Travel
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2011 Travel Poll

2

Re: 2011 Travel Poll

  • imagemxolisi:

    This board is getting boring. Tell me about your 2011 travel.

    1) Where did you go in 2011?

    Oahu, Kauai, and Maui, HI; WV; Bethleham, PA;  Cape May, NJ; Lewes, DE;  Chincoteague, VA; Cambridge, MD; Columbus; OH; Chicago, IL; Madison, WI; Dyersville, IA; Nashville and Memphis, TN; Little Rock, AK; Dallas, TX; New Orleans, LA, Auburn, AL.

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?

    Cape May, NJ.  I loved the little beach town.  I expected it to be like all the sterotypical programming that is so prevalent right now.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?

    No real disappointments this year.  I do wish we would have skipped Oahu and spent that time on either other island we visited.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.

    Coming home from Maui our flight was cancelled, so we spent the night in the airport.  Then when we were rerouted, we had to run between connections and barely made them.  Sitting in the middle seat after not showering for 24+ hours without time to pee or grab food between connections was miserable.  I have not flown since then and am not sure I want to.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?

    There were so many great things.  But, I am obsessed with this amazing sweet tea, I had in Columbus.  I have tried many recipes to replicate it without success.  The fresh seafood in Hawaii and the East Coast was amazing.  I still crave the lobster rolls from the Lobster House in Cape May frequently.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?

    We will continue plugging away on the 50 states.  We plan on taking a New England cruise in the fall and visiting NH and VT.  Then we will have completed everything East of the Mississippi.

     We want to renew our vow in Vegas this August to celebrate our 5th anniversary.  We were married at Chapel of the Bells, but want a tacky Elvis renewal.

    If my school schedule will allow an Alaskan cruise this summer, we will do Seattle as well.

  • imagemxolisi:

    1) Where did you go in 2011?

    Maui, HI; Breckenridge, CO; Denver, CO; Outer Banks (Kitty Hawk), NC; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Negril, Jamaica; Phoenix, AZ; San Francisco, CA; San Diego, CA; Laguna Beach, CA; Los Angeles, CA

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?  

    Breckenridge, CO.  I am not big on skiing and brought the baby but we still had a blast.  The weather was perfect (we went late April) and the people were so nice.  I can't wait to go back. 

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?

    We stayed at Couples Swept Away for part of our Jamaica trip and realized we are over the large all inclusive resorts.  We went to Couples Negril for our honeymoon and visited again for our anniversary and we loved it both times, but this trip we found the whole experience kinda blah.  The other resort where we stayed (Caves) was a teeny all inclusive that was absolutely amazing, so that made up for it.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.

    I had a few issues while passing through security with breastmilk.  Once they told me I had too much, even though the TSA guidelines say "a reasonable amount" is acceptable, so there's no true definition, and I just had a small bag of 4-12oz containers.  I was pissed and stood my ground because spilling out breastmilk is like disposing of liquid gold!  I also had a TSA agent come over and ask me if I could either cover up more or breastfeed elsewhere as I fed my son just past security in Hawaii.  I'm super modest so I know I wasn't exposing too much skin or being inappropriate and I wasn't even near the security area so I know I wasn't posing a security threat.  The guy was just an asss.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?

    Probably Merrimans in Maui or my Mimi's fried pies (oh my goodness!!) in Breckenridge. 

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?

    All of my planned 2012 travel is influenced by things that happened in 2011!  First, I just found out I'm pregnant and due in August (the same day my son was due!), so I won't be heading to London for the Olympics like we'd been planning.

    Also, my company is reorganizing and I'm on the reorganization team, so I have several weeks of work related travel to places in the country where I've never been (mainly the mid-west).  I also just found out my cousin is getting married in Seattle in May so I'm looking forward to my first trip to Seattle.   

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  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? Big Trip to Spain and Portugal and a long weekend in Vegas

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Vegas - I really liked it and I never thought I would.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Didn't enjoy the food in Spain that much.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. Luckily didn't have one but I didn't fly that much.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Chicken in Portugal

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? Not sure. We just bought a house that needs a lot of work so our budget will be limited.

