Vacation

5th Anniversary “Road Trip”

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Yes, I know it’s been forever. Life has been busy, and blogging has been at the bottom of the list.

Each year, in lieu of gifts for each other, Mike and I go on an adventure to celebrate our anniversary. We like the idea of having an experience together as a reminder of why we got married and why we stay married. We still kinda like each other.

This year was no different – we drove down to Springville where our good friends Chris and Kassie live. We spent the night at Kassie’s family’s ranch – a working roping ranch. It was so much fun to watch the cowboys (and girls!) practice their team roping – so different than the cow work we do! The adventure this year was to spend a few days at their cabin in the woods… like REALLY in the woods. In fact, there are three ways to get there: horseback, hiking, or helicopter. The boys chose to hike in (10 miles!) and since that long of a hike and riding are out of the question, I got to take my first ever helicopter ride with Kassie.

The chopper landed at the ranch and before I even had time to get nervous, we were in the air!img_1624

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Our pilot was amazing and talked me through everything. The cool thing about helicopters is that you don’t feel a lot of the pressure that you do on planes (you know, that roller coaster feeling in your belly). Instead, it’s just kind of like floating.

About 20 minutes later, we landed at 9,000 feet at the cabin and got to work setting everything up. The boys showed up a few hours later. The cabin has running water (plumbed from a nearby stream) and a generator to provide electricity. We used the various fireplaces to keep warm. It was so much fun to literally be out in the middle of nowhere!

The first full day there we went on a hike as a group. I was a little nervous about my knee, but it held out really well. I used trekking poles and took it nice and slow. We ended up at these beautiful lakes where we hung out, ate lunch, and watched a storm roll in.

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Almost every day we would do some sort of outdoors activity in the morning, come home for lunch, and nap in the afternoon. It was so relaxing!

On one of the last days there, Kassie and I decided to go stream fishing – something I’d never done! My daddy would be proud – I baited my own hook (worms), handled the fish I caught (four golden trout), and even cleaned one I couldn’t save when Kassie decided to eat it! It was so peaceful and beautiful out on the stream! We were proud of ourselves on our girls fishing trip!

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This was such a wonderful trip! There was so much time to just hang out and it was amazing to be where there was no phone, no cell service, no internet!

New York

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The last stop on this year’s anniversary trip was New York, New York. Mike and I had both been there before (but not together), so we decided to try to visit places that neither of us had been to. The first stop… Central Park. It was a beautiful morning and we spent a good part of the day walking around the park. It was gorgeous! They were setting up for the New York City Marathon, which was kind of neat to see.

Mike & I At Central Park
Mike & I At Central Park

We headed over to Broadway that night to see “Phantom of the Opera”, my favorite musical. It was amazing… so cool to see a real Broadway show! Mike was ok with it… I think it got a little too operatic for him. Guess I’ll have to give up my dreams of him taking me to see the opera… I’ll have to stick with my classically trained friends!

We also visited the Museum of Natural History, which I highly recommend. We slammed through it in a day, but easily could have spent much longer wandering the halls.

We also headed out to see the 9/11 museum and memorial. The last (and only) time I was in New York was about four months after September 11th… it was a very different atmosphere. At that time, Ground Zero was still a pile… now it’s a very beautiful and respectful memorial. The footprints of the former twin towers are now infinity pools, with the names of the victims inscribed all around them.

Former World Trade Center Footprint
Former World Trade Center Footprint

The museum was pretty neat too… I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was expecting it to make me feel more emotional than I did. I think that’s mainly because seeing Ground Zero was such a moving experience and seeing it all in museum form felt more sterile.

Seeing the Ladder 3 truck that was destroyed that morning was especially moving… having married a firefighter, I’m far more aware of the risks these brave men and women face each day. Mike’s uncle (a member of FDNY) was actually sent there from Brooklyn to help out that day.

Ladder 3
Ladder 3

The new One World Trade Center is amazing… it makes you dizzy to look up at it!

