Livie doesn't go to Pre-K on Tuesdays. So this morning, after playing, eating breakfast, and watching one program on The Travel Channel, I've come up with some additions to my bucket list (you can find that post by clicking here). I'm adding them now, while Livie's busy playing.
43. Go to New York and visit the High Line Park (it's a park built on an elevated train structure).
44. Spend a week at Watervale with Livie and Andrew. Watervale, by the way, has been made famous by fellow LFC alumna, Jessica, through her Little Merry Sunshine blog - just go to her blog and do a search for Watervale; then you'll understand why I'd love to spend some time there. For example, her Watervale Withdrawal Disorder post says it all.
45. Take Livie and Andrew on a drive on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago at night. This is an awesome drive, with the bright, twinkling lights (looking like bling) on the west, and the dark lake on the east.
46. Take Livie skiing out west, in one of the big, square states.
47. Eat a delicious dinner with Livie and Andrew at the Great American Land and Cattle Company on Alabama Street in El Paso, TX. This is down the street from where my grandparents lived. It'll bring a sense of saudade, because I've been to that restaurant with them and they no longer live near there, but it has a beautiful view, and awesome food.
48. Eat another perfect, heavenly filet mignon at Ruth's Chris in Chicago.
49. Take Livie and Andrew for tapas at La Tasca in Arlington Heights, IL. Jessica, you'll need to join us for this one!
50. Of course, since we're talking about tapas, I'd love to take Livie and Andrew to another of my favorite tapas places in the Chicagoland area: Cafe Ba Ba Reeba in Lincoln Park.
Okay, those are the latest additions. I must be hungrier than I realized, since a lot of this is about food. Or maybe I made myself hungry by thinking and writing about lots of great food places.
Additions as of 29 Jan 2011:
51. Take Livie to see an opera in the theater.
52. In New York with Livie and Andrew, I want to see Times Square, as well as a Broadway show, and go to the Statue of Liberty.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Memory Lane Friday - A Family Vacation
Ahhh, family vacations. I need a little break from serious matters, so I'm going to remember something fun today on Memory Lane Friday.
Vacations can be really memorable in a good, crazy way, or really memorable in a bad, crazy way. And when my siblings and I were younger, my dad somehow always ensured that we'd have some sort of craziness during our family vacations that we'd fondly remember for years to come . . . although at the time, I'm sure it wasn't intentional on his part - somehow when our Dad was involved, things were just sort of nutty on their own.
The family vacation I best remember revolves around crazy food choices on a ski trip to Park City, UT. Now, I may be rolling a couple different ski trips into one memory (as it's been a LONG time since we've skied as a family in UT, or anywhere for that matter). But then again, it may have been many parts to just one crazy vacation.
Now I don't remember exactly how old I was. I must've been in high school at the time. And I'm thinking this trip was over Christmas break, because I distinctly remember being in Utah over/around the New Year's holiday.
So we'd get up early and get ready for a fun-filled day of skiing. But of course we'd need to eat breakfast first. I remember going to one restaurant or another near the hotel - some place like Burger King or McDonald's that offered breakfast, where we could get in and get out quickly. My mother wasn't exactly impressed with the nutritional value of our morning meals, but we were on vacation.
Well, one day, while trying to save time or maybe we were running late, my dad decided to handle breakfast on his own in the hotel room. Guess what he served us?! A carton of vanilla ice cream, a bag of M&Ms (which he said would make a perfect topping for the ice cream), and a big bag of red Twizzlers. Hahaha! Breakfast of champions, right?
Then off to the slopes, where we'd work up an appetite (because, while tasty, our breakfast wasn't exactly the best fuel for a morning of physical activity).
So, instead of waiting for a table at a mountainside restaurant of my mom's choice, what did my dad decide to do? He took us to the cookie place - the store with nothing but cookies and milk. He took us all in there, let us pick out the cookies we wanted, and got us each a milk (calcium, protein, and vitamins, right?!) to wash it all down. Oh boy, was my mom irritated, but she went along with it!
Then off for more skiing, where I ended up getting paired with my mom for adventures, my dad and brothers heading off together as a pack. I have a story about skiing with my mom, but I will save that for another day.
After our day of skiing was over, we headed back to the hotel to wash up and change for dinner. My mom wanted to go to some fancy restaurant. While I didn't mind going somewhere nice, my siblings and I were VERY hungry, and we just weren't in the mood to go somewhere and wait for fancy food in fancy settings.
So my dad made a decision and chose a restaurant - a Mexican place in the area called the Irish Camel. What a name for a Mexican restaurant, right?! I don't remember much about the food, and I don't remember much about the experience. But I do remember that the name of the place was so unique, and didn't match the type of food they served.
