farlands | traveling near and far

Travel blogs are prolific, sometimes interesting, other times not so much. I enjoy it when I get hold of a good one. Here are three great entries that I read recently and want to share with others, because really, it's not (always) about me! First up, from my friend Jodi: 24 hours in Iceland at Everything and a Racehorse Why don't American houses look like this? Solo Female Travel at Nomadic Matt - This is a great this set of essays because of the variety of tips and experiences of the authors.  For work I usually travel by myself, and I find it is very different to travel as family or as a couple. And finally... Let me introduce you to my new friend, Nevis at Shut up & Run In which I learn that Nevis is a mountain.  Enjoy and share with others too!

When our family was in Kansas City for a graduation in 2014, we stayed in a hotel close to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art .  There are giant shuttlecock sculptures on the lawn - it's quite a sight. I discovered on the grounds a just-about-completed completely glass labyrinth installation by artist Robert Morris.  I fell in love with it after I trespassed inside to try it out and it was disorienting and magical at the same time.  So, I brought John back to explore it together, and took one of my most favorite photos of him: Mirror, mirror....

There are some places that beckon you back across the years.  I realized that this morning, when a coworker who had just traveled to New Orleans shared how one of the restaurants was on her mother's 'must go' list based on the last time she had been there...35 years ago.  I love how the combination of place, food and that special something pulls us all back. Last week, over Thanksgiving break, I had the chance to do just that by going to dinner at the  The Red Bar in Grayton Beach, Florida.  I don't know how long my family and I have been going there.  Fifteen, twenty years?  (Mom, Dad, chime in here!).  I know we've introduced it to scores of friends and family ourselves.  On this trip it was a friend of my brother-in-law who brought it up in conversation over lunch earlier in the day, and by the end of the day a small group of us decided to make the 20 min drive to have dinner.  I was so excited to be back!  And, miraculously, a par...

So, I've learned my lesson.  When ordering green tea at dinner soon after arriving in town, don't go along with the waitress when she says 'hot tea?'  I assumed she meant 'did I want my green tea to be hot' - but what I think she brought was exactly what I had agreed to...hot (black) tea.  The kind with more caffeine.  The kind you should not drink at night, but I did mindlessly, because you might then watch the entire Titanic movie, finish a book, and keep reading another, just to try and get sleepy. The following morning after finally getting some sleep in, I took a relatively easy drive down into the downtown area of Pittsburgh, for a lunch meeting at the Duquesne Club. I asked the front desk before I left the hotel how to pronounce it, since there are some French words, like this one, where I have no clue. (Note, it's "du-CANE") and when you Google it one of the first pairings that pops up is 'Duquesne pronunciation '.  I thought if ...

A friend recently spoke dismissively of Orlando, and I felt compelled then, as I do now, to say that the past few times I have been in Orlando I have been impressed.  The climate, especially when I was there in late October, was perfect.  The food was delicious.  And the service industry, driven by that behemoth Disney, provides excellent service at most every turn. Since there are so many takeaways from my trip, which was a combination work conference/personal vacation, I'm making a list: The good: The weather.  Seriously.  I would love to pull John out of school in the middle of October just to visit the theme parks when they are the perfect temp and not horribly crowded. Half-day passes to Disney.  Available through my conference, I went with several of my co-workers to the Magic Kingdom from 5 to 10 p.m.  It was just enough.  Same with going to Epcot over the weekend - was there from 2 to 10, and that was almost too much.   ...

Tonight I started poking around on the stats area of Blogger, to get a better feel for who might be stopping by this blog.  This month, I saw that people from several countries had viewed a page: Entry Pageviews United States 34 Russia 14 Brazil 7 Poland 3 Germany 2 France 2 Italy 2 Ukraine 2 Australia 1 Ecuador 1 It made me smile to think that people I don't know from all around the world were interested enough to click through to one of my blog posts....no telling who read what or if they backed out after realizing it wasn't what they expected or wanted to read.  (Just like I did with a Nautical Living blog - intriguing but not for me). Some of the things I am thinking about are: Writing schedule:  it's approximately once a week right now, on Wednesdays.  Not counting busy weeks when I don't post.  Need to decide if I am truly going for once a week or not. Family and Friends i...

In my head, there is a list.  It changes a lot, but there are some solid places that stay the same.  France. Greece.  India.  It's the dream RTW list.  I swear, every time I read the travel section of the Sunday paper, I find something new to add. That does not mesh with the other tip I have read a lot, which is to 'travel slow'.  How am I supposed to visit everywhere that way? A new one that I mentally added the other week is Cambodia.  Our family watches Survivor and as much as I enjoy the scenery and the beaches, it's the interpersonal politics that capture my attention the most.  Until the premiere of this most recent season.  Jeff made sure I watched the opening sequence, and for some reason this season's intro really resonated.  It didn't hurt that much of the imagery included Angkor Wat , which I recognized but didn't know much about, so I did some internet research and now would really, really like to go. Tonight, I'm startin...

