Books Archives - Weary Wanderer

Another Birthday Celebration in the Books, This Time in Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Published on October 24, 2016November 18, 2016 by Cheryl Lock4 Comments

^^ Have you ever seen a happier dog? Can you blame him — look at that view!

Well my friends, we made it back from our first road trip with the Little, and we’re all in tact and, what’s more, we all had an amazing time. Chris’s birthday was this past Saturday, so we decided to check out a new place — Steamboat Springs. At only a little over three hours away, it was the perfect place to get our feet wet when it comes to traveling with a baby, and Lotte obliged us by being pretty much amazing the entire time.

What can I say — she has travel in her blood 😉

For starters, we stayed at Nordic Lodge which, while totally bare essentials when it comes to amenities, was the perfect location, especially when you have a baby who needs feeding and/or a good nap every couple hours and you prefer to do that at a home base. They had a Pack ‘n Play that we were able to use for our trip, which meant we could skip taking up room in the car with ours, and they were willing to upgrade us for free to a larger room to accommodate the Pack ‘n Play, although we opted to pay an extra $50 for the weekend and actually upgrade to a suite with a separate bedroom, that way Lotte could nap in peace and we didn’t have to tiptoe around her and whisper the whole time.

I gotta say — for newbies, I think we did well!

Here’s what we three got up to …

^^ You know my child would have a onesie specifically dedicated to traveling, although I can’t take credit for buying this — it was all my sister!

^^ Our first night in town we walked to Mahogany Ridge Brewery for dinner which, while a brewery, was in my opinion probably a little bit fancier than you should bring a baby (and a huge stroller!) to. So we really have to give props to Lotte for sleeping through our entire meal! Great job, kid! That certainly made us feel more comfortable taking you out for more restaurant visits throughout the weekend.

^^ Chris’s traditional birthday steak dinner … just one night early 😉

^^ What you see here are parents who are ecstatic that their child slept through their meal!

^^ The cute little town, all lit up at night.

^^ Saturday started out with this adorable face … and some birthday present opening 😉

^^ After presents we made our way to Fish Creek Falls, a pretty little hike that was short enough to do with our 3-month-old strapped to Chris’s chest and long enough to make us feel like we actually did something — plus it was so pretty! (Bring $5 for parking! I had read that this place gets really packed, but during the off-peak season at like 7:30 in the morning, it was pretty much us alone on the trails — we only ran into two other (very small) groups of people the whole time.)

^^ The falls!

^^ The rising sun was not my photography friend on this hike, but the falls are there, if you look hard enough!

^^ Again, slept like a champ throughout the whole thing! We made sure to rug her up so she was nice and warm, all cozy-like against dad’s chest for the hike.

^^ After the hike we had a seriously delicious breakfast at Creekside Cafe & Grill, which just happens to literally be almost in the parking lot of the hotel where we stayed. Score! The back porch was closed for the season, but it was such a glorious day we could easily have eaten outside and been happy. Oh well — next time!

^^ Bloody Mary’s all around!

^^ Under the table and dreaming 😉

^^ See? How cute is this back patio?!

^^ After breakfast we went for a little walk in town to do some shopping and check out the fall colors. Although some things were unfortunately closed for the season (like back patios, for example, and the gondola), I would highly recommend traveling during this time. It was really quiet, which was nice, and the views were spectacular.

^^ If you’re looking for a quintessential Western shop with cowboy boots, hats and the like, check out F.M. Light & Sons. It’s sort of an institution in town.

^^ Cowboy boots for days!

^^ They had ’em for kids, too!

^^ See what I mean about the fall colors? Glorious!

^^ Elevated Oil is a fun place to check out if you’re an olive oil connoisseur. You can even taste test the oils, which I thought would be totally gross but actually turned out to be delicious!

^^ After shopping we hopped in the car for a (super) short ride to Storm Peak brewery, which was a really fun little brewery with tons of delicious beers on tap. Plus the weather was so nice they opened the garage doors, making it even more fun to hang.

^^ Again, ecstatic parents that their child is cooperating …

^^ Lotte did wake up from a short nap here, which allowed us to take some silly pictures. Always a plus in my book.

^^ Silly pic No. 1 …

^^ And 2 …

^^ And 3 …

^^ And 4 … and trust me, there were many more, but I’ll spare you. You get the picture.

