Atlanta, Georgia

My best friend lives in Atlanta so I've been there more than a few times. Recently, I took a trip down to visit her and got a taste of the city life again. What I love about Atlanta is that's it's a big city with a charming southern feel. The neighborhoods make it very personable and easy to live in. At the same time, the fact that Atlanta seems to be such a city of neighborhoods would make it an ideal candidate for efficient public transportation. DC's metro system would be perfect here but sadly the MARTA doesn't really provide access points to get from place to place easily.

When i visit my friend we rarely leave the neighborhood. In this case that neighborhood happens to be the Virginia Highlands. This works perfectly for me because I love the charm of this area. You can walk around, get fantastic food, shop till you drop or just browse around the stores, and Piedmont park is nearby for people watching or dog walking. Definitely a highlight of my trips to Atlanta is the food, so I'll recommend a few places that Beth has introduced me to.

Breakfast
This time around we ate breakfast at the American Roadhouse. Sometimes eating in Atlanta can be pricy, especially for brunch, but I was so pleasantly surprised with this place. The prices were reasonable, the place was unassuming and the food was awesome. My crabs benedict (priced very reasonably at $9!) was fabulous, and the jalapeno cheese grits are a must for a taste of Southern fare with a slight twist.

Coffee Break
Do I really need coffee right after breakfast? Most definitely. You can never have too much coffee. This is Beth's favorite coffee place: The San Francisco Coffee Company.

Lunch
We did eat lunch out this time around, but I asked my friend Beth to recommend her favorite lunch spot in the highlands.

Time for a Beverage?


Dinner
For a fun and casual dinner option, check out The original El Taco. What I liked about this place is it's atmosphere and it's simple food. The tacos were good. I was honestly expecting a bit more because they offer some unique taco options that had great promise. I can't say they blew me away, but I can say that they were good and I would still recommend this place. The guacemole and queso on the other hand were great; a perfect companion for a margarita. This place has great bar that serves dinner...it's perfect for a small party if the place is crowded. They also spin a wheel of freebies every hour which adds to the fun atmosphere. It is noisy so this is not a place for quiet intimate conversation, but who wants to do that when you're sipping on a margarita anyways :).

Park City, Utah

Well, it's that time of year. Time for the first vacation and the perfect opportunity to catch some great snow in Park City, Utah. Utah isn't always the first ski destination that comes to mind for some people, but located just twenty minutes from Salt Lake City and within a short distance of six fantastic ski mountains, it's worth the trip.

What to do

When we come to Park City we only have one thing on our agenda: skiing. So, I won't be much help to those who want to spend a day hiking, snowmobiling or getting a foot massage at a local spa. I haven't visited Alta or Snowbird yet but plan to the next time we come, so my favorite ski slope so far is Deer Valley. It's been voted the #1 place for skiing by Ski Magazine readers for the last three years and there's a reason for that. The staff is super nice, the slopes are easy to navigate and offer a range of skiing opportunities from green to double-diamond slopes, and the food....well, it's so good that sometimes it's hard to keep skiing when you glide along the Empire Lodge at lunch time. Five days of skiing and we still had new trails to uncover. For some fun bowl and tree skiing, check out the Ontario bowl located off the Hidden Treasure run, as well as the Empire and Lady Morgan mountains. A great double diamond bowl called Centennial off the Lady Morgan lift has fantastic terrain for off-trail skiing (although technically not off-trail). For being a double-diamond, it's actually not too steep, just filled with trees that you need to carefully move around.

Where to stay
The first time we came to Park City we stayed in Prospector Square, which is a little bit too far from the Main Street area. All in all though, the bus system is excellent in Park City, so if you're close to a stop you'll have no problem getting to the slope. This time we stayed right on main street in a two bedroom condo called 591 Main. The accommodations were nice and there's plenty of room for four people. The location has its pros and cons though. On the plus side, you can pretty much walk downstairs and visit any of the shops and restaurants you want. It also has fantastic bus access to any of the slopes. On the minus side, the front bedroom facing Main street is pretty noisy. Unless your vacation plans include being serenaded at 2 in the morning with a variety of drunken howls and creative expletives, I would recommend either finding another place to stay or bringing a large pair of earmuffs. Seriously. Then again, if you plan to hit the bars till 2a.m. yourself while you're here (every night), noise shouldn't be a problem.

