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Author Archives: maysestomp
Hong Kong, part II: 16-17 June 2018
Saturday, 16 June 2018 The boat ride today was much better than it was last Wednesday. The seas were calmer, or perhaps the boat was heavier because it had a full load of people … for whatever reason, nobody got … Continue reading
Posted in 2018-06/07, Asia
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Macau, 13-15 June 2018
Wednesday, 13 June 2018 I have been dreading today for more than a week. We’re leaving Hong Kong and taking a boat over to Macau. I am terrified of vomiting and boats trigger my anxiety attacks because of the high … Continue reading
Posted in 2018-06/07, Asia
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Hong Kong, 11-12 June 2018
Monday, 11 June 2018 We finally found a breakfast place! This restaurant was not prepared for non-Cantonese speaking foreigners …. they had to scrounge around for an employee who spoke enough English to take our order, and even then we … Continue reading
Posted in 2018-06/07, Asia
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Hong Kong, 09-10 June 2018
Saturday, 09 June 2018 The typhoon seems to have passed and the weather today was fantastic. We decided to go ahead with our plan to visit the Big Buddha (officially Tian Tan Buddha — Tian Tan means “Alter of Heaven”) … Continue reading
Posted in 2018-06/07, Asia
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Hong Kong, 06-08 June 2018
Wednesday, 06 June 2018 Hong Kong is a weird combination of opulent and seedy. Adam and I were last here exactly eleven years ago, in June 2007, for a business trip. We stayed in a massive and luxurious Holiday Inn. … Continue reading
Posted in 2018-06/07, Asia
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Resaca, GA (Battle of Resaca: a re-enactment)
Sunday, 20 May 2018 This weekend, Arge and Judy are in town. We (Brenda, Adam, John, Arge, Judy, Isabella and friend, Cassandra) travelled about an hour north of our home to visit the Resaca battlefield and view a Civil War … Continue reading
Posted in 2018-05, Resaca GA
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The Carolinas (and a little bit of Georgia)
Saturday, 31 March 2018 Our friends Rita and Randy have come down for “second spring break” so we can indulge in another version of our Blues Tour from last year. This year we’ve decided to visit The Carolinas (north and … Continue reading
Posted in 2018-04, the Carolinas
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Montreal; Philadelphia; Appomattox, 26-30 Dec 2017
Montreal, Canada Tuesday, 26 Dec 2017 Most of today was spent driving from Boston to Montreal. We took a route through New Hampshire and Vermont. The roads were quite good and the scenery was gorgeous. This is the most snow … Continue reading
Boston, 22-25 Dec 2017
Friday/Saturday, 22-23 Dec 2017 After a two-day drive from Atlanta, we arrived in Boston Friday afternoon just in time to beat the snow. We settled into our AirBnB, a 3-bedroom apartment in a building dating to 1850 just south of … Continue reading
Blue Ridge, GA: 23-26 Sept 2017
23 Sept 2017, Saturday This week is the kids’ first Fall break. We rented a cabin in the woods for a few days and spent a long weekend up there — Saturday to Tuesday. (Adam had to leave on Wednesday … Continue reading
Posted in 2017-09, Blue Ridge, GA
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New Orleans, 06-08 July 2017
06 July 2017, Thursday We were going stir-crazy at home and have three weeks left of summer before school starts, so we decided to take one last mini-vacation to New Orleans. Through AirBnB we found a neat old Victorian-era house … Continue reading
Posted in 2017-07, New Orleans
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Paris, 09-13 June 2017
Friday, 09 June 2017 Adam got up at 5:00 a.m. and escorted John and Elaine to the airport this morning. Today turned out to be a big disappointment. It felt weird not to have John and Elaine along, and everything … Continue reading
Posted in 2017-06, Paris summer
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Paris, 06-08 June 2017
06 June 2017, Tuesday Lighter activity for us today, D-Day. Cooler weather, blustery winds and a constant threat of rains kept us fairly close to home. We decided to do some shopping and explore around as long as the weather … Continue reading
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Paris, 03-06 June 2017
03 June 2017, Saturday Today was largely dominated by the train journey from London to Paris. We arrived in the London station early and got a fantastic breakfast at a restaurant in the terminal. View of the international train station … Continue reading
Posted in 2017-06, Paris summer
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London, 30 May-02 June 2017
30 May 2017, Tuesday This morning we got up early and caught the first ferry on the Thames over to Greenwich. Our destination was the Royal Naval College and the Royal Observatory. Our little group waiting to cross the street … Continue reading
Posted in 2017-05 London summer
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London, 25-29 May 2017
24/25 May 2017, Wednesday & Thursday Today was the last day of school (Josie 6th, Holden 8th, Bella 11th) and goes down in history as the semester all three of our kids earned straight As. (YAY KIDS!!) They’ve all individually … Continue reading
Posted in 2017-05 London summer
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New York, 29 Dec -02 Jan 2017
