Read more about the article A Few Hours in Providence

A Few Hours in Providence

Last summer, we planned a quick trip to Rhode Island. We landed in Boston around noon, ate lunch and drove by Tufts, Harvard and Boston College. Then we checked into our hotel in Fall River, MA and drove another half hour to Providence, RI to meet my cousin and his family for dinner.

Providence is beautiful!

Brown University

We stopped at Brown University and walked around the campus.

Manning Hall opened in 1834.

Although Brown is one of the country’s oldest universities, it got off to a somewhat rocky start. Originally known as Rhode Island College, the school began in 1764 with only one student and one professor in Warren, RI. After the prominent Brown family of Providence campaigned heavily to move it to Providence, construction began in 1770 and enrollment steadily increased. Unfortunately, the Revolutionary War prompted the college to close for six years. (more…)

Read more about the article Beech Mountain, NC

Beech Mountain, NC

We recently went snow skiing at Beech Mountain. Not familiar with it? It’s in North Carolina.

Wait – North Carolina and snow skiing? Is that even a real thing?

North Carolina does offer snow skiing

Fortunately for those who live in the Southeastern part of the US, there are a handful of ski resorts in North Carolina (Beech Mountain, Sugar Mountain, Cataloochee), West Virginia (Snowshoe, Winterplace, Timberline) and Virginia (Wintergreen).

Choosing to Go

For years, we’ve been talking about taking our children snow skiing. With the girls now in high school, I knew we had to do it sooner than later. The impasse came this year when I wanted to book a ski trip to Taos, New Mexico for the week after Christmas. My DH (dear hubby) refused – saying he didn’t want to spend money on airfare and taking off lots of time from work if it turned out our kids didn’t like skiing. (more…)

Read more about the article Gingerbread House Exhibit at Grove Park Inn – Asheville, NC

Gingerbread House Exhibit at Grove Park Inn – Asheville, NC

The smell of warm gingerbread evokes memories of Christmas and holidays. During this season, many love to decorate gingerbread houses. Imagine if you could design one that earned $25,000?

The Competition

The National Gingerbread House Competition does just that. Held annually at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, we were fortunate to see it on the way home from snow skiing at Beech Mountain in early January.

Gingerbread Exhibit 2018 at the Omni Grove Park Inn

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