D is for DC

  We are participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge again this year. The theme for this year is our Favourite Travel Spots in North America. Join us throughout the month of April as we revisit some of our favourite travel spots. No boarding pass, visa or passport needed!

The locations we feature are all places we have visited and the photos are ones taken by myself or Amanda (or possibly one of our family members) 

If you haven't seen our posts for the previous letters you can click here to see them 

Our fourth stop is the Capital City of the United States Washington DC. We live just a few hours from DC so we have been several times. There is so much to see and do that you will need more than one visit to see it all. We usually stay in Springfield as the hotels are cheaper and ride the metro into the city.

The Smithsonian museums are spectacular and well worth a visit. This is part of the dinosaur exhibit at the Musuem of Natural History. Plan at least a few hours here. Admission is free. Closest Metro station is Smithsonian

The Smithsonian National Zoo is also well worth the trip. One of the main attractions is the Panda Bears. Admission is free. Closest Metro stations are Cleveland Park and Woodley Park/Zoo. Insider Tip. When arriving get off the Metro at Cleveland Park and when leaving go to Woodley Park/Zoo. That way you dont have to climb any hills to get to or leaving the zoo.

The cherry blossoms in the Spring brings a giant burst of colour to the Tidal Basin each year. It depends on the weather but they usually bloom towards the end of March. The Jefferson Memorial is in the background.

In 2015 we visited the Crime Museum. It had a ton of different exhibits and had a wide variety of different exhibits. Sadly it closed a few months after we visited. Their website says they sent most of their exhibits to a museum in TN.

The National Mall from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

Next to Dulles Airport is the Air and space musuem (there is a smaller one downtown too). If you enjoy aviation this is a must see. Admission is free but there is a $15 fee to park. One of the main attractions is the space shuttle Discovery

More Info: 

www.wmata.com DC Metro (subway and buses) Station locations, fares, parking fees and more.

https://www.si.edu/museums Smithsonian museum website

washington.org/ Washington DC Tourism site.

Hotels: Hotels in the outer suburbs tend to be cheaper. Some good hotels can be under $100 if you hit a sale. Hotels closer to downtown can be over $200 a night. Hotels near Reagan Airport can run some good deals and often have a free shuttle to the airport where you can catch the metro to downtown. Many hotels close to town also charge for parking so keep that in mind

How to get there: 
Car: I95 is the main interstate from the north or south. I66 is the main interstate from the west.
Air:  Reagan National Airport (DCA) is the closest airport and is just a few miles from downtown. Washington Dulles (IAD) airport is about 30 miles from downtown and has service to domestic and international locations. Baltimore Airport (BWI) is about 40 miles from downtown

Train: The main station is Union Station which is less than a mile from the National Mall.

Please take a few moments to say hi and leave us a comment as we love to hear from our visitors. Dont forget to leave your blog URL so we can visit you as well. 

Have you been to Washington DC?

What did you post about today?

A-Z Challenge - Week 1 Recap

A-Z Challenge 2021 - Week 1 Recap

We are all done with week 1 of the A-Z challenge. 3 letters done just and 23 letters to go! In case you missed one of our tour stops here is where we stopped on week 1:

 A  is for Amusement Park:

Our first stop was our local theme park Busch Gardens.

B is for Bar Harbor:

 Our next stop was Bar Harbor Maine where we spent some time exploring the city and Acadia National Park.

C is for Charlottetown:

Located in Prince Edward Island and the surrounding areas is a must see.

Catch up on the posts you missed then come back tomorrow as we continue the tour. It will be a lot of fun so don't miss out! Which was your favourite from this week? What did you post about today?

C - C is for Charlottetown

 We are participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge again this year. The theme for this year is our Favourite Travel Spots in North America. Join us throughout the month of April as we revisit some of our favourite travel spots. No boarding pass, visa or passport needed!

The locations we feature are all places we have visited and the photos are ones taken by myself or Amanda (or possibly one of our family members)  

If you haven't seen our posts for the previous letters you can click here to see them 

Yesterday we visited a small island on the coast of Maine. Click here if you missed that post. Today we visit another island a little further north in Canada. Prince Edward Island is todays destination. We visited PEI on a New England and Canada cruise in 2011 (same trip as Bar Harbor). The island has so much to see and we would love to go back and see more of it.

We took a shore excursion to a few different parts of the island. We stopped at Cavandish Beach which had some stunning red cliffs and then over to see the Anne of Green Gables house. Amanda was super excited about seeing that. Then it was off to a jam place and back to Charlottetown to explore a bit.