  • 1.  In July we went to a family wedding in MO.  The place where the wedding was sucked (some boring town) but we have friends in STL so we decided to visit/stay with them.  We drove there from NC, so we stopped in a bunch of states in between.  We even started a "project" of trying to get pictures of our kids in every state.  I wrote the state on a dry erase board and took a pic of them in every state they've been in now.  We got a lot of states on that trip.  Right after that we flew to visit my family in CT.  During that trip we also visited RI, NY, and NJ.  Then for Thanksgiving we went to Captiva Island, FL.

    2.  Not me so much as DH.  NJ doesn't have the greatest reputation and we went to visit some of my family there and he was surprised how beautiful it was (at least, where my family lives). 

    3.  We had fun visiting our friends in STL but overall I was disappointed in the city.  It just wasn't as fun/exciting as I was hoping.

    4.  For our trip to CT we mixed up the am/pm of our departure time and basically showed up at the airport 14 hours too early Embarrassed.  Luckily the airline worked with us and got us on an earlier flight.  I'm pretty sure there was a mixup with booking online because we weren't the only people on that flight who made the same mistake.  

    5.  We did a Thanksgiving buffet at our resort and all of the food was fantastic, but the butternut squash soup was particularly good.  An older couple came up to me when I was getting seconds and asked me what it was and I told them "It's butternut squash soup....and it's so good it's not even fair!"  LOL

    6.  No immediate plans, although we have loosely discussed taking our kids to Comic Con in San Diego in July.  If not this year, someday.  Other than that, possibly another trip to CT, maybe Captiva again, and hopefully somewhere new.  

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  • imagemxolisi:

    This board is getting boring. Tell me about your 2011 travel.

    1) Where did you go in 2011?  Germany and Italy (Munich, Fussen- Neuschwanstein, Zugspitze, Lake Como, Florence, Amalfi Coast, and Rome).

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?  The Amalfi Coast.  I went to Capri back in 2001 and liked it, but generally I'm not much of a beach/water kind of person so it wasn't my favorite place.  This time around though I absolutely loved it!  I could definitely see myself buying a vacation home there someday (or in Sorrento).  I also LOVED Zugspitze, with a capital L, but that wasn't a surprise.  I knew the views would be amazing from up there.   

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?  Munich.  Of all the cities I've visited, it ranks toward the bottom of the scale because it was a little boring IMO.  We only stayed there for 3 days, but I'm glad two of those days were spent taking day trips to Neuschwanstein and Zugspitze. 

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year:  No disasters, just annoyances.  On our flight back to Atlanta, we almost couldn't find enough overhead space for our bags (even though all we brought were small backpacks).  At the Rome airport, the metal detector went off and I couldn't figure out why so they had to give me a pat down.  Rome's airport in general was a huge PITA (I had been through there twice before and didn't remember it ever being that bad).     

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?  I had an awesome seafood pasta plate in Sorrento (I'm still craving that) and great gnocchi in Sorrento and Florence.  Tons of gelato too of course.  We took a wonderful cooking class in Perledo (Lake Como) at Il Caminetto.  The food was fantastic, Moreno was very entertaining and informative (he even drove us to a local castle after the class was over), and we met some great people from all over the world. Highly recommend!  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187837-d1091635-Reviews-Ristorante_Il_Caminetto_Cookery_Lessons-Varenna_Lake_Como_Lombardy.html   

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?  No trip plans yet.  We're hoping to be pregnant again (after a loss in November), I'm getting a promotion at work which will involve months of training, and we also want to buy a house so traveling might be put off for a while.

