We headed North for Thanksgiving with the Handelman clan. It was everything that holiday feels like it should be – a fire in the fireplace, grandmas and grandpas doting on their grandchildren, and a beautiful snowfall to top it all off and make Sam (and his Dad) happy to have taken the trip. We had a grand time with everyone, playing in the snow, getting Noah and Carter to spend quality time together (and celebrate their birthdays), visiting the natural history and kids museums, and just hanging out.
Category Archives: Travel
Boston Trip
We headed to Boston on Friday to attend a family Bar Mitzvah, and managed to spend time with lots of family, imbibe a fair amount of seafood, pick a slew of apples (good for Rosh Hashannah next week) and have a generally great time. See the slideshow above.
Chatt in the Nooga
For some reason, that was the lame way I used to think about how to pronounce the town where my Dad grew up (after leaving Poland at the age of 9). Chattanooga, Tennessee – the perfect place for folks straight from the shtetl to land, right? Anyway, after living here in Atlanta for ten years, I thought it was high time to find a place for a quick retreat – especially considering it was our fifth anniversary weekend. So for the first time in probably twenty-five years, I returned to spots my dad had dragged me as a kid – Rock City, Ruby Falls, etc. And we had a great time! The waterfront area is really a jewel with great hospitality, walking distance to tons of attractions, lots of restaurants – although next time, we’ll know better than to expect to find a table at 7pm on Saturday night w/out a reservation with a grumpy Sam in tow.
The legendary Ruby Falls, (pictured at left) a subterranean cave complex discovered in the 1930s by a businessman who was drilling a shaft to reach another known (and less spectacular cave) which had been cut off by a railway tunnel a few years earlier, was just as stunning as I remembered. Despite the annoying guide pushing us along at a pace faster than I’d prefer, the place was magical. I hope Sam remembers a good chunk of this – I’m sure we’ll be back.
We also had to ‘See Rock City’ as the barn-side paintings from across the country tell us – and that was equally fascinating. Sort of a pre-Disneyworld theme park with a gnome instead of a mouse, the paths through the rock formations there are great fun, and the side attractions like the raptor show and the bygone-era ‘Mother Goose’ exhibit under black-light were big hits with the kids.
We also took in some Civil War history atop Lookout Mountain, driving the same roads that I recall my dad scaring the heck out of my mom (and by association, my brother and I) cruising around with not-very-significant guard rails along the outer edge. They didn’t seem so bad this time around, and hopefully no children were scarred. We’ll have to see!
On the last days, we checked out the Tennessee Aquarium, which I have to say was a very enjoyable change of pace from the over-packed Georgia version here at home in Atlanta.
Back to Beantown
With a long meeting scheduled in Boston on a Friday a few weeks back, and an invite to watch my Red Sox from a luxury box (gorgeous sunset pictured above), I headed back to my college stomping grounds for a long weekend. I hung out with Seth and the boys for the weekend, too, so we had many adventures around town.
Here’s one of my fave photos from the trip – a tidepool on Cape Anne with this beautiful red tone contrasting with the green seaweed and the snail. One of my fondest memories of my college days was venturing up to Rockport to check it out, then wandering somewhat randomly around the area, trying to find a way down to what looked like a gorgeous rocky beach. I happened upon a cemetery with a road leading back to a dense treeline near the ocean, then finding a path through the forest. After a five-minute trek through the trees, the vista that opened up was amazing – a rocky shore for as far as the eye could see, with amazing tidepools, crashing waves, and a most unusual western-facing view across open water – atypical on this coast, anyway.
Caleb looks out as a storm rolls into Cape Anne. We were running back through the trees to our car moments after this shot as lightning and thunder – and a heavy rainstorm – blew through minutes later.
Had to share the classic postcard shot of the red boathouse in Cape Anne harbor. Another great memory. Click to see the whole photoset here.