trail, The State House.

Then we saw it all: King’s Chapel and burying ground, Boston City Hall, Old South Church, Old State House (where we stopped for a tour to hear more about the Boston massacre) and that is where we stopped for the day. We got back on the bus and toured around the city til we got back at our hotel. The hotel had a free shuttle that returned us to Faneuil Hall in the evening so we could enjoy dinner at Cheers. For being such a tourist trap I was really impressed with the food!

Day 2

We started the foggy morning by heading to the harbor for our harbor tour that was included with our bus tour. So glad we took the first boat tour, it was just me, my mom and some lady from India – it was like a private tour of the harbor and as we were out on the water the fog lifted and it was a beautiful ride.

After the boat tour, it was time for lunch! Right on the wharf was Chart House and it seemed like just the place to eat and enjoy the harbor view. It was our nautical day so next stop: USS Constitution. This was the one spot I didn’t see last time I was in Boston cuz Rachel and I lost track of the RED line that was on the sidewalk. It is a beautiful ship and was neat to see how well it is taken care of.

Back on the trolley! Next we were going to stop at Prudential – there is a bar on the 52^nd floor that has great views of the Boston skyline, good place for a rest stop. Hopped the last trolley back to the hotel to freshen up and back to Quincy Market for dinner! We wandered for a bit trying to decide where to go and spent some time checking out the Holocaust memorial. It is actually pretty horrific. There were 6 towers to represent the concentration camps and a gassy fog came up through the vents in the sidewalk while you read quotes from Holocaust survivors. Nothing like eating after seeing that! After realizing some places were just too loud and bar-like we finally ended up on the patio of Anthem. Pleasant evening.

Day 3

The morning came and we were back in a taxi, cabbing it to Faneuil Hall to start up where we left off on the Freedom Trail. First stop, actual Faneuil Hall. I am glad we went inside, it was beautiful! Very nicely restored and oozed a wonderful sense of history. A few short blocks and we step into the North End, Boston’s Little Italy. It was a clear divide! Italian restaurants everywhere! We had some sites to see before I could gorge myself on Italian food though, like Paul Revere’s House! We were able to tour the inside see how it would have looked at the time he owned it. It was actually quite a large house for that era – which is good considering he had like 16 children!

Then on to the Old North Church. One if by land, two if by sea. Finally, time for some lunch. Italian lunch! On the plane ride to Boston we discovered we had a Boston local sitting next to us and he recommended Antico Forno. I can't say it was the best Italian meal I ever had but the server (from Brazil) had the most amazing eyes. So good lunch and onto Copp’s Hill Burying Ground which signaled the end of the trail for us. All we had to do was cross a bridge and we would be back at the USS Constitution which we already toured! So my mom did it - Freedom Trail, check!

Before we left the North End we had one last stop...everywhere we went we told to go to Mike’s Pastry for cannolis. So I guess we had to go! Um, yeah, it was pretty yummy! After that we were pretty tired out and retired early – we didn’t even have dinner this night!

Day 4

Figured out the subway system on the final day! We saved a bunch of coin and avoided all taxis. It took me a minute, but we got it figured out and didn’t end up taking us on a ride to Harvard or something – instead we made it to the lunch spot of the day: Omni Parker House’s The Last Hurrah – home of the parker rolls and creator of the Boston Cream Pie. Enjoyable lunch chatting with the couple at the table next to us who were from Saint Cloud! HA! Oh and there was a Best Buy conference at the hotel also so MN was all around.

After lunch we entered the subway again for a closer look at Boston Public Library and Trinity Church. Both beautiful structures, inside and out.

At this point we had really seen it all and pretty tired of walking so we headed to the airport and dined at Jerry Remy’s Bar and Grill for our final Boston meal. Smooth plan ride home and a little kitten was happy to have me home!

Graceland Road Trip: June 18-24, 2011

Road trips seem like a good idea... no airline ticket to purchase, amazing amount of scenery and attractions you can visit, but then as the trip starts to approach I start to calculate how much time I will be stuck in a car and I get a bit anxious! I don't like to sit still. But I gotta say, with all the breaks and sites we saw, the time passed quickly! I am already thinking about planning another. I think it is time to see more of the west coast... but focus... this blog is about my fabulous trip to Graceland!