It's been years now since that trip back in the mid-'80s, but when we laugh about my dad's food choices, he always says that we never remember the fancy places my mom took us to, but vividly remember all the wacky places HE chose!
Vacations can be really memorable in a good, crazy way, or really memorable in a bad, crazy way. And when my siblings and I were younger, my dad somehow always ensured that we'd have some sort of craziness during our family vacations that we'd fondly remember for years to come . . . although at the time, I'm sure it wasn't intentional on his part - somehow when our Dad was involved, things were just sort of nutty on their own.
The family vacation I best remember revolves around crazy food choices on a ski trip to Park City, UT. Now, I may be rolling a couple different ski trips into one memory (as it's been a LONG time since we've skied as a family in UT, or anywhere for that matter). But then again, it may have been many parts to just one crazy vacation.
Now I don't remember exactly how old I was. I must've been in high school at the time. And I'm thinking this trip was over Christmas break, because I distinctly remember being in Utah over/around the New Year's holiday.
So we'd get up early and get ready for a fun-filled day of skiing. But of course we'd need to eat breakfast first. I remember going to one restaurant or another near the hotel - some place like Burger King or McDonald's that offered breakfast, where we could get in and get out quickly. My mother wasn't exactly impressed with the nutritional value of our morning meals, but we were on vacation.
Well, one day, while trying to save time or maybe we were running late, my dad decided to handle breakfast on his own in the hotel room. Guess what he served us?! A carton of vanilla ice cream, a bag of M&Ms (which he said would make a perfect topping for the ice cream), and a big bag of red Twizzlers. Hahaha! Breakfast of champions, right?
Then off to the slopes, where we'd work up an appetite (because, while tasty, our breakfast wasn't exactly the best fuel for a morning of physical activity).
So, instead of waiting for a table at a mountainside restaurant of my mom's choice, what did my dad decide to do? He took us to the cookie place - the store with nothing but cookies and milk. He took us all in there, let us pick out the cookies we wanted, and got us each a milk (calcium, protein, and vitamins, right?!) to wash it all down. Oh boy, was my mom irritated, but she went along with it!
Then off for more skiing, where I ended up getting paired with my mom for adventures, my dad and brothers heading off together as a pack. I have a story about skiing with my mom, but I will save that for another day.
After our day of skiing was over, we headed back to the hotel to wash up and change for dinner. My mom wanted to go to some fancy restaurant. While I didn't mind going somewhere nice, my siblings and I were VERY hungry, and we just weren't in the mood to go somewhere and wait for fancy food in fancy settings.
So my dad made a decision and chose a restaurant - a Mexican place in the area called the Irish Camel. What a name for a Mexican restaurant, right?! I don't remember much about the food, and I don't remember much about the experience. But I do remember that the name of the place was so unique, and didn't match the type of food they served.
It's been years now since that trip back in the mid-'80s, but when we laugh about my dad's food choices, he always says that we never remember the fancy places my mom took us to, but vividly remember all the wacky places HE chose!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Starlight Turf War
Traveling with a child can be a lot of fun. A lot of work, but worth it when you see that your kid is having fun at the pool, on various new adventures, at fun restaurants.
But if you're traveling with a 4-year-old and only have one bed, even if it IS a king bed, be prepared to NOT sleep very well.
While said 4-year-old is excited to get the whole middle part of the bed to herself, once asleep, that middle part no longer exists, and the entire bed becomes hers.
All night long, I am kicked like a soccer ball. At one point, I hear whining and whimpering only to find out that my pillow is no longer my own - somebody wants hers AND mine.
Later, it's on to the infamous "H" formation - Daddy and Mommy are parallel to each other, and 4-year-old is the middle, horizontal part.
All night long, it doesn't matter how I shift, how I toss and turn. Somebody is right there, right next to me, claiming as many inches of my bed space as her own.
So last night at 4 AM, in the midst of my restless night of sleep, all I could think of was that classic Leonard Bernstein turf war music:
But if you're traveling with a 4-year-old and only have one bed, even if it IS a king bed, be prepared to NOT sleep very well.
While said 4-year-old is excited to get the whole middle part of the bed to herself, once asleep, that middle part no longer exists, and the entire bed becomes hers.
All night long, I am kicked like a soccer ball. At one point, I hear whining and whimpering only to find out that my pillow is no longer my own - somebody wants hers AND mine.
Later, it's on to the infamous "H" formation - Daddy and Mommy are parallel to each other, and 4-year-old is the middle, horizontal part.