With our short three-day itinerary in New Orleans, we stuck to the basics.  So, after getting off the train and taking the streetcar plus a short walk, we settled into our Airbnb apartment in the French Quarter: Oasis Complete with rats in the courtyard, we found it utterly charming, especially since we have pet rats (but I'm sure it gets old having them around your garden).  We woke the next morning ready to try and beat the June heat by taking a cemetery tour in the morning, and doing a self-guided tour of the garden district in the afternoon. Booking a  Save Our Cemeteries tour was a great option.  Not only do you get a knowledgeable tour guide, you also contribute back to the place where you and a bunch of other people are tromping around.  Both Jeff and I loved the cemetery tour.  I learned how so many family members are put into one smallish tomb - by decomposing in the swampy heat down to nothing, until the next family member, er,...

Last weekend we took a road trip with my in-laws north of Madison to visit Wollersheim Winery , located in Sauk City, Wisconsin.  I've been there three times so far, and have found something new to enjoy each time I go. We always stop before or after our Wollersheim visit at the Blue Spoon Cafe , right on the main street of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.  The food is varied and delicious, and the building has terraced outdoor seating overlooking the Wisconsin River.  It is also very close to bald eagle viewing , if you are so inclined in the wintertime.  The winery is just over the bridge and up the hill: The oldest vines, planted in the 1970's Among the many things to enjoy at Wollersheim are the beautifully landscaped grounds, an interesting tour of the historic building, cellars and up-to-the-minute wine making facility, wine tastings, and a restored cave. A video before the tour of the winery shines a spotlight on the family that made Wollersheim what it...

I'm on a boat! Tuxes optional.  Not with T-Pain, though, but definitely a few flippy-floppies in sight. The boat for our trip was via the Lake Geneva Cruise Line , where we took my parents on a Champagne Brunch tour on Lake Geneva, the summer home to many of the wealthiest Chicago industry titans in history and their families (Wrigley, Maytag, etc.). Our family- not titans of industry. Two previous dinner cruises (one for a conference and one that Jeff and I took for an anniversary trip), made me confident that this was the perfect day trip to take with my parents.  It was, until we arrived at the dock and it was one of the windiest days of the summer.  My mom wasn't too keen on going out in those conditions, and I couldn't blame her because of our last boating experience, which I might blog about one of these days. This was a mighty solid boat and we went out anyway and it was stable enough to serve us Bloody Marys, champagne, coffee and orange juice wit...

Once in a while it's good to look around, right where you are, and make sure you enjoy what is interesting and special about your own area.  Luckily, Madison and the surrounding area is absolutely brimming with fun things to do, see, eat, etc. This post is a shout-out to the  Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra's Concerts on the Square. Disclaimer:  I used to work for the orchestra. I am an unabashed fan of the series and I was even before I worked there.  This summer, I felt fortunate to get to two of the 6-in-a-row concert series, which takes place on Wednesday nights starting with the last Wednesday of June. (I had actually thought of excusing my summer absence on attending the concerts on my traditional night for blogging, but that doesn't cover the whole time...sorry!) Over 20,000 people come and put blankets around the Capitol Building on the lawn to enjoy a mix of classical to pops music across the 6 weeks.  There are popcorn vendors, people who stage ela...

  Soon after boarding our train, we made our way to our sleeping compartment, which is set up with two seats facing one another in the 'awake' mode. These seats fold down into a bottom bunk, and the ceiling panel lowers to create an upper bunk.  It felt like camping to me - where there were lots of little hooks and cubbies in which to tuck your stuff.  It also reminded me of a ship cabin/submarine.  If you are looking for lots of room, you'll have to go to the observation car.  But first, it was time for dinner. Since we got a late start, dinner service started immediately, and because we had a sleeping car all our meals were included.  The dining car staff seats you with other riders as you enter.  Riding Amtrak brought a surprising element to our trip - the number of people from other countries that we encountered. We were fortunate to be seated with a lovely couple from Warsaw, Poland, who spoke far better English than I do Polish ...

The city of Chicago seems to have surprises around every corner.  After driving into downtown, which is always a bit of a challenge, it was time to attend my conference.  At the end of a good first day, with a head full of cost basis and ordinary income information and exercises, I stepped outside for the very first time today into a relatively cool Midwestern evening. I had learned during the session that the Taste of Chicago festival was starting, and since it was almost dinner time, I set off...in the wrong direction.  I realized my mistake, got turned back around, and wondered for a moment how on earth I might find my way through much bigger cities in the future, if I can't handle the right direction in Chicago, which I know fairly well. A nice detour Then as I wound my way down through a section of Millennium Park I had not been through yet, with rock climbing walls everywhere, Grant Park was sonically signaling as the band Weezer took the stage....