Read more about the article One Day in Newport, RI

One Day in Newport, RI

Famous for its Gilded Age mansions, Newport offers visitors a chance to see what living was like in the late 1800’s high society. I couldn’t wait to tour the abundance of lavish estates until I realized that my dear husband (DH) and teen daughters don’t share the same enthusiasm for home and garden tours. Fortunately, Newport offers a wide array of other options including the Cliff Walk, sailing excursions and many restaurants.

We traveled to Rhode Island last summer mainly because Southwest offered ridiculously low airfares to Boston. Because we decided to visit different areas of the state, we made our home base in Fall River, MA. Only about 20 miles away from Newport and Providence, the location was ideal (and less expensive) than staying in either city.

We spent our first day driving around some of Boston’s universities: Tufts, Harvard and Boston College followed by an evening with my relatives in Providence. We devoted our second day to explore Newport and arrived around 9 am. (more…)

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…)