All night long, it doesn't matter how I shift, how I toss and turn. Somebody is right there, right next to me, claiming as many inches of my bed space as her own.
So last night at 4 AM, in the midst of my restless night of sleep, all I could think of was that classic Leonard Bernstein turf war music:
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
What a Daydream! . . . or, My Favorite New Mexico Locations, vol 1.
A number of years ago, circa 2004, while Andrew and I still lived in the greater Boston area, and before Olivia was a twinkle in our eyes, I started watching the Travel Channel. There was a particular show that had caught my attention, and I was absolutely fascinated with it. It was called Great Hotels and was hosted by a charming Samantha Brown.
Now the reason I was so captured by this show was because Samantha would spend time in these fabulous destinations, many of which were places I, too, wanted to visit and explore. She would go off on all these adventures, and she always looked like she was having such a great time. Plus, she stayed in these beautiful, luxurious hotels that I more or less could only daydream about.
One of these locations was Santa Fe, NM. I had always wanted to go there. It is such an old, stately, artistic town, the capital of New Mexico, rich in its long history, distinctly Spanish, Native American, Mexican, American, and yet, a combination of all of these, the sum of which is uniquely Santa Fean. I longed to go there. And after seeing Samantha Brown's Santa Fe episode, it was definitely at the top of my "Places to Visit if We Ever Get a Chance" list.
First of all, I already loved New Mexico. As a young girl with family in El Paso, TX, I had spent a lot of time in southern New Mexico. El Paso, after all, wasn't too far away from the Land of Enchantment. We'd spend hours upon fun-filled hours on day-trips in southern New Mexico - at White Sands National Monument, just outside Alamogordo, and Mesilla, which is just outside Las Cruces. (I'll spend time talking about adventures to these places another day.) Plus, I have a fun memory of a long-weekend my grandparents, a cousin, and I had at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, NM, just outside of Ruidoso (again, a topic for another day).
And then in 2006, Andrew and I found out we would be stationed in Alamogordo. I was SO excited. We'd be a little over an hour's drive to my grandparents' home in El Paso, as well as Las Cruces and Mesilla. Plus, we wouldn't be too far from Ruidoso and the Inn of the Mountain Gods.
To top it all off, I could envision a trip to Santa Fe!! Finally!
Of course, when it was time to move, Olivia was just a 4-month-old baby, and Andrew was deployed for 120+ days.
So any trip to Santa Fe would have to wait.
However, it dawned on me that since my mom was visiting us every month for about a week at at time (and spending time with my elderly grandparents in El Paso, too), that perhaps a trip to Santa Fe wouldn't be as far off in the future as I'd originally thought.
Andrew was due home in early October. My mom would be back to visit mid-October. Hmmm, I had the seeds of an adventure blooming in my mind.
I knew that Andrew would have a couple weeks off once he finally made it back to the states and FINALLY home to our new New Mexican home, one he had yet to see firsthand.
So I spoke to my mom, and found out that she and my dad would be in the area mid-October for a reunion of hers in El Paso. I told her my idea, and she agreed to give me a hand.
See, I'd come up with this plan: when Andrew got home, in-processed with his new unit in Alamogordo, and on leave for 2 weeks, my mom would care for Olivia in El Paso at my grandparents' house for a weekend while Andrew and I spent time exploring Santa Fe, staying at a luxurious hotel that Samantha Brown highlighted - basically having time to ourselves, reconnecting after his 4-month long deployment. Actually, it would end up being for a day, a night, and most of the next day, with us meeting back in Alamogordo, at our new house.
Here's what happened. My mom bundled up Olivia in a car seat, grabbed the bag of supplies I'd prepared, and headed the hour's drive south to El Paso, around the same time Andrew and I headed north for Santa Fe. It must've been around 11 AM.
It ended up taking us about 5 - 5.5 hours to get up there (and believe me, I was very impatient to get there). The ride was beautiful, stark, and before nearing Albuquerque, desolate.
This second photo is the view of the road as it heads west:
Maybe you can see the moon in this photo:
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha statue: 
The famed spiral staircase:
Another interior view:
Anyway, when we got back to our room to freshen up for dinner, we received a call from the manager. Apparently, the friendly woman at the gift shop had spoken to him about us as we headed out on our walk.
He wanted to thank us for our military service and was calling to ask if he could send a bottle of wine to our room, curious if we preferred red or white, and a fresh fruit plate. I was floored with this level of customer service! I thanked him and said that we were heading off to their restaurant, Fuego soon so we wouldn't be in the room to receive it. He said he'd leave the bottle and fruit in our room for when we returned from dinner.
