Bon Voyage

I'm really excited about my weekend travel plans. Tomorrow Cory and I embark on a Bahamian cruise, and I've been looking forward to it for a while. As some of you may know, the past few months have been consumed with back and forth travel between DC and NY (which I'll be blogging about soon). We literally haven't taken a moment to breathe since March. It's been like working a seven-day-a-week job, and we're both really excited for the break. Plus, it's the first time in a while that we're not traveling for a wedding or similar event (which we're obviously happy to do, it's just nice to switch it up).

We're going with four others, so we'll be a nice-sized group of six. We'll be flying to Orlando then sailing on Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas, for a three-night cruise stopping in Nassau and Coco Cay. Coco Cay is the cruiseline's private island and Nassau is the capital city of the Bahamas. Growing up in South Florida, I'm no stranger to cruises, and so I've been to Nassau a number of times. As such, I'm looking forward to just lying on the beach, not feeling the need to explore the island further. For anyone who's never been though, I'd recommend the Balcony House, dating back to the 1700s, and Government House, the government building where visitors can watch a British changing of the guard. It's like London lite.

We have an outside cabin, which is a big departure for me. I like to travel as much as possible, and this means monitoring your spending on each trip to make sure there's finances left for the next. In this case, the outside cabin actually ended up cheaper than an inside. We booked through Travelocity, but had to do so over the phone because of some tech glitch. When Cory told the woman on the phone our billing address, she told us DC residents get a break on the price. The total cost ended up being $100 less per person, and that's for an upgraded room. So anyone in the DC, Maryland or Virginia areas should look into that.

Now, I just have to finish our packing. There are a few cruise essentials I've learned over the years to always pack: Dramamine, mini shampoos and a small wristlet. Obviously, there are other important items (sunscreen comes to mind) but these are my tried and true tricks specific to cruising that seem to make life easier. Dramamine for those first nights when it seems the ocean is never going to go to sleep. Mini shampoos, even though I always forgo them and use hotel-supplied shampoo to save suitcase room. But most cruiselines offer very low quality toiletries (from a pump in the wall), and cruising is one of the few times I check a bag and pay the fee so that I can take on all the liquid I like. And a wristlet because as soon as I board, I heave off my oversized purse...for the duration of my trip, all I need is my cabin key hung conveniently from my arm.

I'll be sure to post back as soon as I return, and I'll try to take some pretty pictures of the blue Bahamas water. Until then, I hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day. What are your weekend plans?

Horsefeathers!

I'm sure you've already heard, but Erica from America (the horse) didn't do so well at the races on Sunday. As I previously posted here, a racing horse named after this very blog made his racing debut this past weekend, and the end result was more anti-climactic than I had anticipated.

Erica from America ended up coming in second to last, and you can read the final stats here.

It seems my horse couldn't be bothered to keep up with the other guys, and was content to keep to a relaxing gallop as he took in his surroundings on the racetrack. As my stepfather told me afterward: "Maybe she was reading a book."

Yes, my stepfather said she. As you'll remember from my last post on the subject, I explained that Erica from America is a male horse with a girl's name. Which sometimes happens in horse racing. However, both my mother and stepfather now believe the horse is a girl. We have yet to come to a decisive conclusion on this. My stepfather's dad, the owner of the horse, will surely be able to sum this up, and I'll write back shortly as soon as we have final word.

My first horse experience took place in London, when I tried to understand the sport of polo and ended up flat on my back in the mud instead. Read more about that here. That was my first time on a horse, and I could have never predicted that two years later I would be so invested in the horse racing industry.

For now, I'll say I'm still content with the efforts of the androgynous Erica from America. That's a weird sentence for me to write. I'm sure he/she did his/her best, and I'm sure we'll see good things from him/her in the future. Until then, here's a video of Hal's Hope, the most successful horse to come out of my step-grandfather's stable so far. In 2000, he won the Florida Derby, and here's his moment of glory:

Giddy Up!

Can you guess what this is a picture of?

No, it's not just a shot of a blurry pony (he looks in focus in real life, promise). Meet Erica from America...the racing horse, not the person or blog title. Ta da! I'm lucky enough to have family who likes to breed horses then name them after relatives.

My step-grandfather is in the horse racing business and gives his new ponies charming names related to various family members. Case in point, my sister's favorite doll growing up was named Favorite Baby. Creative, no? We all get a real kick out of hearing the macho racing announcers yell out through their microphones "Number six is gaining, he's rounding the corner now...and it's Favorite Baby for the win!"

Erica from America (the horse) is two years old now and ready to make his racing debut, this Sunday at Calder Race Track. Erica from America (the person) is very excited by this. I'm hoping there's a lustrous racing career in store for the handsome guy above. Yes, he's a male horse named Erica. Horse naming is a wonky business, but at least they didn't go with their second choice...Sue.

