trips | The Eternal Optimist

A Saturday at the vineyards

May 19th, 2012 | by Sara | d.c., trips

May
19

Last weekend, my wine club group visited some wineries in Virginia. Although I’ve lived in D.C. more than three years now, this was my first trip to Virginia wine country.

We had coupons for a wine tasting with cheese plates and sangria at a tiny startup winery outside Delaplane, Va. And Capitol Vineyards was great! All eight of us sat around a table outside with grapes growing around us and tasted wine and chatted. We were there much longer than I anticipated, but we had a great time.

We had seen signs for many other vineyards on the way, so we picked one and stopped at Three Fox Vineyards. Here we had what I consider a more traditional tasting of going through the wines (and less chatting among ourselves). It was a beautiful vineyard with lots of great space for picnics and would be a wonderful place to spend a Saturday and drink some wine.

Before heading home, we stopped for some food at Hunter’s Head Tavern in Upperville, Va. We had some delicious food and sat on the beautiful patio. By the end of the day, I was quite sunburned.

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A wedding in a museum

May 9th, 2012 | by Sara | trips

May
09

The main reason for my Southern trip was to see my cousin Jason and his fiancee, Emily, get married beneath a big dinosaur skeleton at the Tellus Science Museum. The bridesmaids wore pink sequined Converse, and the whole ceremony took about five minutes. I give it the award of most simple wedding I’ve been to (and I mean that as a compliment). The reception was a breakfast buffet (yes, at night) complete with Southern grits. Treats included gummy bears and Reese’s pieces. It was a great setting, and we were allowed to explore the museum during the reception, which was fun.

Getting married under the dinosaur.

Another great source of entertainment was my nephew, Nolen, and his second cousin, Sophie. They danced and danced and danced … while we all laughed and laughed and took photos and videos. Excuse me while I overload you with video and photos.

First a video:

And then some photos:

Nolen arrives for the party in his (slightly too large) Italian suit — and holding Mom's hand, of course.

Sharing a dance.

This photo is obviously way blown out, but I just loved the expression on Nolen's face as he patiently waits for Sophie to finish rolling around on the floor.

Taking a break and sharing some Reese's pieces.

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Exploring Atlanta

May 8th, 2012 | by Sara | trips

May
08

Lots of children were playing in the fountains at Centennial Olympic Park.

When I got to Atlanta, I met up with my parents and some extended family who were all there for my cousin Jason’s wedding. But we had a little time for sightseeing.

Swan House and the surrounding grounds were beautiful.

The first day, we went to the Atlanta History Center, which is in the ritzy Buckhead neighborhood. (The mansions we passed on the drive there were amazing.) We looked through the museum (Civil War displays and an exhibit about the 1996 Olympic Games that were in Atlanta). Then, we took a tour of Swan House, a beautiful 1928 mansion. The museum is on the grounds that originally belonged to the family. And, of course, we looked around the Smith Family Farm that had been moved onto the property. You can’t pass a farm with the Korte side of the family and not stop.

This statue in the park is of Pierre de Coubertin, father of the moder Olympic movement.

The next day, we walked around downtown Cartersville (the small town where the wedding was and where our hotel was). It was an adorable little town with shops and restaurants. We ate at a sidewalk cafe and lingered for quite a while. Then we drove into Atlanta to check out Centennial Olympic Park. We didn’t have time to go in the Coca-Cola Museum, so we took a stroll through the gift shop instead. You can find anything you’ve ever imagined with a Coca-Cola symbol there. Before one set of relatives had to drive to the airport, we tried to get drinks at a rooftop bar. Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 6 p.m., so we went down the street to Der Biergarten had a drink outside in the gorgeous weather.

That night we celebrated my cousin Ashley’s birthday with lots of treats!

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A stop in N.C.

May 7th, 2012 | by Sara | trips

May
07

I stopped in Charlotte to visit some friends.

On my way into the state I stopped for the most interesting vista of my trip: concrete legs. Yep, I was looking for random attractions on Roadside America, and I found this in Henderson, N.C. Once I knew it was there, I couldn’t just drive by it. It was in a very rural area, right next to a trailer that had a beauty shop sign on the door (but was closed).

I took some circuitous route into Charlotte (thanks to Google Maps), so I passed the Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bank of America Stadium. Once I met up with my friend, we ate at The Penguin, which was featured on Man Vs. Food the next day. Then we checked out some bars, including a cool speakeasy, in the Uptown area. Then next day, I ate at Mac’s, which when I was there was more BBQ than bikers.

What else did I do in Charlotte? We drove around to see various neighborhoods, and we also stopped at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Some Olympic trials were being held there the next few days, so we were able to watch a bunch of Olympic hopefuls practice in the rapids.

Then I headed to Atlanta, stopping on the way to do a little outlet shopping (because the consensus was outlets were the only sight to see on that portion of the route).

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Virginia’s Capital: Richmond

May 5th, 2012 | by Sara | trips

May
05

George Washington graces the Virginia Capitol's Rotunda in Richmond.

I took a roadtrip to Atlanta in April for my cousin Jason’s wedding. On the way, I stopped in Richmond, Va., (briefly) and visited friends in Charlotte, N.C.

The first day of my trip led me to Richmond. I hadn’t done any research in advance, so I stopped at the tourist bureau and quickly realized I had entered the South. The ladies were so happy to help me and give me every bit of information I could ever want (and more than I could use in my two-hour stop). I have a bit of a fascination with statehouses, especially the tiny old ones that exist in this region (a striking contrast to the behemoths I am used to in Illinois and Missouri). So, I stopped for a tour.