I regret to say that I can't remember the name of the wine, but when we opened it and drank it at home later, it was absolutely delicious!
So after freshening up and putting on sweaters (it was chilly in October in high altitude Santa Fe!), we headed to the Staab House bar for drinks while waiting for our table at the restaurant. Now a couple fun pieces of info on the Staab House: first, they have excellent margaritas and tequilas, if you're a fan of these types of adult beverages. Second, the Staab House, (once owned and occupied by Abraham and Julia Staab and their children) is supposedly haunted by Julia! Apparently, she loved her house so much, she couldn't bear to leave! ;)
And dinner at Fuego? Outstanding! Yes, it was very pricey, but was it ever delicious! Especially the Mexican hot chocolate we had to top off our meal!
After returning back to our room and getting the crackling fire started, we relaxed and chatted by the warm fire, and upon climbing into bed, fell asleep promptly and slept soundly.
The next morning, everything went by in a blur - heading to the Palace of the Governors to browse (and buy some turquoise/silver earrings, a lapis/silver ring, a silver/turquoise book mark, and a Navajo doll for myself), grabbing some lunch and rushing back home to Alamogordo.
See, my mom called and said she, my dad, and most importantly, Olivia, would be back at our house in Alamogordo by a certain time (maybe around 4? I can't remember now), and we were still nearly 5.5 hours away. So off we rushed, because I wanted to beat them home, unload the car, change, rehydrate and wait for them.
Well, that didn't quite happen. They beat us home by about 45 minutes. Ah, well.
Nevertheless, it was a beautiful, memorable trip, our less-than-24-hour journey to Santa Fe.
And I can't wait to go back.
Now the reason I was so captured by this show was because Samantha would spend time in these fabulous destinations, many of which were places I, too, wanted to visit and explore. She would go off on all these adventures, and she always looked like she was having such a great time. Plus, she stayed in these beautiful, luxurious hotels that I more or less could only daydream about.
One of these locations was Santa Fe, NM. I had always wanted to go there. It is such an old, stately, artistic town, the capital of New Mexico, rich in its long history, distinctly Spanish, Native American, Mexican, American, and yet, a combination of all of these, the sum of which is uniquely Santa Fean. I longed to go there. And after seeing Samantha Brown's Santa Fe episode, it was definitely at the top of my "Places to Visit if We Ever Get a Chance" list.
First of all, I already loved New Mexico. As a young girl with family in El Paso, TX, I had spent a lot of time in southern New Mexico. El Paso, after all, wasn't too far away from the Land of Enchantment. We'd spend hours upon fun-filled hours on day-trips in southern New Mexico - at White Sands National Monument, just outside Alamogordo, and Mesilla, which is just outside Las Cruces. (I'll spend time talking about adventures to these places another day.) Plus, I have a fun memory of a long-weekend my grandparents, a cousin, and I had at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, NM, just outside of Ruidoso (again, a topic for another day).
And then in 2006, Andrew and I found out we would be stationed in Alamogordo. I was SO excited. We'd be a little over an hour's drive to my grandparents' home in El Paso, as well as Las Cruces and Mesilla. Plus, we wouldn't be too far from Ruidoso and the Inn of the Mountain Gods.
To top it all off, I could envision a trip to Santa Fe!! Finally!
Of course, when it was time to move, Olivia was just a 4-month-old baby, and Andrew was deployed for 120+ days.
So any trip to Santa Fe would have to wait.
However, it dawned on me that since my mom was visiting us every month for about a week at at time (and spending time with my elderly grandparents in El Paso, too), that perhaps a trip to Santa Fe wouldn't be as far off in the future as I'd originally thought.
Andrew was due home in early October. My mom would be back to visit mid-October. Hmmm, I had the seeds of an adventure blooming in my mind.
I knew that Andrew would have a couple weeks off once he finally made it back to the states and FINALLY home to our new New Mexican home, one he had yet to see firsthand.
So I spoke to my mom, and found out that she and my dad would be in the area mid-October for a reunion of hers in El Paso. I told her my idea, and she agreed to give me a hand.
See, I'd come up with this plan: when Andrew got home, in-processed with his new unit in Alamogordo, and on leave for 2 weeks, my mom would care for Olivia in El Paso at my grandparents' house for a weekend while Andrew and I spent time exploring Santa Fe, staying at a luxurious hotel that Samantha Brown highlighted - basically having time to ourselves, reconnecting after his 4-month long deployment. Actually, it would end up being for a day, a night, and most of the next day, with us meeting back in Alamogordo, at our new house.
