We discovered unique handcrafted cocktails at The Mockingbird Lounge, artisan popcorn at Velvet Creme, the BEST tacos, and authentic family owned and operated established restaurants that will wow every single visitor. All coupled with the nicest people I’ve met in a very long time!. Have you made it over KCK? (BTW, all the cool people call Kansas City Kansas, KCK)!
A trip to the Bourbon Trail… is this on your list too? Ever since our grown kids came home from college loving this delicious brown spirit, I have been paying attention. Truthfully, at the time of their discovery, I was still favoring the ubiquitous Cosmo. I then moved on from the Cosmopolitan to a vodka martini which was made up of “Chopin, up, two olives and a twist.”
However, in the last year, my favorite adult beverage is now a Manhattan or Old Fashioned, because I love the aroma and smooth flavor of a good quality bourbon.
This leads me to the story of our most recent vacation, an adventurous trip to the Bourbon Trail. We began our tour in Louisville, Kentucky, traveled over to Lexington, KY and then finished our trip in Nashville, Tennessee. Not surprisingly, it was one of our favorite trips in years!
When and where did this marriage adventure begin? For me it was love at first sight and without boring you with too many details, this is our sweet story: We were in Spanish class together. I was young, excited to be in high school and there was this handsome brown-eyed, music loving, irreverent, young man sitting behind me. We went on to different colleges, broke up several times during our seven year courtship, but met so young that we needed time to pass so we could mature enough to justify getting married. My parents were always so worried that we would want to get married before we graduated from college. That was never our plan, but I understand their concern.
It seems like yesterday when I wrote about our 30th wedding anniversary. Now we are celebrating magic number 35. Where did the time go? Funny thing is that I still feel just like that sweet, naïve 23 year old who couldn’t wait to marry the man of her dreams.
Newsflash! Here at Adventures of Empty Nester Headquarters, we are thoughtfully adding the finishing touches to our brand NEW website. We’re getting a makeover, in a BIG WAY!
Adventures of Empty Nesters has grown so much over the last 5 years, and this new design and platform not only reflects who we are today, but also focuses on YOU; our readers and partners! Whether you come here for news, inspiration, collaboration or a regular dose of happiness, we are here to support you to #findadventure in your own life!
Our road trip through South Dakota was way bigger and way grander than we ever imagined it could be. I was in Medora, North Dakota (another place you should visit) to attend a travel conference. So because the Dakotas are so close to each other, our vacation plan was to visit Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, explore the other areas of the state we were familiar with like Custer State Park and enjoy the beautiful panorama.
What we didn’t realize was just how spectacular this South Dakota scenery would be! The sheer size (242,756 acres) and vastness of the South Dakota Badlands absolutely blew our minds. Located in southwest South Dakota, this national park protects buttes and pinnacles along with the largest mixed grass prairie in the United States.
I kept thinking, “Why didn’t anyone ever tell me about this place?” Nearly speechless, I stood silently in awe. I knew the landscape was created by nature, but it was just so unusual, with the staggeringly huge rocks, so smooth and perfect it looked like a ride at Disneyland. How could this be real?
In addition to being blown away by the natural elements of the shores of Sylvan Lake, we also arrived just after a small rain shower and the sky was mostly clear and the lake like a mirror, not a ripple. The mirror image of the enormous boulders above and below on the water was magical.
As travelers, it can be a struggle to decide when to just fit in to the landscape, enjoy the surroundings, soak up the local culture and take in what this new city has to offer. However, sometimes it is FUN to take that selfie on the famous bridge and be a tourist. Heck everybody else is! Right?
When I was in Prague last summer the crowds on the famous Charles Bridge were so large that you literally had to jump in the stream of fellow tourists and swim upstream. People were everywhere. They stop in the middle in order to take just the right photo, they bump into you, they are (mostly) clueless. When facing a situation like this, you have to take a deep breath and forge forward.
A girls trip to Seattle has been on my radar for quite some time. I am kind of embarrassed to admit how long it took for me to coordinate this trip for three dear, long-time girlfriends. Two of them have been to Seattle several times, but we had one newby in the group, Barbara.
Barbara has been all over this great big beautiful globe, but never has spent any time in one of my favorite cities! We managed to coordinate three different schedules around Karin’s trip to Alaska, made a date and stuck to it! It was a miracle of timing, but we did it!
On a recent short flight to Seattle my sweet, frequent-flier husband gave me his upgrade to sit in First Class.The airline had just renovated the seating in this area of the plane and the cabin was spacious and clean.
I looked forward to just sit and drink my tea and read my new book in peace…. But this is NOT what happened.
Smithsonian Magazine listed Pawhuska, OK as one of the 15 Best Small Towns in America to Visit in 2019
It is kind of surreal, but I am actually typing this introduction as I look across the aisle of my plane to Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. Yes it’s true, she is on our flight home to Los Angeles. Check my Fairy Tale Ending at the bottom of the post for more details of our encounter. Our visit to The Pioneer Woman Boarding House in Pawhuska, OK was a gift to my husband’s mom, Claudia and it was an adventure of epic proportions. Please read on…
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