Hello there, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted on here. I haven’t traveled much during the first few months of 2024, but I have some upcoming trips in the second quarter.
In the meantime, I thought I would highlight one of the most unique parts of the city where I live – the cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms are a Japanese plant that can be found in a handful of cities across the country, including here in D.C. The first time I ever saw these gorgeous flowers were in 2010 when I came here on a family trip as a senior in high school.
Here are some pictures I took of the cherry blossoms and some magnolia trees this year.
Normally this blog documents the trips I’ve taken, but this time I decided to write about something different. I was inspired by a family member who just moved across the country to a brand new city, prompting me to think of ways I built a life here when I first landed in the nation’s capital almost 10 years ago.
Keep in mind that this is just general advice and suggestions based off of my experiences:
Look for opportunities to find community: I knew exactly three people when I first moved here, so I started researching ways to meet new people. Look for groups based on your interests. I was able to find a local church with a young adult group pretty quickly. If you don’t attend church, try a sports league, volunteering or a meetup group. Websites like meetup.com allow you to search by interest and geographic area. It can be intimidating to go to that first meeting, but it’s likely that there’ll be other “new” people there too.
Join a gym or fitness group: It took me almost a year to join an actual gym, but I remember going on a lot of walks during my first couple of years here. It gave me a chance to explore the area, helped me keep in shape, and was a great way to decompress after sitting all day. If you’re on a budget, look for free or donation-based classes. During my first few years, I found a free Zumba class at a local library, a yoga studio that did a donation-based class every Sunday, and a gym that held free outdoor yoga classes during the warmer months.
Visit local markets and small businesses: Most areas have those local spots – a bakery, a farmer’s market, thrift stores, or an independent bookstore. In my years here, I’ve filled my apartment with local art pieces, my closet with thrifted clothes and cooked with ingredients from area vendors. Supporting these businesses can help you feel connected to your new area. If you work from home and want a change of scenery, try a local coffee shop or food hall, as most usually have free wi-fi.
If you’re in between jobs, look into working for a local business: This can really depend on your work situation. I interned my first few years here, but I took a couple of part-time jobs to help make end’s meet. The hours weren’t the best, but in retrospect I feel like I gained a new perspective. One of my jobs was at a small business where I worked alongside the owner who knew his regular customers and was really in-tune with the neighborhood. I learned a lot about building a business from the ground up and experience a more laid-back atmosphere, a balance to the busy office life.
In early 2019, I traveled to Daytona Beach, a city on the east coast of Florida. I wrote about that trip in late 2022, more than three years after I actually took it. At that time in 2019, I thought I’d come back to Florida the next year, not knowing what March 2020 would bring. Finally, almost five years later, I got another opportunity to travel to Florida last month, this time for the wedding of the same friend.
I flew into the Orlando airport the night before the wedding, rented a car, and drove the hour east to Daytona Beach. It was my first time ever driving in Florida, but the GPS on my phone told me where to go.
The next morning, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and it felt great to be wearing shorts, a tank top and sandals in November. I went to see if I could take a walk on the beach, but the area was closed due to unsafe tide conditions. I was still able to see the beach from a sightseeing platform, the view of the coast relaxing me.
Later that morning, I decided to drive over to the Daytona International Speedway, home of the NASCAR Daytona 500 race every February. My dad watched the race on television pretty much every year when I was growing up, being a former amateur driver himself as a young adult.
The tour of the race track was an experience. We rode out onto the track in a tram towed by a pickup truck driven by our tour guide. The guide pointed out the “banked” curves, slanted at a certain angle so the race cars can go around them seamlessly. I learned about how spotters are stationed at different places around the track to look for debris that could cause damage to the cars. We even got to stop and stand on the finish line, walk around victory lane, and admire the view from the grandstands. It felt surreal to be standing in a place that I’d seen multiple times on television. I was also amazed at how large the whole venue is, spanning over 400 acres.
The banked curves
The view from the grandstand
The rest of the day passed with having fun at my friend’s wedding and reception. Overall, it felt great to be able to finally return to Florida for a reason. I hope to make it back there soon (and for real this time.)
My extensive travels during the second half of this year continued into this autumn when I ventured up to New York City for the first time in a year and a half to visit a college friend.
Our first morning, we took the subway into Manhattan and went to the 9/11 Memorial. I hadn’t been there since 2014, when I visited the 9/11 museum. The 9/11 Memorial is two giant pools built in the footprints of where the Twin Towers once stood, bordered by black marble panels inscribed with the names of the 9/11 victims. Each pool is three stories deep and has water continuously flowing down the sides.
Even though I live in the nation’s capital full of monuments, this memorial is more profound to me since it’s commemorating something that happened in my lifetime. I appreciate how they chose not to rebuild on the exact plot of the towers. The pools echo the massive size of the buildings, something I never got to experience as a child.
Just beyond the memorial is the newer One World Trade Center skyscraper, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at a height of 1,776 feet tall. We went up to the observatory on its 102nd floor. The view was amazing, you can see an 360-degree view of all of the boroughs and landmarks. This was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip.