Here's what happened. My mom bundled up Olivia in a car seat, grabbed the bag of supplies I'd prepared, and headed the hour's drive south to El Paso, around the same time Andrew and I headed north for Santa Fe. It must've been around 11 AM.
It ended up taking us about 5 - 5.5 hours to get up there (and believe me, I was very impatient to get there). The ride was beautiful, stark, and before nearing Albuquerque, desolate.
A couple views of our drive north. The first photo is the view to the east:
 |
This second photo is the view of the road as it heads west:
Maybe you can see the moon in this photo:
We finally arrived at our destination, and headed directly to our "great hotel," La Posada de Santa Fe, a beautiful resort within walking distance to Santa Fe's historic Plaza.
Let me tell you, it was even MORE beautiful in person. We were greeted promptly, and were checked in, our car parked for us, and our luggage taken directly to our room for us. As we walked down the outdoor path to our room, there was this awesome scent lingering all around us, sage, crisp, clean high-altitude mountain air, apple-wood-burning fires. And since it was October already, there was a bit of chilliness in the air, but that somehow added to the magic.
When we got to our room, I was amazed. The ceiling had these exposed log ceilings, very New Mexican in feel. There was a kiva fireplace and a stack of wood available so we could have a crackling fire to relax by when we returned to our room for the night. I couldn't wait to sit by that fire! And the king bed looked so comfortable and inviting, with down pillows, a down blanket, and in the closet, warm bathrobes.
We then made reservations at La Posada's restaurant, Fuego. Since it was nearly 5, and our reservations weren't for another couple hours, we decided to walk to the Plaza to have a look around.
On our way off the property, we stopped in the gift store to pick up a map. As we chatted with the lady behind the counter about "must see" locations (Loretto Chapel, Palace of the Governors), we ended up chatting about how Andrew and I were in the military. She thanked us for our service (which I greatly appreciated), and we went about talking about Santa Fe before Andrew and I headed out on our pre-dinner walking adventure.
We headed down to the Plaza, seeing the Palace of the Governors and planning to head there the next day to browse through the portico, where Native Americans' sold their hand-made jewelry and art (it was after hours, so no one was there).
Then we headed to the Loretto Chapel, to see the famous, miraculous spiral staircase. It was fantastic, beautiful - an experience I will remember, and I hope to return.
Outer view of the Loretto Chapel:
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha statue:
Outer view of the Loretto Chapel (with Andrew posing nearby):
The famed spiral staircase:
Another view:
Another interior view:
After leaving the Chapel near closing time, we walked around a little more, soaking in the city, enjoying our time together, and looking forward to dinner.
Here's some of the scenery:
He wanted to thank us for our military service and was calling to ask if he could send a bottle of wine to our room, curious if we preferred red or white, and a fresh fruit plate. I was floored with this level of customer service! I thanked him and said that we were heading off to their restaurant, Fuego soon so we wouldn't be in the room to receive it. He said he'd leave the bottle and fruit in our room for when we returned from dinner.
I regret to say that I can't remember the name of the wine, but when we opened it and drank it at home later, it was absolutely delicious!
So after freshening up and putting on sweaters (it was chilly in October in high altitude Santa Fe!), we headed to the Staab House bar for drinks while waiting for our table at the restaurant. Now a couple fun pieces of info on the Staab House: first, they have excellent margaritas and tequilas, if you're a fan of these types of adult beverages. Second, the Staab House, (once owned and occupied by Abraham and Julia Staab and their children) is supposedly haunted by Julia! Apparently, she loved her house so much, she couldn't bear to leave! ;)
And dinner at Fuego? Outstanding! Yes, it was very pricey, but was it ever delicious! Especially the Mexican hot chocolate we had to top off our meal!
After returning back to our room and getting the crackling fire started, we relaxed and chatted by the warm fire, and upon climbing into bed, fell asleep promptly and slept soundly.
The next morning, everything went by in a blur - heading to the Palace of the Governors to browse (and buy some turquoise/silver earrings, a lapis/silver ring, a silver/turquoise book mark, and a Navajo doll for myself), grabbing some lunch and rushing back home to Alamogordo.
See, my mom called and said she, my dad, and most importantly, Olivia, would be back at our house in Alamogordo by a certain time (maybe around 4? I can't remember now), and we were still nearly 5.5 hours away. So off we rushed, because I wanted to beat them home, unload the car, change, rehydrate and wait for them.
Well, that didn't quite happen. They beat us home by about 45 minutes. Ah, well.
Nevertheless, it was a beautiful, memorable trip, our less-than-24-hour journey to Santa Fe.
And I can't wait to go back.
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