We are headed to Jamaica tomorrow for my youngest brother Gary’s wedding. This is incredibly exciting because we’ve had a lot of traumatic stuff going on lately, including Stephanie’s mom’s long illness and death from liver cancer on May 19th of this year. We really need a vacation, we need relaxation and fun and frivolity and time away from home and work.
We have a number of weddings to attend this fall, and the first is Stephanie’s cousin Alex’s, which is taking place in New Jersey. This road trip we’ll be seeing the other half of Stephanie’s family; we saw most of her mom’s family last fall.
Lance is ready to roadtrip.
The ear pieces from my shades were making my head hurt, so I got this new pair.
Lance took my old sunglasses.
Stephanie Driving
Hector needed shades, too.
The rest of the entourage poses for picks.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Memoribilia
Ruth Bader Ginsburg enjoys her notoriety.
After our corn maze excursion, we visited Stephanie’s grandparent’s gravesite at Arlington Cemetery. And we rounded out the rest of our vacation with visits to Stephanie’s cousin in Philadelphia, one of Stephanie’s childhood friends in Lynchburg, Virginia, and then a visit with our friends Lisa and Jason in Durham. We also met for dinner with my old friend Dennis and his husband Jeff in DC. I took quite a few sight-seeing photos, but in general I steer clear of taking or posting photos of other people’s kids for privacy’s sake. I got to drive by Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, which was cool. I definitely want to go back and stop at some point.
As we wrapped up our vacation, I couldn’t help but reflect on how these trips create a patchwork of memories that we’ll look back on for years. It’s not just about the places we visit, but the experiences we collect along the way. Whether it was catching up over a home-cooked meal or watching the city lights shimmer on Boathouse Row, each moment added something special to the journey. Traveling like this—without rigid plans but with plenty of room for spontaneity—reminded me why I love hitting the road in the first place.
Speaking of memorable experiences, we’ve toyed with the idea of a timeshare for future vacations. Having a dedicated getaway spot sounds appealing, especially after such a whirlwind trip. But we also know that navigating timeshare contracts can be tricky, which is why having reliable guidance, like from Aaronson Law Group, is essential. They specialize in helping people understand their options, ensuring they don’t get locked into something that doesn’t suit their needs. It’s definitely something we’ll research more before making any commitments—because the only thing better than a great vacation is having the freedom to enjoy it stress-free.
Durham is always a treat to visit. Lots of cool culture stuff going on there, so we have plenty to do, and we visited their Life + Science Museum to go on the “Dinosaur Walk” which is a nice landscaped garden pathway with dinosaur sculptures. Very fun.
We spent the afternoon at a corn maze and fall festival, with pumpkin shooting and pig races. Lots of fun.
Decisions, decisions.
We’re in the DC area for several days to visit Stephanie’s family. Today we’re doing some sightseeing.
UPDATE: We spent the afternoon in the national gallery.
The Biglin Brothers Racing, 1872. Thomas Eakins.
Oarsmen at Chatou, 1879. Auguste Renoir.
The Capitol, Washington, DC
Navy Pier at night, from the John Hancock Observatory
George and Ben Monster on the mega bus.
Stephanie found a free trip deal from Mega Bus from Indianapolis to Chicago, and we’re going up to do some sightseeing.
Photos from our stay in London on the last two days of our England trip.
We visited the Hare Arms Pub in Stow Bardolph one evening, which was a charming place and very entertaining because they keep chickens and peacocks in the gardens.
The last excursion we went on while visiting Stacy and her family was to Church Farm in Stow Bardolph, which is a really cool children’s play farm where they preserve rare animal breeds and support them by running a children’s play area where they can learn about the animals and pet them.
Today we visited Castle Rising in Norfolk and had a picnic near the castle. It was built around 1140 AD. The Castle that is. The picnic came much later.