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Anita Desai

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Downtown Raleigh on First Friday with people gathered beneath string lights outside the museum district.

North CarolinaApril 5, 2026

Easter Weekend in Raleigh: A Visit Worth Repeating

A spring family weekend in Raleigh brought First Friday, blooming gardens, barbecue, museum grounds, and a quiet Easter morning together.

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Featured image from our festive December weekend in Asheville.

North CarolinaJanuary 24, 2026

A Festive December Weekend in Asheville

We went to Asheville for Christmas at Biltmore and Winter Lights. At Antler Hill Village, we shopped for gifts and tasted the Christmas Red and White.

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Featured image from our Channel Islands excursion.

DomesticDecember 31, 2025

From Freeways to Foxes: A Channel Islands Excursion

After a work conference in Anaheim, we took the ferry to Santa Cruz Island, spotted island foxes, and stayed overnight.

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Featured image from our Blue Ridge wedding and wine country weekends.

North CarolinaNovember 10, 2025

Wine Country to Wedding Bells: A Blue Ridge Celebration

This Blue Ridge weekend had celebration built in. Hendersonville vineyards, Triple Falls, Asheville meals, and a mountaintop wedding all gave us reasons to linger.

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Featured image promoting our Historic Oakwood VoiceMap tour in Raleigh.

North CarolinaOctober 24, 2025

Discover Spooky Season in Historic Oakwood — Our First Audio Tour Together!

Our first VoiceMap tour made Historic Oakwood feel like the right place to start. In October, the Victorian porches and old Raleigh stories already come with a little atmosphere.

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Featured image from our summer stay in North Carolina's High Country.

North CarolinaAugust 24, 2025

A Few Weeks in North Carolina’s High Country – Boone, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock and West Jefferson

A longer High Country stay gave us time to settle into the mountains instead of rushing through them. Boone, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, and West Jefferson all led up to a Rough Ridge proposal we will never quite top.

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Sunrise over Carolina Beach with the shoreline and pier in view.

North CarolinaJuly 6, 2025

A Quick Summer Escape: 2 Days in Carolina Beach, NC

We hiked the Flytrap and Sugarloaf trails, picked up biscuits, and watched fireworks from our hotel balcony.

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DomesticMay 24, 2025

On the Freedom Trail: Boston and Concord, MA

Boston and Concord are better with friends showing the way. The history felt more alive at walking speed, moving between burying grounds, old churches, public gardens, and Walden Pond.

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Blue lake water with small boats in front of Irish mountains under a clear spring sky.

GlobalApril 13, 2025

St. Patrick's Day in Ireland: Our 11-Day Trip from Raleigh

Our 11-day St. Patrick's Day Ireland trip route, with Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Killarney, the Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, Galway, and a 2026 RDU-Dublin update.

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Featured image from my work travels through Iowa and Utah.

DomesticApril 1, 2025

Sustainable Travels: Conservation and Connection from Iowa to Utah

Across Iowa and Utah, the work travel felt more rooted than rushed. Farm visits, conference days, coffee shops, reunions, and conservation conversations gave the trips a purpose beyond the calendar.

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Featured image from our European adventure through Bavaria, Venice, and Prague.

GlobalNovember 3, 2024

Alpine Peaks, Bavarian Castles, Venetian Music and Prague Spires: A European Adventure

This Europe route moved quickly from Switzerland to Bavaria, Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague. What kept it from feeling like a checklist was the family time running through the middle of it.

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Featured image from our trip through West Virginia.

DomesticSeptember 9, 2024

Discovering Hidden Gems in West Virginia: A Journey Home

West Virginia always feels different when it is personal. This trip was about sharing old favorite places, from mountain drives and coffee in Thomas to Blackwater Falls and Seneca Rocks.

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Featured image from our holiday trip to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens.

DomesticJuly 27, 2024

Christmas in July: Exploring Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens During the Holidays

Colonial Williamsburg gave the weekend its quieter holiday mood, all wreaths and candles against brick streets. Busch Gardens Christmas Town brought the brighter, louder sparkle.

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Featured image from our time exploring Lexington, Kentucky.

DomesticJuly 2, 2024

Exploring Lexington, Kentucky: A Perfect Blend of Work and Fun

Lexington had enough room around the workday to become its own little getaway. The UK Arboretum, downtown murals, good meals, and the Distillery District made the extra time count.

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Featured image from our visit to Congaree National Park.