    BFP #1 Sept. 2011 EDD 5.25.12 missed MC on 11.17.11 | BFP #2 4.30.12 11dpo EDD 1.10.13 | Grow, baby, grow!
    01.03.09 {MARRIED BIO}
    imageimageimagePregnancy Ticker
  • ) Where did you go in 2011?  San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle/Olympia National Forrest, Rhode Island, Disneyworld2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?  We had fun at Disneyworld. I was very surprised. 3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? N/A4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. N/A5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?  The lobster mac & cheese in RI was crazy good. 6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?We haven't started planning yet.  The only thing set in stone is Portland, OR  and San Diego. 
  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? Mexico (Riviera Maya), Scottsdale, D.C., San Francisco, Yosemite, Germany, The Netherlands

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Amsterdam. I wasn't sure what to expect but we loved it so much that we changed our flights, skipped Munich, and went back.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? San Francisco. I don't know, just wasn't my favorite but I was also sick. We ended up spending most of our time with some friends in Berkeley and we loved it there.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. Nothing really of too much note. We had a huge drought with no rain for months on end in Houston. The day I went to D.C. with my mom, it rained like crazy. My mom hasn't flown in years so it was a little stressful for her but it worked out fine.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Nothing really comes to mind. The combo of being sick (a cold, so i couldn't taste much) in San Francisco and pregnant with nausea in Europe did not lend itself to eating anything terribly memorable.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? No major travel plans at the moment. We were going to spend a few weeks on the Big Island and Kauai this summer but we've had to scrap that plan for obvious reasons. I am going to Vegas with my mom and sisters over Easter and I'm hoping to convince DH to go somewhere over Spring Break but we'll see.

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  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? Tel Aviv, Israel (rang in the New Year there); Australia (Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Port Douglas); Lisbon, Portugal; Cornwall, England; Cambridge, England; Paris, France; Dubrovnik and Korcula, Croatia + Bosnia; oire Valley, France; Berlin, Germany; NYC and Ottawa, Canada2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? I loved it all, but I didn't expect Cambridge to strike me as much as it did.  Such a gorgeous town, and I'd love to go back there.3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Lisbon, but that was more because of the weather - we left sunny weather in London to run into cold and rain in Lisbon.  I loved the city itself, though.4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.  Coming back from NYC last weekend, my 9am flight ended up being delayed 12 hours, which turned a day flight into an overnight flight that would no longer get me back in London in time for work on Monday morning.  I ended up getting an earlier flight via Boston, but wasn't able to sleep on the flight that landed at 5 am - needless to say I was a bit of a zombie at the office, but at least I made it in.5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? My mind is drawing a blank, but I know that I would do just about anything for a good steak dinner in NYC.6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? Not too much solid yet, just the Maldives in January.  Also planning on Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and Rome / Tuscany at some point.  With possibilities to Iceland, Tallin, Budapest, and Japan, depending on work and other commitments.
    image
    Cecilia arrived 12 October 2012
    Lilypie First Birthday tickers
  • This board is getting boring. Tell me about your 2011 travel.

    1) Where did you go in 2011? Istanbul, Beirut, Muscat, Ashgabat, Italy, Geneva, Nepal.  Oh, and back to NYC for a visit home and DC as well. (I was living in Dubai and moved to Ashgabat this year).

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?  Muscat.  I didn't expect it to remind me so much of Zanzibar, and for some reason I wasn't expecting such pretty surroundings.  Beirut was also gorgeous, but since I was expecting it, it wasn't really a surprise.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?  Nepal.  

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.  I didn't have any.  Flights into and out of Ashgabat are early morning, so they always suck, but luckily none have been disasters.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?  Mango chutney in Nepal!

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?

    I have a wedding to go to in Costa Rica in January, but other than that, no plans for 2012.  My husband was laid off, so until we are stable, I have no idea if we'll go anywhere in 2012.  We also may be living in another country come 2012 (fingers crossed!). 

  • 1. Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, R?union Island, Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, Las Vegas, Houston, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Ushuaia/Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica

    2. Seychelles (esp. La Digue) had the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. I never thought I could be a beach person, but I could spend a whole day there just sitting in the warm water admiring the natural beauty.

    3. Rio de Janeiro really didn't have as much to see/do as I was expecting, given its reputation. And the water at Copacabana Beach is quite cold with strong currents. I guess people don't go to swim.