^^ We tried to hang at Butcherknife Brewing after Storm Peak, but Lotte had had enough, which was fair enough — you did well little one! So we headed back to the hotel so she could nap properly, and Chris and I ordered take-out from Rex’s American Grill & Bar. In all honesty, we only ordered from this place because I thought it delivered (it does not, I had to go pick our food up), but it turned out to be delicious, so it was a win!

^^ On Sunday morning we had to get rugged up again (which someone was not happy about at first), because we took a walk down by the Yampa River.

^^ On the way back to the lodge to grab the car we stopped in Off the Beaten Path, an amazing local bookstore that I highly recommend, if you’re into that kind of thing 😉

^^ We definitely wanted to check out the area near the mountain while we were there as well. It’s really cute with lots of little shops and restaurants, and while you can tell it would probably be crazy packed in winter, again, at this perfect time of year, it was pretty empty, which is always amazing for a ski town.

^^ Improvising when no ramp is available.

^^ We grabbed lunch at Slopeside Grill before heading out and ate on their deck. Chris was a bit upset they didn’t have more local beers on tap, but their veggie burger was pretty awesome (although Mahogany’s was better, if you’re keeping score) and the views were unparalleled.

^^ Multitasking at its best.

^^ Views on the drive home.

And that was it, my friends — our first road trip with Lotte is officially in the books, and it was a great one. Her next big trip will be in November when we head back east for Thanksgiving, and that one involves a plane. Yikes. Wish us luck!

Bis bald, friends!

Back in the Borough: Shakespeare in the Park

Published on July 31, 2013August 2, 2013 by Cheryl Lock5 Comments

Hi friends,

I was telling Chris yesterday that I feel like this has been the summer of Central Park. First we saw the NY Philharmonic in the park, then we took a bike ride through it, on Sunday we took my 4-month-old nephew there, and last night we partook in a long-time New York City bucket list item of both of ours … seeing Shakespeare in the Park.

Allow me to explain. You see, every summer The Public Theater provides free tickets to eager New Yorkers willing to do insane things (like get up at 4:30 a.m. to camp out in line for said free tickets) for performances at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The tickets are, as you can imagine, very popular, and therefore very hard to get. There’s a public lottery online—but I’m convinced no one ever wins tickets that way (at least I never have!)—you can purchase a $175 summer supporter membership and get one free ticket to one show, OR (and this is a popular one) … you can camp out in Central Park, starting at around 6 a.m., until they open their doors at noon and start passing out tickets.

Yesterday my friend Carla and I bit the bullet and just did it — we camped out in Central Park for six hours, starting at 6 a.m., to get free tickets.

And I have to say, my friends, it was TOTALLY. WORTH. IT. Honestly, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. (Of course weather is key, here, people. If you’re going to be laying in the grass for six hours, you must have nice weather, which we did. Couldn’t have asked for better.)

Anyway, here’s a bit from the morning:

^^I took this hazy Central Park path photo around 5:50 a.m. as I was entering the park. It reflects my mood nicely. Hazy.

^^The line pass beyond the point where we could see it. Turns out there's something called "The Rock of No Hope." Rumor has it if you try to get in line past that rock for tickets, you're probably out of luck. — ^^The line passed beyond the point where we could see it. Turns out there’s something called “The Rock of No Hope.” Rumor has it if you try to get in line past that rock for tickets, you’re probably out of luck.

^^Along with the free play tickets, the New York Times was passing out this lovely book to people in the line, for free.

^^This lovely gentleman serenaded us with his flute while we waited in line. Then asked for money, which of course we were happy to give him. When we returned 8 hours later for the actual play, he was playing a saxophone. So talented. — ^^This lovely gentleman serenaded us with his flute while we waited in line. Then asked for money, which of course we were happy to give him. When we returned 8 hours later for the actual performance, he was playing a saxophone. So talented.

^^At one point I took a short nap. When I woke up, this was my view. Not too shabby.

Now just because this could be considered a crazy thing to do, don’t be fooled. There’s a method to the madness, people. Theater workers walk the lines every so often, keeping count and making sure no one cuts in line. (There’s no holding spots for other people, and no one was meant to join you later on, is what we were told. Going to the bathroom. That was the only time you were allowed to vacate your spot (thank God!)).

There was also a cute little delivery man on a bike who smartly handed out take-out menus from a restaurant located right outside of the park. Carla and I were all too happy to ask our neighbors to add two cappuccinos for us to the delivery they ordered for themselves at around 9 a.m.