Saturday, June 18th: St Louis
After spending 10 hours in the car, St Louis seemed like a good stopping point! We arrived in St Louis late afternoon and the sky was blue and bright, so it seemed like one should really travel 630 ft in the air to experience it! The Gateway Arch was really a site to see. The 4 minute ride up to the top was fun... and cozy, they cram 5 people in these little cars designed in the 60s - so you learn to make friends quick! It was unfortunate that once on top, the viewing windows were dirty and small, which diminished the view, but it was still one of my favorite stops!

Now it was time for dinner! We had read an article that listed some of the best pizzas in the country and St Louis had a listing: Pi Pizzeria. We decided to go to the Central West End cuz it was 2 miles closer to us than the other location and we were starved. I had no idea that Central West End was that adorable. Super trendy and cute. The pie was pretty decent, but I think they are known for their deep dish, which we didn't get.

Sunday, June 19th: Drive to Nashville
We woke up the next morning, ready to drive to Nashville. Along the way we made a stop at Land Between the Lakes. It is a section of land that is sandwiched between 2 lakes, with walking trails and historic locations. I was happy to get out and walk around a bit, too bad the weather didn't want me to. So hot, so humid and a bit rainy. So we got back in the car to visit the bison prairie, excited to see some roaming bison! Um, the bison didn't want me to see them. They were not feeding or roaming, they were hidden somewhere among the trees, so that was a bust.








Our Nashville hotel had a shuttle to Opryland Resort, which was great cuz parking over there is $18! The resort is grandiose and over the top, at a constructed corporate level that I don't appreciate, but I made the most of it! I road the boat that wound through the courtyard (that is how big the hotel is) and enjoyed the fountain show and had dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants: Jack Daniel's. There was a band playing at Jack's which was fun to watch, great cover band and I even picked up their CD of original songs. It was a fun night!









Monday, June 20th: Nashville, drive to Memphis
Back on the hotel shuttle in the morning, so we could tour the Grand Ole Opry. It was super lavish, all the dressing rooms and the green room were a site to see. The thing that really got me was the circle on the stage. The current location of the Grand Ole Opry is pretty recent, the "real" location was the Ryman Auditorium. So in order to keep a piece of that history, they cut out a section of the Ryman stage and installed it into the current Opry stage. After hearing all the Opry history, we had to tour the Ryman Auditorium also! Between the two, this one was the most interesting for me. The history of the building is fascinating and the talent and legends that sang on that stage gives you the "chill bumps".


Our time at Nashville was at an end (bummer) and it was time to get to Memphis! But with one stop along the way... Grinder's Switch Winery. We all know the special place that MN wineries hold in my heart, so I was excited to visit a TN winery! This winery is in a super charming log cabin, in the middle of what seemed nowhere. The owner is super friendly and pours some great and unique wines. Quite a few sweet ones (just like MN), but some real treasures too. The Chardonnay was one of my favorites, which is rare, those are not usually my favorite!









Tuesday, June 21st: Memphis
It's time, time for the whole purpose of this trip: Graceland. Before arriving, we had read somewhere that you can expect to spend about 2 1/2 hours touring the property. We spent 7 1/2 hours. HA! Ok, so we did take a shuttle over to Sun Studio for a tour and come back to finish the Graceland experience. But Sun Studio is so closely tied to Elvis that it seemed like all part of the Graceland experience. And it was all so great. How to even write about it? Graceland, the house, is much smaller than I expected and we could only tour the first level (lame), but it does have a lot of other building on the property to poke around in. To have a house like that frozen in the 70s era of decorating, well, that is pretty eye opening! I want a jungle room. Sun Studio was also a great tour. Heard some old and original tracks and really got that feeling of history.

Dinner that evening was at BB Kings on Beale St where we were entertained by the house band and I got some good mac and cheese! Beale St is pretty touristy so we thought a good way to view the city would be a Trolley ride. They restored their vintage car so it was a charming 45 minute ride around the city as the sun disappeared for the night.

Wednesday: June 22nd: Memphis
I was absolutely giddy to watch the Peabody Ducks make their daily trek to the fountain and who knew you had to get there an hour early to watch this! Good thing we showed up so early. The elevator doors finally opened and the 4 ducks came running out - they bee-lined for that fountain! Just so cute. We then visited the top of the hotel to see their "palace" at night and some great views of Memphis.