Lustrous career might not be too much of a stretch, by the way. One of my step-grandfather's horses, Hal's Hope, made quite a name for himself a few years back. Hal's Hope won the Florida Derby in 2000 (read more about that here) and ran in the Kentucky Derby that same year. Sadly, he didn't win the Kentucky roses, but I think this story is a good indicator that there are positive things ahead for Erica from America (both the horse and the person).

Of course he could go the way of the horse named after my sister, Emma's Hope, who always refused to leave her gate after the horn was sounded. She was quickly retired to the pasture and now lives a happy life eating hay and giving birth to ponies. Or, the horse named after my step-grandmother, Anita's Hope, who hung herself in her stable before her first race. I think the pressure got to her.

Whatever his future, it's exciting to finally see my guy's name on an official racing sheet. Check him out at the number three spot:

The race is May 22 at 3:43. Apparently, horses are very time specific creatures. The race can be watched on HRTV...ten points if you guessed that it stands for Horse Racing TV. If Comcast doesn't provide the station for your viewing pleasure, you can catch it online at http://www.tvg.com/. Or, just check back here...I'll be sure to post news on how he does!

I know my family and I will be making more than a few bets on my four legged friend this weekend. Reading Erica from America's stat sheet (found here), it seems his minimum bet is fifty cents. I believe, friends, that is what they call a longshot. Which is fine by me. I'm perfectly happy for my name to be synonymous with that label. It just means when we win, we'll win big. I think there's a life lesson in there somewhere.

To tide us all over until the race, here's a video of my sister feeding Erica from America (the hor...oh, you get the point). She likes to go with her grandpa on the weekends to play with all the horses, but Emma did tell me afterward that she gave my horse "extra cookies."


PS: How exciting is it that my namesake is a dark horse?
PPS: How cute is my sister?
PPPS: If you look closely, you'll notice my sister is wearing an Orlando Magic hat. I love her anyway.

Oh Beautiful, For Spacious Skies

When I first started this blog in 2009, I was living in London and writing a weekly column at the Jewish News. That column, Erica from America, chronicled my attempt to complete 52 quintessentially British tasks in one year (read more about that here). Now, two years later, my 52 adventures are complete and have all been posted about, and I thought perhaps this meant the blog would become obsolete. But I just couldn’t let my baby die. It would be sad and, really, unnecessary. Because while I’ve been blogging about my List of 52 online, I’ve been having other traveling adventures out here in the real world.

I’ve decided to continue writing about my various travels and invite you to come along. If you’ve been keeping up with this blog (or if your name is Becky, Rebecca or Lauren) you know I like to go places. I have a very long list of spots to see before I die. Since returning to the states I’ve traveled to a nice amount of new places and I’ll write about some of that here to catch readers up. Meanwhile, I’ll also be blogging about where I’m currently visiting, so make sure to check back!

When I tried to come up with what my first blog post would be about for this new direction, I decided to start with where I am right now: Washington, DC. I’ve been living here for the past year and sometimes I take for granted that it’s also an amazing spot to visit. Probably my favorite thing about DC is it takes the best parts of New York and London and combines them to make a city that is very metropolitan but still charming, with clean streets and lots of greenery. Plus, there’s plenty of really old stuff, which I like.

I live off of Dupont Circle, which is a pretty well known area in the District. (“American President” fans out there, it’s the circle that Sydney Ellen Wade always said she couldn’t drive on…which I now understand perfectly.)

Here's a prettier shot of the interior of the Circle:

When it's warm out, people swarm this area. And if you're really lucky, those people will be the cast of "Mama Mia."

I spend a lot of time in Dupont Circle (duh, I live there). There are great restaurants, cafes and shops in this area, and all I have to do is walk behind my house to get there. If I'm not hanging out in Dupont Circle, though, I'm in Georgetown. I LOVE Georgetown. It's like a little English village. There's a cottage there called The Old Stone House, which is the oldest home in DC. If you visit the House gift shop, you can try on neat hats.

There's also an area in Georgetown where you can hang out on the Potomac and have a drink near the water. My favorite time to visit is sunset, you get a great view! My relatives Amy and Denise visited and I took them to the spot...it was a hit!

I also played host to my Dad, who visited last month to take advantage of cherry blossom season.

Notice how he's all bundled up? His Florida skin didn't appreciate the DC version of spring. I admit, it can sometimes get cold here. But it is a treat to wake up one morning and be surprised by this:

It may be cold, but snow is pretty. Plus, it's a good excuse to make snow caterpillars, a joy I first discovered in London (as posted here).

Whatever the temperature, though, it's pretty neat to be strolling your neighborhood and pass this:


What about you? I'd love to hear what you all think about the place you call home...