We normally take a week-long trip during spring break, but due to some scheduling conflicts, Laura and I weren’t able to get off of work during the weeks the older two girls were off of school.  As my feet get too itchy to go more than a couple of months without a trip, we decided we’d try to get a few weekend trips in between our October and June trips.  Almost every flight out of Indy was full this particular weekend, but a Saturday evening flight to DC had over 20 open seats, so we listed in the afternoon, pack a couple changes of clothes for everyone, headed to the airport, and hopped on.  I was in the back row with Nala, and Laura was toward the front with the other two girls.  The flight was uneventful, and upon arrival we made use of my Priority Pass benefits, where at some airports one can get a free meal for two in lieu of a lounge.  After some quick, free food at the American Tap Room, we headed over to the airport Metro stop, purchased tickets, and took the blue line to The Madison, where I’d booked a room for the night on Hotwire for about twice as much as I wanted to spend, but that seems to be the trend on many of our trips.

We got to the hotel around 8, checked in, dropped our bags off, and headed out for a walk.  The White House was only a few blocks away, so we headed that way so the girls could see it for the first time.  Nala had been to DC when she was about a year old, but the other two had not.  After a couple pictures in the front of the building, we walked around the Eisenhower Executive Building, and south to the other side of the White House.  Every time I go, there a more barriers around the building.  It used to be that one could go up to the fence by The Ellipse, but there were a few layers of barriers.  Nevertheless, we enjoyed our walk around the building, and headed back to the hotel.  As it was Lilah’s birthday weekend, we’d promised them ice cream, and upon getting back to the room, they were still wide awake and reminding us of our promise.  I was able to find a place a few blocks away to get gelato, which involved pushing a stroller through an area filled with night clubs, which always makes one feel like a fantastic parent.  After sharing a couple scoops, we headed back to the hotel, where the girls finally calmed down and fell asleep.

The next morning we got a slow start, as usual, but eventually got checked out of the room and headed to a nearby Dunkin Donuts for a quick breakfast to hold us over until lunch.  From there, we took the Metro north to the stop a few blocks south of the National Zoo, part of the Smithsonian, and therefore free!  I’d been there on a trip to DC with my parents when I was around 11, though no one else in the family had been.  While I didn’t get a lot of pictures, Nala was able to see a sloth, though it was far away and hanging from a tree.  And while the famous panda bears in the outdoor exhibit were far away and asleep, we were able to see some in the indoor enclosures that they’re free to go into when they want, and they were pretty entertaining.  As it’s a huge zoo and we didn’t want to spend too long there before going out for lunch, and knowing that it’s an easy trip to get back, we only spent a few hours there.  We did stop for Ben and Jerry’s ice cream for the girls on the walk back to the exit which cost a ridiculous amount compared to a pint from the store, but we also wanted them to have good memories of our trip, and ice cream did sound pretty good.

At about 2pm, we headed back downhill to the Metro stop and hopped on the red line to Chinatown, and walked a couple blocks south to a restaurant called “b DC,” where we met up with some friends of ours who both also work for my company, who happened to be visiting the city the same weekend.  We hadn’t planned it, but through the magic of social media, found that we were both there!  Don and I enjoyed a couple of beers with lunch, and the girls loved talking to Michelle and playing with Ty, their nephew.  I should mention they didn’t approve my using this photo of them, but it’s adorable, and exemplifies them perfectly.  We all enjoyed our lunch, and had a few hours to kill before our flights home, so we walked a few blocks to the National Mall.  The adults joined the kids in Duck Duck Goose for the first time in years, which was much easier to play as a kid.  The ladies and Ty also enjoyed some spins on a carousel on the mall, and when the other group went to their hotel to grab their belongings, we played tag on the National Mall.  It was in the mid-60s and partly cloudy, so a perfect day.

After a failed attempt to find an open CVS for a few essentials for the trip home (apparently the ones around the government buildings area close early every day), we made our way back to the Metro, and within a few minutes were back at the airport, where we met up with our friends, got our seat assignments, and hopped on the flight home.  We were lucky to get the last couple of rows to ourselves, which always makes things so much easier.

While a quick trip, DC is a place with plenty to see and do, and only a quick, two hour non-stop flight away.  The girls all had a good time, and I’m sure we’ll be back plenty.