Time for lunch! We ordered sensibly so we could binge on dessert (at lunch! I never get dessert at lunch, but considering the South considers mac and cheese a vegetable side, it seemed right). Rumor had it that McEwen's on Monroe had some fabulous banana cream pie, and I have to agree!

When we at BB Kings the prior evening, the waitress recommended the Gibson Factory Tour. So after licking the dessert plates clean, we headed to the Gibson factory. Interesting tour, learned stuff about the guitar making process that I had no idea about!

I usually seem to end up at a cemetery on my vacations and this was no exception. Elmwood Cemetery is a Memphis cemetery that was started in 1852. And I think this was the most amazing and largest one I have been to at 80 acres. So many awe-inspiring headstones and crypts. I could have spent hours here, but it was too hot to wander and it was closing time soon, which meant dinner...

Every site you read to research Memphis tells you to eat at Rendezvous Restaurant, so we thought we better! The entrance is in an alley, the wait is long, and you find your own table after the hostess points you in the general direction. It is simple and good! A place to visit for sure!

Thursday, June 23rd: Memphis, drive to Branson
Well, that was it, time to start our return home. But not before we made one last overnight stop at Branson! We were going to make a stop to tour some caves in Arkansas, but before we got there, we saw all these signs advertising the Natural Bridge. Our curiosity was peaked, we had to stop. The drive down to the starting point was kind of crazy! We actually had to put the Prius in a low gear and weave our way down and hope we didn't run into another car! Safely made it and we walked the short trail, taking in the beauty of the land and seeing the bridge. Wish we could have walked on the bridge. Ah well.








Once at Mystic Caverns, there were 2 caves on the property that could be toured. The first one, just 1 week earlier was flooded tens of feet, so glad we showed up a week later! The second cave was bigger and had a small pond/wishing well. The pennies that are thrown in there are eaten away in about 2 weeks by the chemicals in the water! It was real pretty there and nice and cool.







Um, so wow. Wow. I don't even know where to start to describe Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede dinner show. Maybe just the name is enough? :) It wasn't until I was buying tickets that I realized that we had to pick a side: North or South. And they meant North or South in the Mason-Dixon kind of way. The whole evening, the audience was pitted against each other in all sorts of crazy competitions, some performed by audience members, some by professional horse riders. There were some fun horse riding tricks and baby pigs plus mini-ponies stole the show, but still sometimes I was kind of wide-eyed, trying to wrap my head around what I was a part of that evening.

Friday, June 24th: Branson, drive home
We really only made one stop on the 10 hour drive home, so I have to mention Osceola Cheese Shop! It was a good stop. I sampled a bunch of cheese, found my MO souvenir mug (I earned 2 new state mugs on this trip!) and then was ready for that final push home! Final mileage count: 2149.9 miles!

St Croix Valley Train Ride

I spent a lot of May in the St Croix River Valley, it is a really beautiful part of the MN landscape! I traveled back up here to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom (and brother) since I was not in town on actual Mother's Day and we went on a train ride. Truth be told, my brother and I were the only people on the train our age, but whatever, I had a wonderful time! We opted for the 1.5 hour ride that traveled through scenic bluffs and over waterways, starting in Osceola. The engine does a run around at Marine on St Croix to bring us back on the same track. I saw a wild turkey, deer, an eagles nest (do you know that they can weight up to 1 ton!?) and some fantastic scenery.

It was fun to hang out by the open doors where you could see the view uninterrupted...

The train had several variety of cars that you could travel in between during the ride. There was a mail car, an old passenger car (that I don't understand how people could fit in, the seats were so small and close together), and a slightly more modern passenger cabin (from the 50s) that had super comfy seats and air conditioning.


Marine on St. Croix: 1.5 hour, 20-mile trip. Board the train in Osceola, Wisconsin at the historic SOO Line depot, located at 114 Depot Road.
Adults $17, Children $8 (ages 5-15), Family $45 (two adults and two to four children ages 5-15), Children 4 and under ride free with paid adult but do need a boarding pass.

Dresser: 50-minute round trip takes you from Osceola, Wisconsin to Dresser, Wisconsin. Board the train in Osceola at the historic SOO Line depot, located at 114 Depot Road. Once in Dresser, passengers are allowed some time to exit the train and stretch their legs while checking out the fully refurbished 1887 Dresser depot.
Adults $12, Children $6 (ages 5-15), Family $30 (two adults and two to four children ages 5-15), Children 4 and under ride free with paid adult but do need a boarding pass.
**I want to try this one next, the turn around on the Marine on St Croix is long and slightly boring, so it would be nice to get off the train and wander for a minute like at this stop.