DomesticMarch 15, 2024

Embracing the Underrated Swamp: Congaree National Park

Congaree is worth visiting if you know what kind of national park it is: quiet boardwalks, swamp trails, huge trees, muddy paths, and a slower South Carolina weekend around Sumter.

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Featured image from our whirlwind weekend in Manhattan.

DomesticNovember 18, 2023

Manhattan Marvels: A Whirlwind Weekend of Parks, Plays, and Unforgettable Moments

This Manhattan weekend had the good kind of too much. Central Park was at peak fall, the High Line made a perfect morning walk, and the theater nights kept us going after our feet were done.

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Featured image from our Great Smoky Mountains backpacking trip.

DomesticNovember 5, 2023

A Hike to Remember: Our Adventures in the Great Smoky Mountains

Several days on the Appalachian Trail through the Smokies asked a lot of our legs and our packs. The fall weather kept changing, but the views are what stayed with us after the harder miles.

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Featured image from our time in Providence, Rhode Island.

DomesticOctober 20, 2023

Discovering the Heart of History: A Stroll Through Providence, Rhode Island

We came to Providence for a wedding and found a city worth lingering in. Rainy coffee stops, old-hotel glamour, riverfront wandering, and museum time gave the weekend more shape than expected.

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Featured image from our Shenandoah National Park trip.

DomesticJuly 8, 2023

Exploring Nature’s Treasures: A Memorable Journey through Shenandoah National Park

Luray made Shenandoah easy to settle into for five days. Skyline Drive, short hikes, and Blue Ridge views did most of the talking.

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Featured image from our Patagonia W Trek.

GlobalMay 15, 2023

Journeying through Patagonia’s W-Trek: A Trekker’s Dream Come True

Our W Trek guide covers the travel days, the climbs, and the glaciers we saw in Torres del Paine.

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Manta ray statue outside the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

DomesticFebruary 26, 2023

A Long Weekend in Tampa, Florida

Cheap February flights pointed us toward Tampa, where a simple warm-weather weekend stretched from river walks and museum time to a proper Cubano and a dose of Busch Gardens chaos.

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Sunrise over North Myrtle Beach with the shoreline and Cherry Grove Pier.

DomesticFebruary 4, 2023

North Myrtle Beach, SC

Sunrise at Cherry Grove Pier, bike rides on the beach, seafood, and an evening of shag dancing in North Myrtle Beach.

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Sunset aerial view of a vineyard and winery in North Carolina's Yadkin Valley.

North CarolinaDecember 3, 2022

Taking a Ride on the Elkin Vine Line

We took the Vine Line’s Green Line to the Swan Creek wineries, with a sandwich stop at Shiloh General Store between tastings.

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Aerial view of downtown Wake Forest and the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary campus.

North CarolinaNovember 8, 2022

Spending A Day In Wake Forest, NC

We spent the morning over coffee and in the shops, walked the reservoir loop, and stayed for dinner near downtown Wake Forest.

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Featured image from Nocturnal by Nature at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

North CarolinaOctober 31, 2022

Nocturnal by Nature: Halloween at NCMNS

Nocturnal by Nature turned the science museum into something stranger after dark. Costumes, cocktails, live music, and after-hours exhibits gave the Raleigh night a little Halloween mischief.

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Aerial view of fall color across the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina's High Country.

North CarolinaOctober 20, 2022

A High Country Long Weekend

We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway at peak color, hiked at Julian Price Memorial Park, and spent a day in West Jefferson.

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Colorful oversized chair sculpture in downtown Raleigh with a seated visitor.

North CarolinaOctober 11, 2022

An October Week in Raleigh, NC

October in Raleigh showed up in the small ways we like most. A normal week can feel full here when it moves from Oakwood walks and Capitol views to music downtown, museum grounds, and weekend trails close to home.

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Banjo-playing statue outside the Raleigh Convention Center during IBMA World of Bluegrass.

North CarolinaOctober 6, 2022

IBMA World of Bluegrass Festival

Hurricane Ian pushed IBMA indoors, but the festival still found its energy inside the convention center. The day moved between bluegrass sets, instrument makers, exhibit-hall wandering, and standout performances.

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Pullen Park entrance sign in Raleigh under an evening sky.

North CarolinaOctober 3, 2022

A “Short Little Walk” to Pullen Park

What started as a "short little walk" stretched into one of those unexpectedly great Raleigh evenings, with Pullen Park as the midpoint and Trophy pizza as the reward.

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DomesticSeptember 26, 2022

New River Gorge National Park

Fayetteville was our base for hikes and views of the New River Gorge Bridge. We stopped at Cathedral Cafe for breakfast.

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