Random Travel Thread

Heading to Valentine, Nebraska Thursday for a wedding--dreading the drive (air fare was crazy and we'd have to rent a car and then drive another 4-1/2 hours), but hey--it's family.

Heading out on my annual Boundary Waters solo trip tomorrow. Heading to Chicago for the night, then driving to Minnesota on Saturday. Hoping to play the top 2 public courses in Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday, The Quarry at Giants Ridge and The Wilderness at Fortune Bay. Then 5 days and 5 nights of solitude in the Minnesota wilderness. 

Dorian derailed our year long planned family trip to Myrtle Beach, but my wife was able to find (on Sunday morning, nonetheless!) a three bedroom suite at a resort hotel in Pigeon Forge with awesome accommodations, so we diverted our trip there. It was 90 degrees and sunny all week, and this place had a HUGE waterpark area for the kids, as well as a lazy river and pool for adults as well. There was plenty to do in the area (even though with grandchildren 3yrs, 19 months and 10 months old, we stayed away from Dollywood-lol), such as Wonderworks COSI, Island at Pigeon Forge amusement park, etc., that was all within a mile of where we stayed. We made lemonade out of lemons, that's for sure, and had a trip we'll always remember.

Holy shit.  With those age gaps, were you like an eager substitute waiting to get in the game, and as soon as the procreation horn sounded, you sprinted in?

posted by justincredible

Heading out on my annual Boundary Waters solo trip tomorrow. Heading to Chicago for the night, then driving to Minnesota on Saturday. Hoping to play the top 2 public courses in Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday, The Quarry at Giants Ridge and The Wilderness at Fortune Bay. Then 5 days and 5 nights of solitude in the Minnesota wilderness. 

Any updates or pics?

posted by ernest_t_bass

Any updates or pics?

Here you go: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gw7d4V5GZBHtFPLU7

Didn't take many photos this year due to the weather.

The trip was as enjoyable as ever. Made a stop in Chicago on Friday night to hang out with a friend. Got up and on the road at 6:30am to get to Minnesota in time to play the #1 public course in the state (The Quarry at Giant Ridge). The course was awesome. Spent all day Sunday in Ely, MN, which is the small town I always enter the wilderness from. I'm usually rolling into town in the evening on Sunday, so it was nice getting in in the morning and spending the day checking out the shops and restaurants.

Weather was rainy for the first half of my time in the wilderness. My 3.5 hour travel in on Monday morning was dry but cloudy, and as soon as I got to my campsite it started to rain. The wind was also pretty bad (steady 15-20mph) for most of the trip. It pretty much rained Monday - Wednesday afternoon so I spent a lot of time reading and hanging out at the campsite. No big deal. Wednesday evening into Thursday were clear and sunny, which is the weather I'm used to on this trip. There were a few bigger storms that ended up missing me, luckily. It did downpour for about 5 hours non-stop from 2am-7am on Thursday morning. But once it stopped it cleared up and was sunny the rest of the day.

I'm already starting to plan next year's trip.

Pretty awesome.  

posted by ernest_t_bass

Holy shit.  With those age gaps, were you like an eager substitute waiting to get in the game, and as soon as the procreation horn sounded, you sprinted in?

99.99999% sure those are grand kids lol

Moving to Italy next week.  Anyone have recs for Naples? I'll take any Italian recommendations.  I have been to Florence, Siena, Venice, Rome, and Milan.

You're MOVING to Italy? Damn, that's a big step.

Going to Denver for a conference the end of October. I'll basically have all day Sunday, and every evening through Wednesday to do whatever I want. Any must-see places? It's been about 4 years since my last trip out there.

posted by like_that

Moving to Italy next week.  Anyone have recs for Naples? I'll take any Italian recommendations.  I have been to Florence, Siena, Venice, Rome, and Milan.

Wait what? Cinque Terre is legit in general, and Florence is my favorite city of all time, but you’ve done that.

posted by justincredible

You're MOVING to Italy? Damn, that's a big step.

Yup.  Been in the works with a job since late February.  It's finally getting real, but it really hasn't hit us.  I don't think it will until we are there for a couple weeks and realize it's not a vacation.

posted by iclfan2

Wait what? Cinque Terre is legit in general, and Florence is my favorite city of all time, but you’ve done that.

Cinque Terre is definitely on the list. 

posted by like_that

Moving to Italy next week.  Anyone have recs for Naples? I'll take any Italian recommendations.  I have been to Florence, Siena, Venice, Rome, and Milan.

Try the wine and pasta. You're welcome.

posted by like_that

Yup.  Been in the works with a job since late February.  It's finally getting real, but it really hasn't hit us.  I don't think it will until we are there for a couple weeks and realize it's not a vacation.

This is awesome.  How did you end up with the job?  Know someone?  Know where to look?

posted by Laley23

99.99999% sure those are grand kids lol

lol--yes they are...we went with our two adult children, their spouses, and their three children

posted by justincredible

Going to Denver for a conference the end of October. I'll basically have all day Sunday, and every evening through Wednesday to do whatever I want. Any must-see places? It's been about 4 years since my last trip out there.

Boulder--it's a great city with some really cool bars/restaurants

posted by like_that

Moving to Italy next week.  Anyone have recs for Naples? I'll take any Italian recommendations.  I have been to Florence, Siena, Venice, Rome, and Milan.

Wow, best wishes.

posted by ernest_t_bass

This is awesome.  How did you end up with the job?  Know someone?  Know where to look?

Sort of a mixture of both.  I had been trying for 3+ years.  I probably messaged at least 30+ random people overseas in my career field on Linkedin.  A guy was kind enough to respond to me, eventually he gave me his boss' contact info, which led to an interview and the rest is history. 

Greve in Chianti region is gorgeous. It’s about an hour outside of Florence. I wouldn’t go there for a weekend, but I’d look into an AirBnB if you have like a week vacation. 

I have some restaurant recs if you go that route at any point. It’s a super small town, but the views at dusk and night are just incredible. Rolling wineries and the house you’d be staying in likely looks over all of it. All you see is the other houses lights in the middle of the mountains.