by Missie Hills | Mar 22, 2023 | Local Adventures, North America
I grew up in Arkansas. I’m intimately familiar with its beauty. But my little Texan babies are not. So, watching them experience the Arkansas country side first hand fills me with nostalgia and love. With spring just barely in the air, we drove deep into the Ozark mountains to the tiny town of Pyatt, where my sister has a hidden cabin tucked away between three lively creeks. It was a chilly visit, but that didn’t stop the little cousins from wading in the creeks as daddy taught them to skip stones.
It was a short trip, but the memories these cousins will share will be huge. Memories like finding the perfect walking stick that also makes a great make believe wizards staff… searching for arrow heads but finding “funny” shaped rocks instead… and trying to pull apart sticky marshmallow covered gloves by the fire…
Until next time,
by Missie Hills | Mar 14, 2023 | Local Adventures, North America
I asked Little E, “Where is the one place anywhere in the world you want to go?” Without missing a beat, he said, “New York City.” From the day he learned in school the reason why the Statue of Liberty was green, he had asked to go see it for himself. So, when a three day weekend presented itself, we boarded the short flight to the city that never sleeps.
On the flight, we had some convincing to a 6 and 3 year old that they would indeed still be required to sleep. But I don’t think they believed us. Because it wasn’t long after we landed that we found ourselves exploring Chinatown at dusk, just in time to see the lanterns glow. Jason and I were eager to try soup dumplings for the first time… they did not disappoint.
The next morning, we packed up for a long day of walking… starting with a near mile and a half walk across the Brooklyn Bridge into DUMBO. Jason and I have both explored NYC on our own many different times, but neither of us had ever been to DUMBO, and we were curious to see what all the fuss was about. The bridge stroll was an experience in itself. The air was full of a once in a lifetime buzz as tourists took their time crossing the East River. In contrast, the air in DUMBO felt less electric and more staged. Everyone was there to get that perfect Instagram shot, which seemed to take away from what this part of the city had to offer. Regardless, we found amazing views of the city, we took a ride on the 100 year old Jane’s Carousel, and we ate ice-cream under the bridge. All in all the walk was worth it.
We could have stayed in DUMBO longer and got more of the true Brooklyn experience, but we had a boat to catch. The moment had come to see the Statue of Liberty up close. We took a river cruise starting on the Hudson, rounding into the East River, and a finale right up to Liberty Island.
It seems like you can’t truly experience NYC without visiting Time Square. The boys were a little young for a show. So, this time, we decided to do a quick walk-through on our way to Central Park. Little E’s eyes were huge as he took in all the lights, street performers, and characters roaming the street. At one point, we were swarmed by Elmos begging us to take a photo for a fee. At the park, we visited the zoo, rode the central park carousal, and of course stopped for ice-cream. Jason also made friends with a local city squirrel.
That evening we met up with friends for oysters and drinks along the riverwalk. We all took an evening stroll to Battery Park where we rode our third carousel, and our favorite carousel, the Sea Glass Carousel.
Our family may have traveled across the world, but nothing has quite kept us on our toes like NYC. We only saw a fraction of what the Big Apple has to offer. And even so, E has decided that he will move here when he grows up. I’m good with that, kid.
Until next time,
by Missie Hills | Mar 9, 2023 | Local Adventures, North America
Little E loves history. It is his favorite school subject. So naturally, he was over the moon to find out that we would be visiting our friends in our nation’s capital over Easter weekend. For us, it was a chance to meet up with our travel buddies, the first time we had been able to do so since 2020. For him, it was seeing all the places he had been reading about first hand in school. He couldn’t wait to see the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Little Evey was more interested in the street food more then anything else, a boy after my own heart.
We were lucky enough to see a few last cherry blossoms this time of year. But also very unlucky, as the view of the Whitehouse was fully blocked off as they prepared for Easter ceremonies, hence the very sad face of Ethan at the gates. He perked up fast though as we explored the city’s amazing free museums, our favorite being the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
My childhood didn’t include magical trips to places I had read about in school books. It didn’t include state of the art museums, precious art galleries, and famous monuments. It didn’t even include sloppy popsicles from park street vendors. So, to be able to provide this experience for my boys means the world to me. I want to soak in every minute as I watch them grow into curious beautiful humans.
