Visiting Jacksonville, Florida April 22-23

On the way to Jacksonville, FL, we decided to enjoy the beautiful afternoon at the beach on Amelia Island just north of the city.  Few things make me happier than relaxing on the beach while the sounds of the ocean lull me into an afternoon nap.

The main beach area boasted a park with picnic tables, bathrooms, showers, and a wide stretch of sandy beach.  After a dip in the water, afternoon snacks, and a power nap, we continued on to Jacksonville.

Situated on the waterfront, our hotel overlooked the St. Johns River to the moderately sized downtown area. We respectfully declined the $10 parking - similar to our experience in Savannah - and instead chose free parking only a brief walk away.  We also tried our hand power negotiating by asking if we could upgrade our room to an upper-level room that overlooked the river  Sure enough, it worked! We found our room on the 9th floor, complete with an amazing water view.  You know, it didn't hurt to ask.

I would never have thought of Jacksonville as a sustainable city, but they did offer several restaurants sourcing local ingredients and a few Whole Foods stores to boot.  The front desk staff at the hotel advised against walking to the restaurant a short two miles away.  They did, however, encourage us to walk over the bridge to an area of downtown called "The Landing."  (Think South Street Seaport.)  We normally take advisories against walking with a grain of salt.  When we realized the area was under construction, we gladly drove to the sustainable restaurant - Bistro Aix.

The cool nighttime breeze and outdoor patio only added to the enjoyment our meal.  We noticed other seating under the climbing vines, but we couldn't complain: our seats in the garden patio impressed us nonetheless.

 

My vegetable pasta dish was tasty, but Colin's prosciutto pizza was to die for!

 

Exploring Jacksonville was a priority, so we denied ourselves dessert at the restaurant with hopes of  finding a bakery within walking distance of the hotel.   Yelp unfortunately realized our worst fears: no amazing shop in the area could satisfy our sweet tooth.  We opted instead for banana cream pie from Ruth's Steakhouse, located inside our hotel.  The pie -meh- was forgettable.  The best part was not actually the dessert itself, but eating it on the waterfront while listening to music being played across the river.  Sweet tooth be damned.

Our adventure to get across the river started with a slight detour.  But soon after, we managed to find the boardwalk's entrance to the bridge and walked the mile to the very lively Landing.  The band's metal sounds blasting off the amphitheater-type shopping plaza, were a bit much for us, so we decided to promenade along the promenade away from the music.  The walk provided several historical accounts of the area, allowing us to learn about the St. John's River and people who developed it.

Feeling the long day wear down on us, we made our way back to the hotel, packed our bags for a day at the beach, and went to bed.

Wanting to make the most of every bit of daylight, we awoke early to a beautiful morning and went for a jog on the boardwalk.  The boardwalk thankfully followed the river only about a mile, leaving us enough time to take a dip in the pool.  The pool was amazingly refreshing after the run and felt perfect under the hot sun.  We enjoyed it as long as we could before leaving for our next destination. If you look closely, you can see the pool at the bottom of the image below. 

The best part about a road trip is you see so many things, decide where you want to visit again, and then plan what you'll do there next time.  I will certainly return to Jacksonville to spend a few days at the beach!

Stay tuned for the 3rd and final leg of our road trip. It was definitely the best part!

Have you ever made it back to a destination you only passed through the first time?
Did you get to do and see everything the second time around?

Visiting Savannah, GA April 21-22

Savannah, Georgia has been one of the towns I've always wanted to visit, so you can imagine my excitement when we decided to go there first on our spontaneous road trip.  My impression of the area before visiting came from the scenes from Forrest Gump.  I imagined plantations, parks and warm weather.  The beauty of the town exceeded my expectations right from the start.

Arriving into the historic district late on Thursday, we checked into our perfectly situated hotel on Liberty Street.  Even at night, we admired the wide median that boasted beautiful oak trees with hanging Spanish moss.

Tree-lined Liberty Street - location of Hilton Savannah DeSoto

Since we always try to travel on a budget, we decided to save ourselves about $6 by parking on the street instead of in the garage.  The only caveat was having to get up to pay the meter at 8am.

