Kentucky Trip #1: Louisville

April 6-8: AACC Conference

I headed to Louisville, KY, for the weekend (who schedules a professional conference over a weekend?!!) to co-present with two colleagues at the AACC Annual Conference. This is the second time that I've been able to co-present a session about the Finish Line Scholars Program to a national audience, and it's always great to be able to spread the word about the program and share our promising practices with other scholarship providers and community college professionals. Our President & CEO was attending the conference as well, and she came to our session, which was really thoughtful and supportive.

It was a very quick trip, since there aren't many good options for itineraries from Sac to Louisville, so I flew out on Saturday morning, arrived Saturday night, presented on Sunday morning, attended one session on Sunday afternoon, and flew home on Monday morning, arriving back in Sac in the early evening. Mr. E was in Chicago during this time to visit his Mom. He was away Thursday-Monday, and we ended up meeting at the Denver airport during our respective layovers on Monday, just in time to get a great view of the partial solar eclipse! My connection on the way to Louisville was through Las Vegas, my least favorite airport whose only advantage is the bulk candy store that also sells freshly popped popcorn. I always stock up when I'm there!

I stayed at the Louisville Marriott Downtown, which was right across the street from the Convention Center where the conference was hosted. There was even a pedestrian bridge on the second floor of the hotel leading to the Convention Center, so the short walk was easy and avoided the need to deal with any sort of outerwear. When I arrived on Saturday evening, the front desk staff had some difficulty finding a room with two queen beds, which is my preference, so I had to wait for a bit while they figure out what to do. They ended up giving me an accessible room, which was just fine, and also provided access to the M Lounge for the inconvenience of the long-ish wait. Sweet! This meant that I could grab breakfast there each morning and also partake of the evening snacks (enough for my dinner on Sunday, which was very helpful since most of the other nearby restaurants were closed over the weekend!)

Since I didn't have much time, I wasn't able to explore the city very much, but I did manage to have lunch with my cousin, S, on Sunday at the hotel restaurant The Porch. She lives in Crittenden, KY, which is about 75 minutes from Louisville. I reached out to her at the last minute (Friday afternoon) to see if she might be available, and although she had evening plans that day, she was willing to make the drive to meet up with me. So nice to have some 1:1 time to catch up before the upcoming visit to her home for J's memorial service.

As is typical with conferences, there were a number of vendors and exhibitors scattered around, and I spotted the one with the bottle of Blanton's available as a potential raffle prize. Since that is Mr. E's favorite, I of course had to do my best to procure it, but no luck. Drat.

I had a late morning departure on Monday, giving me plenty of time to work out in the morning before grabbing a Lyft for the quick trip to the Louisville airport. I didn't plan well enough for my reading material and needed to buy a book for the return journey (love the Paradies Largardere stores "Read & Return" program!), which I read for a bit at the Starbucks while enjoying my coffee from the nearby Illy kiosk since the Starbucks line was unreasonably long, with no mobile order option available.

Since I finished the book during the trip, I was able to return it for the half-price refund at the Sac airport before getting a Lyft home to the kitties. Mr. E arrived about 90 minutes later, so we were together to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of having Marlene join our family. Meow!

 

Wine Country Weekend

March 23-24: Wine & Rainbows

To wrap up my birthday month, Mr. E and I took a short trip up to Napa and Sonoma for a couple of special tastings. Our appointment on Saturday afternoon for a terroir tasting at Nickel & Nickel was our first visit to this winery, and we had a wonderful experience with our host, Joe. The tasting included six single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon with a lovely Sauvignon Blanc to start off. Small bites accompanied the wine, and they thoughtfully created different plates for Mr. E and me since I don't eat pig or cow.

Our tasting was hosted in the old house on the estate grounds, in the very comfortable living room with a working fireplace. Luckily, I wasn't too cold by the mid afternoon, so we didn't need to ask Joe to build a fire for us! We had such a positive experience thanks to Joe's hospitality and the amazing wines that we decided to join the wine club and were able to bring home with us the March selection plus a few additional bottles based on our tasting.

The weather on Saturday was stormy, very Midwestern-ish, with periods of rain and sun and looming clouds. This interplay of the elements gave us several brilliant rainbows, including a ground rainbow (which we've never seen before) and a double rainbow. Amazing!

We stayed at the Home2 Suites in Petaluma, which turned out to be a very nice all-suites hotel with a few local restaurants within easy walking distance for a takeout dinner from a sports bar (Mr. E) and a sushi spot (me). 

