Top 5 Must-Do's in Louisville, Kentucky

Over Veterans' Day Weekend, I visited the state of Kentucky for the first time and spent three days in Louisville. I felt like three days was the perfect amount of time to see all of the highlights. I would recommend an extra day if you plan on going outside of the city and hitting up some distilleries along the Bourbon Trail or if you just need more time to eat more good food!

These are the five things I would consider must-dos on a first time visit to Louisville.

Meow Wolf's "The House of Eternal Return" in Santa Fe, New Mexico

In 2016, no trip to Santa Fe is complete without a stop at Meow Wolf. Meow Wolf is an art collective based in Santa Fe. In March of this year, its permanent art complex opened in a former bowling alley, with help from George R. R. Martin (yes, that George R. R. Martin), the city of Santa Fe and a Kickstarter campaign.

A Dog-Friendly Trip to Santa Fe

Hi! It's me, Carson! I wanted to tell you about a trip that my mommy took me on last month to one of our favorite cities - Santa Fe, New Mexico.

My mommy likes Santa Fe for its arts, culture and food. I like it because everyone there loves doggies!

Vancouver Trip Highlights

Our Labor Day Weekend trip to British Columbia was rounded out with two full days in Vancouver. If you missed my previous post, I wrote about our fun day trip to Victoria and Butchart Gardens.

This was my second trip to Vancouver. My first having taken place over 8 years ago. Since it was so long ago, I did not mind at all visiting some spots that I had been to before.

Here are my favorites from our short trip to Vancouver!

Granville Island

One of my favorite things to do in other cities is visit their public markets. I love Reading Terminal Market in Philly, Grand Central Market in LA and Chelsea Market in NYC. Granville Island Public Market has the same kind of buzzing energy that I find so exciting and there is beautiful food as far as the eye can see.

Day Trip from Vancouver to Victoria and Butchart Gardens with Landsea Tours

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you know that I was traveling in British Columbia, Canada over Labor Day weekend. Did you know Canada also celebrates Labor Day over the same long weekend? I did not!

On our first full day in BC, we took a day trip with Landsea Tours to Victoria and Butchart Gardens from Vancouver. Now, I am not a huge fan of bus tours, but when you are short on time and transportation and logistics are complicated, I feel that turning to a guided bus tour is the way to go. Getting to Victoria from Vancouver is quite a trek and since we did not want to rent cars, booking a bus tour was definitely the right way to do it for us!

Victoria is located on Vancouver Island, which is accessible only by ferry or plane. We were picked up from a nearby hotel at 8 am. Then we took a 40 minute drive to the BC Ferries Terminal in Tsawwassen. We had to wait for about an hour since the ferries only depart once an hour.

Ferry Ride on the Coastal Celebration

Once it was time for our ferry to depart, our tour bus drove directly onto the ferry named the Coastal Celebration. Once the bus was safely parked, we were able to disembark the bus and explore the ferry's amenities for the majority of the 90 minute ferry ride. 

What it's like to stay in one of the Hotel Palomar DC's Motion Spa Rooms

Kimpton Hotels is one of my favorite hotel brands. I love the boutique-feel of their properties. Plus, the hotels' public spaces are uniquely decorated with each property having a different look, and the rooms are hip and functional.



On a recent trip to Washington, DC, I stayed at the Hotel Palomar in Dupont Circle. Upon check-in, I was upgraded to one of the hotel's Motion Spa Rooms.

5 Things to Do on Roatan

The first thing that comes to mind when considering a trip to Roatan is sun. Then beach. Then sand. It turns out there are quite a bit of other things to do on the island, besides lounging around. Of course, hanging out by the beach is also much recommended especially when you are coming from and returning to somewhere cold!

Visit a Private Beach

We visited several private beaches during our stay, but my favorite was Little French Key. Our hotel provided free transportation and access to the private island of Little French Key. We took the hotel shuttle and then a 5 minute ferry ride to the island.  

Staying at the Clarion Suites Roatan at Pineapple Villas

A while back my sister won a weeklong stay at the Clarion Suites Roatan at Pineapple Villas when she entered a contest at a local travel show. She invited me to spend the week of Thanksgiving with her and her husband, and figuring I would likely never have another reason to visit Roatan, I took her up on the offer.

Roatan is an island belonging to the nation of Honduras and is located in the Caribbean. It was nice to go somewhere nice and warm and hang out at the beach before the impending New Mexican winter arrived.

View from our balcony

5 Things to Do in Scottsdale, Arizona

I have always thought of Scottsdale as merely an extension of the Phoenix metro area. Despite having visited Phoenix many times, I never spent much time in Scottsdale until recently.

Scottsdale has much to offer, including plenty of eating and drinking options, opportunities to explore the great outdoors and even take in some culture.

Taliesin West

This is a must do for those who appreciate architecture. Taliesin West was the winter home and architecture school of Frank Lloyd Wright. It still serves as the campus of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.

The property is accessible to the public by guided tours, which provide great insight into, not only the design of the buildings, but also into the man who was Frank Lloyd Wright.

Visiting Holiday Displays in Washington, DC

Christmastime is definitely one of my favorite times of the year to visit Washington, DC. The city knows how to deck itself out in the holiday spirit. This year, I only had a very small window of time in which to see some of the holiday lights around the city.

At the top of my list of things to see was The National Christmas Tree, which is located near the White House. This year's tree was decorated in gold and silvery white LED lights to commemorate the National Park Service's Centennial.