On my way back from New Orleans I had decided to travel Scenic Highway 90 along the water. It is a gorgeous drive full of interesting sites including a restaurant named “We Never Close” with a “closed for the holidays” sign, a wild boar the size of a volkswagen dead on the side of the road, and of course a lost sole which I stopped to photograph.
But the most interesting site that caught my eye that day was a man walking his dog while rolling a 6 foot …

Something I like to do when I visit a city, is find out what they are famous for and then try all the local recommendations to find the best one for myself. For instance, in Cincinnati I did Cincinnati-Style chili and in Baltimore I did Marland-Stlye crab cakes.
So when I recently visited New Orleans I figured I would find out who had the best seafood gumbo in the French Quarter. I posted on Facebook to hear others favorites and then mapped them out and off I went. Here is a …

I will start off part II by saying it was thankfully a lot less eventful than part I, but I still feel I need to deliver a part II.
The drive to Baltimore up the eastern shore went pretty well. Nora slept the whole way just about. The wind was the only thing that did not go our way. It was 20-30mph with higher gusts coming at us straight on. That killed our gas mileage and I had to hold both hands on the wheel to prevent being blown off the …

This part of the world is known as “Land of the Waterfalls“. With a name like that how can you not want to visit and explore? We needed a stop halfway between Baltimore and Pensacola that was not too far off the route and we chose this area as it sounded like a great place for a stopover. The weather was gorgeous for winter, 60 and sunny. It was a small town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina in Transylvania County. (for official information on Brevard>>)
I …

This museum is really big. The center piece being a large multi-level playground with rope bridges, ladders and tunnels. It looked like a lot of fun, but there were too many kids on it as this was a holiday when school was still out. Nora gets intimidated by that amount of bigger kids and was afraid to jump into the maze of ropes and children. I can’t blame her as I was a little disappointed as I really wanted to get in there and climb :) There were many exhibits …

This is another Children’s Museum that we got to visit. Now remember these reviews are from being with a shy 2-year-old and are not so much to be used as a review, but just to point out its existence. And just whether or not it is worth visiting.
This museum has the usual playground activities, water-based activities, and crafts all based around learning. While not quite as large as some of the ones located in big cities, this is still a good-sized and nice museum. We recommend this place, and if …

After off the mountain from Wintergreen Ski Resort in Virginia we stumbled upon quite a little treat. A Brewpub in what seemed the middle of nowhere that was reminiscent of a mountain lodge. It was the Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company. A great establishment that had over 9 on-site brewed offerings. We sampled them all. Sadly I did them so qucik and did not take notes, but my favorites were the Cru Noir, a Black Belgian, and the Vienna Lager (Octoberfest-style). We only had soup so I cannot fully comment on …

I took the title from a line in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. If you have ever seen the movie, which I cannot imagine anyone that has not, you probably recognize that quote from when the mother, Ellen Griswold, and daughter, Audrey, were fighting about the Grandparents sleeping in her room, and that she would have to share a room with her brother Rusty. The reason I used that for the title of this blog is because half the time, we really feel like the Griswolds. But sadly, this season we …

Sharon’s aunt’s partner’s son’s wedding was to be held outside Bowling Green, Kentucky in conjunction with their annual hoedown and we were invited to attend. Also going was Sharon’s sisters, Cookie and Rachie. The Frog Farm Hoedown was going on its 20-something anniversary and has a history of being a lot of fun so we were excited to hit the road. The only accommodations there was a large field in which everyone was to camp in. Luckily the Ark is perfectly suited for “roughing it.”
We did the usual and got …

Fresh of the plane in L.A. Kevin, Amy, Trish and I decided to stop for lunch at BJs Brewpub in, just a few miles from our hotel in Marina Del Ray.
The restaurant combined my 2 of my favorite things. Fish Tacos and on-site fresh brewed beer. First the tacos.
While I assume I could have asked for them to be grilled, the fish in the tacos comes fried. I prefer grilled, but pretty much only for the health factor.
These tacos were really good. The tortillas were very fresh and they were …