http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/chingham/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from chingham en-us Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:40:08 +0000 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:40:08 +0000 Grace's favorite college football team the USC Trojans were making a rare trip to the East coast the play the Virginia Cavaliers. With family living in the Charlottesville area and friends in the DC area it gave us the perfect excuse to visit this wonderful part of the country again. It also happened that the Washington Nationals were in town so we were able to get another baseball park out of http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-347854.html Spent some time in my favorite area of the country the Pacific Northwest. We now have several good friends that live in the Seattle area so it gave us even more of an excuse to visit. Grace had never been to Oregon so we spent some time in Portland and the Oregon coast. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Seattle/blog-334864.html Drove from Oxnard CA to Seattle WA via Vegas Salt Lake UT Butte MT and Spokane WA. I was able to see some of the wide open spaces that this country has to offer. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-334857.html A truly remarkable city. I met some of the nicest people and ate some of the best food I'd ever had. There was so much to see and do that I could not fit it all in with the short amount of time that I had to explore. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-334811.html Our annual baseball and arts roadtrip took us to the city of Detroit. I'd been there once for work and didn't care for it too much. But for the sake of getting another ballpark out of the way I was willing to give the city another chance. The trip also went through Indianapolis IN Windsor ON Lansing MI South Bend IN and Omaha NE. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Michigan/Detroit/blog-334799.html Though Grace and I had already planned a trip to visit South Florida Grace found a great deal to spend a few days in the island of Curacao that left from Miami. Both of us had never done an island vacation before so we were both excited to give it a try and see how we liked it. Instead of the usual hustle of going from museum to museum or watching a baseball game or finding a new place to eat w http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Netherlands-Antilles/Cura-ao/blog-334458.html Grace and I took a trip to explore South Florida. We'd been to other parts of Florida and so far had not been too impressed with what the state had to offer but had heard and read that this part was different. We both thought it was great. Miami had some of the best food we've ever had and Key West was a great island town. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Key-West/blog-334358.html I spent a few days in Mexico City and was really impressed by how modern the city was. It is a great place to walk around in and enjoy the sights. Grace flew down to join me for a few days so she could enjoy some of the great cultural experiences the city has to offer. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Distrito-Federal/Mexico-City/blog-334276.html Spent a few days in Toluca just outside of Mexico City. Not very exciting but took some neat photos. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Estado-de-Mexico/Toluca/blog-334268.html Intially I was not excited about traveling to Guadalajara. I didn't know any Spanish and I didn't know if there would be anything to do there. In the end it didn't matter that I didn't know much of the language I was able to get by using basic phrases and there was plenty to do in this fantastic city. Easily my favorite thing about Guadalajara was the food REAL Mexican food. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Jalisco/Guadalajara/blog-324771.html In March my brother Cory his friend Fike and I finally made the trek to see the Royals during spring training. We'd heard that it is an experience to go but we were dubious. How much fun could it be to see a bunch of no name players ok a few good ones too play in meaningless practice games Let me tell you it was a blast To anyone out there that is a baseball fan you HAVE to go to your http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Phoenix/blog-324447.html While staying Brussels Grace and I did a day trip to Antwerp. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Antwerp-Province/Antwerp/blog-324053.html While staying in Brussels Grace and I did a day trip to Ghent. Very similar to Burges only less touristy. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/East-Flanders/Gent/blog-323670.html While staying in Brussels Grace and I did a day trip to the medievil town of Bruges. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-323663.html In February Grace and I made a trip out to the wonderful little country of Belgium. We stayed at a Hilton located in the center of Brussels that was convenient to the main train station and the local subway. I really considered Brussels a poor man's Paris. The food and the culture were fantastic but at about half the cost of what it would've cost in Paris. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-323636.html Instead of flying to Southern California for the holidays like we usually do we decided to do an old fashion road trip. We stayed a night in Santa Fe and fell in love with the place. The food was fantastic and the historic downtown was great to wander around in. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/blog-322561.html In August Grace and I made it to Chitown to take an architectual boat tour. Neither of us had done one before and it was what our friend up there wanted to do for his birthday. It was unique way to see a fantastic city. We also attended a White Sox game at US Cellular Field. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/Chicago/blog-226927.html In July I had to attend my company's annual meeting in Lebanon NH. Grace decided she wanted to come along as well. So while I was busy in meetings she was busy driving all over New England visiting all sorts of art museums. After the meeting were done we headed north to Canada. We spent 1 night in Montreal and 3 nights in Toronto with a day trip to Ottawa in between. We came back stateside via http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-226678.html In June Aaron Cory Fike and I made the trek up to Milwaukee to see the Royals play the Brewers. Besides the Royals losing and Fike being hobbled by an achilles injury we had a great time enjoying the food beer and hospitality of Milwaukee. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Milwaukee/blog-226431.html In May Grace and I went to check out the sights and sounds of Tampa. Not the coolest place to go but anyplace that is near a large body of water is alright in my book. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Tampa/blog-226424.html