Thursday, 29 Dec 2016 This morning Adam went to Brooklyn for the meeting he was supposed to do on Tuesday. It’s raining and windy so we’re not sure what we’ll do in the afternoon. Holden is still feeling queasy, and … Continue reading
Posted in 2016-12, New York (Christmas)
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New York, 23-28 Dec 2016
Friday, 23 Dec 2016 This year we are spending our Christmas break in New York City. We’ve basically never been to one of the greatest cities in the world even though it’s right in our back yard. (The flight from … Continue reading
Posted in 2016-12, New York (Christmas)
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Chicago, 19-24 Nov 2016
Saturday, 19 Nov 2016 This week we’re in Chicago – our first time back as a family since we moved away in 2004. (It’s Josie’s first time ever.) We had some airline miles to burn and nothing planned for Thanksgiving, … Continue reading
Blues Tour, Sept 2016
Monday, 26 Sept 2016 This week is the kids’ first fall break and we wanted to do something fairly close to home. We had a really good time in Memphis a year ago with Rita and Randy, so we got … Continue reading
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New Orleans, Sept 3-4, 2016
03 Sept 2016 (Saturday) We went to New Orleans for the Labor Day weekend. We hadn’t planned to go anywhere, but hurricane Hermine scared people out of making travel plans near the coast and New Orleans (which was not on … Continue reading
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2016-05, Renaissance Festival, GA
Saturday, 07 May 2016 We made our biannual visit to the Georgia Renaissance Festival held in Fairburn, GA. The festival opens on weekends mid-April and runs through early June each year. (More information here.) We always intend to go every … Continue reading
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Nassau, Bahamas 02-06 April 2016
For the kids’ second spring break, Adam got online and searched for cheap tickets we could buy with frequent flier miles — any destination in the world. We ended up choosing Nassau, Bahamas. It’s only a 2 hour flight from … Continue reading
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Tybee Island, GA
Monday, 15 February 2016 The kids have two spring breaks this year. We could only afford a big trip for one of them but didn’t want to sit at home doing nothing for the other. We decided to make a … Continue reading
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Vienna, Austria; 01-02 Jan 2016
Friday, 01 January 2016 This morning we were greeted with snow. Not much, but enough to say it snowed while we were here. The kids raced up to the roof top to have a little fun. All morning the kids … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Vienna Christmas
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Vienna, Austria; 30-31 Dec 2015
Wednesday, 30 December 2015 Today was a much better day as far as Holden was concerned. We got to do everything we set out to do, satisfying his desire to have things go according to plan. First, a couple shots … Continue reading
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Vienna, Austria; 27-29 Dec 2015
Sunday, 27 December 2015 The grocery store is still closed for the third day in a row. We’re starting to get desperate since we didn’t know this lengthy closing was going to happen. I came into the kitchen this morning … Continue reading
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Vienna, Austria; 24-26 Dec 2015
Thursday, 24 December 2015 (Christmas Eve Day) We’re getting late starts each morning. The time change has us still awake at 1:30 a.m. and still in bed at 10:30 a.m. Considering it starts getting dark at 4:00 p.m. this time … Continue reading
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Vienna, Austria; 21-23 Dec 2015
Monday, 21 December 2015 We arrived in Vienna this morning. We’d been awake for more than 24 hours by the time we checked into our apartment, so we took naps and then went out for a walk in the late … Continue reading
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Memphis, Tennessee
9/21/15, Monday This week the kids have a Fall break, so Rita and Randy came to visit and we decided to head to Memphis for what I’m calling our Blues Tour. Over the past 6 or 8 months, Adam has … Continue reading
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Osaka/Tokyo, Japan — June 19-23, 2015
June 19, Friday We visited Osaka Castle today. Adam: I was particularly interested to see this building – it played a prominent role in Clavell’s Shogun series of books – a couple of which I had re-read this past year … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Japan Summer
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Osaka, Japan (part one) — June 16-18, 2015
June 16, Tuesday Today we headed for Osaka. It was a bit of a weird journey, for a couple of different reasons. The first reason is that we were under the impression the bullet train ride from Kyoto to Osaka … Continue reading
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Kyoto, Japan (part two) — June 13-16 2015
June 13, Saturday We took the train to the town of Nara this morning. Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 794, and has eight temples, shrines and ruins that, together with Kasugayama Primeval Forest, collectively form “Historic Monuments … Continue reading
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Kyoto, Japan (part one) — June 10-12, 2015
June 10, Wednesday We made it to Kyoto! We didn’t do anything but travel today. We took the bullet train and it was actually pretty cool. It goes about 170 miles per hour and is a lot like riding on … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Japan Summer
