The Explore All 50 States Project
Let's Go!
Searching for breakfast in Portsmouth we happened upon The Friendly Toast, a fun and friendly place and since it's one of the few restaurants in town that do a real breakfast, it was packed. The decor looks like grandma's garage exploded. Kitschy weird is an understatement here -mismatched table items, all kinds of advertising signs from another era, Kentucky Fried Chicken lamp fixtures you vaguely remember … [Read more...]
As another spring break approached I knew my kids did not want to sit home bored, so I thought what the heck—let’s take another short road trip. Since we knew Texas was too big to combine with another state, and the thought of Texas in the summer sun didn’t sound too appealing, I figured why not—let’s explore the Lone Star state. Although we did miss some of north Texas near Amarillo, I think we got to … [Read more...]
Vermont is exactly what you expect with a little bit of the unexpected thrown in. Driving through we noticed lovely green rolling hills, gorgeous pasture lands with dairy farms dotting the landscape. Now picture a guy jogging with his dog on the road, with a bandana on his head holding together a massive bunch of dreadlocks that, I kid you not, were down to his waist. That's Vermont. Rural with a free spirited … [Read more...]
Did you know that the The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin is the spring and summer home to some 750,000 bats with up to 1.5 million bats at the peak of the bat-watching season? It's the largest urban bat colony in North America! Each evening around sunset, the Congress Avenue bats emerge like a black cloud from the crevices of the bridge. Covering the countryside in search of food, it … [Read more...]
Vermont is also famous for cheddar cheese, and no one does it better than Cabot Creamery. We headed up to the factory in Cabot and learned all about the cheese making process. The Cabot Creamery is a co-op, which means it is owned by all the dairy farmers who provide their milk- they share the cost and the profit working together to ensure a top quality product. After watching a short movie about how cheese is … [Read more...]
Though my kids and I missed The Bullock Texas State History Museum on our Texas road trip, I got the opportunity to visit while I was in Austin attending a friend's wedding. I thought it was such an incredible museum I wanted to include it here. I so wish I had done this with my kids as this museum traces the history of the state from it's ancient beginnings, through it's period as Mexican territory, it's … [Read more...]
Everyone knows Vermont is the home of maple syrup and Dakin Farms is one of the oldest farms in Vermont, but do you know how it's made? Unfortunately for us, we still don't know as we got there just as they were closing. The woman manning the shop on Route 7 was kind enough to let us run it and buy some syrup to take home and some corn cob smoked turkey and a few other goodies to snack on. Sadly we got … [Read more...]
So some of you are probably shaking your head wondering what kind of mother I am letting my kids ride Segways, but I thought this would be a totally unique way to see and experience the city of Austin, and our Segway Tour did not disappoint. There are several outfits now, but when we went they only outfit operating was Segway Nation. This activity was another great example where anything goes in Texas since there … [Read more...]
The Vermont State Capitol Building, though grand from the outside, inside feels like a very large home, not a big statehouse. There is no rotunda and very few artifacts. What we did discover inside, is that Vermont is the birthplace of two presidents, Chester Arthur, and Calvin Coolidge and both or their portraits hang prominently inside. Run in quickly and say you were there. The town is very picturesque … [Read more...]
Texas is a state that is big and bold in character and so it comes as no surprise that the Texas State Capitol Building is also bold in design and stature. It has a beautiful rotunda with a dome with one big star in the middle and the letters of Texas surrounding it. The lone star was on display everywhere and my kids and I had a great time finding them even on the fence surrounding the building. After checking … [Read more...]
