Wow. And I thought Wyoming was pretty! At first, I thought I would post one session about our trip to Idaho. Not so fast, big boy. This state is turning out to be one hell of a beautiful state, with so much to share! So here is our first post of several about Idaho. Based… Read More Idaho: Part I – Aug 2022
It feels odd to be summarizing the summer of 2022 on the first day of August, but we head west in just days. Think Lewis and Clark meets Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, perhaps absent the enlightenment. The route below will not exactly be our route, but we won’t burden you with details. … Read More Summer of ’22 – Aug 2022
If you are looking for a campground that is both chill and warm, this might be your ticket. We recently camped for a few days at Forth Clinch State Park in Fernandina Beach (FL), on Amelia Island, and it is a hidden gem. This state park is like Fort DeSoto Regional Park (if you have… Read More Fort Clinch – Oct 2021
RUN! Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… our kids found us! We have moved three times in the last few years, but they keep tracking us down! Next step… Witness Protection. We had Child Unit 1, Child Unit 2, and their significant others here at the cottage… Read More Invasion of the Child Units! – Aug 2021
If you are vegan, please stop reading now. You won’t find anything I say or do even slightly amusing or entertaining. You’ll just get the same feeling my wife feels about me. Many years back during a multi-city, multi-day marketing event, a colleague and good friend who shall remain nameless (Brian Giuffrida) nicknamed our marketing… Read More Carnivore Tour – Apr 2021
2020 has been the worst year ever – right? Watching 2020 unfold was like watching porn. First it was titillating, then it felt unseemly, and lastly you got a sinking feeling in the pit in your stomach like you get two minutes after wolfing down a quarter pounder and large fry. No happy ending, so… Read More 2020 in Review – Dec 2020
Thanksgiving won’t be the same this year with Covid; limited or no travel, no big gatherings – I think we all know the list of “not that”. We won’t be with our kids this year – first time ever. Nevertheless, it is a time for thanks! We will be doing a Zoom call with the… Read More Thanksgiving Retro Style – Nov 2020
Any excuse to go see your kids is a great excuse. We didn’t need an excuse, so off to Denver we went, since it was right on our way to… well, Denver. Queue whisper-like Nat Geo voice: “Here you see the Child Unit in its’ native habitat.” We camped at our go-to campground, Cherry Creek… Read More Denver – Oct 2020
I have posted several “heading west” blog posts over the years. But the truth of the matter is that if you live on the east coast, you inevitably need to, well, head west. I suppose you could go north or south, but really – who does that. Crazy talk. We headed west from New Hampshire… Read More Heading West – Sept 2020
There is something mystical about buying and trying a new meat smoker; a new device to smoke meat, a new technique to improve cooking results. What do you suppose was the genesis of slow cooking? Do you suppose cavemen (cavewomen, cavepeople?) sat around the fire and said, “Hey, let’s smoke this brontosaurus leg low and… Read More New Smoker Ooh-ee-Ooh – June 2020
Well, another year in the books at Steamboat Springs, CO! Damn, what a great place, great skiing, beautiful area – and the opportunity to spend time with Child Unit 2 and friends! It does not get better. You know it has to be a worthy place to go if it gets me up before the… Read More Steamboat – Mar 2020
Want to know the most beautiful road in America? We’ll get to that shortly. Patience (Yoda). We finished up our stint at the fireworks show, and were now prepared to head east towards home. But we wanted to map a route that a) was not on interstate highways, b) was pretty and/or interesting, and c)… Read More Eastward Ho! – Feb 2020
You know your unhealthy interest in fireworks is excessive if it has caused you to make a 1,500-mile trip to attend the Western Winter Blast, an assemblage of like-minded individuals who have a slightly outsized and unnatural attraction to exploding cylinder shells. Combine Woodstock (add 40 years to the average attendee’s age), the tailgating of… Read More Lake Havasu City (AZ) – Feb 2020
Admittedly our stop in Las Cruces was designed as a “utility” stop… do laundry, shop for food, really cool stuff like that. Awesome you say? Totally! Best. Laundromat. Ever! Kidding. We camped at Siesta RV Park, although “camped” would be better described as “parked”. But as said, our goal was utility and this campground (parking… Read More Las Cruces (NM) – Feb 2020
Keep Austin weird. We’re doing our part, just by being here. Forgive me if I repeat myself, but Austin is one of our favorite places. One of these days we’re just going to have to spend a month or two here – get it out of our system. But for now… We took several walks… Read More Austin – Jan 2020