    4. Not a huge disaster, since I booked multiple stopovers en route to my Antarctica trip to make sure nothing could make me miss it. Otherwise, it would have been bad: Flew Oslo-Newark just ahead of the big October snowstorm that arrived early. Rerouted to Montreal and spent 3 hours on the ground. Flew to Newark and circled for an hour. Landed and spent 3 more hours on the ground waiting for a gate crew. Our "emergency" granola bars and water had already been consumed in Montreal, so even the flight crew was becoming mutinous! Ended up spending the night on the floor of the airport and missed my first stand-by flight, because it was at 5:30 and they didn't open the check-in desks until 5:45. (Other people caught in the delays ended up on a two-week expedition to Antarctica with no gear!)

    5. Moqueca baiana (seafood stew from northeastern Brazil) homemade by a cute northeastern Brazilian!

    6. Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval - Yes! See above comment about the cute Brazilian boy who can cook!
    Norwegian fjords - No. My parents are visiting.
    maybe Hungary - When the cute Brazilian visits Europe.
    maybe Greenland - The Antarctica staff had very good things to say.

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  • imagemxolisi:

    This board is getting boring. Tell me about your 2011 travel.

    1) Where did you go in 2011?  St. John, USVI, China (Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing) and a long weekend in Chicago - plus work travel

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Shanghai - I expected to dislike it but I really ended up enjoying it.  I was so intrigued by how it reminded me of a big city in the US, while still having so much Chinese culture.  Plus it was my first stop in China and I think I was just so giddy about being there!

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Nothing really, but I will say the Great Wall wasn't really what I expected.  I expected to be more in awe of it, but I wasn't. It was still really cool, but not the experience I was expected. 

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. I am 95% sure I contracted E.Coli flying business class on my way home from China based on the timing of when my symptoms started.  I can't say for sure-I could have picked it up from my hotel breakfast also (my last meal in China).  

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?  Peking Duck in Beijing.  We went with our guide and nothing was in English so I feel like it was an authentic place.  They even let us go into the "kitchen" to see the ducks roasting.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?  We are going to Hawaii in January - we were supposed to go in September but hand a cancel due to pregnancy complications so I guess that was influenced by 2011.  We have nothing else planned but hope to start traveling with the baby once he or she has all important vaccinations in place, but the location will likely depend on what kind of baby we have!

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  • 1) Where did you go in 2011?
    Los Angeles, CA; Gothenburg, Sweden/London/Normandy, France; Oahu/Kauai, Hawaii

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?
    Hawaii, definitely - I'd never really wanted to go there because I thought it was too touristy...but we managed to see things that weren't touristy, and I was happy at how much there was to do there.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?
    LA itself was somewhat disappointing, I guess.  I didn't really have high expectations though.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.
    Coming home from France, our flight out of Denmark was delayed, so we got into O'Hare late.  We missed our first flight, didn't get on a second, and finally got back home around 1 am.  We were tired.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?
    I enjoyed a couple of the restaurants we ate at in Kauai.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?
    No plans yet.  Possibly a sister trip to NYC in the summer.  Maybe a Mexican AI with friends.  All depends on TTC plans.

    Pregnancy Ticker
  • 1) Where did you go in 2011?

    Lake Tahoe for NYE and again in the summer

    Cancun, Mexico (AI resort)

    London (post-bar trip)

    Miami (for work)

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?

    Cancun.  I didn't expect to like going to an AI, but it was extremely relaxing and just what I needed after 3 years of law school.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?

    Nothing.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.

    We were delayed by several hours going to London...that was annoying, but not a true disaster.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?

    We had some pretty great meals in London, actually.  Probably Indian food in the East End (NOT on the tourst trap that is Brick Lane).

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?

    Greece:  Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Crete


  • This board is getting boring. Tell me about your 2011 travel.

    1) Where did you go in 2011? Berlin and Dresden Germany, Prague, Western CO wine trip, Jackson Hole (yellowstone and grand teton park), Southern California, Napa Valley, Las Vegas.

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Probably Berlin I thought it would be stoic and cold but what I found was a lively beautiful city.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? I expected to enjoy Prague more but was overwhelmed by the mass tourism industry (naive I know) I expected something more magical. 

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. Frontier airlines in general, flew them for business as well, poor service. 