 

 

In December of 2018, I took Nala, the oldest, on a 24 hour trip to Paris, and she was now 7, and I’d promised her a trip with just me when she was 6.  Because of this, Linley, the middle girl, started asking about a “special trip” of her own.  I had a few ideas on what this could be, and while I made plans a few times, they kept falling through.  However, I was able to find a weekend in February where the flights to and weather in San Francisco looked perfect.  While all three girls had been to San Francisco a year before, they all talk about it often, and when asking Linley if she’d want to go again, she was all for it, especially if it was a solo trip with me.  We took advantage of a free meal at the Yankee Pier restaurant at the airport, courtesy of Priority Pass, so started the day on full stomachs.  I enjoyed a crab omelet, while Linley had her favorite breakfast foods, bacon and eggs. After eating, we made our way to the airport BART station to take the subway up to Powell Street, but she was pretty sleepy, and laid her head on my lap and snoozed a bit on the quiet subway ride.

One of my favorite parts of trips to San Francisco is emerging from the Powell Street BART station, going up the escalator, and seeing the unique architecture, and seeing and hearing the bustling of the city, Market Street, cable cars, and more.  The first stop was to get a Muni day pass for the busses, street cars, and cable cars.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that because of her age, Linley was free.  I’d booked a room on Hotwire that morning at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, a couple blocks west of Union Square.  After a few minutes of settling in at the hotel, we set out to have some fun.

When we left the hotel to head back to Market Street, a light rain had started, though it was also fairly sunny, which I was hoping was a good sign.  While there was a chance of rain throughout the day, we lucked out to have a cool, breezy, mostly sunny, typical San Francisco day.  We took a quick 20 minute bus ride from Powell and Market over to Alamo Square, home to the famous views of the Painted Ladies (Victorian houses) and the skyline in the background.  On our previous trip here, the girls spent a long time playing on the playground there, and that’s what Linley remembered best, and wanted to return to.  After a few obligatory photos in front of the Painted Ladies, Linley played on the mostly empty playground for half an hour before setting off for the next activity.

Another favorite part of our previous trip there was seeing the sea lions at Pier 39.  It took almost an hour to take two busses from Alamo Square to Pier 39, but Linley was again pretty patient.  She loved seeing the sea lions push each other off the dock and swim in the water, and make their “barking” noise.  By this point, we were ready to eat again, and had plans to meet up with my buddy Nicholas Morales, a local who I met through an online beer group, and had hung out with on previous trips to the city.  He recommended grabbing slices from Tony’s Coal Fired Pizza, across the street from the park, so we did just that and sat on a park bench to enjoy our delicious slices. After a few minutes, Nicholas and his girlfriend met up with us for a bit to chat, and of course he was kind enough to bring a couple of beers to sample while we visited.

Linley got a bit tired of us visiting, so we meandered to the other side of the park where there was another playground for her to run around and enjoy herself while we hung out with her and chatted.  One she got her fill, Nick was kind enough to drive us up to the top of Telegraph Hill, which has awesome views of the city.  It was a bit chilly up there, and a tad cloudy, so our stay was short.  Linley loved the playground so much that we ended up back there, only a few blocks away, for another half an hour.

On Linley’s first visit to the city, our cable car experience was a bit lackluster, as it was at night and we were packed into the inside compartment in the back, so couldn’t get the full experience.  This time, we were able to hop on at an intersection and got a bit better of a view because it was still daylight.  We rode to the end of the line at Powell Street, where I made a quick trek into Urban Outfitters to pick up some jeans I’d been eyeing. Linley was pretty tired and over it at this point, so we headed to a grocery store to pick up a few snacks for a light dinner and headed back to the hotel.  It was only 5:30pm local, but 8 at home, and we’d done a lot for one day.  We hung out a bit and watching some TV while I had a beer that Nicholas had given me.  We were both fast asleep pretty early.

The next morning, we slept in and took our time getting up and going.  I spent quite a while trying to figure out how we were going to get home, as the nonstop home we’d planned on taking had suddenly filled up, and nothing out of San Francisco all day looked very good.  Luckily, we have the ability to purchase standby seats on Southwest, which has a nonstop to Indy from Oakland.  We had plenty of time, so we headed to a small bahn mi shop in the Tenderloin for some lunch and took the BART over to Oakland, and then the train line that connects the Oakland Coliseum stop with the airport.  We checked in without an issue, headed to the gate, and were able to board halfway through boarding, allowing us plenty of opportunity to find two seats together.  After a 4 hour flight home, we were both hungry, so made a stop for dinner at Black Swan Brewpub near the airport, where we had dinner and drew pictures from our trip of cable cars and the Golden Gate Bridge on their white paper “table cloths.”

