Category Archives: Travel

Tasty Tuesday: The local McMenamins restaurant is our new ‘Cheers’

Posted on by April 8, 2014
                                                     “Sometimes you want to go 
                                              Where everybody knows your name,
                                                   And they’re always glad you came;
                                                You want to be where you can see,
                                                   Our troubles are all the same;
                                     You want to be where everybody knows your name.”

It’s the theme song to Cheers, the TV sitcom on lifelong bonds made in a Boston bar. Yet the words of the song ring true. My husband and I have always enjoyed a drink or three, especially at a local pub. When we lived in the … Read more ...

Portland Coffee Shops: Finding A New Place To Call Home

Posted on by February 26, 2014

I’m looking for a new writing home. That perfect little nook that inspires creativity and has the comforts of home, but the seats are firm enough to keep me awake when I get too sleepy. It can’t be pretentious, nor too grungy. It needn’t be quiet like a library, but have a nice, non-distracting hum.

I had that place in Chicago, it was the now-shuttered Cafe de Luca in Wicker Park. Since we’ve picked up and moved to Portland, it’s time for me to find … Read more ...

Braving the ice, wind and snow for the Portland Auto Show

Posted on by February 12, 2014

Anyone who knows me well, knows I love cars. This weekend we decided to fight the elements of snow, wind and rain and hit up Portland’s Auto Show.

We’d been planning to go to the auto show with another family for awhile. Then Snowmageddon, as the locals are calling it, hit and the city shut down. For reals. In Chicago on a normal winter this would have been called a Thursday in February, but not here.

It's snowing! (Sorta.)

It’s snowing! (Sorta.)

The morning of the auto show … Read more ...

An American Family in London

Posted on by January 17, 2014

Just as England is known for its ubiquitous love of pubs, our family is known for the same thing. And when we went to the UK for Christmas, it was like a match made in Heaven.

There’s something special about pubs. It’s like the community’s place of gathering, where you make new friends, catch up with old ones and simply connect with each other beyond the screens of our gadgets.

In Chicago we had our favorites and once I organized a train pub crawl with … Read more ...

My First Fox Hunt

Posted on by December 30, 2013

It was Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, and we joined in on a centuries-old tradition in England: Fox hunting.

Though the fox hunting of yesteryear was outlawed in 2004, people still get dressed up and go through the other motions of preparing for a big hunt. My sister-in-law and her family live in a small English town, where there is a “fox hunt” and I was stoked to take part.

Gathering in the square to see off the hunters.

Gathering in the square to see off the hunters.

In packing for our trip … Read more ...