The hotel pool was heated sufficiently for me to do a short workout on Sunday morning, despite the rather chilly wake-up temperatures, and the breakfast buffet was quite extensive, including mixed fresh berries, oatmeal, sausage & egg biscuits, cheese & egg mini-omelets, toast, and two waffle-making stations. I particularly appreciated the offerings of real dishes, glassware, and silverware, so since many hotels now only provide disposable items both in the rooms and for any meals.

After a quick walk across the street to Starbucks to grab "second coffee," we relaxed and read in our room, enjoying the sunlight and the late check-out. Then we headed to our afternoon appointment at J Vineyards & Winery for the Spring pick-up party. We haven't been to one of these member events for quite some time, since we usually have our wine shipped to us, and we were a little concerned when we arrived and saw the long line of people waiting to get in.

Luckily, once they started admitting people, the line moved quickly. Since all areas of the winery were open just for this event, people were able to spread out among the indoor and outdoor areas, so it didn't feel as crowded as we expected given the length of the entry line. We claimed a perching spot at an outdoor table on the terrace and enjoyed several tastings of the Spring shipment wines (which we didn't actually receive in our pick-up, since we always customize our shipment in advance) along with some tasty small bites, both savoury and sweet. We chatted with a few other members throughout the event as folks joined us at the high-top small round table and then wrapped up the day by getting our wine to bring home. 

Our wine fridges are a bit more full now! (nothing wrong with that...)

We definitely had a lovely and unhurried weekend, and we look forward to taking advantage of our new membership at Nickel & Nickel to attend some of their events and to explore their sister winery, Far Niente, since wine club members get benefits at both spots.

Travel Catch-Up: Friend Visit + Family Birthday

February 23-25: Las Cruces, NM

My good friend, L, splits her time between Sac (where we met at the now-closed Capital Athletic Club) and New Mexico. I've heard so much about her "other life" and was honored to be welcomed into her home in Las Cruces for a quick weekend visit. We had a lovely time together as she showed me around the area. Lots of quality time to chat in addition to a yoga class and a movie (Madame Web -- not awful but not recommended). I'm so glad she felt comfortable hosting me and sharing this part of her world!

March 1-3: Austin, TX

The following weekend, Mr. E and I headed to Austin for an early birthday celebration for C and me. This is the year that C enters the "double digits" as he turned 10 years old! We had a relaxing family evening on Friday, starting with Happy Hour oysters with C at Shore and then our usual DIY dinner at the house, followed by a game of Clue, which C had learned earlier this year during a visit to Great Uncle J. 

On Saturday morning, C and J were up and out early for his academic competition followed by a soccer game. B and M headed out to a birthday party, and Mr. E and I took advantage of the lovely weather to walk down to Shore to try out their breakfast offerings. Yummy tacos, Americanos, and an indulgent coffee cake muffin. Then we met up with the rest of the family in the early afternoon at C's soccer game. A couple of hours for everyone to relax in the afternoon before B's sister K came over with takeout from Eurasia for our joint birthday dinner. Once M's sitter E arrived, the rest of us headed to the Bass Concert Hall to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. It's been several years since Mr. E and I saw the troupe at the Modavi Center in Davis, and they were just as amazing and impressive and awe-inspiring as we remembered! C managed to make it to the second intermission before snoozing on J's shoulder.

I was up in time on Sunday morning to say goodbye to C as he and B headed to Top Golf for a meet-up with a friend. Mr. E and I had some breakfast at the house and then said our goodbyes to J and M prior to our late-morning return flight to Sac. Despite a bit of delay, we were home by the early afternoon and spent the rest of the day doing laundry, grocery shopping, and kitty snuggling. A quick but fun family birthday trip!

Travel Catch-Up: San Francisco Weekend (lots of pictures!)

February 16-19: Sea Lions, Ghosts, Fashion, Candy, Puzzles

I took Amtrak to San Francisco on Friday 2/16 to meet up with my cousin A, who was flying in from a Denver to take advantage of the President's Day holiday long weekend for a girls' get-together. From the drop-off point near Salesforce Tower in downtown SF, I caught the street car on Market Street to travel along the Embarcadero towards our hotel, Holiday Inn & Suites Fisherman's Wharf. The hotel was in a great location, just two blocks from the waterfront, and I was greeted by a colorful sea lion at the main entrance.