I was extremely proud of my little 5 year old for how well she did on this trip. I think it makes a huge difference when the other siblings aren’t there and they get one on one time.  We had an awesome time and talk about it often.  She looks forward to other one on one trips in the future.

We slept about nine hours and were up at 6am, ready to do a bit more exploring before heading to the airport. We were lucky in that a bus that took us toward Notre Dame picked up right across the street, and was mostly empty at this time of morning. While they were both closed this early, we walked by Notre Dame and the Louve, getting some pictures at each.

We strolled slowly and headed to Angelina, a restaurant I first heard about before my first trip from watching Somebody Feed Phil, a food/travel show on Netflix, featuring Phil Rosenthal, creator, writer, producer of Everybody Loves Raymond. He’d tried to visit the place for their famous hot chocolate on the show, though it was closed for renovations.  We arrived prior to opening, and were the first in a line of about a dozen people by the time the doors opened.  I ordered a breakfast of pastries and hot chocolate for both of us, which was ridiculously priced, though delicious, and again…vacation.

A quick Uber ride had us back to the hotel with time for me to shower and pack.  While I ordered an Uber to Nord train station to take the train back to the airport, I ended up deciding to change the destination and ride all the way to the airport. It cost a bit more, but saved some time and hassle.  Upon arrival, we got our seat requests, cleared passport control within just a few minutes, and took a train to another terminal to stop at the Yotel Hotel lounge to chill for a bit.  My friend and coworker Brandon had the weekend free so hopped over to Paris just to enjoy the upgrade and food, so he was waiting for us in the lounge when we arrived.  We had the ability to get a few snacks from the lounge, so grabbed those to take home for the rest of the family.

After a quick train ride back to the other terminal, we arrived to the gate to find another coworker and her husband who were on the way back from Male, so we were slightly jealous.  There were plenty of seats in Delta One, though the agents waited a while to assign us seats, but we boarded as soon as we were able.

This was Nala’s first upgrade and experience in Delta One.  She was excited, though I don’t think she realizes what a difference it is from coach, though I’m sure she’ll realize it more when she’s older. I of course started with the obligatory glass of champagne while we settled in.  Nala wasn’t real excited about her food, so I ended up helping her with her appetizer, soup, and salad, which luckily weren’t too filling, as I hate wasting food.  I had the salmon as my meal, and she had Buffalo mozzarella panciotti pasta.  For dessert, she ordered an ice cream sundae (which she’d been begging for since I first told her about when she was 5) along with a rich dark chocolate cake, which I ended up eating most of.  I stayed with my habit of having both the cheese plate with baguette and an ice cream sundae, of course paired with port.

We both snoozed for a while, though she was awake for the mid-flight chocolate chip cookie service, but didn’t save me one!  The pre-arrival meal was an herb roasted chicken sandwich.  We were some of the first off, and cleared customs very quickly.  We waited for our friends to clear so we could say bye to them, and in short order, were at my car in the employee lot, and then home soon after.  We were thankful to have our friends Jen and Maddy in town and at the house for dinner and to hang out, which made it a great end to the fun trip.

To recap, it was a very quick trip, though the intention was never to try to see everything, but to at least make it to Paris, giving Nala her first out-of-country experience, and first upgrade.  We are so thankful to now have a nonstop to Paris, and hope that it stays around, at least long enough to take the whole family.

 

We arrived in Paris on time, and because we parked at remote parking, took a shuttle to the terminal, and walked a short ways to customs.  Luckily, the line wasn’t too long, and we were through in about 10 minutes.  The walk to the train station wasn’t long either, though we got there to find a very long line to purchase tickets into Paris on the RER train.  Luckily it moved quickly, and were through it in about 25 minutes.  We had some trouble getting the tickets to work to get through the access gate, so may have accidentally stolen a ride, but it was that or leave Nala on the other side by herself!  The train was full leaving the airport, and got completely packed with people standing as close as they could for most of the ride.  Luckily we’d scored seats before it left the airport, so we didn’t have to deal with all of that.  It was about a 45 minute ride into the city, and Nala slept the whole way.

I thought I had a good idea of where to get off from there and what train to take, though had trouble finding what Metro train to take to the hotel, as my phone has had an issue lately where it goes to the darkness light setting, so I couldn’t use it to find directions.  Nala was extremely tired, so I found a dark spot to request an Uber to the hotel, though the area by the train stop was congested and busy, and I could never connect with the driver.  We ended up finding a taxi driver who spoke enough English to put the name of the hotel we were staying at in his GPS, and made it to the hotel in about 15 minutes.

