It's About the Journey

Tag: Travel

The Joy of Holiday Travel (No, Really!)

Perhaps I’m a glutton for punishment, but I love traveling during the holidays. To be fair, I enjoy travel at any time but the holidays bring a different vibe. Most airports during the year tilt toward “road warriors” who long ago lost the spirit of adventure and are caught in their thoughts about the next meeting or customer visit. The holiday season is full of families going to see loved ones – perhaps their only flight of the year together as a group.

While my initial reaction is to be annoyed at the unsteady movement of the less experienced, I try to slow myself down and think about the special moments taking place. The trips the kids will remember years from now.

The trip of course is not about the airport. It’s still a mechanism to get from Point A to Point B. The real magic is to see how different cities dress themselves up and celebrate the season. Ordinary lobbies become winter wonderlands and storefronts become fairy tale scenes. Without stretching too thin, I think there is an analogy there. Each of us contain magic within us all year, but too often keep it stowed away for a special occasion. Here’s wishing everyone a fantastic 2020 and let’s all try to let the light shine bright a little more often. Cheers!

Sunday Drive – Fredericksburg/Enchanted Rock

My last trip to Enchanted Rock was a cold and rainy January day.   The Summit Trail was closed due to the wet ground, but we decided to stay and walk around.    It was only a couple degrees over freezing and we almost quit before we started.  It ended up being a nice hike and we saw a side of the  IMG_0552park that I had not experienced before.  In a way, it was more interesting.   Walking around the perimeter gave me a chance to appreciate the rock formations and natural habitat.   Without having a “destination” – we were free to explore at our own pace.

Since Fredricksburg is right around the proverbial corner from Enchanted Rock, we decided to wrap up our day there.    The Christmas lights were still on display and it made Main Street an even more charming site that usual.   Fredricksburg has a couple too many trinket shops for my taste, but here are a a few things that I’ve found to be interesting over the span of several visits.

Stay – I’ve yet to find a really memorable place, but the Hampton Inn is at least clean and in the middle of the action.

Eat/Drink – Lincoln Street Wine Market is easily my favorite place to hang out.   Nice atmosphere and the staff does a great job of making you feel at home.   If you’d rather hang out on Main Street and watch the world go by, Silver Creek is a solid choice.

Do – The National Museum of the Pacific War is a surprisingly well done center for being in a small town.   And I can’t vouch for much of the shopping, but It’s a Glow is a neat little shop worth dropping in to check out their honeycomb calcite pieces.   I’m just hoping my Happy Stone lives up to its name.   Here’s to a year of travel and new adventures.

Happy 2015

Marfa Lite

Dear Marfa,

On behalf of the entire city of Austin, I apologize.  It appears we have overrun your quaint and quirky little town.   We figured if “weird” works well in Austin, then you’d love us in Marfa.  Who doesn’t love a good food trailer and a cold can of PBR – right?

Yes, it’s true.  It appears Austin has made Marfa our own little satellite outpost in the middle of West Texas.  We wanted to get out of town for the weekend and you looked just “far out” enough to suite our tastes and travel budget.   And when we heard Liz Lambert was opening a trailer park hotel, well – you had us at hello.

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I had a feeling our cover was blown when the first 3 guys I met at the hotel bar were in a band from Austin and in town for a gig.   A car in the parking lot with the Waterloo Records bumper sticker didn’t help.    Nonetheless, your hospitality was most appreciated.

We’ll see you again soon.  Now, if there was just a way for us to get there on a Vespa.

P.S.  Thanks for sharing the story of your town mascot.  We’ve got lots of folks in Austin looking for #tictacmarfa.   I hope he makes his way home soon!

 

Friday Five – Colorado Summer Activities

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Skiing was my introduction to Colorado, but I’ve been going more often in other seasons and finding a lot of new ways to have fun.  I’ve only scratched the surface, so these may seem rudimentary but sometimes the simple things are still the best – right?

1 – Fort Collins

2 – Rockies game

3 – Rocky Mountain National Park

4 – Rafting/Hiking/Biking

5 – Any of the other 999,995 things the state has to offer.

Go outside.  Have fun.

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