Back from vacation

We're back! Actually, we got back three days ago, but we had some unexpected (but very welcome) houseguests who just left today - more on that later - so things are just getting back in order. Luckily, I have today off, so I'm catching up on laundry and errands before it's back to the grind.

Aside from driving through two blizzards and the world's creepiest fog, it was an excellent week. Since I'm Jewish, Christmas isn't a big deal to me - I look forward more to the relaxation than the holiday. And there was plenty of relaxation - it's not hard to relax when your entire small town shuts down the week of Christmas. :) But I still made out pretty well with the gifts. We got lots of stuff for our kitchen, Brad got me a video iPod, a yoga mat and a pedicure kit, and I got him a BluRay player, which is kind of like a gift to myself, too (once I can figure out how to turn the damn thing on).

I've been to the U.P. about a dozen times since meeting Brad, but I've never been anywhere else but his hometown of Negaunee and the surrounding areas. Well, it turns out that Brad's coworker Jason, who grew up in Houghton/Hancock (which is two hours NORTH of Marquette, if you can believe that) was also going to be home and also looking for entertainment. On Friday we took a jaunt up to Copper Country and let Jason be our tour guide. This is one of the northernmost points in the U.S. and was a copper mining hotbed in the 1800s, so these towns have some really interesting history. And lots of stores that sell saltwater taffy. You know the type. Despite having to trudge through about a foot of snow, we had a great time - and it was cool to see yet another undiscovered part of this bizarre state of mine.

Here we are at the Keeweenaw Brewing Company at the end of our tour. Thanks, Jason, for being an awesome tour guide!



We got home on Saturday night and immediately headed out to watch UFC with a group of people, including Amy, who was in town from Connecticut. 20 minutes into the fight, we got the call that our poor friends Al and Emily were STILL stranded at the Detroit airport. They'd been trying to get to the U.P. from Boston since Thursday with no success. Knowing well how hopeless it feels to be stranded at an airport, we picked them up and brought them home to stay with us for two nights until they could get a flight back to Boston. Sadly, they never made it home for Christmas - but selfishly, WE had a great time!

This will probably be my last post for about a week and a half. This Saturday I'm traveling to Florida for a work conference (don't get too excited - I'm helping run the conference, so it's definitely no beach vacation pour moi) and won't be back until the following Thursday. After that, though, I should have some exciting updates for you - I promise! - so stay tuned!

Trip pix

I realized that in my blog about the D.C. trip, I did not say one nice thing about the experience -- leading anyone who read it to believe that the trip was a disaster. Far from the truth. My brother Michael and his fiancee Meghan were fabulous hosts and showed us a great time. They could have done something about the oppressive heat and the engine problem on our plane, but you can't have everything.

Here are a few photos of us in happier times.





On Friday night, we ate dinner at Nacho Mama's -- a kitchy Mexican restaurant in Baltimore with a giant zombie Elvis statue out front. My fish taco was OK (Brad's gouda and crab quesadilla was better -- luckily he was willing to share). Then we stopped at Starbucks for coffee (everyone else was smart and got iced drinks -- NOT ME!) and went to a Bar That Isn't Fancy for some beers.

On Saturday, we got up early, showered, and then my brother got ahold of one of my shirts and marveled at how small it was (maybe because I'm the big sister and he always got the hand-me-down clothes from ME). Believe it or not, it actually fit him (sort of).



After the fashion show, we rode the Metro into town, did some sightseeing, took Brad on a tour of Georgetown University (Meghan's alma matter) where much of The Exorcist was shot, and then died a little bit of heat stroke. We gave up around 4 p.m. and took a cab three blocks to Borders where we drank iced teas and read magazines until dinner. Warning: you can seriously see the pit stains on our shirts if you look closely enough.


In front of the World War II memorial -- this was the hottest part of the day. Sadly, there were "NO SWIMMING" signs all over the fountain.


This is the house from The Exorcist.


I think this was the National Archives...I was too hot to care.

After our body temperatures returned to normal, we ate dinner at the Olde Ebbitt Grille, one of the most famous restaurants in Washington (where all the presidents have eaten, supposedly -- no politician sightings for us). The food was out of this world, but I was exhausted from being in the heat all day, so I wasn't very hungry when it arrived. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures at the restaurant.

We then headed home in a severe thunderstorm and watched Saved by the Bell (my brother's birthday gift) until we fell asleep.

On Sunday, we spent 13 hours in an airport. I would post the photo of Brad flicking off the Northwest logo, but this is a family blog.


LIES!!!! We did not "arrive" until almost 12 hours later.

Travel games

When I travel for fun, I always try to go places I've never been before. The actual destination doesn't matter as much as the fact that I'm exploring brand-new territory.

I have truly strange ways of classifying "brand-new territory." In the U.S., entire states are grouped together. For instance, I've been to New York City many times - so Buffalo is out as a chosen vacation destination. Miami? Sorry, we have cousins in Tampa and Gainesville.

For non-U.S. travels, I count entire countries. Mexico, for instance. Been there, loved it, don't wanna go back. Traveling back to Europe doesn't have a ton of appeal for me, but if I do go again, I'm skipping right over the room-temperature beer in England.

And strangely enough, in my weird little head game, stopovers count. Like, I've never BEEN to Mississippi, but I've driven through it. And I've never hung out in Texas, but six hours in DFW was enough to check it off my list.

The same goes for living situations. I'm all, "why would you want to move back home? You've already LIVED there!"

I am by no means a snob about traveling. I like going anywhere and everywhere - I would gladly take a trip to North Dakota, just to say I've done it. I just have this weird thing about not repeating my destinations. Deep down, I think it's because I travel competitively (just like I do everything else in my life). I want to say I've been MORE PLACES than anyone else I know. And I don't know a ton of people who have been to North Dakota.

So Brad and I are trying to plan out our vacation schedule for the rest of the year. We're going to Boston in August for Al and Emily's wedding (I've been there twice) and Gainesville in December for Christmas (been to Florida about 15 times), so we figured planning a nice long weekend around our anniversary would be a nice way to space out the two trips. Our anniversary destination only has two requirements: direct flights (after my luggage fiasco in Dallas, I'm avoiding layovers 'til the end of time), plane tickets for less than $200 apiece, and somewhere we can have a ridiculous amount fun over a three-day weekend. Oh, and it has to be somewhere that I've never been.

This is how our conversation went this morning.

Me: "Honey, Vegas sounds fun and all...but you know what would be even more fun?"

Brad: "What?"

"....Minneapolis."

"Um, sweetie? Minneapolis? Like Mall of America Minneapolis? Instead a city where you can drink margaritas on the sidewalk?"

"Minneapolis-SAINT PAUL. The twin cities. They're twins! Doesn't that sound really, really cool?"

Yeah...I'm crazy like that. Still, though...one way or another, I have a feeling there's a giant mall in our future.