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Stuffed dumplings in Prague

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? Would like to plan a South America trip.  No it really was not.  Possibly Europe again, if the Euro continues to dive.


  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Maarten/St. Martin, Evansville, IN; Louisville,KY; Cincinnati, leaving for Las Vegas next Monday!

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? I would say that St. Kitts & Nevis did. When we first got off the cruise ship I was not initial impressed. Even once we got to the beach across from Nevis I was not feeling St. Kitts but once we were going back to port we were giving a brief tour and that was when the island surprised me with just the most breathtaking views and the people were so nice.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? I thought I would enjoy Barbados but I just find it to be blah (best word I could think of). Nothing really overly impressed me or surprised me. We had a nice time and the people we met were wonderful I just was a little underwhelmed by it.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. I think goodness have not had one (knocks on wood).

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Hmmm...probably most of the dinners on our cruise. They were just prepared wonderfully and tasted delicious. I had really great Lobster the one night that I just fell in love with.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? We have nothing in the books definitely yet but I do think we are trying to do some smaller weekend trips this year around the states. I do know I am headed back to Vegas in March for a friends bachelorette party. I was hoping to go back to the Caribbean especially the southern islands because of our cruise this year but DH does not really want to do that again so we shall see if that changes.

    imageBaby Birthday Ticker Ticker Anniversary
  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? St. Lucia, San Antonio, Olympic Peninsula/Victoria/Vancouver, Cape Cod, Anna Maria Island, Niagara Falls

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Victoria was so beautiful and scenic.  It was planned as sort of an afterthought, but I loved our time there.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Anna Maria Island.  I was looking for a slower pace, but I certainly didn't expect it to be that slow...

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. In August, we were coming back from Cape Cod during Hurricane Isabel.  We had planned to drive to Branford, CT to celebrate our niece's birthday, and then fly out of Hartford (we had flown into PVD).  However, since they were quickly canceling flights out to BWI, we decided to skip the party and just fly straight out of Hartford on what was to be one of the last flights out.  We continually checked the Southwest site en route to the airport and it looked like we would actually catch the earlier flight to BWI, which was scheduled on time.  But when we arrived at Hartford, they told us that flight was about to board, but it was doing direct to Las Vegas, and not stopping at BWI, since ALL flights were now canceled.  So, we had to drive 5 more hours in a one way rental, which happened to be HUGE Mercury Grand Marquis. Yeah, we were pimpin'.   But we did make it home safely, and returned the rental car just as the winds were increasing.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Dungeness Crab in Dungeness. 

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? So far, we only have Punta Cana planned for Feb., and probably Cape Cod in Aug.  But Oct. is our 5 year anniversary, so I am sure we will go somewhere- I am trying to plan Jost Van ***. 

     
  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? Costa Rica (Nicoya/Nosara/Arenal/La Fortuna), Portland (Oregon),  Italy (Rome, Florence, Siena, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Milan, Venice), Los Angeles.

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? I wasn't necessarily super excited about visiting Venice as I had heard so many negative things about the city. However, we spent nearly four days in the city and had an amazing time and were really able to explore and get to know the place. Now, it's one of my favorite places in Europe!

    We flew into LA to attend a wedding in Pasadena. I had never been to Pasadena previously, and was surprised at how pleasant and beautiful its downtown area was. It's definitely a city I would like to go back to in the future and explore further! 

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? I was very surprised to see just how touristy Arenal/La Fortuna was. I found it to be so commercialized and un-authentic.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. Our flight pattern to go back home to Seattle left Rome with a layover at JKF. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed three hours of out Rome. By the time we got to JFK, we had about 25 minutes until our flight departed to Seattle (and we had to go through customs!). I didn't think there was any way possible that we would make it, but customs was relatively quick, and then we ran the fastest we have ever run until we reached our gate with one minute to spare! Not necessarily a disaster, but it wasn't a very fun or relaxing experience!