Afterward, we took a ghost tour in the West Village near New York University. The tour guide took us around the area, telling of stories like ghost sightings of famous author Mark Twain, and pointed out different landmarks, like the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory tragedy from 1911. It was fascinating to learn more about that part of New York City’s history, a change from the typical landmarks everyone’s familiar with.
Other excursions we did included a ride on the free Staten Island Ferry, which docks at the very bottom of Manhattan. As the ship pulled away from Lower Manhattan, we had a great view of the skyline, including One World Trade Center. We could also see the Statue of Liberty.
Another side trip was to Central Park to see the Balto statue – I’d seen the movie based on his story multiple times as a kid that shows the statue at the end of the film, so it was a nice, nostalgic moment.
Atlanta, Georgia, is perhaps best well-known for its massive airport. True, the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is the busiest airport in the world with its own subway system, but I got the chance to experience the city beyond the tarmac over Labor Day Weekend.
I spent my first day in the suburb of Woodstock, Georgia, where my family’s friends live. It’s about half an hour north of downtown Atlanta, and is a historic site with older buildings and train tracks that run right through town. I liked being able to see a slice of small town Georgia, as it reminded me of my own hometown in Upstate New York.
The next day, we headed downtown for some sightseeing. The World of Coca-Cola is the museum showcasing the world-famous soda brand, which was founded in Atlanta in the 1880s. A notable interactive exhibit is the tasting room, where you can taste different soda flavors from around the world. I had forgotten that Coca-Cola owns several other drink brands, like Sprite, Fanta and Hi-C. I don’t drink soda much as an adult, but tasting those flavors brought back childhood memories of summer picnics and parties.
World of Coca-ColaInteractive Exhibit of designing your own bottle
Vintage exhibits (caught me mid-blink)
The busy tasting room
After lunch, we walked over to Centennial Olympic Park, a green space originally built in 1996 when Atlanta hosted the summer Olympics. I’ve been to some Olympic sites before, like Lake Placid, but I hadn’t seen this many tributes up close. The iconic rings are on display, as is a statue of the founder of the “modern” Olympics. There’s a spray park on another end, with the fountain in the shape of the rings. I also learned the name “Centennial” Park came from 1996 being the 100th anniversary of the “modern” Olympics, and not because of the turn of the 21st century, as I had previously thought.
Centennial Park
The iconic Olympic rings
About a ten minute drive from there is the torch and the arch marking the “entrance” to the 1996 Olympics, still up after all this time. I was surprised to see the area around there is mostly undeveloped parking lots, but it’s not the same as it was almost 30 years ago. There is some history to the site, on one side is where the old Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium once was, where the Atlanta Braves baseball team played their games for decades.
The Olympic torch and arch, flanked by undeveloped parking lots…
A better view of the Arch
Site of the old Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
Atlanta was the perfect trip to end a busy month of travel – a new city for me with both older and newer history and the opportunity to catch up with family friends.
Driving under the arch with the Georgia State Capitol building dome in the distance
Back in 2017, I visited my friend in New Hampshire and stayed at her family’s lake house. I had a fun time and planned to return, but other commitments kept coming up over the following years. After 6 years, I was finally able to visit again in early August.
After spending the first night in Salem, where my friend lives, we drove up to the lake house on Lake Winnipesaukee. The next two days were spent relaxing and reading on the dock, eating delicious barbecue food, and swimming in the lake. Lake Winni’s clear, fresh water felt refreshing to be in, a contrast to the murky and sometimes jellyfish-infested water of the Chesapeake Bay. Floating in the safe and calm water made me feel more present than I had in awhile.
At one point, I realized just how much I’ve grown since the last time I visited. 2017 was a pivotal year for me, as I had started a new job, witnessed a close family member get married, and moved into a new apartment, all within the three months before my July 2017 trip. The trip back then had helped me process all those new changes in my life as a 24-year-old. Now, as my first year in my 30s comes to a close, my life is definitely different. I’m older, wiser, more settled and stable, but still have a feeling of wanderlust and constant curiosity.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, New Hampshire will always have a special place in my heart because of family connections. My paternal grandfather was born and raised in Exeter, New Hampshire, and it’s one of the first states I traveled to with my family outside of my native New York State. The fact that I have friends that live there makes it even better.
Growing up in Upstate New York meant being in a neighbor state of Pennsylvania, but I didn’t start going there more often until my university campus brought me closer to the border of the two states. Fast forward to now – I’ve lived in D.C. for almost a decade and finally got the chance to visit the area of Hershey and Gettysburg, just over a two-hour drive north of D.C..
Hershey, Pennsylvania, is of course known for the world-famous Hershey’s chocolate company. The Hershey Park complex includes an amusement park and Chocolate World. It was pouring rain by the time my friend and I got there, so we headed into the Chocolate World store. The huge building has a ride that breaks down the process of how Hershey’s chocolate is made and ends with you getting a complimentary chocolate bar. I bought a couple of souvenirs and chocolate, of course. We then went to a restaurant called The Chocolatier and got some cocktails.
