East Coast Trip

Back in the spring, I booked a trip to head back to see friends and family in various states!  I got a great deal on a flight up to DC from Jacksonville, so I plugged in a trip for 11 days and decided I'd figure out all the details later! It ended up being a really fun trip even though there was lots of driving!

 

 I flew into DC on a Sunday night and stayed with my bestie Kimberlee who lives there. Then we met my parents in Richmond, VA for lunch and to spend time with my family the first part of the trip. We went to lunch at Kitchen 64 (super yummy,) Kimberlee headed home, and then we went to visit my Grandma Carlton. We had a lovely afternoon but I totally forgot to take any photos of us!

 

 

After our visit, we drove home through the gorgeous mountains! I seriously miss these bad boys.







 

It was SO nice to spend time with my parents at home, especially with these two cuties!

On Tuesday we drove to my Grandma Stephens' house for a visit and then to Danville for lunch with my Aunt Joan & Uncle David and Aunt Susan & Uncle Calvin. We had quite the lunch crew! Once again, I didn't get ANY pics of us all together. I was NOT in blogger mode apparently.  Here are some gorgeous photos of some spots around grandma's yard.

The next morning, I went on a run on this gorgeous trail across from our house and then we headed to Raleigh.

 



 

We spent the afternoon with my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece and nephews and then ended the night at Sugarland for a delicious cupcake!

 

At the hotel, we saw some fellow GATORS!

 

The next morning, we went to the GO PACK store and picked up some goodies for Clay who couldn't come with me. :(  Then we went and watched the US Soccer game at Carolina Ale House. After the game, my friend Jessica met up with us and I rode with her back up to DC for a girls weekend to NY.

best. parents. ever. seriously.

Our NY road trip crew: Kimberlee, Jessica, Kristen (all friends post-college!) We had mentioned going on a girls trip for a while and Kimberlee said the Finger Lake wineries were just the place to go. We left Friday morning from DC and got there just in time to visit a couple wineries before they closed for the night. My best friend from college, Katherine, and her whole family live in Rochester, NY and we haven't seen each other since my wedding in 2011. They drove down and we met up with them Friday afternoon for a few hours! I was thrilled that we were able to see her and Ben, and meet their two beautiful daughters Grace and Emma. 

Katherine and I

Grace showing me her ballet moves!

Isn't it beautiful there? This photo has NO filter and was taken with my iPhone. WOW!

When we went back to the hotel for check-in, Kimberlee insisted that we check for bed bugs.

Haha...the place wasn't gross or anything so don't worry and we didn't find any.

We had dinner at Viva Cantina and enjoyed some yummy Mexican!

After dinner we literally hiked up to The Chapter House, a recommendation from Cathy (my sis-in-law's sister) who went to Cornell and met her gymnastics coach who works there. We were not expecting Ithaca to be so hilly but there were quite a few steep streets, right Kristen? :) 

 

 

Saturday, we went to breakfast at Collegetown Bagels right beside Cornell's campus. We also drove around and found a HUGE waterfall close to campus.

 

 

Then we got started on our winery tours. It was $3 for each tasting and every winery had something that made it unique from the others. I had no idea that there were so many around the Finger Lakes!

   



 We stopped at a Goat Cheese Farm and had some of the best cheese I've ever eaten. We loaded up for an afternoon snack later on!

 

This little guy was asleep in the trough. TOO cute!

 

 

 

Idol Ridge

 

 King's Garden

Leidenfrost 

 

Pompous Ass Winery - definitely the most interesting name but the wines were terrible. 

 

For dinner we went to Just A Taste for tapas and had SO much food! It was so good and we were stuffed! What a great way to end our trip! 



We drove back to DC and Kristen's family scooped her up on their way home. I was trying to teach Kellan how to take a selfie and Alden was playing airplane. So cute. 

I stayed in DC with Kimberlee for the next few days and we did all sorts of touristy things while I was there. My favorite was renting these bikes and hauling it all over the city. We biked everywhere!

 



Hey Obama

 

 

Biking to Georgetown for some delicious cupcakes! 

After a few hours of walking around and "shopping" we just HAD to get in line for the famous Georgetown Cupcakes. We did NOT eat these until the next day!

 

 

We took the bus over to a spot for tapas specials and then biked back to her house. 

Tuesday was the big US Soccer game day - round 2! We had lunch at a Sushi place and watched the game at a German bar that was slam packed! Unfortunately we lost...

  

    

 

After the game, I had my very first Ethiopian experience at Etete. It was delicious! You take the spongy bread that's rolled up and tear off pieces to pick up the meat and veggies with. Mmmm!

 

I had a fun-filled 11 days up and down the East coast! Love you all!