I was very relieved to finally be there after a long flight/night, congested train ride, and a stressful situation trying to get to the hotel.  We were able to check in early, and after being sent to a dirty room 26, were reassigned to room 36, which had a very nice view of the Eiffel Tower, just a few blocks away.  I showered quickly, and we decided it’d be best if we both slept a couple hours before venturing out.

After a two hour nap, even though the top of it was fogged in, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower.  Getting through security to get into the square under the tower was quick, and we found the line to purchase tickets, though it was very long, and electronic signs showed that only the middle level was open, but not the top.  By the time we reached an agent about an hour and a half later, we were happy to find that all levels were open.  After waiting a few minutes for the elevator, to the mid-level, we got off there, though the clouds were pretty low, and it was chilly.  We continued up a second elevator to the top floor, which while was even more socked in, was still pretty. We weren’t too disappointed, as we knew that we’d be back at some point with the rest of the family.

We were pretty chilled by that point after hours of being outside, and it was getting close to dark, and we hadn’t eaten in a bit.  We stopped by a grocery store and picked up a baguette to snack on while we warmed up, along with a couple beers for me to try.  We spent an hour or so in the hotel warming up, snacking on the baguette, and sampling my first beer (me only).

Finally warmed up and ready to adventure a bit more, we headed out again, found the Metro stop nearby, and took it a few stops over to the Paris Opera house, which is the setting (cartoon) of one of Nala’s favorite movies, Leap.  It was pretty cool to see her excitement as we walked around it and got a few pictures.

We weren’t there too long before heading back toward the hotel, doing some sidewalk Yelp research, and finding a reasonably priced French restaurant a block from the hotel called La Terrasse du 7e.  There were plenty of tables open, they had an English menu, and spoke English well, which was appreciate, though also nice that it didn’t seem too touristy.    I was excited to try beef tartare for the first time, along with fries, which Nala helped with. She wasn’t terribly hungry after eating most of the baguette, so I let her have an ice cream sundae for dinner. All rules are off on vacation!

We were still a bit hungry, so stopped by the grocery store this time, but this time got some treats to snack on.  We finished off the evening having a second beer (me only again), and splitting a fancy donut, chocolate pastry, and giant pistachio macaron.  We also played some silly games (a simplified version of Pictionary), took goofy pictures, and called the rest of the family on FaceTime.  We were plenty sleepy and ready to snooze for the night at about 9pm local, so fell asleep with the awesome view of the tower out the window.

Ever since Nala turned 5, I started telling her that when she’s 6, she can get upgraded to first class on Delta, and told her about the food, the movies, the lay flat bed, and what she wanted to try most….the ice cream sundae.  A few times since she turned 6, I’ve had the intention of taking her on a trip where she could experience first class, but for one reason or another, it kept falling through. With some extra days off at the end of December, I saw my opportunity.

I took the inaugural Delta nonstop flight from Indy to Paris, and really enjoyed my time there.  While I was hoping to make it to Asia or another new country before the end of the year, it was important to me to get her on a trip with me somewhere, and Paris is the easiest way to do it.

We set out on Thursday evening, and headed to the airport around 4pm, giving us plenty of time to hang out and relax before the flight at 630.  While earlier in the day it looked like we may get upgraded on the way over, some last minute listings prevented that, so we ended up in coach, though I knew the trip back should stay open enough for first class.  We were both pretty excited to be on the way to Paris.  She had the ravioli option for dinner, while I had chicken with green beans and polenta.  The flight was pretty uneventful.  Nala slept about the last 5 hours, though I was oddly unable to sleep at all.

My social leanings always get the best of me, as I was out late, and woke up feeling exhausted.  But, after a quick shower and getting the girls ready, we got our bags down to the car (luckily parked right outside at a meter that didn’t start for another 30 minutes).  After an easy drive to the airport, we gassed up the rental car, dropped it off, and drug all of our baggage and car seats back to the airport.  We had plenty of time to kill, so we grabbed the girls some pastries for breakfast, and I grabbed a kimchi grilled cheese from the Beecher’s location in the terminal.  There were plenty of seats on the nonstop Delta flight back to Indy.  We had a non-eventful flight, and got in late afternoon.  We took advantage of a free meal via Priority Pass at The Fan Zone Sports Bar, and made the short drive back to the house.

All in all, this another very fun trip to our favorite place on Earth.  We’re so happy to now have easier ways to get there, and plan on many trips in the future.  As always, the highlight was our time at Lake Crescent Lodge, especially the cottage by the main lodge that we stayed in. It will always be our “happy place,” and we think of it often.  If fact, one of Laura’s Christmas present’s was a blanket that I had made by Shutterfly with a collage from our trips, from our first in 2010 as a newly married couple, to this one.  We love it!