It was difficult to see anything at night, but the first thing we both noticed was all the parks.  So many of the streets we drove down had a block with a park in the middle of the road at just about every intersection.

 One of the many streets interrupted by parks

Waking to partly cloudy skies, we got our running gear on, paid the meter, and set out to explore the area with a run.  As Colin puts it, the experience was a "postive sum," I liken it to the term "win-win."  We exercised, did some sightseeing, and were able to see more in less time.  Our run took us up park-filled Bull Street to Forsyth Park, down park-filled Abercorn Street, and along the riverfront.  While exploring the riverfront, we stopped to read about the history of Savannah, which was posted on signs at short intervals.

 One of the many parks we ran through

The partly cloudy skies threatened rain at times, but none fell and the air remained hot and humid.  It felt a little swamp-like. Because of the temperature and run, it felt wonderful to take a dip in the hotel swimming pool before checking out.

 Hotel swimming pool from our room's balcony

Colin and I choose local, sustainable and/or organic foods whenever we can.  It's funny that we get many of our foods at the grocery store when we travel, so that we can spend a little more to eat a sustainable lunch and/or dinner.  Many of the restaurants I find come from the website search Eat Well Guide, which identifies local, sustainable and/or organic eateries and grocery stores.  Savannah offers several options for sustainable meals, with only a few open for lunch.  We opted for The Green Truck Pub, which sources meat and other ingredients from local farms.

My "Rustico" chicken burger with goat cheese, balsamic carmelized onions, roasted red peppers and basil was amazing.  And the cabbage soup offered that day was also delicious.

Colin's "Mighty Veg" sandwich with bean chili, banana peppers and red onions with a side salad was also really good.

I love traveling with Colin because we enjoy so many of the same things.  It's fun to order dishes we both like and split them, go running and use the time to explore, and just to make a road trip happen.  I guess we are two peas in a pod!

Before leaving Savannah, we were able to win another Priceline bid on a hotel in Jacksonville, FL.  We really wanted to stay at a hotel on Amelia Island, but couldn't get any hotels for our low bid.  So, we opted for the next best choice, which was to stay downtown.  We were able to get the Crowne Plaza on the waterfront for $65/night. 

So after feeling very satisfied with our meal, it was off to Jacksonville for the next leg of the trip.

Have you ever been to Savannah, GA?
What are some ways you explore new areas?

Spontaneous Road Trip Preparations April 20-21

About a week before Easter, we realized Colin was going to have a day off for Good Friday.  With family in town and Colin traveling for a bachelor party, we didn't really have a chance to think about what we might do with a three day weekend until two days before the holiday.  We started the process by thinking of where we could go with just three days and three nights.  Colin has been slightly obsessed with Jacksonville, FL, so we decided that would be one of the destinations for our trip.  Since we both had to work a full day on Thursday, we thought about a destination between Raleigh and Jacksonville and immediately decided on Savannah, Georgia for the first leg of the trip.  We have both been to Charleston, SC and have both really wanted to make a trip to Savannah on numerous occasions, but never did.

There was obviously little time to plan, but on Wednesday evening, after checking hotel rates on Kayak, we decided to try and use the bidding feature on Priceline to find a better deal on a hotel in Savannah.  After selecting our preferences (3.5 stars, historic district or riverfront in Savannah) we bid $65 for the night and our bid was accepted!  The hotel we got, the Hilton Savannah de Soto, was priced at $150 for the same nights on Kayak!

As soon as we bid, Colin remembered an online forum where people share their bids.  For those of you that have never used Priceline, if your bid is not accepted, you can't just go and bid higher for 24 hours.  You can however, change details about the bid (like number of stars or exact location).  We thought we were lucky with our bid on the Savannah hotel, because a lower bid may not have been accepted.  Based on the forum posts, it didn't look like we could have gotten a better deal than we did.