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? In Portland: Breakfast at Beast (best breakfast meal of my life!), sushi dinner at Bamboo Sushi, and dinner at Toro Bravo. In Italy: Deep fried pumpkin flowers w/prosciutto and mozzarella and tiramisu (both made at our cooking class in Rome),  trofie pasta with pesto sauce (Cinque Terre), and risotto Milanese (Milan).

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? Las Vegas, Walla Walla (Washington State wine country), Washington DC, and Playa del Carmen, Mexico (for our destination wedding).

  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? - Cape May, NJ (long weekend for our anniversary), Chincoteague, VA for 4 days and Yellowstone National Park for a week

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? - Not really a surprise b/c I had heard it was gorgeous, but Wyoming/Montana was just absolutely beautiful, it was breathtaking at times.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? - can't really think of anything

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. - not a disaster, but we were very close to missing our flight out of Montana, but that was our fault, not the airlines

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? - Maryland Crab Cakes, yumm-o!

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? - So far the only plan is to possibly go to Southern California in July to see DH's brother and his fam.  Nothing from 2011 influenced  the trip, we just haven't been there in about 5 years, so we figured it was about time to go back.  Oh, and we'll be going to Atlantic City area for a weekend in August.  I'm running a half marathon there.

  • Where did you go in 2011?  Orlando (girls' trip), Houston, Chicago, Indonesia, and Maui/Kauai

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?  Maui-I thought HI would be so touristy.  It was, but we still enjoyed the food, views, and weather.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Kauai-Everyone said that it was so wonderful, but I found it to be kind of boring and not so nice in terms of food quality and variety.  My H hated the North Shore here.  The beaches in Maui were nicer imo.  The streets and traffic were annoying.  We got caught in a speed trap on the way to Waimea Canyon where the speed limit changes from 55 to 35 mph in 10 yards.  The ticket came with a pre-addressed envelope!  Later, we were OCD about obeying the speed limit and some locals threw something at our car because we were driving "slow". 

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. N/A

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?  It's probably dinner at Girl & the Goat in Chicago

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?  So far we have Vegas, NYC, and a ski trip to Lake Tahoe. We just want to take a bunch of small trips before ttc.

  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? To Memphis for the Beale Street Music Festival in Apr/May, Chicago with our daughter in July, and then back to Chicago for a girls weekend in September.

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? I wouldn't say I was too surprised by either place...it was the first time I had been to Memphis, but I spent most of my time at the Festival, so I didn't get to see much of the city itself.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Shedd Aquarium...I didn't hate it, but for the amount of money we spent, I thought I would be much more excited about it. And my daughter didn't enjoy it as much as I thought she would, either. There were definitely some neat parts, but I think other people built it up too much so my expectations were too high going into it.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. Didn't fly to either place...flew to NC for work, but nothing bad happened. Driving-wise, we drove back from Memphis in torrential downpours nearly the entire time and there was flooding almost right up to the highway, so it got a little scary.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Probably everything on my girls weekend to Chicago...we had lunch at Xoco, dinner at Carmine's, breakfast at the Bongo Room, and dinner at Girl & The Goat. All very good. I am still thinking about the pretzel encrusted caramel pancake with white chocolate sauce from the Bongo Room.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? DH and I are heading to Vegas in March (first time for both of us), and then we are doing a family trip with some other friends and their kids to Destin in July. We don't get enough vacation time to do much more than that, unfortunately.

  • Great poll!

    1) Where did you go in 2011? Hawaii (Oahu), New Caledonia, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, and New Plymouth (NZ)

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Sydney! I normally am not fond of big cities while on vacation, but I felt like I could spend way more time there.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? New Caledonia. It looks like paradise, but it is not tourist friendly, there is very little to do, and for the price we could have gone back to Tahiti and enjoyed it much more.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. We didn't have any, thankfully! My luggage was lost for about 12 hours in New Zealand but I hardly missed it.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Duck confit at Le Miretti Gascon in Noumea. Oh.My.God.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? We're going to Amsterdam in April, and also trying to visit Spain for a Barcelona v. Real Madrid game around the same time but tickets are hard to come by. We're also going to London for the Olympics in August as well as to Thailand (Phuket) in November.


  • 1) Where did you go in 2011?

