Dreaming of a Beach Xmas

In case you don't know the old Christmas classic, it goes like this:
I'm dreaming of a Beach Christmas, just like the one I used to know where the the treetops glisten and children listen to hear ice cream trucks that drive by...

Well maybe that one didn't make the charts, but it should have.  I can think of no better way to escape to cold cold winter than to escape to somewhere warmer.  Winter hasn't even started and it has already been rough, with temperatures dipping below freezing for long stretches at a time.

Key Largo is actually a pretty nice destination.  It isn't too expensive, has lots of beaches and activities such as canoeing, kayaking and diving.  Lots of coral reef areas and great seafood restaurants.  Not too far from Miami and the everglades.  What more can you ask for?

Niagara at Thanksgiving

Instead of roasting a 500lbs turkey and cooking all of the fixings of potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans and of course pumpkin pie, my family escaped America and went to CANADA.  We left our home near DC and headed north.  We spent a night in Pennsylvania.  On Turkey Day, we drove thorough a small snow storm and finally arrived at Niagara Falls by lunch time.

One full day in Niagara is plenty.  After seeing the falls and "journeying behind the fall", in the winter there isn't much else to do. 

The Niagara Falls are spectacular, but the town is a bit of a tourist trap with crappy expensive restaurants and lots of other overpriced diversions.  We spent the next day of our trip, usually reserved for crazy Americans starting a riot at 4am over the newest hot toy, in Toronto.  I really like Toronto and lunch in Chinatown didn't disappoint. 

I ended the day with lunch with an old grad school friend and went back to Niagara.  The next day was spent with butterflies at the conservatory and heading back home but first we stopped in Hershey, PA.  It was a nice little trip.

Fell off the Planet or Sucked in?

Dearest readers,
I haven't written in my blog for quite sometime.  I think that life sort of sucked me up.  All parts of my world have been overwhelming to say the least.  But I am trying to get back on track.  Stay tuned for some of my recent adventures...