A and I had rooms next to each other, and despite some delays with her flight, she arrived at the hotel about 30 minutes after I had settled in. Our first outing was to get a late lunch at Boudin, where she enjoyed the clam chowder in a bread bowl and I procured my traditional mini sourdough turtle. Then we strolled along the Embarcadero towards Pier 39 for our first glimpse of the iconic sea lions. The group was relatively small but still entertaining.

Since the weather was clear that evening, we decided to take a chance on seeing if there were any spots for the historic ghost tour that we had originally booked for Saturday evening but had cancelled based on the rainy forecast. We were in luck! No problem at all to secure our spots, so later in the evening we walked towards the meet-up location near the TransAmerica Tower, passing through North Beach along the way and getting a lovely evening view of the Coit Tower.

Our guide for the tour was very enthusiastic and entertaining, and we learned a lot about the history of San Francisco as we strolled through the neighborhood. Based on how our sensory equipment responded, we think we may have had an encounter on Hotaling Street!

The tour ended in Chinatown. A picked up a special ice cream treat to snack on and I got some the V8 vege roll from Sushi on North Beach (some of the best sushi I've ever had!) as we walked back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the night.

On Saturday morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we took a Lyft to the deYoung Museum to see two current exhibitions: Fashioning San Francisco and Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care. The fashion exhibition was full of creative and innovative looks from the 20th and 21st centuries and really showed off the museum's amazing collection.

I especially liked being able to see the details and intricacy of some of the decorative accents, pleating, and draping, not to mention the fabulous shoes, including oa pair of "palm tree" stilettos.

Despite the overcast skies, we decided to go up to the observation tower and were able to get a pretty decent (though grey) panoramic view of the city landscape.

We took a break in the cafe for an Americano and some trail mix, though we had to sit on the floor of the entryway since no tables were available (the rain had of course caused the outdoor area to be closed, which accounts for more than half of the seating). Then we got in line for the curator's talk with artist Lee Mingwei, which was a fascinating conversation about his work, his life, and his creative inspiration.

We had enjoyed some of his installation pieces earlier, including Sonic Blossom, and I definitely want to return to the museum with Mr. E so that he can experience these immersive works of art and reflection. 

Due to the rainy weather, we decided to take a Lyft back to the hotel, but unfortunately, the driver apparently thought he was on a race course, and the ride was rather unpleasant as both A and I started to feel a bit carsick due to the fast speeds, quick braking, and rapid turns. Ugh. No tip for you! We both agreed that we needed to lie down a bit after that journey, so we agreed to meet up in the early evening to decide on our next plans. We ended up having an early dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant and then browsing at Ghirardelli Square, where I bought some cards and a cat puzzle and paused for a non-dairy hot cocoa at the Ghirardelli store and then wrapped up for the evening.

Sunday morning was unexpectedly beautiful, clear, and sunny! So after breakfast, we took the street car to the Ferry Building and walked back along the Embarcadero, stopping to read the placards about the history of the ports and taking a pause for beverages and people-watching at Pier 39, where we were greeted by several of the colorful sea lions in their corral.

The skies were starting to cloud over, but we managed to take a ride on the SkyStar Wheel (thanks to Groupon tickets!) without getting too much rain. The view out to the Bay and back towards the city was still impressive, despite the overcast skies.

We made a stop at It's Sugar (the biggest location I've ever seen!) for candy provisions and then got takeout poke to eat back at the hotel for lunch.

Our evening activity was a twilight cruise on the Bay. The weather was definitely not ideal, but we still enjoyed being out on the water for about an hour and seeing the city skyline.

A decided to get crab chowder from Boudin for takeout, and I managed to find some snacks at CVS to tide me over for the evening. We finished up the night by doing one of my new cat puzzles on the chaise lounge in my hotel room!

On Monday morning, we decided to continue our puzzle them and try our luck at an escape room. So after breakfast, we secured a booking of the Gold Rush at The Escape Game with just the two of us. A had done escape rooms a couple of times in the past, but this was my first attempt, and it was such a blast! We finished and solved the game with just over four minutes to spare. Phew! Then back to the hotel to pack up and check out as we headed off to our respective departures, me to the Amtrak bus pick-up for my return rail trip to Sac and A to Union Station for the train to SFO and her return flight to Denver.

Great weekend! Excellent mix of activities with just enough planning to allow for flexibility and spontaneity to accommodate the weather and our moods.