We also went to the library on Wednesday and checked out some travel books on Savannah, Georgia, and Florida and I e-mailed a friend who was familiar with the Jacksonville area.  His recommendation was to go camping at Cumberland Island National Seashore, off the coast of southern Georgia.  I spent Wednesday evening and part of the day on Thursday trying to make reservations for the ferry and campground on the island.  I managed to get us on a ferry for Saturday morning to come back the same day because I was told the campground was full.  But, the woman told me to bring our camping stuff because sometimes there ended up being room on the day of the trip.

So, as soon as we got off of work on Thursday, we grabbed our city bags and camping bags, our travel books, cell phones, laptop and chargers and got in the car headed to Savannah.  We had lodging booked for the night and a ferry ride planned to Cumberland Island on Saturday - and that was all.

 Above: My clothes for a 3 day trip without concrete plans

Below: Colin's clothes for a 3 day trip without concrete plans

 Below: Water bottles, cell phones, cell phone car charger, mp3 players are the essentials for any long trip.  Only thing missing is our dinner and snacks.

Have you ever taken a spontaneous trip?
If so, how does it compare to other trips you've taken?

Stay tuned for details about how we made out!

Greenville and Greensboro, NC work travel March 22-25

The month of March was filled with travel.  As the previous two posts indicate, I spent the week of my birthday at the Outer Banks (OBX).  When I returned to work, I traveled each of the last two weeks of the month.

The first week, March 22-25, involved traveling for 2 days to Greenville, NC and a day trip to Greensboro, NC.

Greenville is about 85 miles east of Raleigh - about halfway to the beach.  I had been to Greenville twice before this trip.  The first time I went with Colin to visit our friend Leora, who was doing an occupational therapy internship rotation at the hospital there.  Leora is our friend from the University of Vermont who currently lives in Massachusetts.  Her internship brought her to Greenville from January through March.  The second time I went to Greenville to visit a program I oversee in that county.

This trip brought me to Greenville for a conference of North Carolina Cooperative Extension staff.  It was nice to meet other staff from the eastern part of the state and to interact with other NCSU Extension staff from Raleigh.  My coworker and I left on Tuesday and attended the conference on Wednesday and Thursday.  We had dinner at the City Bistro Cafe, which is the restaurant in the hotel where the conference was located and where we stayed.  The best part of the dinner was this amazing chocolate cake we shared.

The conference was enjoyable and the meals provided were okay.  On Wednesday night, I was able to celebrate Leora's last night in Greenville with her.  She had a small get together at a Mexican restaurant called La Cabana.  Leora loves margaritas and, at $2.50 each, you couldn't find a better deal.  It was great to see her one last time before she went back to Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much time to explore Greenville because the conference was an all day event both days.  The first time I was there, Leora took us to River Park North for some hiking through the woods with her dog.  It was a pretty small park, but did provide a place to enjoy the outdoors.  We also got to eat at Sup Dogs, an eatery that offers meat and vegetarian hot dogs.  My impression of the city is that there isn't much that would draw me there in the future.

We got back from Greenville late on Thursday and I had to travel again on Friday.  This time I headed 80 miles in the opposite direction, to Greensboro, NC.  This was just a day trip to meet with a colleague from outside of Charlotte.  The library where we worked for most of the morning was one of the nicest libraries I've seen in awhile (Hemphill Public Library).  There was a small private room that was perfect for us to work undisturbed.

In the afternoon we took our meeting to Panera, where we got lunch and continued to work.  I have come to really enjoy lunch and working at Panera.  While they do not appear to offer sustainable meat, they do have some pretty good vegetarian options - like the black bean soup, the tomato and mozzarella sandwich, and the Mediterranean veggie sandwich.  Their salads are also pretty good and you can get an apple with your meal.  I do find the food to taste very salty every time I eat there though.  When I go there to work and have already had a meal, I typically enjoy their chai latte or ginger-peach tea.

I don't know much about Greensboro and will have to save a post about the area for a time I actually get to spend some time exploring.

Exploring part of the Outer Banks

The week I spent in the Outer Banks with my mom was nice and relaxing.  Without a car at our disposal, my mom and I used what Colin likes to call "hamburger power" to get around.  With the car, we decided Saturday would be the day of exploration.


