It’s hard to believe the year is almost over — in many ways, I can barely believe it began!
One of my biggest accomplishments for the year has been resurrecting this blog and getting caught up with a lot of belated posts. On New Year’s Day, I wrote down as one of my goals “update your blog” and it only took me until mid-November to start making it happen. Well, better late than never!
Since starting this blog, I’ve traded in long trips for short ones (one of the big insights from my four months in Southeast Asia was I enjoy having a “normal job”) but I stil have had an amazing year filled with lots of great adventures.
Here’s some highlights from the year:
• an epic wine-tasting weekend in Healdsburg with a friend in February. We visited no less than 10 wineries in three days, including Chalk Hill, Roth Estate, De La Montanya, Mill Creek (which also has excellent mustards for sale), DaVero (which also sells delicious vinegars and olive oils), Unti, Truett Hurst, Preston Farm, and Bella Vineyards, plus great meals at The Brass Rabbit and Baci Cafe & Wine Bar in downtown Healdsburg and a delicious lunch at Dry Creek General Store and Bar. Whew!
• a lovely solo ski weekend at the Resort at Squaw Creek in March (I love this place and hope to do another weekend there in 2020)
• a visit to NYC in April, with great meals at Frenchette and Cote, plus a drink at the iconic ‘80s hotspot, the Odeon
• a trip to Yosemite with my dad in April which took a horrific turn when it turned out our rooms at the Yosemite Valley Lodge were INFESTED with mice. So disgusting, and it really put a huge damper on our stay. We also had a disappointing meal at the Ahwahnee restaurant (having eaten there many times before, it was definitely not up to par)
• a great weekend in Los Angeles in April; I stayed again at the Hollywood Roosevelt for a night and checked out a show at Dynasty Typewriter, then went to Pasadena for a night and saw an amazing production of Argonautika at A Noise Within (if you’re in the Pasadena/Los Angeles area, I highly recommend trying to check out one of their shows!). Also had some great meals at salt’s cure, Bowery Bungalow, Republique, Salazar, plus drinks at Hollywood institution Boardner’s By La Belle
• not a weekend away, but I made a random daytrip down to San Jose to finally check out the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, which has been on my “local list” for forever. The museum holds the largest collection of ancient Egypt antiquities in the Western United States, and it’s worth a visit. After, I wandered around the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, then did a wine tasting up in the Cupertino Hills at Vidovich Vineyards, which had an amazing view of the South Bay.
• a spa getaway weekend for myself at the Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa
• a Napa overnight at the sorta-newly-opened Archer Hotel in downtown Napa with a friend. Our excursion included attending a wine release party at Davies Vineyards, an impromptu wine tasting at the gorgeously-remodeled Louis M. Martini, dinner at Basalt and Zuzu (yes, we ate one course at Basalt and about four more courses at Zuzu), drinks at Cadet, a delicious lowkey brunch at Grace’s Table, Sunday afternoon wine tastings at Outland and Alpha Omega Collective, and a final BBQ dinner at Bounty Hunter
• Fourth of July in a place I’d never been before: Cape Coral, Florida! I flew down to meet up with a friend whose mom lives there and enjoyed four days of serious rest and relaxation. We swam in the pool, we boated out to the Gulf of Mexico, we went to an amazing/crazy/super USA July 4th party, we watched the entire new season of Stranger Things in two nights. I also got to meet up with another old friend from NYC who just happened to move there and got to eat at the same delicious seafood restaurant, the Lobster Lady, twice!
• a lovely trip to Sea Ranch in July with a group of friends who I’ve been going up there with since I was in fourth grade or so. The highlight of this particular trip was it being so warm on the second night that we were there that we could sit outside without jackets and watch the stars for hours (in California along the coast in summer, this is an anomaly!)
• bopping to Las Vegas for the first time for a friend’s birthday, then on to Portland the following morning to meet up with a friend. We hiked Silver Falls State Park (waterfalls galore), tasted wine and enjoyed the sunshine in the Willamette Valley at Stoller Family Vineyards, dined at Tasty n Alder and Kachka (on different nights), drank at Kask and Loyal Legion and a few other places I can’t remember (on different nights; Saturday was something of a whirlwind!), and drove all the way to Hood River and back in a single afternoon, stopping at the Vista House for a view of the Columbia River Gorge and Multonomah Falls (doing this trip in one day I do not recommend).
• spending two weeks in the Republic of Georgia! (A detailed post or two hopefully coming soon…)
• another great weekend in NYC: jazz at the Flatiron Room and memorable meals at Corner Bistro and Le Coucou
• my job “running out of work for me” but seizing the moment and opportunity to meet up with some friends in Maui for a few days! I’d never been to Hawaii before and am so glad I finally had the chance to go. I stayed at Aston at the Whaler where I got an amazing room (a huge one bedroom apartment) and didn’t do much except check out Lahaina a little, swim in the ocean, have some great food (Monkeypod Kitchen, Japengo), and journal like crazy (one insight? Get this blog back up and running!)
• closing out the year with a wonderful trip to Santa Fe with my family. Post hopefully to come soon on this one, too!
So, that’s it for me. Not sure what lies ahead in 2020 and where it will bring me, but I am excited to see what lies in store! I’m not sure I’ll be able to cross any “big” destinations off my list (Ethiopia, Madagascar…) since I need to focus on getting a “real job”, but I’m hoping to continue taking smaller trips within the United States and hopefully a trip to Europe at least in the early spring. We shall see!
For all four of you reading this blog, I hope you had a 2019 that was filled with love, joy, and many adventures, wherever you went! Here’s wishing you a New Year filled with so much more!
Xoxo
What were your travel highlights in 2019? Let me know in the comments!