The red cliffs near Cavendish Beach

Exterior of the Anne of Green Gables House

The inside of the house was beautifully decorated

One of the bedrooms

The gardens around the house provided a nice pop of colour

The countryside is stunning here. 

The greens are so vivid here even when it is cloudy like this day

After our tour we found this Irish pub. They had really good fish and chips and i was so happy when they asked if i wanted gravy on my chips as they dont have that in Virginia. Its very popular in Australia where i come from.

We stopped at Cows for Icecream even though it was chilly and windy outside. It is our favourite icecream store and only available in Canada. 

More Info: 

www.tourismpei.com Prince Edward Island Tourism - Great resource with things to do, where to stay etc

www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables Anne of Green Gables Website, Admission is $7.90 for adults and $6.60 for seniors. Youth are currently free.

www.cows.ca  Cows Icecream. They also have some fun tshirts in addition to yummy icecream

www.oldedublinpub.com The Olde Dublin Pub 

Hotels - There is a wide variety of lodging options. Prices are mostly between $100-200 per night.

How to get there: 
Car: Charlottetown/PEI is accessible by Confederation Bridge

Air:  Charlottetown (YYG) is the closest airport and is just a few km from the city centre. 
Train: Closest train station is in Moncton NB which is about 2.5 hours from PEI.

Please take a few moments to say hi and leave us a comment as we love our visitors. Dont forget to leave your blog URL so we can visit you as well. 

Have you ever had gravy on your chips/fries? If not would you be willing to try?

What was your favourite photo or part of Prince Edward Island?

What did you post about today?

B - B is for Bar Harbor

 We are participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge again this year. The theme for this year is our Favourite Travel Spots in North America. Join us throughout the month of April as we revisit some of our favourite travel spots. No boarding pass, visa or passport needed!

The locations we feature are all places we have visited and the photos are ones taken by myself or Amanda (or possibly one of our family members) 

If you missed our last post you can click here to see it 

Our second stop on the tour is on a small island near the north east coast of Maine. Bar Harbor is located about an hour from Bangor and about 5 hours from Boston and is well worth the trip. It is a lovely seaside town and is the gateway to Acadia National Park which is also worth the trip.

We visited Bar Harbor for the day in 2011 as part of a cruise. It was one of our favourite stops on the trip. We spent the morning exploring the town and the afternoon on a bus tour around Acadia National Park.

The main street has a collection of stores and restuarants.

An historical bank and clock

Eye catching theme for the entrance of this restaurant

The scenery was stunning along with the different boats in the harbor.

Sitting by the harbor was relaxing. This guy was very talented

The views in Acadia National Park are stunning

The coastline inside Acadia National Park

This cheeky seagull seemed to find its way into several of my photos

View from Cadillac Mountain which is one of the first places in the continental US to see sunlight each day.

More Info: www.visitbarharbor.com Bar Harbor Tourism page which has a ton of great information about the area. 

www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm Acadia National Park Website. Info on the park, entrance fees etc.

Cost: Metered parking is available in the town and is about $2 per hour. Entrance to Acadia National Park varies on vehicle type but a regular passenger vehicle is $30 in April 2021. 

Hotel rates vary by property and season ($125+ in low season to over $250 in high season)

How to get there: 
Car: Roughly an hour SE of Bangor ME
Air:  Hancock County / Bar Harbor Airport (BHB) is the closest airport and is about a 20-25 minute drive to the town. Flights to Bangor ME (BGR) might be cheaper and is about an hour from Bar Harbor.

Train: Amtrak has a stop in Bangor ME which is about an hour from Bar Harbor.

Please take a few moments to say hi and leave us a comment as we love to hear from our visitors. Dont forget to leave your blog URL so we can visit you as well. 

Have you been to Bar Harbor or wanted to go?

What did you post about today?

A - A is for Amusement Parks

 We are participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge again this year. The theme for this year is our Favourite Travel Spots in North America. Join us throughout the month of April as we revisit some of our favourite travel spots. No boarding pass, visa or passport needed!

The locations we feature are all places we have visited and the photos are ones taken by myself or Amanda (or possibly one of our family members) 

Our first stop on the tour are a favourite for guests young and old. With all of the different rides, shows and other attractions there is plenty for everyone in your group to enjoy. Our home park Busch Gardens Williamsburg is the feature of today's post.

