The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Tag Archives: vacation

Our trip to Washington D.C.

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Me and my clan spent the weekend in Washington D.C. and I’m happy to say we survived the trip:   
Now that the kids are 6 and 9, it is a lot more fun, not to mention a lot easier, traveling with them. They even sort of understood the appeal of visiting our nation’s capital. My son demanded certain photos that he could put in a PowerPoint presentation for school (I kid you not) and my daughter hasn’t stopped talking about the hotel pool and her “awesome” roll away bed. Good times.
My wife and I are nodding off as I write this so I’m going to proceed with as few words as possible and just show you the photos from our trip. You get it right?
We had hoped to time the trip perfectly for the cherry blossoms, but they were mostly “spent” due to the warmer than expected weather. I did manage to find one:
But most of the blossoms were enjoyed like this:
We hit the Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian. They were all fantastic but I’ll spare you the details.
Since this is technically a “gardening” blog, I’ll show you some pics of the United States Botanical Garden. We visited on our way to the U.S. Capitol Building, as seen in the photo below:   

There were a ton of tulip blossoms out front:

And while it was still early in the season, there was still a lot to see:

While the blooms were small in number, there were still some to be found:

We then headed inside to the …

Dad got his plant fix so it was on to the U.S. Capitol Building:

Amazing how I always find flowers wherever I go:

Then it was the Lincoln Memorial:

And then the Arlington National Cemetary where my son was anxious to see the JFK gravesite and the eternal flame:

He just completed a project in school on JFK so he was educating us on a lot of the details.

We also made sure to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns and actually witnessed a changing of the guard. It was incredibly moving to witness and admittedly did not know that it was guarded 24/7 and 365 days each year: 

I also made a point to visit the memorial to those who died in the Challenger space shuttle explosion of 1986. I remember that day well, as I was home sick from school when it happened. I believe I was watching the Price is Right when they broke the news. It still haunts me today:

To see the sheer number of headstones and how they were all perfectly aligned, representing how the soldiers operated in both life and death, was difficult to truly grasp. Some day I would love to go back for an entire day to really get to understand all of the history of this place :    

Time for bed.

I love my kids, but it is time for them to go back to school so we can all get a little break from each other.

John

Wordless Wednesday – Vacation Part 2 – All About Oregon

Vacation to the Northwest – Part 1

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The family and I were on vacation all last week in the beautiful Northwest (outside Portland, OR) visiting my in-laws and we could not have had a better time. We packed in a ton within a week’s time (trip to the coast, two days in Seattle) and are still in a state of recovery. I’ll need to keep it simple for today as I am doing my best to not doze off as I type this.        
My in-laws live in the northern Willamette Valley which is one of the world’s best Pinot noir wine regions:    

So it was a no-brainer to leave the kids at home for the day so my wife and I could do some serious wine tasting. And we rocked it.

While it was an overcast and foggy day (and we expected as much), the scenery at the wineries was as fantastic as the Pinot:    

I think my personal favorite was David Hill Winery where the tasting was held in an old farmhouse and our hosts could not have been more down to earth and gracious:

We even shared a New Jersey connection with one of the women which lead to some interesting conversation.

We did not make any purchases (which can be difficult to resist when you’ve been drinking) considering the effort to bring the wine home on the plane, but will be sure to order on-line now that wine can be shipped directly to New Jersey.

Good times were had by all. More on our trip tomorrow when I’m capable of writing coherently.

John          

Ocean House – Watch Hill, RI

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While we were on vacation this past week, we took a trip to Watch Hill, Rhode Island to visit The Ocean House. When we pulled up to this resort, my jaw not only dropped open, it fell to the ground and began doing back flips.

The setting is like nothing I’ve ever seen before as it sits atop a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We were only there for lunch out on the “veranda” (check the room rates on the web site if you get a chance and you’ll see why we didn’t stay there) but it was worth the half hour trip. Oysters outdoors with the rich and New Englandy – good friggin times.

The grounds are stunning, loaded with beautiful gardens so of course, I wanted to share the photos with you. Enjoy:

Our vacation to Stonington, Connecticut

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My wife and I (sans children) just returned from a four day vacation at one of our absolute favorite locales:

This is not one of your ordinary beach towns that are so common up and down the East Coast. When staying here, you feel like you are immediately integrated into the community and not a tourist. At breakfast each morning, the staff at the inn would offer up the best of the local attractions and you could feel the sincerity behind it. We rarely needed our car as anything we needed was within walking distance. True village life.
One of the most enjoyable activities was a simple walk up and down the main street where we passed the locals walking their dogs or watering their gardens. I swear I could tell each and every one of them were stress free and thrilled to be living where they did. Here is a sampling of what we witnessed on these walks and I’m sure you’ll see why it was so enjoyable:          
          
You feelin me dawg? When can I move in? It was a garden lover’s dream to see it all and you could tell it was a community wide effort. I swear to you (and I know everyone says this when on vacation) we would move there in a second if all the particulars were worked out. You hear me Stonington? If you need an obsessive gardener and garden writer, call me. We’ll do lunch. 
Speaking of lunch, there are 4-5 restaurants within the village, all distinctive in their own way, that offer that local feel. We would have a margarita and guacamole at one and then eat from the raw bar at another. Along the way, we would listen intently to the natives talk about their adventures out on the boat or discussing the additions to their gardens or the new shipment of lobsters they just received. No where did I hear any discussions about the usual corporate crap and that put a smile on my face. 
Did I mention there were a number of local wineries in the area? Well now you know. We even purchased cheese and other deliciousness and had our own picnic inside one of the wineries while live music played:             

The back drop of the Long Island Sound wasn’t so bad either:

Each day we watched the kids at sailing camp and wondered if we could convince our kids to participate WHEN we move there:

Oh yeah, we also found a pristine unspoiled beach right over the border in Rhode Island (East Beach) and I didn’t long for the Jersey Shore for one second:

That is pure genuine happiness my friends:

One thing my wife and I promised to each other throughout this trip was that we would do our best to incorporate what we loved during this vacation into our every day lives. We know what we love and what we ideally would love to do professionally in the future. Now is the time to start working towards it. Thank you Stonington!

John

Wordless Wednesday – Vacation