East Hampton Escape

Windmilll in East Hampton

We had a fabulous weekend escape to East Hampton! It was my first time visiting the area during the off-season (and I haven't been to the Hamptons in many years.) But we're now official fans...

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GeckoFest

One of my Writing Retreat goals was to take at least two inspiration days to help fuel my creativity and boost my writing ideas. Well, since I like festivals, last Saturday I drove over to nearby Gulfport for their annual GeckoFest. It's a twelve-hour festival with live music, arts and crafts vendors, street food and so forth. Here are some pictures from the excursion...

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Working in the Village

Last Saturday I needed to put in a few hours of writing + get away from my apartment. So I packed up my laptop and took the subway down to Greenwich Village...

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Vino and Jazz

Two of my best friends came into the city to hang with me on Friday night – our first visitors since we've (mostly) decorated our place! (Maybe you remember their beautiful faces from here and here?). It was so much fun showing them our building, apartment, neighborhood. We ate a delicious Italian dinner with fine wine at Accademia di Vino and then finished off the night with live jazz at Cleopatra's Needle. I've known these girls for sixteen years (that's so hard to believe). We just laughed and talked for HOURS. Don't you just love girls night out?  :)

Wine Tasting in Ringoes

It was an incredibly fun, jam-packed Saturday babysitting our young nieces, complete with a home spun talent show, fondue & salad dinner, soccer scrimmage in the pasture & movie night. So yesterday after church my husband and I had a date afternoon & went wine tasting in Ringoes, New Jersey, a beautiful rural area near Princeton. It was a picturesque Autumn day – We took the top down on the Wrangler and drove along winding country roads, passing wheat, corn, miniature horse, alpaca and sheep farms along the way....

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Coconut Juice

Well if you choose to add some rum they call it a "coco loco," but right now I am missing my favorite fresh coconut stand in Isla Mujeres!

Saludos

 

On our last night in Mexico the team went out for mole burritos & margaritas to celebrate a successful week of whale shark research. A big thanks to the Georgia Aquarium, Project Domino, ECOcean, CONANP and MOTE Laboratory for all their whale shark conservation work in the Yucatan and beyond.

Rafael put tattoo stickers on Mackenzie and I. It's a little pic of a whale shark that say "Tiburones Ballenas Para Siempre." (meaning "whale sharks for always" or "whale sharks forever").

La Parilla & Margarita Man

Tonight's dinner at La Parilla in Cancun was fabulous. Some of the things our group enjoyed: fresh salsa with cilantro, lime soup with shredded chicken, enchiladas with cheese and mushrooms, and chicken kobobs flambéd on a flaming pineapple head.

Also, a man stacked margaritas on his head and walked around the restaurant.

Maryland Crab Dip

A few weeks ago my friend Holly and I met up at Pusser's in Annapolis, Maryland. It's a cute, Caribbean-inspired bar & grille, right on the waterfront in the historic downtown area... A great place to meet up for a drink & watch the boats cruise by on the Chesapeake Bay. They have a fabulous Maryland crab dip and lots of drink specials during the week – visiting Pusser's is a little local escape to the islands.

Check out the menus.

Visit Pusser's Caribbean Grille.

Discover Maryland crab dip recipes.

Read more travel posts.

P.S. Did you enter the @Starrybluesky Travel Polaroid giveaway yet? It ends tomorrow at midnight. I am so in love with all of her images... especially the orange VW Bug and swan pics.... Wouldn't they be perfect in a home library or office?

Krog Bar + Great Friends + Sunset = Recipe for an Amazing Night

When my husband and I moved away from Atlanta six months ago, I met the girls up at Krog Bar to say our goodbyes. So naturally when I arrived in town last week – my first trip back to the old stomping ground – we visited this same fabulous urban wine bar. Partially-owned by the famous Chef Kevin Rathbun, this watering hole is a fusion of indoor and outdoor dining, seating about 55 people in total. Krog Bar's extensive wine list, delicious Mediterranean-inspired small plates and unique atmosphere have warranted positive press from Travel & Leisure Magazine and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The outside patio is the perfect place to unwind during the warmer months.

And have I mentioned how much I adore my friends? They are all such talented, intelligent, beautiful, loving women – inspirations to me on a daily basis. It was so great hanging out with them again. You might recognize these ladies (below) from Unblocked and Homemade Grits....

Check out Krog Bar online.

See the drink & food menus.

Go there.

* © passport in my pocket *