Emma's News Archive
Travel USA
'10: To celebrate my 40th birthday in February we spent a week with my family in West Palm Beach, Florida. And that was it! 2010 was my least traveled year.
'09: In March we went to Maui, Hawaii to celebrate Mike's 40th birthday; we flew into Kahului, visited Lahaina and stayed in Ka'anapali, Hana and Wailea. In April Ella stayed with her grandparents while I accompanied Mike on a five-day business trip to Paris, France. In June we all went to NYC where Mike attended a four-day convention, and in July we headed out west to visit our Californian cousins in LA.
'08: In April, a week before the baby was due, we drove to Harbor Country, an area of sandy beaches, dunes and wineries in the southwest corner of Michigan which includes eight lakeshore communities; we visited New Buffalo and Three Oaks and stayed at a B&B in Union Pier. Then on Independence Day we took Ella on a road trip south to Louisville, Kentucky, then across Bluegrass Country and northeast to Cincinnati, Ohio, where we took in a ballgame.
'07: In January I joined Mike on a ten-day business trip to southeast Asia, where we visited Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan. In February, while back in the UK, we went to Paris, France for a night and Mike visited family in Dublin, Ireland. In April we spent four days on the eastern Caribbean island of Barbados, then in June traveled from Atlanta, Georgia to Orange Beach, Alabama to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to New York City all in one trip! For our fifth wedding anniversary we drove from Boston, Massachusetts down to Cape Cod, where we stayed in Falmouth and visited Sandwich, Brewster, Wellfleet, Provincetown, Chatham, Harwich, Hyannis and Nantucket before moving on to Edgartown and Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard; on the return we stopped in Newport, Rhode Island. On a fall road trip with Mum & Dad we visited Nashville, Tennessee, passed through Cookeville, Knoxville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg on our way to the Great Smoky Mountains, and then Cherokee and Asheville in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, before flying back from Charlotte.
'06: In March Mike and I spent five days in Mexico, staying in the village of Mismaloya near Puerto Vallarta. Over the Memorial Day Weekend we went on a California road trip from Los Angeles to San Diego via Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. In June and July I joined Mike on two four-day business trips to New York, New York, and in August we stayed with Ray and Cherie in Watertown, Wisconsin, spending a day in state-capital Madison. In October we flew to Buffalo, New York and visited Niagara Falls on the way to lovely Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. Then the day after Thanksgiving my mum and dad, Mike and I headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico - we drove out to Farmington and Shiprock, back east through Cuba to Los Alamos, Taos and Santa Fe then up to Las Vegas and Raton before crossing into Colorado, stopping in Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs before flying back from Denver.
'05: For our birthdays Mike and I took the train to Denver, Colorado with Mark and Caz. We stayed in the Rocky Mountain ski resort of Keystone and visited Breckenridge and Vail. Then at Easter we flew to Charleston, South Carolina, visiting Beaufort, Hilton Head and Bluffton on our way to Savannah, Georgia. In April we went on a long road trip with Mum and Dad from Miami to New Orleans, Louisiana, taking in the Keys, the Everglades and several towns on the Gulf Coast of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi on the way, including Fort Myers, Pensacola, Tallahassee and Biloxi. A couple of weeks later we met Jon and Katherine for a weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. In September we spent a week in California: after three days in San Francisco, we visited friends in Pleasanton then drove up through Petaluma and Santa Rosa in the Sonoma Valley to Mendocino and Fort Bragg. For Thanksgiving we flew to Montreal, Quebec on my visit trip to Canada.
'04: For my birthday Mike and I made our first trip to California since 1997 when we'd visited Andy in San Francisco and driven down to LA via Santa Barbara. This time we stayed in Hollywood and drove out to the desert-resort of Palm Springs. Jon and Katherine joined us in Boston, Massachusetts at Easter; we visited Harvard College in neighboring Cambridge and traveled down the coast to Plymouth of the Mayflower fame. For the Memorial Day weekend Mike and I flew to Phoenix and covered much of Arizona, including Sedona, Tempe, Scottsdale, Flagstaff and the glorious Grand Canyon. In June we went on a road-trip with Mum and Dad, driving down the Illinois-stretch of the historic Route 66 from its origin on Jackson Blvd through Bloomington and Lincoln to state-capital Springfield, with a detour to Peoria on the return. In early August we spent a fun weekend at Ray and Cheri's in Watertown, Wisconsin, then at the end of the month went on a whistlestop tour of Texas, visiting state-capital Austin, Fredericksburg, Bandera and lovely San Antonio. In late October Mike and I toured the nation's capital Washington, DC, drove through stunning fall colours to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and the towns of Middleburg, Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, then spent a night in Maryland's quaint capital Annapolis on Chesapeake Bay.
'03: In March Mike and I went to Miami, Florida for a late birthday treat. We stayed three nights in South Beach, then drove up the coast to Fort Lauderdale to celebrate Mardi Gras. In October we headed west on a road-trip with Mum and Dad, visiting the pretty town of Galena, Illinois en route to Sioux City, Iowa where we spent our first night. Subsequent nights were spent in Rapid City, South Dakota, Sundance, Wyoming, Bismarck, North Dakota and Minneapolis, Minnesota. We traveled along the Missouri River and through the Badlands, Black Hills and Indian Reservations, passing through many towns including Wall, Custer, Deadwood, Fargo and state-capitals St Paul and Madison. At Christmas we flew to Pensacola, Florida on the Gulf Coast and traveled the short distance to Alabama for a family party near Mobile. The next day we took a Greyhound bus across Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana where we spent the night.
'02: We first hit the road in August, driving up to Wisconsin with my parents to visit Burlington ('Chocolate City') and the picturesque Lake Geneva. After spending the night in Milwaukee - home of the Brewers, Harleys and Happy Days - we drove back through Chicago's affluent North Shore Area, stopping in the prime real-estate town of Lake Forest. Two weeks later Mike and I were back in Wisconsin, traveling first by train to Harvard, Illinois and then on to Whitewater Lake for a day of water-sports at Ken and Ellen's lake-house. On Christmas Day we left a snowy Chicago for the desert-town of Las Vegas, Nevada where we stayed on the Strip and met up with Andy and Cynthia the following day. Mike's vice in 'Sin City' was blackjack, mine was roulette.
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