    • CA: Los Angeles (twice),
    • NM: Carlsbad, Santa Fe, Taos, Angel Fire
    • CO: Gunnison, South Fork
    • Costa Rica: Arenal, Montezuma
    • MIssissippi: Natchez Trace Parkway, Vicksburg,
    • TN: Shiloh, Nashville

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?

    Loved Noatchez. Full of Antebellum history. We were there during the spring pilgrimage when lots of plantation houses are open for tours. This trip was a spur of the moment trip so we were not sure what we would find there.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?

    Arenal only because we never saw the volcano. It was too cloudy and rainy the three days we were there. But we loved the hot springs, so not too disappointing.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.

    None

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?

    Loved almost all the dishes we had in Costa Rica. We brought back  Lizano sauce. Also love the food at Harry's Roadhouse in Santa Fe.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?

    Only plans so far are NY for skiing, Cape Canaveral (for work), and back to Angel Fire in the summer.

  • 1) Where did you go in 2011?  Boston, MA, Vancouver, Paris, Nurenburg, Germany, Prauge, Sweden, Michigan, Santa Barbara...

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?  Nurenburg Germany - I wasn't sure what to expect and I loved it.  great town square and so green with rolling hills.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Sweden.  Idon't think I had enough time there - but it was expensive and not pretty

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.  no disasters fortunately

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?  this amazing meringue desert in Paris - it was melt in my mouth and I loved it!

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?  no big travel plans for 2012 unfortunately....   Atlanta, Philadelphia for a work conference, San Diego for work - hope to get back to Europe but not counting on it. 

    image
  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? Cozumel, Roatan Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya, Key West, and Omaha (Omaha was for work and was depressing)

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Cozumel. I had been there before a few years ago, but explored it a bit more and had a blast.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Key West. It was great, and we had fun, but it wasn't as amazing as a lot of people I've talked to made it out to be. It was a nice getaway over Thanksgiving.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. Thankfully, all of my flights went smoothly. Fingers crossed the flights will go smooth this week as well for Christmas.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? This Italian place in Key West at the quieter end of Duval Street that was tucked away in a courtyard. I'm still craving the food from there!

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? As of right now, we don't have any concrete plans. We have to fly back home at least twice for family weddings, and have been bouncing around ideas for a London-Paris trip, a trip to Brazil, or a beach bum vacation in the Caribbean. Also, a friend of ours wants to celebrate their 30th in Vegas so we may tag along for that as well.

  • 1) Where did you go in 2011?

    Summit County area of Colorado and West Palm Beach area of FL

     

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?

    CO, I was surprised I like hiking up Quandry Peak as much as I did.

     

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?

    I had wished to get more sun in FL than I did

     

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. None

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Crabcakes at Watergate Cafe in WPB area, FL

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? Our first trip to EU.  Partially- my sister found out she's moving to UK for work temporarily.

  • 1) Where did you go in 2011?

    International:

    Antigua (Cocobay and Galley Bay)

    Honduras (Bananarama on Roatan, Las Cascadas in La Ceiba, Yat Balam in Copan)

    Grenada (Spice Island Beach Resort)

    St. Vincent & the Grenadines (Young Island & Palm Island)

    Hong Kong (Marriott SkyCity & Shangri-La Kowloon)

    Bangkok (Lebua at State Tower)

    Domestic:

    Charleston

    Portland

    NYC

    Palm Beach

    Rosemary Beach, FL

    Seacrest Beach, FL

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why?

    Roatan, Honduras - while it is somewhat touristy, it was less so than I expected, and DH and I had a great time there enjoying the gorgeous beach and water!

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing?

    Antigua - just did not "click" with me the way many other destinations have.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.

    There actually really were not any - as far as I can recall, all our air travel went pretty darn smoothly this year!

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year?

    Can't pick just one! But a few of the best - coconut muffins at Spice Island in Grenada, Pad Thai and coconut ice cream from little stands at Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, a huge perfectly grilled lobster at Young Island, fresh banana bread at Palm Island

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?