One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center

We finished our stay in New York by visiting Mike’s family on Staten Island. I honestly wish we would have had more time with them… we had a blast hanging out for a few hours on Sunday before everyone got ready for their work and school weeks!

That, my friends, wraps up the 2014 Anniversary Road Trip! I’ll get all of my pictures posted to Facebook over the next day or so!

Massachusetts

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We are now entering my favorite part of the trip. Before I get to Boston, let’s talk about the road there. We left New Hampshire first thing in the morning with the intent of driving straight into Salem. We took a little detour to Concord, Massachusetts – home of the first shot of the Revolutionary War (although neighboring town Lexington would argue that they’re the location). We stopped at the Old North Bridge, the place where the “shot heard round the world” was fired. It was a beautiful, peaceful place now, but like any historical battle site, definitely had the feeling of historical significance.

Old North Bridge
Old North Bridge

We left there bound for Salem, which was a complete disappointment. I had been expecting something of historical significance there, but instead was met with cheesy museums and fortune tellers. We quickly departed Salem (seriously, we spent about 15 minutes total walking around) and beat feet for Boston.

Let me being by saying we fell in love with Boston almost instantly. So much so that we decided to skip Nantucket and spend an extra day in Boston before heading to New York. If we ever had to move to the East Coast, Boston would be our city of choice. It had the big city feel, but the people were nice and vibe was very mellow. As luck would have it, Mike’s aunt was in town visiting, so we met up with her and her mother in law for drinks and dinner our first evening in town. We stayed at the Marriott Custom House, which was absolutely amazing. Originally the building was used as the customs location in Boston (the bar is located in the “counting room”), a skyscraper was built on top in the early 1900’s, and Marriott purchased it in the late 1990’s. If you’re ever in Boston, this is THE place to stay.

We spent day two in Boston following the Freedom Trail. It’s a two and a half mile walking path through the city (marked by a double brick line in the sidewalk) that takes you to Boston Common, Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel, King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Benjamin Franklin statue, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere’s house, Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, Bunker Hill Monument, and the USS Constitution. Yeah, a lot of places – a great way to see a ton of history without having to pay or stick with a tour group. In fact, we ended up doing about half of it in the morning, having lunch, taking a nap, and then heading out for the other half.

Old North Church
Old North Church

We spent the morning of the third day visiting the Sam Adams Brewery, which was absolutely amazing. It’s a free tour and you get to drink a lot of beer. What better way to spend a rainy morning! After the tour, we took a nap (of course) and then headed out to see the Boston Marathon finish line. From there we headed to Fenway Park for a tour.  Even if you’re not into baseball, this tour is amazing. They go over the history of the park and take you into places you’d never go if you just went to a game (the visitor’s locker room, press box). Seriously spectacular.

Fenway From The Green Monster
Fenway Park

Like I said, Boston is an amazing city. If you’re ever out that way, definitely stop in for a visit!

New Hampshire

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Stop number two on this year’s anniversary trip was New Hampshire. I know, probably not the top of everyone’s list, but I did some Googling and found this cool place called “Moose Alley“. There’s a stretch of Route 3 that runs from New Hampshire into Canada that is famous for it’s moose – they literally wander around on the roads.

We pulled into a little store on the side of the road to chat it up with the locals. When I asked where to go to see moose, the shopkeeper very kindly informed me that it was moose season and we wouldn’t be seeing any moose. Now, I don’t know if anyone else’s brain works the way mine does, but that became a challenge for me to actually find one. We cruised up and down the highway a little more and then headed in to find a place to stay for the night.

Watch Out For Moose!
Watch Out For Moose!

We stumbled across this great little resort called Ramblewood. They’re a combination of cabins and campgrounds located right on First Connecticut Lake. We spent the night in a three bedroom cabin overlooking the lake for a whopping $80.

Our Cabin
Our Cabin

The owner of Ramblewood confirmed that we would probably not see moose this trip… but was kind enough to humor me and gave us a few logging roads to scope out. We spent the next two or three hours bouncing round logging roads with our eyes peeled for moose. No luck. We headed back out on the highway to go to the cabin and BAM:

Moose!
Moose!