Until next time,
by Missie Hills | Mar 8, 2023 | Europe, International Adventures
You can’t start a post on day trips from Porto, without first talking about the most beautiful train station in the world, Sao Bento Station. It doesn’t take long to find out why people call this train station the most beautiful train station in the world. You could spend hours staring at the walls which are covered with the most intricate blue tiled murals. It’s so beautiful that it’s hard to believe that it is an actual working train station, and a well operating one at that.
We boarded our train with very little wait time and no fuss, and then rode an hour away to Guimarães, known for its historic town centre and medieval castle. It did not disappoint. We started our morning by stopping in a pastry shop where we tried multiple different egg tart sweets. It rained off and on, but that didn’t matter much as there were plenty of covered sidewalk cafes for us to linger in especially in the medieval Largo da Oliveiria plaza in the heart of the old town.
Once the rain cleared, the boys pretended to be knights as we roamed throughout the 10th century Guimarães Castle and the restored Dukes of Bragança Palace. I was rewarded with yet another beautiful ceiling in the palace. One day I hope my photography can accurately depict my love for beautiful ceilings. Until then, trust me when I say it was stunning. E pointed out the most spooky of paintings that featured a head on a platter. We didn’t take a photo of it and haven’t been able to find it since. But he talks about it often.
That medieval feeling stayed with us as we walked through the old town centre of the beautiful city stopping often to have drinks and snacks in sidewalk cafes. While sipping vino verde in one café, we were surprised with a local tradition where the town’s accordion players gathered in a circle under the medieval arches sparking all the locals to dance and sing around them. It was truly magical.
For our next adventure, we departed the most beautiful train station in the world once again for an hour ride to Braga. Braga is one the oldest cities in the country and home to many universities. But people really come here for the beautiful Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte. The day we arrived in Braga, it was hazy with everything coated in a pale yellow glow. It wasn’t a perfect day to get beautiful landscapes of one of our most anticipated sites to see, but we made do. In the town centre, we strolled through beautiful gardens while spotting dragons. We took our time enjoying the white port wine spritzers over lunch before catching a bus to the main attraction.
Bom Jesus do Monte, or the Good Jesus of the Mountain, is a catholic shrine known for the Christian pilgrimages ending with the sites Baroque stairway, climbing in crisscross style. The staircase pays homage to the five senses as you climb. You can make the climb yourself, or you can take the old fashioned water balance funicular, built in 1882, to the top. It was muggy out. We weren’t about to climb those stairs with the boys. So we rode the funicular up, I walked the steps down and back up by myself, and we rode the funicular down. I found this site to be mesmerizing. The zigzag staircase seemed endless from the bottom giving a real sense of depth. The Baroque finishings added that touch of creepy you really expect from this type of architecture. I loved every bit of it.
From knights to dragons, the areas surrounding Porto carried on the marvelous magical feeling leaving us craving more adventure. The beauty of Portugal is in the details… It’s in the intricate patterned sidewalks… It’s in the colorful stacks of sardine cans… It’s is the beautiful array of blue and green tiles… And just like the beauty of those details, Jason and I found the most beauty of our trip in the small but grand moments we shared with our beautiful family, moments that will stay with us forever.
Until next time,
by Missie Hills | Mar 8, 2023 | Europe, International Adventures
Whenever we travel to somewhere new, we try to wrap up our experience of the city in one word. That word for Porto came easily… Marvelous.
The city was full of this buzzing feeling of magic, stemming from features like the bookstore rumored to inspire Harry Potter, the streets full of eclectic street art, and the walls covered with famous blue tiled murals. My favorite feature was the Douro riverside landscape views of the Ribeira, packed with colorful lego stacked houses. Jason’s favorite feature was the Gaia port wine cellars. And the boys? Well, they loved the gelato.
This family vacation was Little Evey’s first trip to Europe! He rocked the flight like a travel pro. But the jet lag did its thing and we experienced our first 2 year old meltdown of the trip at dinner that night. What I always find fascinating about Europeans is how considerate and accommodating they are of families in restaurants. I braced myself for the ugly stares, but they never came. We were given the space to work through the tantrum and finish our dinner without having to leave hungry.
Having that tantrum early in trip helped us set some parenting guardrails and curb our expectations. We decided then to not worry about what the boys ate for the rest of the trip. We wouldn’t stress over picky eating until we got back home. This was hard at times, but ultimately paid off and reduced the tantrums dramatically.