My NE MN Wine Trip: May 6-8, 2011

This was the 4th annual and means we have hit all the quadrants in the state! But not all the wineries... I have routes planned for next several years. :)

By the time we all met up and got the car packed we were starved! Time for some brunch, unfortunately, the original destination (Tilia) was too long of a wait so we popped next door to Cafe Twenty Eight. That is right, I let us deviate from the itinerary! 28 was super yummy and we got an outside table, which meant I also got my first sunburn of the season. Full tummies mean time to wine taste! So we piled in the car and headed east to New Richmond, WI where we found ourselves at a vodka distillery. I know, I know. Vodka is not wine, but I love 45th Parallel so I had to add it to our stops. We had a quick tour and vodka/gin sampling, then we headed to our rental for the weekend. If there is a word better than perfect I would use it. Someone should invent a word to describe this place! Google maps may have put us on a (unnecessary) dirt road to get here so when we were weaving through rural suburbia for about 2 miles I started to get nervous, but then we saw some water (Kroon Lake) and our driveway. The unassuming house was in a peaceful setting, and then after unlocking the door we all were trying to figure out a way to stay here forever! So many meals, glasses of wine and laughter were shared on that deck perched overlooking the calm water lake. We never even turned on the well equip TV cuz the wildlife provided enough entertainment! We now have a realty show about geese we need to pitch to someone...


We had to tear ourselves away from the house though, we had a gala to attend! A winery about 30 minutes away was hosting an event serving a buffet of local foods. So after attending the Taste of St Croix at Chateau St Croix, we all wished we would have visited another night. If you are expecting 250 guests, why would you set up 4 tables to dine at?? It was a food event! It is hard to eat and drink standing up. And then on top of the $25 ticket we had to still pay another $6 if we wanted to taste the wine. And there were 2 people pouring. Sigh. The whole event was poorly organized, but I will admit the food was good and I ate my share (albeit sitting on the damp ground).


Saturday was a pretty open day, we were only dictated by the operating hours of the 2 wineries we were going to stop at. So that meant we lazed around and fixed a late breakfast, enjoyed on the deck. Once noon rolled around we had to get a move on, friends were meeting us in Stillwater! It was awesome timing but all three cars pulled into the St Croix Vineyards lot at nearly the same time, we were ready for a tasting! About half way through the tasting we found out they were offering a free tour, so we jumped on board that. We learned about growing grapes and the making of wine. I gotta tell you, I have gone on several of these and every time I learn more!

With the tour over and our tasting wrapping up, it was time to think about lunch. The Dock Cafe it was! I just ate here the past September and loved it so happy to return and actually sit on the dock. It was a great lunch and saw some crazy boat-cars.


We were in Stillwater, which meant we had to shop! We wandered in and out of shops til we started to crash, then thought we better hit that last winery cuz nothing wakes you up like wine. :) We only had to drive about 6 blocks til we hit Northern Vineyards. And then we waited and waited and waited. We were tired and didn't have the patience to deal with this crowd or wait. So we randomly pulled bottles off the shelf and figured we would have our own tasting back at the house. Before settling in the night we had to stop at the crazy park we passed several times: Franconia Sculpture Park. I will let the pictures speak for themselves and also say it is a destination to visit in person!






Could the weekend really be over? Ugh. How does this happen every year!? Thankfully we had all morning to make breakfast and sit on the deck and enjoy the sun (before it disappeared behind the clouds as the day progressed). Last winery was on the way out of town, Winehaven Winery. We were in and out pretty quick and on the road home. And I hoped I wouldn't run into any more pheasant...I can't close without mentioning the poor bird I completely destroyed when we were in the St Croix valley. Oh man, I didn't even see it, I guess I took care of things before the next hunter could!

Ireland: February 2011 (day 4-6)

I am so full. I had a wonderful Italian dinner tonight, but before that the day started with a super home-cooked breakfast at the b&b (hmm, food here turned out to be much better than I expected). We shared the breakfast table with a Toronto couple that were traveling with their 3 month old child (brave), they were very nice nice and traveling opposite than us so provided some tips.