    After my recent trip to Hong Kong and Bangkok, I'm dying to go back to Asia, so DH and I are thinking Indonesia for a couple of weeks for our anniversary in April!  Other than that, not sure yet, though I would love to take DH to Africa, a New Zealand/Vanuatu combo is high on our list, and we'd also love to explore more of Europe! This year's travel was very Caribbean-heavy (usually our travel is more balanced between beach and non-beach areas and different parts of the world), so we'll likely not go back down to the Caribbean in 2012.

  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? Disney World, southeastern Oklahoma (beautiful, highly recommend), Texas.. that's about it. Had a busy year unfortunately. :(2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Southeastern Oklahoma--Broken Bow Lake. Stayed at a gorgeous B&B that allowed us to bring our dogs. Holy heII it was beautiful beyond words.3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? Disney World--we usually love going, and while I had a great trip (we brought my mom), I think H didn't enjoy it like he should have.4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. Nothing. Flying to Orlando using miles was frustrating though--we had some crazy connections.5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Oh gosh. I don't know. There's a steakhouse an hour or so east of Dallas called Four Winds that is amazing. So, so good.6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? We're skipping Disney in 2012 (but we've been doing this already--skipping every other year). I decided we need to go somewhere this year where we can do absolutely nothing but sit on a beach, so we're looking at maybe Jamaica or Dominican Republic. No excursions, nothing. Just beach and pool. We also plan on visiting my grandma in Arizona--it has been a few years.
    Books read in 2012: 49
    my bookshelf!
    Katie (gingerfeathers)'s book recommendations, favorite quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)
    Bloggy
  • 1) Where did you go in 2011?: Park City, UT, New Orleans, LA, Cape Cod, MA, Tanzania, Houston, TX , Steam Boat, CO (leaving this week).

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Park City.  Never thought I would love Utah but the skiing and food were amazing.  

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? We weren't disappointed anywhere this year.

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year.  Almost missed a few flights, but no major disasters.

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Pretty much EVERYTHING in New Orleans was amazing.  Slim Goodies in may have been the highlight.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011?  Back to Utah in Feb/March, Puerto Rico in the Spring, Ocean City, MD for a week this summer and to my in-law's house in Cape Cod and hopefully a babymoon before August, maybe Paris or Italy where we honeymooned...  

    August 2012's May Siggy challenge: Favorite TV mom:
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  • 1) Where did you go in 2011? 

    • Tahiti
    • Bora Bora
    • Moorea
    • Rangiroa
    • Raiatea
    • Taha'a
    • Huahine
    • Colorado
    • Wyoming
    • Nevada
    • Arizona
    • Iceland

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? 

    Iceland - we didn't think we would love it as much as we did.  We will definitely be returning. 

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? NA

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. NA

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home this year? Lobster pizza in Iceland, and pineapple picked minutes before eating, in Bora Bora.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? 

    • Oahu
    • Kauai
    • Australia
    • possibly China
    • a few long weekend destinations, TBD (likely including Iceland again - due to our enjoying during the 2011 visit)
    image
  • imagemxolisi:

    This board is getting boring. Tell me about your 2011 travel.

    1) Where did you go in 2011? 2 weekend trips to Chicago, Big Island of Hawaii, Boston

    2) What place pleasantly surprised you, and why? Hawaii of course. Not that  was surprised. But it certainly was enchanting.

    3) What did you expect to enjoy, but found disappointing? nothing

    4) Tell me your biggest airport/airline disaster of the year. No major distasters. Little airport wierdness when leaving for Hawaii on Easter Sunday. There was a guy in our gate area, wearing a big white blanket type covering draped over the back of his head. He was pacing back and forth and reading from a book out loud but very quietly. I am not quick to judge people, but being Easter, it was difficult to not be concerned. Luckily extra TSA showed up at our gate and he didn't get on our plane (there was another flight dpearting next to ours).

    5) What is the best thing you ate away from home? probably something in Hawaii.

    6)  Where do you plan to go in 2012. Is this influenced by anything that happened in 2011? DH wants to go to Florida, but I might skip it. We are planning on a 2 week trip to London, Amsterdam and Germany on September.

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