Spoiler alert – there is no big reveal – no “money” shot. After spending about 22 hours actively attending this cook, I flat out forgot to take pictures after making the first, beautiful, moist, tender, and flavorful cut. I am calling this smoked brisket my personal best. It is SOOOO good! Just no finished pics. … Read More Smoked Brisket – Oct 2019
It does not get better than driving with my good friends Raoul and Dr. Gonzo (“Don’t worry – I’ll remember your face”) down to the Cape (Cape Cod for you non-New Englanders). Our goal was to attend the annual Michael McGuire Gallery “Opening” (https://michaelmcguire.net) in P’town (Provincetown) this past weekend. Michael McGuire, a life-long friend… Read More Fear and Loathing on Cape Cod – July 2019
This may be our swan song post from New England while living here. With our house for sale but under contract, we have a lot of moving parts in our lives at the moment. We have, though, been able to travel with friends from the Massachusetts coast in Salem, MA, into sea coastal NH, and along… Read More Coastal Maine – July 2019
OK, I won’t lie – it has been a long time since I was an active Boston Celtics fan, but the chance to go into town to a live game at TD Garden was compelling. And awesome! There were many heady times back in the day in the old Garden, when both the Celtics and the… Read More Boston Celtics – Mar 2019
We took a road trip (20 minutes for us) to Portsmouth, NH earlier today. Portsmouth is a port city, one of about a half dozen sea coastal towns on the less than 20 miles of New Hampshire’s Atlantic seacoast, and we had a blast!. This is just a taste of Portsmouth – our couple of hours… Read More Taste of Portsmouth – Jan 2019
Even after 20 years living in the south, no one has ever mistaken me for being a good ole southern boy. I’ll say three words, and inevitably the first thing I hear is, “Boy, yarnt from around here, arya.” To which I usually and quite smartly say, “Well, gosh, no I am not!” “Bless your heart.”… Read More Southern Living – Sept 2018
Long post – settle in with a cup of coffee or a cold beer (or two) – a lot of ground to cover. Anyone who has ever had the good fortune to visit or live in Santa Barbara, CA knows how beautiful and how much character this town has. We are here in Santa Barbara… Read More Santa Barbara – June 2018
As the preeminent surfer dude (not), I think I can report to you on Pismo Beach on the California coast. Gnarly, dude. That’s my report. Clutched in a sliver of land between US 101 and the Pacific Ocean, and about 2 hours north of Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach is kind of a cool little town. Granted… Read More Pismo Beach (CA) – June 2018
I may have found my favorite shiny new object… the town of Lee Vining, CA! We camped here for about a week for a variety of reasons, but one the weather was so cool, as was the town (population 395 on the sign entering the town). The town just had a cool vibe – what… Read More Lee Vining (CA) – June 2018
We continued our trek west. How shameless is it that we are heading to the west coast for a free meal at a wedding? I’ll have the chicken, please. We left Kansas and made the transit across eastern Colorado to Denver and stayed at Cherry Creek SP (highly recommend). Here is where the story goes a… Read More Westward Ho! – June 2018
We have made our way across Kansas and we have come to appreciate Kansas. Often considered a “fly-over” state, this is a really pretty state – we enjoyed it as a “drive-over” state! We have avoided interstates as much as possible, and have held largely to secondary state and county roads. Most of our roads… Read More Kansas – June 2018
Kansas City Chiefs. Is that a Kansas football team… or a Missouri team? I thought Nurse Karen was going to call a Code as a result of too much BBQ in Kansas City. Yes, we may have pushed the limits on BBQ in this town, but oh so good! Tomorrow it’s vegan for me. That’s a… Read More Kansas City – June 2018
In today’s environment, it is hard not to talk about the goings on in Washington, our nation’s capitol, without some snarky comment. But the fact is this is a magnificent city! You need a month or two to do any justice to this city, touring neoclassical monuments, endless historic sites, and world-class museums. We visited… Read More Washington, DC – May 2018
Plan B. My original plan (Plan A) after this past weekend was to report back to you my detailed and hugely successful and tasty recipe for smoking a ham. Not so much. You most likely do not recall my post from three years ago (2015) about the ham I prepared and smoked for Easter, but… Read More Easter Ham – Apr 2018
It didn’t take much more than a trip to Austin, TX to inspire me to recommit to the fine art of smoking – meat, that is. While I have greatly enjoyed my Grill Dome Kamado style smoker, it did not have the cooking surface size I wanted, and I was really looking for a wood-fueled… Read More Smokin!!!!! – Mar 2018