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Tokyo, Japan (June 4-9, 2015)
The flight from Atlanta to Japan is 14 hours. From one standpoint, this flight went as smoothly as possible. The TSA people in Atlanta’s International Terminal were all in good moods, we sailed through all the security points with yellow … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Japan Summer
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Dec 20-22, Orlando
This year we need to save some money and spend most of our Christmas vacation at home. We had a lot of activity earlier in the fall and have some pretty significant plans for summer 2015, so Christmas 2014 is … Continue reading
Posted in 2014
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New Orleans, Thanksgiving 2014
November 26, Wednesday Something I’ve learned from traveling is that the reality of a place often doesn’t match it’s reputation. We’ve been to places I was very apprehensive about visiting that turned out to be spectacular, and we’ve been to … Continue reading
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2014-11, Brian & Phuong’s wedding
Catalina Island, CA Brian and Phuong’s wedding was a spectacular event. It was the best wedding I’ve ever attended. Catalina Island turned out to be a fantastic venue for a large reunion. The island is really small and the main town, … Continue reading
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Nicaragua, 21-22 Oct 2014
October 21, Tuesday Today the vacation portion of the trip began. We met Sal and Ana in the lobby early in the morning and hired a car to drive us from Managua to Granada. It’s about a one-hour drive if … Continue reading
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Nicaragua, 19-20 Oct 2014
19 October, Sunday Adam has business to conduct in Nicaragua this week. His colleague is bringing his wife, and they kindly asked if I would be able to come along, too. Sal is from El Salvador, and about 7 years … Continue reading
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Last day: Edinburgh, 28 July 2014
July 28, Monday We’ve come full circle … we’re back in Edinburgh. 63 days ago we landed in Edinburgh at the start of our journey. We’ve had a really special adventure this summer, and I’m a little sad to see … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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Newcastle, 26-27 July 2014
July 26, Saturday Today started out pretty rough. Adam set up an itinerary to visit several of the English Heritage sites in the area, so we got into the car to head out for the day. The kids immediately started … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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Scarborough and Whitby, 24-25 July 2014
July 24, Thursday This morning Adam said sadly, “Today is the last day we’ll be driving the Land Rover.” Tomorrow we drop it off with the mechanic, Geoff. We can’t import it to the US, so Geoff has agreed to … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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York, 22-23 July 2014
July 22, Tuesday We left our house and headed back to the York Starbucks for what is turning out to be a daily routine. Adam is catching up on work, and I’m sitting across from a sign that reads “Art … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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York, 20-21 July 2014
July 20, Sunday We’ve been to York in the past and liked it, but never had time to see it properly. We scheduled 4 days this time so we could give our visit a little more depth. Our first stop … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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Manchester, 18-19 July 2014
July 18, Friday Today we did something amazing. Online Adam found out about this place called Breakout Manchester, which has an incredibly cool concept. They lock you (teams from 2 to 5 people) in a room and you have 60 minutes … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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Birmingham and Manchester, 15-17 July 2014
July 15, Tuesday Today we visited Cadbury World in Birmingham. It was an excellent tour. We expected something rather small that would take about 20 minutes, but it’s actually a very involved, thorough tour through the factory that takes on … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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Winchester and Birmingham, 12-14 July 2014
July 12, Saturday We didn’t have any activities planned because we’d originally scheduled a B&B in another town. The guy canceled on us last night so we had to scramble for a new itinerary. We were lucky enough to get … Continue reading
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Monmouth Beach and West Bay, 10-11 July 2014
July 10, Thursday This morning Adam announced, “Today we’re going to dig for fossils.” We are visiting Monmouth Beach, in Lyme Regis (town) and known as part of the Jurassic Coast. The cliffs have been estimated at 199 million years … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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Holne, 08-09 July 2014
July 8, Tuesday Since we visited the zoo yesterday, we were entitled to 50% off admission to the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth. The kids really wanted to go, so we headed back to Plymouth after breakfast. Adam, up early as … Continue reading
Posted in 2014 UK Summer
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