We got a bit of a late start, which was fine, as we had all day to make the trek back over to Seattle for the night, before flying home the following day, with no real plans besides the drive.  We took our time getting all of our belongings packed, and left the hotel right at 11am, checkout time. From our hotel, we could see the end of another spit, with the middle being the Ediz Hook Reservation for Native Birds, with an oil refinery at the mouth, and a US Coast Guard base at the tip.  We’d talked about checking out the sanctuary in previous days, and Nala was sure to remind us before we left the area.  So once we got the car cleaned up and got everything packed in the car, we made our way out to the reservation.  While we didn’t see many birds, we were surprised to find that the spit had become home to feral cats, of which we saw at least a dozen.  We were all ready to eat by the time we drove off the spit, and found a conveniently located breakfast and lunch spot right off the spit called The Empossible Eden Café.  Everyone there seemed to be locals, and the staff were all extremely friendly.  I was pleasantly surprised by my salmon burger, and intrigued by the shrimp cold slaw.  The girls all enjoyed their pancakes, and helped Laura eat her eggs and bacon.

We started headed east on 101 toward Seattle, and got about 10 minutes outside of town, when we realized we’d never gotten a group picture at the national park sign, which is a huge requirement for each national park trip.  While we debated turning around for a few minutes, we decided that we’d surely regret it if we didn’t go back.  While there wasn’t anyone else at the sign when we were there, and there wasn’t a post to put a camera or phone on, I was able to set my phone on the ground in some mulch, use the timer on it, and make the picture work.  While it didn’t come out too well, we at least got our picture.

This time, we decided to drive an hour and a half to Bremerton, and take the ferry across the sound from there into Seattle, where the ferry terminal was only a couple blocks from the hotel.  This would avoid driving up I-5 from south of the city on a Friday afternoon.  We arrived at the Bremerton terminal just as one ferry was departing, though were first in line for the next, just under an hour later.  Luckily the girls stayed entertained while we waited in the car for the next ferry to arrive. We were amazed at how many walkers, bike riders, motorcyclists, and cars came off the boat.  Having been first in line, we also had a front row spot to see out the front of the ferry on the way over, and were first off in Seattle.  While we considered going up a couple decks to check out the ferry and stretch our legs, we decided it was too cool and windy for that to be enjoyable, so stayed put in the car.

One arriving in Seattle, we check on valet parking at the hotel, and determined it’d be much better to wait a bit, park on the street, pay the meter until there’s no longer a charge at 7pm, and have a free night of parking.  Therefore, we drove a couple miles north and parked about a block from the Space Needle, as we wanted the girls to see of the iconic landmarks of the city.  It started drizzling as we were leaving, so we hopped back in the car, drove to the area around the hotel, and were very lucky to find an empty spot less than a block away in the meter zone that would allow us to pay for a couple hours and then be good until after the time we’d need to leave for the airport in the morning.

We stayed at the Kimpton Alexis Hotel, which we got for free by using my annual anniversary night through my Chase IHG rewards card.  We were thrilled with everything about it from the time we walked in the door.  As always at Kimptons, the front desk had goodie bags for the girls that included stuffed animals, coloring books and crayons, snacks, and apple juice.  We were also pleasantly surprised to see our room, as it was very spacious, well decorated, and had a personalized welcome card and free amenities, as a thank you for being a IHG Elite member.

I ran out for a bit to check out a couple shops, including one where I snagged a cute Seattle shirt for each girl.  After checking in at the room, I ran out again for dinner:  fish and chips (halibut for me, cod for Laura), salmon soup for myself, and the girls finished up the PB&Js and snacks we’d accumulated.  While I wanted to go check out a nearby brewery after dinner, Linley was being a daddy’s girl that night and wanted me around, so I waited it out a bit until they were ready for bed.  A quick Uber ride had me at Cloudburst Brewing, just 45 minutes before close, where I started talking to two guys at the bar next to me (not together) along with the bartendresses, one of whom was from Bloomington, IN!  After shutting the place down at 10, the other two guys and I decided to grab a couple more pints at No Anchor, a place I’ve been wanting to check out for years for their food menu and tap list.  We had some awesome conversation.  Anyone who knows me knows that if there’s beer and conversation with strangers involved, I always enjoy myself.  Another Uber ride back to the hotel, and I was fast asleep within minutes.