We also saw a pair of moose walking together, but by that point it was getting a little dark and my photography skills were not up to par. I could not believe how big they are… they’re the size of my horse! Unfortunately, we didn’t see any males (would have been neat to see the antlers!) but I was super excited to see these ones!

New Hampshire was beautiful… we were about a week or two late for the fall colors, but still got to see beautiful scenery!

First Connecticut Lake
First Connecticut Lake

Maine

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Well, it’s been over a month since I last posted… things have definitely been busy! Last week Mike and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. When we got married we decided that we would not get each other gifts for our anniversary, but would instead road trip somewhere together. I love it… since October is our anniversary, it falls just after fire season – a time that I see very little of my husband. It’s always a blast to get away, spend time with each other, and see new places!

First Anniversary: Northern California/Southern Oregon Coast

Second Anniversary: Mid-East Coast (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, North Carolina, and South Carolina)

Third Anniversary: Northern East Coast (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York)

Our first stop in Maine was the Portland Head lighthouse. It was already cold and windy (as was much of the first part of our trip), but it was absolutely beautiful. One thing that I noticed was that the lighthouse itself was not as tall as I had expected.

Portland Head Light
Portland Head Light

We spent the second day in Maine touring breweries… some very delicious ones, I might add. First on the list was Shipyard Brewery. We tasted seven or eight different beers there… and their blueberry soda (so yummy!). Stop number two was Sebago Brewery. To be honest, I didn’t have beer here since I had so much at Shipyard. Instead I had a chocolate lava cake. Because that’s how I roll. That stop was followed by a trek back to the hotel for a nap. We then headed out to In’finiti Fermentation & Distillation where I proceeded to taste their distillery sampler (vodka, rum, and whiskey). I am definitely not normally a hard alcohol drinker, but when in Rome… at least it was a nice walk that evening:

Portland at Night
Portland at Night

That was pretty much it for Maine. We had beautiful weather and really enjoyed it. Next up… New Hampshire!

Newport Beach Fish-a-Palooza

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The past week was the annual Blankenheim Newport Vacation. We co-own a boat with my brother- and sister-in-law, and have started a tradition of spending a week or so in Newport Beach each summer (my husband and his brother went to college down there and lived on Newport Beach).

I headed into the trip with a heck of a head cold… because that’s how I roll. The very first day, the guys went out fishing, but the girls/kids stayed on shore. I did a bit of napping and then hit the beach. My niece Katie is a serious beach girl… the two of us probably spent more time in the water than we did on land! The hotel we stay at is fantastic – one of the perks is they loan you boogie boards and beach stuff, so you have tons of options. We have become expert boogie boarders… I have the sunburn to prove it!

Then main goal the boys had this trip was to catch a shark. I must say, they were (mostly) well prepared. They found the spots the sharks were at (saw them with my own eyes), they had the right bait (caught my share of mackerel), and they had the right equipment… sort of. They were definitely catching them (mostly thresher sharks, which scare the crap out of me), but ran out of the metal leaders. This is a very important thing because threshers use their gigantic tails to slap at their prey – the fishing line in this case.

On our last full day there, we got up early (well, at the same time we did every other day – 4:30am so that we could get on the water) and headed over to Catalina Island. It was a beautiful boat ride over… we saw all sorts of cool marine life – flying fish, dolphins, seals, sharks (mako sharks, we think), and mola (very cool, prehistoric looking creatures). My favorite part of the journey over was the dolphins. I am not exaggerating when I say there were probably hundreds of dolphins swimming around our boat. We found a pod that was feeding, so there was much breaching of the water. They chased our boat, played in our wake, and lead the way. It was absolutely breath-taking to see. I took pictures, but they don’t come close to capturing how amazing it was to be there.

Dolphins
Dolphins

Once we got to the island, we got serious about fishing. I caught the biggest fish I’d ever caught in my life… a roughly 15 pound yellowtail. I have not done a ton of ocean fishing, and when I have, I haven’t caught anything really big. This one was amazing… I was letting my line out when I suddenly felt the reel start to go faster. I clicked over and the pole practically bent in half. It took 5-10 minutes for me to reel it in, with Mike and Charlie coaching me/moving things around on the boat as I went. It was hilarious to watch the two of them try to buckle the pole holder on me while I kept reeling. I even baited my own hook!