The day started out at the Wright Brothers National Memorial (http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm) in Kill Devil Hills. Kill Devil Hills is the town just south of Kitty Hawk and our vacation rental.  It was interesting to read about Orville and Wilbur Wright, who chose Kill Devil Hills because they needed wind and sand to test their flights.  I am fascinated that it took at least 2000 years of civilization for man to sustain flight, but only took about 50 years for humans to escape the earth's atmosphere once sustained flight was achieved.


The memorial boasts few interactive displays, but the story is not lost.  There is one exhibit that was interesting.  It showed the 100 year celebration, where people tried unsuccessfully to replicate those first flights.  Outside, there is a monument on top of a large hill dedicated to the two brothers from Ohio.  On the grounds you can walk the distance each of the four first flights traveled (which was not very far).  I am reminded of the first flight every day when I look at North Carolina license plates! 

The park entrance fee is a mere $4 and you can get a year's pass for $20.  In my opinion, the best value is the $80 "America the Beautiful" National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.  This pass is good for a year and gets you into all the National Parks throughout the U.S.  We bought this pass in 2008 when we did a west coast trip to The Grand Canyon and California.  The pass is a great incentive to travel and visit the U.S. Parks, which have been preserved for us to enjoy.  It is sad to hear that many of our parks are limiting their service.  Millers on the Road have enjoyed some and hope to see many more!


After visiting the Memorial, we visited Jockey's Ridge State Park (http://www.jockeysridgestatepark.com/), just south of Kill Devil Hills, in Nag's Head.  Jockey's Ridge is the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States.  It reminded me a little bit of our exploration of Frasier Island in Australia, which is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 720 square miles.

At Jockey's Ridge, we stopped at the information center to grab a map and set out to explore the dunes.  We started along the boardwalk from the information center and reached an area where everyone left their shoes.  We did the same and it felt great to walk barefoot in the cool, soft sand.

There were hang gliding kites laying in the sand, but we didn't see anyone hang gliding.  We also saw some people carrying cardboard boxes for sand-boarding, but didn't see anyone actually boarding.

The view from the top of the dunes was good and mimicked the view from the Wright Brother's Memorial.  One nice feature at Jockey's Ridge was getting to see the bay up close.  I have a feeling the sunset from the dunes would be amazing.

We opted for continuing to explore and left Jockey's Ridge to drive north along route 12.  The drive through Duck showed us a really cute beach town that had some Newport, RI-like characteristics.  While it seemed like we drove forever past Kitty Hawk (maybe 30 minutes), we still didn't reach the northern-most part of the Outer Banks - Corolla.  As the sun dipped lower in the sky, we decided to head back to Duck to catch a sunset on the bay.

The houses between Duck and Corolla were enormous!  It was fun to imagine who owned them and what kind of parties they hosted there.  My guess is that they are corporate owned.  I think someone said a former governor of North Carolina owns a house out there.  Pop Quiz beloved readership: Anyone know who owns some of the mansion-looking houses out there??

We reached Duck just in time to see the sun dip below the horizon.  It seemed like a perfect ending to our last day in the Outer Banks.

The Outer Banks aka OBX

Those of you that know me know that I love travel deals.  When travelzoo (www.travelzoo.com) listed a deal on the Outer Banks through Endless Vacation Rentals (http://www.endless-vacation-rentals.com/) I jumped right on it.  The deal was actually pretty awesome - $250 for a 1 bedroom vacation rental for the week or $275 for a 2 bedroom rental.  The pictures looked decent and the property was within walking distance to the beach.

There were options for weeks in March, April, and May.  I knew April and May would be much warmer, but my big 30th birthday was in March, so I decided to book that week.  I did debate reserving a second week in May, but Colin kept me in check.  Since he did start a job here in North Carolina back in January, he doesn't have much vacation time built up yet.

Luckily, my mom was on board to come down and visit and spend the week at the beach with me.  Colin joined us for each of the weekends.  I tried invited people I know who were off of work and were relatively close, but no one else could join us.