The park features 8 coasters and dozens of other rides and attractions. It is themed on several European countries and the theming is among the best you will see anywhere. It has won the Most Beautiful Theme Park award many times. 

Favourite Ride(s) My favourite ride is Apollo's Chariot as it is a smooth ride, lots of speed and air time.

The Loch Ness Monster features an interlocking loop. Still going strong over 40 years later.

An icecream store in the New France section of the park

Alpengeist is a Inverted coaster with several inversion themed on a skiing area

More Info: https://buschgardens.com/williamsburg/ Park Website and ticketing

Cost: There is a variety of different ticket options available. Local stores often have coupons with discounts as well.

How to get there: 
Car: Interstate I64 Exit 243A. The ramp will take you directly to the park entrance
Air:  Newport News Airport (PHF) is the closest airport and is about a 20-30 minute drive to the park. Norfolk (ORF) and Richmond (RIC) airports are within about an hour of the park.
Train: Amtrak has a stop in Williamsburg which is a 15-20 minute drive from the park.

Please take a few moments to say hi and leave us a comment as we love to hear from our visitors. Dont forget to leave your blog URL so we can visit you as well. 

What is your favourite ride/park?

What did you post about today?

2021 A-Z Challenge Theme Reveal

For those that are not familiar with the A-Z challenge it is an event held each April where hundreds of bloggers post each day on a topic. Each day is a different letter starting with A on 1st April and finishing with Z on the 30th. Before we start the challenge many of us post and reveal what our theme is for the challenge. It has been a few years since I have participated but this will be our third time participating in the challenge.

So without further ado the theme for this year is........

Amanda and I love to travel and see new places. We have not been able to do that much recently due to the pandemic so i thought looking back over some of the places we have seen over the years would be a great topic for the challenge. We have not visited Mexico so the locations featured will be in the United States and Canada.

The locations we feature are all places we have visited and the photos are ones taken by myself or Amanda (or possibly one of our family members) So bookmark us and come back each day in April to join us on our virtual tour of North America. No passport or boarding pass needed.

What is your theme for the A-Z Challenge? Can you guess what some of the locations i will feature will be?

His - Crafting in 2020

     Each year i like to look back and see what sewing projects i was able to complete. There are still quite a few unfinished objects but that topic is for another blog post. Here are some of the highlights from 2020.

Face Masks

It may come as no surprise but face masks were a big item for me in 2020. I dont have an exact count but i made well over 250 and could be over 300. I made them in many different colours and fabric patterns. I sold masks to people in 42 different states in the US last year through my Etsy shop.  theguywhosews.etsy.com

I was also able to complete 6 quilts in 2020. It was a few less than the previous year but then again i wasnt making hundreds of face masks haha

Quilt #1 Temperature Quilt

 The first completed quilt was one for myself. Every other quilt i had made prior to this was for someone else so it was nice to have one of my own. Each of the 365 rectangles shows the temperature in my sister's town in 2016. Each color indicated a different temperature. She made the quilt top and i added the batting and backing fabric which is not pictured. This would have been completed well before 2020 but it had some technical issues and was put to the side to get other projects completed.

Quilt# 2 Fun Shirts Quilt

This was a fun project. I used 16 Hawaiian and dress shirts to make this quilt. I used the back of the shirts so i could highlight each of the prints on the shirts. I was a little nervous as i had not worked with some of these materials before but it turned out really nicely.

Quilt# 3 Graduation T-Shirt Quilt

This one went together pretty easily. It ended up being a little to narrow and short to fit a bed so i used strips of the leftover fabric from each of the shirts to form a border around the shirts. 

Quilt# 4 Dachshund Baby Quilt

I found out around May that my sister was pregnant with her first child and was due in December 2020. She loves Dachshunds so i thought a baby quilt with Dachshunds would be perfect. I found a great pattern online (Link to pattern here) and got to work. I chose 8 different colors for the dogs as this was a rainbow baby. I love how this turned out and cant wait to see photos of my nephew using this quilt.

Quilts # 5 & 6  Jimmy Buffet Quilts

My mother in law and father in law are both big Jimmy Buffett fans. They had been collecting Jimmy Buffett shirts for years and asked me to make them quilts for Christmas. I used the prints from the fronts of the shirts to form a border at the top and bottom of each quilt. (Sorry they are sideways but no matter what i do they refuse to rotate)

Did you do any crafting in 2020 or pick up a new hobby?