We checked out and visited a 13th century church in the Dingle area (Kilmalkedar Church) and then drove to Killarney for lunch. Once we found Main St, it was really charming. After lunch, it got really rainy and just not pleasant to wander. We stopped at the woolen market, tried on 80 different wool sweaters but couldn't find anything so just checked in our next b&b for the night.



Oh and I have to give a shout out to our GPS at this time. Roads are not labeled and the signs appear after we pass them, it is just so nice to let the voice guide us. Oh and car... It is still holding in there but when I put it in reverse the back windshield wiper turns on and oh the drivers door only shuts about 60% of the time.

It was so nice getting up and not having to pack up before breakfast. We could wander down for breakfast and then head back upstairs to get ready. We walked all over the town of Youghal today. A seaside town, that not during off season is a very different town I imagine. We visited the 18th century clock tower and lighthouse and then did some local shopping, but then we decided to go on an Experience. Ohooh, but before that rachel spotted a guy in youghal wearing a Minnesota sweatshirt!


Ok, so The Jameson Experience. Super fun time. After a tour of the old distillery those of us the tour sat down to earn a certificate as an official whiskey taster. I learned a lot about Scottish, Irish and American whiskey. Plus it was a real fun time sitting around the table talking with the other folks on the tour. One Irish couple told us to visit Carlow for some interesting ruins and another Irish girl mentioned Kilkenny. Kilkenny we hit first and after some GPS trouble we found it, really busy town! Kind of crazy to drive in. They had a castle in the center of town and the Smithwick's brewery! Adorable city, I could spend a lot of time here given the chance.


Next we drove to Carlow and realized the town was much bigger than it seemed, but also the most run down. We visited the city castle, well just one wall...a guy in the 1800s was trying to remodel and accidentally blew up the whole thing. Then we saw a portal grave dating back 5000 years and Carlow held one more surprise, another castle, with a grand stone wall entrance. In the setting sun it was magical.



We arrived then at our final b&b, in Athy. The owner knew of a bar playing music this night, finally! We had yet to hear an Irish band. We waited a long time, long time...but they finally got on stage. I was giddy listening to them, it was so awesome.

The next morning, our last day. :( We had the last home-cooked breakfast today, I am going to miss eggs every morning, I would never take the time for such things. After a 10 min hunt for the car keys, we packed up the car...well we tried to pack, the dog at the b&b jumped in the car!! He was so excited to come with! It was such an ordeal to get him out but super funny. Finally on the way to the airport. The airport shuttle guy told us someone earlier in the week had wrecked the rental car and ended up paying some local 400 euro to drive him around. Ha! Glad we were able to manage on our own. Wow, the flight back is long when you are not sleeping, I managed to watch The Town, Due Date and Red. After a connection in Chicago... Home!

Ireland: February 2011 (day 2 and 3)

I spent a lot of time this morning trying to figure out why my curling iron didn't work...turns out you need to turn the outlet on. All the outlet here have switches, different.

We found our way out Dublin and hit the open road. Our stomachs planned our next stop and it was great, Kildare. We had a filling lunch at the local pub and then traveled over to The Grey Abbey, erected in 1260. It is ruins now and an outlet mall sits behind it, but it was fun to wander around.





























After being in the car about an hour it was time to stretch the legs and when we saw a castle high upon a hill, that was the place to stop! The Rock of Cashel would have been so cool to tour but we missed closing by more than an hour. That didn't stop us from climbing around the muddy exterior and getting some lovely views.

I would love to visit the town of Cashel agian, but not the town of Bruff. Bruff was our first B&B and they did NOT have our reservation!!!! Thankfully they had space, but after the screaming children and barking dogs I had enough. There was one pub in town and we did have fun sitting there for 3+ hours but we didn't want to stay any longer in town come morning.

We left Bruff by 10am the next day and started to Dingle. Driving those narrow roads are so much easier in the daylight!! Although I still screamed at every oncoming car, but it was a more comfortable scream. Our route took us through Newcastle West, charming little town with nicely maintained walk paths and a castle in the center of town. We then started our drive to the B&B outside Dingle, it was such a remote area that the GPS wouldn't even pick it up, but we found it!

The view outside our window were sheep and the second tallest mountain in Ireland, beautiful. The B&B owner laid out a wonderful path for us to tour, but of course we managed to miss every single site she circled for us on the map. Our new plan is to find them in the morning after a filling breakfast! In the mean time we drove around the Dingle penninsula and thoroughly enjoyed the views.