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Going across the continent and coming back will take a while, especially because we want to see favorite people as well as places known and unknown. We'll visit at least seven national parks, see lots of historic places, hang with family and friends across the country, play some golf and eat what should be some great food along the way. Stage One: Virginia to Austin, TX Stage Two: Austin to San Francisco Stage Three: San Francisco to Friday Harbor, WA Stage Four: Poulsbo, WA

There is history here The guy who named Hilton Head in 1663 (named Hilton, of course) never set foot on it. He was looking for a location to raise cattle to feed the enslaved people working the sugar cane fields on Barbados. He didn't find it suitable, but others did 70 years later. We did a history tour of this island today that revealed so much about it that the millions of golfers and beachgoers who come here every year never see or likely care about. There are thousands o

We watch Top Chef. We've watched every season, and recently binged every season all over again . You could say we're a little obsessed with it, as well as some other cooking shows. So one of the things we decided to do was look to see if there are Top Chef contestants who operate restaurants in the places we are going. Turns out there quite a few. The first one was a quick almost drive-by lunch in Charleston, SC, at a restaurant called Church and Union . The Executive Che

And We're Off! So we kicked off our trip yesterday and our first stop was Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We started coming to Myrtle Beach in the early 1980's. There were no big entertainment venues, no outdoor malls or water attractions. There was the Pavilion arcade downtown with carnival rides, the beach and lots of golf courses, including mini-golf for the kids. That was pretty much it for entertainment. Almost no restaurants took reservations, you had to stand in line for

So much to do! Took the car to a mechanic shop I trust to get checked out. Changed the oil, changed the brake fluid, found a leaky gasket in the transmission and replaced it and changed the transmission fluid. Spent some bucks but not as many as if we broke down on the side of the road in the Sonoran Desert! Could still happen. But we've done what we can to prevent it. Put all the safety things we can think of in the car. First aid, a tool kit, something to reinflate flat ti

We have wanted to do a cross-country road trip for years. So much to see, but we haven't had the time. Now we do. Planning the route Part one - NOVA to Austin Phil did a preliminary plan and route in the summer of 2025, then Ann took it from there and started getting specifics about where we could stay, how long we would be in the car going from place to place, and most importantly, the budget. We fine-tuned the route, then contacted family and friends about staying with them