The Virginia Capitol was designed by Thomas Jefferson. It’s old, small and full of history. I was there after the regular session had ended and before the special session began, so it was also pretty empty.

I loved the tile floor (at top) in photos and took way too many photos of the George Washington statue because of it.

I was fascinated by this Old City Hall building across the street. Love, love, love it from the outside. And the kind guide at the Capitol said it is open for people to walk through, so I stopped there briefly. But I soon realized the inside was, in my opinion, horrendous.

My tourist bureau friend had insisted I drive down Monument Avenue on my way back to the interstate. She even carefully plotted a route for me, so I decided I might as well give it a try. I don’t have any photos since I was driving, but I definitely recommend a swing through this area if you’re in Richmond. It’s a short stretch of an old road with a wide median down the middle and gorgeous homes along the sides. And the median and intersections have huge statues of notables including J.E.B. Stuart, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Arthur Ashe Jr.

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A wedding!

November 9th, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized

Nov
09

Family photo

Finally, the purpose for our Springfield visit was upon us: Stephanie and Robert’s wedding.

The Rev Kev presided over a beautiful ceremony.

Then there was eating and drinking and dancing. Nolen finally joined in dancing, too.

After it was all over, we had to celebrate my cousin Carolyn’s 21st birthday at midnight!

It was a great weekend full of family!

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Springfield tourism

November 8th, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized

Nov
08

While I was in Springfield, Mo., with the family for my cousin’s wedding, we had a little extra time to kill. So we hit up Springfield’s tourist attraction: the original Bass Pro Shop.

I had been to one or two before, but not this one. It’s quite monstrous, and they appeared to be doing construction to add on even more! But the best part was watching Nolen.

Nolen wasn’t all that interested in the fish. He much preferred looking at the big boats and four-wheelers.

The turtles were pretty cool, though. The whole family gathered ’round.

I think his favorite part was the elevator. He convinced Grandpa to take him up and down and up and down. Here they wait in anticipation as the elevator arrives.

Grandpa also brought Nolen into the roped-off area for a Peanuts photo op. Nolen leaned against a pumpkin and … oops, they must be made of foam.

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Adorable Children

November 6th, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized

Nov
06

During my Midwest trip in October, I spent about half the time with small children and about half the time drinking. (Just joking, but I did go to homecoming at Mizzou.) Two very different experiences, of course.

Ben (front) and Bekah

The first cute children I saw were in Chatham: Amy and West’s adorable, well-behaved, enthusiastic and not-shy son, Andrew, and Cindy and Nate’s very cute, smart, also well-behaved, sweet and friendly daughter Hannah and their also-adorable 1-year-old twins, Ben and Bekah.

Andrew (left) and Hannah ride the holiday train.

We had a great time. Andrew gave me a tour of his house and introduced me to Annie the dog. We watched some Rugrats and we played some pirate ship. Hannah let me play kick with her and read her bedtime books.

Nolen lines up his trains to watch Thomas on TV.

Then, when I reached Herrin, I saw my 3-year-old nephew, Nolen. He’s a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan, and he has loads of trains. We built and rebuilt train tracks and moved trains around and watched Thomas videos.

Nolen helps make cupcakes.

We also baked cupcakes. Nolen was very helpful with dumping in ingredients. When it came time to add the flour and chocolate into the wet mixture bit by bit, we had an interesting arrangement. He was scared of the noise made by the hand mixer, so we worked out a deal. He pushed his stool up the counter, climbed up and helped me dump in some flour. Then I said, “Time for the mixer,” and he would run to the other side of the kitchen and sit on Mom’s lap and peer across and watch me mix it. Then, when I turned off the mixer, he’d run back over to help again. Over and back and over and back. He also helped decorate. We were putting in filling and adding frosting, and then he measured out some sprinkles and helped me put them on each one. He called them “Nolen and Sara’s cupcakes.”

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Midwest travels

October 10th, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized

Oct
10

I was in St. Louis last weekend for the annual conference of the Society for News Design.

And this week, I head back to the Midwest for a whirlwind 10 days in Columbia, Mo. (for the 100th anniversary of Homecoming), Chatham, Ill. (to visit friends), Herrin (to see friends and family) and Springfield, Mo. (for a cousin’s wedding).

After that, I’ll be holed up in D.C. until Christmas. (It just happened that all my Midwest travels landed in the same month.)

I can’t wait to see some friends and have some familiar food I can’t find out this way!

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India: Random roundup

August 2nd, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized

Aug
02

Friendly man love after the border-closing ceremony.

Other than posting some photos from Holi (which I’m still waiting to see photos from … ahem, Adam), I’ve covered the bulk of my trip (even if it has taken me four months).

A few last random bits that didn’t seem to fit in my other posts.

Indian toilets. I have to say I didn’t use any
that were in an open setup like these.

Indian toilets
I think each person in our group was very proud the first time he/she used an Indian toilet instead of the Western toilet. (The hotels we stayed in all had Western toilets. Many public places had both options. Trains also had both options.) We also had a number of conversations that revolved around toilets and the typical bathroom setups of open showers or (in some cases) bucket baths. I won’t go into details here.

Friendly man love on the streets of Jaipur.

Man love
I’m not sure if the term “man love” was Adam’s or where it started, but we had plenty of chances to use it. Indian men don’t have the same stigmas that Americans do as far as hugging each other, walking arm-in-arm, etc. So we often would be walking down the street and see two twenty-something guys with their arms around each other. And, no, that isn’t a declaration of homosexuality. It’s simply a declaration of friendship. It was yet another thing that was difficult for us to wrap our heads around, but it’s very normal there.

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