The beach rental was called Barrier Island Station and was located in Kitty Hawk.  Because we were without a car for the week, we didn't explore much of the area until the weekend.  We did however, do a lot of exercise.  The rental property was actually a timeshare resort and had an indoor pool, fitness center, steam room, and walking trails.  I usually ran in the mornings before lunch and walked to the beach with mom after lunch.  I logged my miles on daily mile (www.dailymile.com) and the weeks total came out to 38 miles of walking and running.  That's the entire length of the state of Rhode Island!!  My mom probably logged pretty close to 20 miles herself.  There was an outdoor pool, but we did not dare attempt to swim in it.

I will admit that I did take water aerobics and my mom was the second youngest person in the class with me!

The weather was a mix of good and bad.  When we arrived, it was beautiful and sunny with temperatures in the 60-70's.  Unfortunately, the weather changed to low 40's on Monday.  That was the day we kept to the pool and indoor gym.  Each day got progressively warmer and we were able to walk to the beach each of the subsequent days.

Wednesday was my birthday and the day was in the 50's and cloudy.  We kept to our normal routine, having a good breakfast, going to exercise, having a nice lunch, and walking to the beach.  We did manage to take a few photos for the occasion.

On the way back, my mom insisted on getting birthday cake to go along with the delicious fish dinner she had planned for me.

Thursday and Friday were gorgeous days.  On Thursday, I ran 11 miles (training for a half marathon) and we went for a nice long walk on the beach.

Friday, we spent the whole day basking in the 70-80 degree sun.  The only downside of the day was trying to find a bathroom near the beach!!

Once Colin joined us and brought the car, we were able to explore more of the area.  I'll save the details for the next post.

Traveling to Asheville, NC - December 9-11, 2010

The months of October and November have been extremely busy with work.  Since I now work on a federal grant, our fiscal year starts October 1.  Once we receive our official award letter, it's a race to Thanksgiving.  During those two months we are printing curriculum, ordering supplies and making sure appropriate logos and non-discrimination statements are on any materials we are developing.  This year was difficult because the program doubled in size and the team of 5 increased to 7.  As a result of this increase, several of my travel experiences in the past two months have included large cargo vans with several trips to Rocky Mount, NC - an hour away.  I also had the great pleasure of helping to drive the 4 hours in a cargo van to Asheville, NC.

The only fun trip I've had in the past two months was a short Thanksgiving break where I did too much traveling.  It started with an hour flight to Boston and an hour drive to RI on Thanksgiving Day followed by a 3 hour drive to Albany on Friday.  Saturday was a day of rest.  Sunday was the 3 hour return trip to RI, with the 45minute drive back to Boston for my 1 hour flight first thing Monday morning.  It makes me tired just writing about it.

All of the hard work our team has done since October (and developing curriculum before then) was completed with two culminating events.  The first on December 2 with a training here in Raleigh and was the larger of the two the second on December 10 with a training in Asheville.  Today's post is about the trip to Asheville.

While driving a huge cargo van 4 hours is not ideal, the trip did not seem so long while in the company of good coworkers.  Thankfully, the weather cooperated all three days, and it wasn't until we were coming back, and an hour from Raleigh, that we saw any precipitation.  Since the Asheville training was the day we gave out the last of the supplies, it was a time for celebration when we finished.  Our boss was kind enough to buy us all tickets to the Biltmore Estate candlelit tour, which also allowed us entry to the grounds during the following day.  So, after the full day of training, we enjoyed exploring the Biltmore Estate, enjoyed a wine tour and tasting, and ended with a dinner at the Bistro, one of the Biltmore restaurants.

Upon reaching our hotel, we realized the Clarion Hotel in Fletcher, NC has a club where the locals visit on the weekend (it was a Friday night).  A few of us decided to explore the attraction and enjoyed the metal band mixed in with a DJ that had a difficult time transitioning songs.  The locals were typical of a small town - 20 year olds mixed in with 60 year olds - at the "club" to get wasted and pick someone up.  We quickly realized we were tired and headed back to our rooms.

Saturday morning we enjoyed the Biltmore grounds and Biltmore Village before returning to a rainy Raleigh.