Falling for New England: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

This time last year, we were spending a week on Cape Cod. Summertime traffic to the Cape is a pain, so after crossing the Sagamore Bridge, we enjoyed a brief respite at the Cape Cod Canal Visitor Center. Run by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Cape Cod Canal Visitor Center is an excellent place to stretch our legs, learn about the history of the canal and watch boats go by.

Found the flags for Mai Thai

walking trail to watch boats entering the Cape Cod Canal

interesting info along the trail

After checking into our timeshare in the mid-Cape, we went to our favorite place - Kreme and Kone in W. Dennis - for an early dinner. Visions of fried seafood danced in our heads as we headed over. We haven't been in a few years, and were afraid the pandemic might have disrupted their business. We've never been so happy to see a full parking lot and long lines at the counter! 

Fried clams with bellies are the best in New England!

View of the Bass River at Kreme and Kone

On the way back to the timeshare, we swung over to Parker's River Beach to watch the sunset. A perfect ending to our first day of a week-long vacation.

quintessential Cape Cod scenery

Have a great rest of the summer. It's 92 degrees F (feels like 102) in Chattanooga today. Stay cool. y'all! 

This post is shared on Skywatch Friday and **Art*Journal*Journey.

 

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Seize the day - hiking and kayaking

We've endured mid-90-degree temperatures for weeks. A storm came through Monday, dropping the temperature to the 60s that night. Next morning, we awoke to a cool 62 degrees. It's a tad early for fall weather, but boy, do we welcome the change!

We took advantage of the cool weather and went hiking at our favorite Foster Falls. We haven't been there since April. The falls were flowing pretty well from the recent rainstorms.

one of the people we met on the trail

It was still nice in the late afternoon. We drove over to nearby Marion County Park to see some boating friends and do a "sea-trail" of our new 2-seater inflatable kayak (see video below for more details.)

What a beautiful day!

Thanks to our friends, we got some nice pictures and videos of the lovely day kayaking at the park.

This post is shared on Skywatch Friday and Pictorial Tuesday.

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Have Food Will Travel: Atlanta, Georgia

Did you know that Atlanta's airport is the busiest airport in the world? I had no idea. But I have seen Atlanta grown leaps and bounds since it hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics. No doubt Delta, CNN and UPS, having their headquarters in Atlanta, have helped fuel that growth, bringing a diversity of people to the area, along with their food and culture.

You can get all kinds of international food at the DeKalb Farmer's Market, where Atlanta chefs get their  food supplies. We come for the baked good, cheeses and spices, and stay for lunch at the cafeteria; the African-style curry is so good. There are tons of culinary delights elsewhere. Buford Highway is dotted with markets and restaurants galore, from Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese to Mexican and Latin American.

We drive two hours from nearby Chattanooga for the Korean food, but we also love hole-in-the-wall, authentic Southern fare - barbecue ribs (we love dry rubbed, Memphis style), brisket, cornbread, collard greens, fried okra, fried catfish, fried chicken, to name some. So when friends from Southeast Asia were in town, we took them to Fox Brothers Bar-B-Q. They love the food at Fox Brothers, not overly salty, like they found in many American restaurants.

Dry rubbed ribs, collard greens and fried brussel sprouts

Cornbread and butter

I had planned to stop at Krog Street to check out the murals or street art, but didn't think we had enough time. On our way to Fox Brother's, lo and behold, we passed right by Krog Street Tunnel. It was a perfect photo-op for our international visitors. The murals along the street are colorful and creative; the street art inside the tunnel is more akin to graffiti.

Traffic jams on the highways in and around Atlanta have gotten from bad to worse. We still make the two-hour drive to get our fix on Asian food, just not as often as we used to.

This post is shared on Mural Monday, Image-in-ing  and Random-osity.

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A walk down memory lane … in Philadelphia, PA

This time last year, we did a road trip to Boston, stopping overnight in Gettysburg to break up the 17-hr drive. While in Boston, we made many side trips, one of which was our girl's getaway trip to Philadelphia and New York City. My sweet college friend and I took the Amtrak train from Boston, a comfortable and relaxing ride that gave us six hours of quality time to catch up on our lives.

We already felt the buzz of big city life when we passed through New York City, and the vibe continued when we got off at 30th Street Station. Our first stop was downtown Philly. We ambled around city hall and into Reading Terminal Market to see what's new. It's been a looong time since I last visited. 

Philadelphia City Hall

Reading Terminal Market

Then we grabbed a take-out (cheesesteak, of course) from a neighborhood joint to picnic at my favorite place in the city - the gazebo and promenade in the Museum area between Schuylkill River and Kelly Drive. 

Museum of Art

After we ate, we walked up the steps to the iconic Philadelphia Museum of Art. You may recognize the museum area from the legendary movie Rocky. The view of the Philadelphia skyline was obstructed by scaffold and ongoing construction, much to our chagrin. 

Fountain of the Sea Horses

The south has Civil War history. The north has colonial history, and Valley Forge National Park is the perfect place to learn some. General Washington and his army camped here during the long cold winter of 1777-78. There is a visitor center and many historical monuments scattered throughout the park. We used to live about half hour away and had spent many a weekend here. The 3,500-acre park has lots to offer, from history to trails (jogging, hiking, biking, horse-back riding) and wildlife viewing.

soldiers slept in these log huts

Washington's Headquarters

We were in the vicinity, so we stopped at another favorite place, Wissahickon Valley Park, and even swung over to see our old house.

Our first house from years ago.

I've always loved the suburbs of Philadelphia. The city not so much, but every time I visit, I grow fonder for it. This trip was short but sweet. I really enjoyed it, and I think my friend did too. 

Have you been to Philadelphia? 

This post is shared on Skywatch Friday.

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