Places to eat and such

Park City has a lot of fancy dining options. Even places that look casual often have pricy menus, but we found some good places to eat for reasonable prices. The bistro on 412 Main Street has some reasonably priced and delicious dishes, plus the atmosphere is cozy and laid back. If it's busy downstairs there's an upstairs bar area where you can easily eat if you don't want to wait. The Wassatch brewery was excellent. They make their own local beer (yes, they make beer in Utah!) and the food is varied and tasty. Finally, we also ordered pizza from the Main Street Pizza and Noodle place that hit the spot after a long day of skiing. If you do want to splurge, we really enjoyed Chimayo, upscale southwestern style food served in a cozy atmosphere.

Next time we're definitely planning to try out the Alta ski area. We were told it's best to rent a car instead of shuttling it if you're going to head to Alta from Park City. If you plan to stick around Park City, no car necessary. Getting a shuttle from the airport to Park City is easy and a much better deal than renting a car (and trying to park it).

Ameland, Netherlands

One of my favorite trips last year was to a small chain of islands called the Wadden Islands off the coast of the Netherlands. The chain is compromised of five dutch islands, and you can remember them in order with the acronym TVTAS: Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonikoog.

Richard and I decided to stick with one of the five islands for a quick 3-day vacation. He had already been to Terschelling and I was afraid of having to pronounce "Schiermonikoog" correctly more than once a day, so we decided to try out Ameland. A relaxing 45-minute ferry ride from the mainland gives you an idea why these islands are so attractive for those in search of tranquility. When was the last time you didn't touch a computer or cell phone for 3 days? Not that internet access or cell phone access isn't available, but being in Ameland just makes you want to be outside, enjoy the scenery and try out all of the great food and drinks unique to this little island. Here's some of my favorite things to do.

Where to stay:

Any one of the 4 towns on the island seemed great but we were happy to have picked Hollum. It's a little smaller than Nes, which is located in the center of the island, but it still has plenty of places to eat and is ideally located near the lighthouse and The Sunset Restaurant and Bar. You can catch amazing ocean sunsets while you're eating dinner or grabbing a drink. We stayed at a B&B called "De Blauwe Pastorie". I still have fond memories about the breakfast there; fresh bread, cheese and orange juice...yum...but more about food later.

What to do:

Rent bikes and explore the island. On one side of the island you can ride through the dunes. One the other side you can ride along the dykes and get a great view of the "waddenzee". If the tides are right, you can walk out on the sandbanks left by the receding tides. You can make your way from one side of the island to the other by biking through the different towns. We stopped in Ballum to try out a local liquor called Nobel. At the very end of the island is a wonderful nature reserve and bird sanctuary called "Het Oerd". Just a warning that you can't get to this by car, so having a bike to explore this area is key. We didn't realize this and ended up having to walk to get there. By the time we made it we were so tired we didn't have the energy to take in the scenery. One other thing we didn't get to do was take a walking tour on the "wadden". Because the water recedes so far at certain times during the day, local guides will take you walking on what is normally the sea floor. We did a little bit of walking like this during one of our bike rides and it was amazing to be surrounded by seaweed and marine plants that are normally submerged. Definitely get a guided trip for a longer walk since these paths appear and disappear with the changing of the tides. Nothing like getting stuck on a sandbank to ruin your vacation :).

What to eat:

hhmm..all the food we had in Ameland was delicious but here's a few favorites. Try out the Mustard Soup. Because Ameland makes its own local mustard at the windmill in Hollum the soup is particularly worth trying! For a delicious and low-key meal , try out Il Vulcano in Hollum. They have a wide range of pizzas and pastas. If you love cheese (who doesn't?), check out the cheese farm on a small road called Miedeweg near Hollum. Finally, don't forget to try Nobel, a local liquor that's made on the island. You can have it in coffee, known as "Amelander Koffie", or sip it on its own as an after dinner drink.

I'd go back to the Wadden Islands any time. Each of the five islands has its unique feel so we'd probably try a new one. Some have more nightlife, some offer complete isolation from the rest of the world. We picked Ameland because it had a combination of both, enough restaurants and sights to keep us busy, but enough non-touristy spots to make us feel like we were getting a glimpse of local life...we made a good choice!

Travel tidbits

I love traveling because it usually combines some of my favorite pastimes all in one..reading, eating, hiking/walking and learning. There is nothing more exciting to me than learning about the culture of others by experiencing the local customs: the foods, drinks and the small non-touristy parts of a region that let you know what it's really all about. With that in mind I start this blog to share some of my favorite travel tidbits. Enjoy!