Puerto Rico

When you get the opportunity to spend a weekend in Puerto Rico just as the temperatures are starting to drop in DC, the only answer you should ever give is an enthusiastic yes. You can always work out the details later ;) CJ's family spends a week each year on the island, so I was super excited when they extended the invitation to me as well. A few thousand Southwest Rapid Rewards Points and two fake sick-days later, we were headed down to paradise.

Due to some weird timing issues, I had to fly to San Juan from a work engagement in Fort Wayne, Indiana. But, I made it down no worse for the wear and stepped off the plane to a hot, humid, sunny day (way different than the 40F temps in Fort Wayne). CJ, his mom, and his grandparents had been there the previous year so they had an itinerary of must-sees lined up for our long weekend. First up was lunch at a little kiosk in Luquillo - we took in the ocean view and while eating some delicous seafood. I also tried mofongo, a dish of mashed plaintains fried and served with chicken. And sipped a few margaritas to start off the trip.

The resort we stayed at in Rio Grande was beautiful (I might be using that word a lot in this post). We were wiped from the flight and spent the evening relaxing.

Assateague Island, MD.

CJ and I didn't really get a chance to celebrate our anniversary this year. We had great ideas, but they fell by the wayside while we tried to take on the tasks of moving and starting grad school in two seperate cities. To make up for our oversight, we planned a camping trip to the Eastern Shore of Maryland during one of the last weekends of September. After losing almost half of our blood volume to mosquitos, we now refer to our 7th anniversary trip as the "7 Year Itch". And let me tell you, the itching lasted for a solid week after we returned home. I'll spare you the pictures.

But back to the beginning...

CJ had heard about a sunflower field, called Clear Meadow Farm, about an hour outside of Baltimore. It looked like an awesome place to stop, so we took the long way to the Eastern shore for this detour. The field was beautiful, and perfect for photo ops. Too bad I'm not so photogenic, or these shots could have been money ;)

Georgia.

My younger brother joined the Army earlier this year, and shipped off to boot camp at the beginning of the summer. I am so excited for him that he is doing something he has wanted to do for years and so proud that he is dedicating part of his life to serve a cause greater than himself. And hopefully he gets to see a few pretty cool corners of the world while doing it.

 

Even though we're all happy for him, going 10 weeks without seeing or talking to your brother is tough (although not nearly as tough as the work he put in during that time). My whole family was excited to fly down to watch him graduate from Fort Benning, GA on September 11th. We had two days to spend with him, and then planned to take another day to travel back to the Atlanta airport before catching a flight home.

'Murica

From sea to shinging sea. The beaches, mountains, and cities are beautiful, but for me it is the little quirks of life in each town that make traveling through this country are great. From little resturants to roadside attractions, to county fairs, I love it all. Tourist traps too - the cheesier the better.

My family tells me I'm an hipster for calling these things "Americana", so we'll just call them little details of life.