We had 10 full days to spend in Porto and the extended area. We never spend that much time in one city. So, we weren’t quite sure how to do it. We had no day by day plan… just a general sense of major things to see and do and a guide book by our side. It didn’t take us long to love this relaxed way of travel. With no agenda, we were free to stop in shops we would have never have stopped in, linger in cafes we would have never visited, and talk to strangers we would have never have talked to.
We only had one major planned event, and it started on our first morning with our tradition of getting a professional photoshoot through Localgraphers. I cannot recommend Localgraphers enough. We were paired with the local photographer, Max. He was great with the kids and our photos in the Ribeira district turned out wonderful.
With that one big planned event out of the way. We spent the rest of our time in Porto truly wandering the streets. We started our exploration with a river boat cruise where we learned about the City of Bridges. We were rewarded with perfect views of the riverfront colorful houses. We made up stories about our favorite houses and decided one of them was definitely haunted.
A lot of the trip turned out to be a rainy mess, but we’ve never let a little rain get us down. We had plenty of indoor spots to check out too. Little E (who is actually not so little anymore) and I decided to visit the famous Livraria Lello, the most beautiful bookstore in the world and rumored to have inspired the Harry Potter series. Accolades like that attract attention though. The line to get in the store wrapped well around the block even in the rain. We had bought a VIP pass that allowed us to walk right pass that line and go directly inside, worth every penny even with the death stares we got from the patrons wet on the sidewalk. However, it was still incredibly crowded inside and everyone wanted a photo of the main feature, the red double staircase. So, E and I found a few books to buy, and got out of the stuffy small space with very few photos to show.
The rain that day poured on. And so we took the kids to the World of Discoveries, a children’s museum focused on Portugal’s explorations. As a family that loves to explore, it seemed fitting. The kids loved the cheesy boat ride that slowly took us around the world. I was ecstatic to randomly find a quirky antique mall right next door. We strolled through the antique booths, spotting the most random second hand finds, and then stayed awhile in the mall’s coffee shop while playing backgammon and sipping hot chocolate next to the antique piano while everything softly glowed from the fireplace.
Turns out these small moments were more grander than seeing any major landmark or red double staircase.
Once the kids had their fun in the cutesy museum, we didn’t feel bad for dragging them along to our most anticipated event, the port wine cellars tour in Gaia across the river. After riding the aerial gondola directly over the mass expanse of wine cellars along the river, we trekked up the hill to Graham’s Lodge. We splurged on the VIP package which included a tour of the cellars and an exclusive tasting of ports in a the Vintage Room. The kids enjoyed the spooky tour in the cellars as they looked for hidden monsters. Jason and I enjoyed the Vintage Room decked out in leather armchairs, mahogany bookshelves, and old maps… a couple of cigars and it would have been perfect.
Our explorations continued over the next few days utilizing these fun travel cards. They really helped excite E as we walked through the city. Every single block we walked through had unique tiles and colors. We took our time on each street. We made stops in the city’s most beautiful churches exploring the creepy tombs below and climbing the high towers above.
All this walking made us hungry of course. We explored circus themed sardine shops full of all things fishy, stuffed ourselves with Francesinhas (Porto’s famous sandwich smothered in cheese and topped with an egg), and found the best gelato in the world (awarded by my children). Jason and I ate electric flowers from the Amazon Rainforest that numbed our mouths and opened our taste buds. We all tried the jams and chocolates packaged in paint tubes. There were egg tart pastries everywhere. And low and behold, we found a pizza place so good that even Little Evey ate a slice!
The last couple days we had in Porto, you guessed it, we roamed even more. We found an fascinating photography museum hidden in an abandoned prison. We took the trolley to the beach to see the Atlantic Ocean. We looked for the best street art in the city. We counted how many Mario flower powers we could spot (we found 11 total). E loved being old enough to start learning how to use my camera. I took advantage and played his model to finally get a few photos of me in the mix and a couple of me and Jason as well. Turns out he has a knack for it!
Yes, we don’t typically spend this much time in one city. But because we did, I think we found a new way that we love to travel. The best memories we have of this trip aren’t from the top attractions you find when you google Porto. It’s the small moments. It’s the excitement in Little Evey’s eyes when he saw the trolley for the first time. It’s the laughter from E as we took turns spotting fun things in the shops. It’s the way Jason and I both would say, “This is the best one yet…” every time we ate a new Francesinhas. And most of it all, it’s the magic we felt in the air… that overwhelming feeling that we could only describe in one word… Marvelous.
Until next time,
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