The next day, the rain subsided, so we drove out to Gettysburg. The town is very rich in history, being the site of an important battle in the Civil War in the 1860s. The downtown boasts several old buildings with unique architecture.
Afterward, we went out to the battlefield, now a national park containing several monuments. A noteworthy one was the State of Pennsylvania Monument. The architecture reminded me of a smaller Arc de Triomphe, and you can actually walk up to the top and view several different landmarks from a distance. Despite the cloudy weather, I felt refreshed being out in the open air and getting to learn more about an important historic place. Moving to D.C. years earlier has helped me find out more about certain parts of American history – a majority of my knowledge growing up focused on the Erie Canal, since my hometown is in Upstate New York.
The view from the State MonumentThe view from the State Monument
A plaque at the top of the monument noting the distance to different noteworthy places in the region
I enjoyed my weekend here and hope to be back to see more sites in the near future.
Hello there, I realize that I wrote this back in late November and for some reason never published it. This documents the first leg of my England trip.
My trip began in London on Tuesday, November 8, when I arrived at the London Heathrow airport around 10:30am GMT, or England time. My flight was about 6 and a half hours. I had tried to get some sleep on the plane, but it’s a strange sensation to try to fall asleep in a metal tube over the ocean amongst strangers.
After arriving at my hotel, I fought sleep by spending the afternoon shopping around the Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street area of London. This included a trip to Primark, one of my favorite stores in the UK. The clothing sizes in the UK are different from the US, but Primark makes it easy by including international sizes on all their clothing. I concluded the evening by checking out the Christmas lights around Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street and walking down to see Big Ben at night. Both sites were extraordinary to see, even in my half asleep haze.
On my second day in London, I decided to start in Kensington since I had never been there before. I walked around South Kensington, stopping at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This was one of the museums I hadn’t gotten the chance to see back in 2012. Since this is a museum in the UK, I enjoyed the experience of getting to see how exhibits in a different country are staged.
My next stop was Buckingham Palace. It had been two months since the Queen passed, and all of the tributes had since been removed. Still, I enjoyed getting to take pictures and enjoy the site itself.
I walked to Covent Garden next, a historic marketplace east of Trafalgar Square.
Later that night, I ended up going to see the Phantom of the Opera on the West End on a whim. It’s actually the first show I ever saw on Broadway in New York when I was 13, and now it’s the first show I’ve seen on the West End in London. I had seen a couple of shows in 2012, but they had only been in Liverpool. I later found out that the show actually premiered in London in 1986, only adding more excitement to the experience to see it in the place where it originated.
Thursday was my last day in London, and I explored the King’s Cross station area since my train was going out of San Pancreas, which is right next door. This location is of course associated with the popular Harry Potter series. They have a cart halfway through the wall that was there in 2012, and have since added a souvenir shop in the space next to the door.
It was interesting seeing how I felt this time versus last time. I was able to go to London twice back in 2012, both times I was with other people and had more of a schedule to keep. While I was able to see a lot of the touristy London sites those times, being in London solo definitely had its perks. I felt perfectly relaxed walking around the streets, and got to take my time going from place to place. Living in DC for almost a decade has helped me get used to walking around cities.
Here’s my second edition of now and then pictures from my England trip last November, this time highlighting Edge Hill University and the town where it’s located, Ormskirk, in the Lancashire county of England.
The pictures on the left are from 2012 and the right is 2022.
That phonebox is no longer there, as you can see the empty base on the left side of the photo. My dorm, Eleanor Rathbone, in 2012Demolished just six weeks before we arrived for our 2022 reunion…
This is the first big trip I took since my England one back in November, and the first time I’ve ever flown to another city for my job. I had never been to Texas before, so I was excited to get the opportunity to go there.
Located in the southern part of Texas, San Antonio is about an hour and a half southwest of Austin. My direct flight there from DC was a little over three hours, and being on central time meant that I gained an hour. I arrived at my hotel at about 8pm central time, too late to go anywhere, but I did get to hang out at the hotel bar with some of my coworkers.
The next morning, I had some time to walk around the area. My hotel was right in downtown San Antonio, and overlooked the site of the Alamo, a historic church built over 300 years ago that is very rich in history. I was surprised to see how small the actual structure was, but the surrounding area was interesting to explore. Living in the old city of D.C., I’ve come to appreciate unique historical architecture because of its character.
Another attraction in San Antonio is the River Walk. As the name suggests, a few branches of the San Antonio river wind through a section of the city and contain several shops and restaurants. I took a walk along here and was very relaxed by the experience, forgetting that I was even in the middle of a city. The scenery reminded me of my trip to Providence last June, remembering how the Providence River similarly flowed through the middle of downtown Providence.
Since I was only in San Antonio for two days for work, I didn’t get a chance to do a whole lot of sightseeing, but I will be back in the area later this year. It felt refreshing to be somewhere else, a nice break from the chaotic year that 2023 has been so far. The 80-degree was another major upside too…
England Epilogues 