Tickets are handed out randomly–so as long as you’re in the line before they run out, it actually doesn’t matter if you’re the first person or the last person–both are just as likely to get good seats. Unfortunately, despite our pretty amazing location in line (I’d say about 25-35 people deep), our seats were pretty high up. The theater is on the smaller side, though, so no seat is really a bad seat, per se.

So you wait in line for six hours (or at least we did), you get your tickets, then you leave and come back around 8, when the doors open. Performances start at 8:30, and there are no intermissions. That’s okay, though, because the performances are so amazing, you don’t even want a break.

The performance we saw was called ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’. The gist of it is that the King and three of his friends decide at their five-year college reunion to swear off women. When four cute girls–including the princess–show up from their past, though, things get ca-razy. (And ca-razy funny, too!)

You aren’t meant to take photos from inside the theater, but Chris went rogue and shot this one quickly:

Is that not the cutest ever? With Turtle Pond in the background, the skyscrapers in view from the Upper West Side and the vague noises from people enjoying the park all around the outside of the theater … it’s honestly a moment where you think: “Am I really watching a Shakespeare play, for free, in the middle of Central Park?”

It’s pretty incredible.

You’re also allowed to bring food and drink into the theater, as long as you don’t take in any glass bottles. So we loaded up on sandwiches and snacks and little bottles of boxed wine–and had ourselves a merry Shakespearean Central Park night … just the four of us!

I would highly recommend this to any tourists, too. It gives you an excuse to get up early enough to start your day, and if the weather’s nice, there’s nothing better than camping out in CP in the early morning, watching everyone with their dogs running around, ecstatic, off their leashes. Then you have your tickets by 12:30 at the latest, and you have until 8 p.m. to spend the rest of the day however you like. And you can end the evening with a magnificent (free of charge!) play.

What can be better than that?

Bis bald, friends! I purchased my ticket for D.C. for next week yesterday–I cannot wait!

Road Trip Advice

Published on July 12, 2013 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

According to next month’s Marie Claire, my road trip style is “Easy Coastal Cruising: Wind along the Pacific Coast Highway from Northern California to Los Angeles.”

I’d be happy to do that … or maybe even use this book to plan the next road trip. I’ve been dying to crack it open since it arrived about a month ago!

A Last-Minute Labor Day Trip

Published on September 6, 2012September 6, 2012 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

A row of sunflowers on the drive back from New Paltz. I made my stepdad pull over so I could take a picture. He obliged. Good man.

Hi friends,

So after a full week of dealing with some seriously hard-core jet lag (I mean, we’re talking serious jet lag here!), I’ve finally managed to drag myself out of the foggy haze.

It’s always worth the jet-lag in the end though, isn’t it? I can’t believe my trip to Italy is already a thing of the past. So sad.

Anyway, after pulling myself through the haze, I was facing a 3 and 1/2 day weekend, and I was feeling … antsy. Chris and I had plans to head to Far Rockaway with some friends for one last beach-filled weekend, but I bailed at the last minute. So instead, as Chris caught the subway to meet up with our friends, I hopped the train and headed upstate to my mom’s, where we took in a wine and crafts festival in New Paltz (which has seriously become my new favorite place to spend my falls, with its wineries, hiking trails, breweries and gorgeous fall foliage), ate dinner at The Gilded Otter and just generally chilled out.

I even managed to wake up early Monday morning and drag myself out to the back porch swing with my blanket, coffee and the book I’m currently reading.

I truly believe that only if you actually live in a city can you really appreciate what it means to get out of the city every now and then. I mean, I spent my entire high school career living in this same house, and never found as much solace in its back yard as I do these days.

So that was my Labor day! What did you guys get up to?

If you’re like me…

Published on July 19, 2011 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

you are always looking for inspiration for new trips. That’s why I love this roundup on the LHJ Website “Bon Voyage: 19 Tips from the Best Travel Writers.” In it, the writer interviews the contributors from the Best Women’s Travel Writing of 2011, asking for some of their tips, tricks, and travel habits.

One of my favorites comes from Sarah Katin when asked ‘What’s next on your must-visit list?’ She responds, “Argentina! Or Istanbul! Or New Zealand! Or Zanzibar! Wait. Where is Zanzibar? I have to go look at a map.”

Sounds familiar 🙂 What’s next on my must-visit list? Anywhere and everywhere, people!

Bis bald!