Our 2013 fall trip this year was new england, a place that Mayne’s never real spent time in (apart from NYC) and that Elisa has only spent a little time in. So we were both excited! The timing was with the intent to see as many of the famous fall foliage colors as possible, but we were a few weeks early apparently. Our itinerary started in Portland, ME, where we checked out the harbor/old city and then (more…)
We utilized our 4th of July vacation days this year to hit the pacific northwest, specifically Portland, Seattle, and the area in between. Based on google weather and all the people we talked to who lived in this area, July is absolutely the best month – weather wise – to visit. It did not disappoint. Our first stop was Seattle, where we stayed downtown in a Marriott Renaissance property. We used a free night certificate (more…)
We chose Hawaii for our honeymoon in mid-April (admittedly somewhat stereotypical choice of destination). It was a surprise for Elisa up until the week of wedding, at which point it made sense to tell her so she could pack accordingly (and since I filled a suitcase with hiking gear – more on that later). Since we only had about 9 days, we went to just two islands: Oahu for 4 days and Kauaii for 5. (more…)
We were trying to find ways to cash in some of Mayne’s marriott rewards points that he earned during all of his audit travel, and we found a Marriott Autograph collection hotel – the Grand Bohemian – in Asheville. It took a free night certificate (from Mayne’s platinum status anniversary) and some points and we had our long weekend booked! Elisa had never been and was excited to see what all the fuss about the (more…)
Chicago! Home of the cubs, harsh winters, deep dish pizza and expensive real estate shoulder to shoulder with some of the most dangerous ghettos in the nation. We came for a half marathon but cancelled due to my headaches. The weather was unseasonably cold as well, and there was freezing rain the morning of the race – so we didn’t feel like we missed much! As usual, we spent the majority of our time hiking around (more…)