My Yellowtail
My Yellowtail

Yup – I definitely outfished the boys that day. We caught a ton of calico bass (seriously, like 50+). Mike got a really nice one:

Mike & His Bass
Mike & His Bass

I’m sad to see this week’s vacation come to an end… it was so nice to spend time with my hubby and family! Tomorrow it’s back to the grind… gotta work hard to play hard! Stay tuned for posts on the rest of the week – including the Western States Horse Expo!

South Carolina

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Ok folks, this is going to be a long one. The last stop on our 2nd Anniversary Road Trip was Charleston, South Carolina. Our first visit was to the Boone Hall Plantation. It’s actually America’s oldest still-working plantation, functioning non-stop for over 320 years. Of course, it’s not a true plantation without the Avenue of the Oaks:

Avenue of the Oaks
Avenue of the Oaks

We took the house tour and then wandered the grounds.

Mike & I At Boone Hall
Mike & I At Boone Hall

The gardens were absolutely beautiful, even this late in the year. I bet they’re amazing in the spring!

Beautiful Butterflies!
Beautiful Butterflies!

We also had some amazing food while in South Carolina. The first night we had dinner at Fiery Ron’s Home Team BBQ… it was amazing. I’m not a huge BBQ or rib fan, but these were delicious. And their sides were to die for… I had mashed potatoes and mac & cheese with mine. We ate two meals at Jestine’s Kitchen – their famous fried chicken was awesome but I loved their meatloaf even more. I also introduced Mike to Cracker Barrel and Zaxby’s (hellooooo sweet tea)!

The highlight of my trip was a visit to the Magnolia Plantation Swamp Gardens. While they’re more well known for their plantation house and regular gardens, we skipped all of that and headed over to the swamp in hopes of seeing an alligator.

Swamp Love
Swamp Love

They had these great little walkways that traversed a pretty big swamp area. We wandered for a while before we saw this little fella

Mr. Alligator
Mr. Alligator

After we spotted him, we noticed them everywhere… in the water, on the platforms, on the shore. It was so cool. We also learned that the green stuff that covers the top of water isn’t algae… it’s called duck weed and are the smallest flowering plant on the planet. We saw all sorts of cool critters – head over to my Facebook page to see the rest. Ok, ok, one more of this really cute baby turtle:

Reach For The Sky
Reach For The Sky

Finally, we got to spend some time with my cousin, Jared. He joined the Navy a couple of years ago (just after our wedding) and it’s been a while since we’ve seen him. It was so great to give him a great big hug and to have dinner with him (twice!). See Facebook/Instagram for pics.

Just like that, the trip was over. By this point I was sick as heck and definitely did not enjoy the flight home, but we made it.

North Carolina

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The next place we went to on our road trip was North Carolina. We headed into Charlotte for the night. Right about now on the trip is when I started to suffer the beginnings of the cold of death… the same one that I’m still battling. We got to Charlotte after dark and couldn’t believe what a beautiful city it was. I didn’t take pictures, but really wish I had… that city at night is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. We checked into our hotel and then headed out in search for food. We were given directions into “the Epicenter” – basically the happening spot of the downtown area.

Downtown Charlotte
Downtown Charlotte

Mike and I both commented that even though we’re not really “city people” we both loved it here. I’m not sure exactly what it was… there was just a great vibe. I really liked how they kept the history alive via markers.

Charlotte
Charlotte

We didn’t spend a ton of time here because we wanted to get down to South Carolina, but I really enjoyed the time we were there!

 

Virginia

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Once we were done in DC, we headed for Virginia. We spent the night in Virginia Beach, which was absolutely beautiful. The view below was actually taken from our hotel room… there was literally boardwalk and sand between us and the water. The weather was lovely as well! We didn’t find much to do there, so we stopped at Bad Ass Coffee for some breakfast and headed on our way.

Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach

Our friends Chris and Kassie had recommended we take the long way from Virginia to North Carolina via the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was an absolutely stunning drive and I got to check another item off my bucket list – to see Fall on the East Coast.

Fall On The Blue Ridge Parkway
Fall On The Blue Ridge Parkway

We pulled off down a little back road to this hole in the wall place called “Gertie’s” for lunch. It claimed fresh BBQ daily and all of the locals were there, so we decided to give it a try. The food was really good! We headed back out on the Parkway for the rest of our drive.

The views from this road were absolutely stunning – you literally drive along the ridge and can see all the different valleys. The trees were beautiful as well, although we were probably just a few days late for the actual peak. Poor Mike got really good at stopping in the middle of the road without getting us killed every time I yelled “STOP!” to take a picture.

Blue Ridge Views
Blue Ridge Views

That was pretty much it for Virginia… next stop, North Carolina!

Washington DC

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The next stop on our road trip was beautiful Washington DC. We spent two days there and could have easily spent more… they were two very jam-packed days full of lots of walking.

On day one we decided to try to hit up all of the memorials, monuments, etc. Our first stop was the White House. I was really excited to see the White House garden… they keep bees! While we were there, they closed the street we were on and drove some big caravan by… lots of police cars and black SUVs. The President? Maybe. Sasha and Malia going to school? Maybe. It was neat to see, either way.

The White House
The White House

I loved this picture – as we were walking away from the gates near the White House, we saw this mounted officer giving her partner a little break:

You Can Lead A Horse To Water...
You Can Lead A Horse To Water…

After that we headed over to the National Mall – Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Memorials.

The Washington Monument was under construction. Apparently there was an earthquake a couple of years ago that did some damage to the monument… nothing structural, but stuff that needed to be fixed. It was kind of neat to see it with all of the scaffolding.

Washington Monument Getting A Face Lift
Washington Monument Getting A Face Lift

We then headed to the Lincoln Memorial via the National Mall. I loved standing on the steps and looking back at the Washington Memorial and across the pool.

Us @ The Lincoln Memorial
Us @ The Lincoln Memorial

Then we went on to the Korean War Memorial… this one was really moving to me. It features a series of stainless steel statues that represent a squad on patrol. It’s especially moving since I know my grandpa was there.

Korean War Memorial
Korean War Memorial

After that, we headed to the Vietnam War Memorial. This one was very special as well… my father-in-law and my uncle both fought there. I was in awe of the sheer number of names on the wall.

Vietnam War Memorial Wall
Vietnam War Memorial Wall

Finally, we walked across the river (technically into Virginia) to see Arlington National Cemetery. This was something that I’ve always wanted to see… I felt honored to be there among the so many who gave their lives to our country. Yes, I know that not all there died in battle, but all did in some way serve.

Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery

There was a little bit of comedy. Arlington allows a spouse and up to two children under 18 to be buried with a service member. As we passed this headstone I noticed something strange… see if you pick up on it:

Two Wives
Two Wives

So, to me, at first glance, it looked like he buried his two wives together (which he did). Once you look closer, you notice that the first wife died the same year as the infant son… probably during childbirth. Still…

We also had the chance to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The whole process was very cool to see and so respectful.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

On the second day we decided to hit the Smithsonian museums. There are bunch of them, so we narrowed it down to two that we really wanted to see. The first was the National Museum of Natural History. I think the highlight of that one for me was the dinosaur exhibits. To be honest, I was a little disappointed in the museum. Maybe too many people just built it up too much, but I felt like there wasn’t anything that I hadn’t seen before. Ok, except the Hope Diamond. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful, but anything that big ends up looking fake to me, even though I know it’s not. The second museum that we went to was the National Air and Space Museum. This one was actually really cool… I wasn’t expecting to be that interested (Mike wanted to go there) but was surprised by the really cool exhibits they had. I loved seeing the old space craft… and was amazed at the fact that people actually agreed to be shot into space in them!

From there we headed into Virginia, but that’s another post!