Category Archives: U.S.A.

A trip to the East Coast: Boston to Bay of Fundy

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In August of 2022 we set out to explore a little bit of the East Coast. Our first stop was Boston, MA, where we spent a few days exploring just a tiny bit of what this city has to offer.

A rainy day gave us the perfect opportunity to visit the Museum of Science:

We enjoyed being able to walk to many of the places we wanted to explore.

A visit to the USS Constitution gave us a chance to step back in history.

We headed to The Children’s Museum early one morning, expecting a large crowd. We went straight to the top floor and enjoyed some quiet, nearly empty spaces for a good while.

We had some delicious treats at the Boston Public Market. Peter gave two thumbs up to the pain-au-chocolat.

Of course there had to be a visit to Fenway Park!

We explored The Freedom Trail and enjoyed seeing so many historical landmarks and buildings.

We visited … scavenger hunt for kids…

We were exhausted after all the walking! Time for a break at the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

After our little break, we were ready to get some dinner at an Italian restaurant, followed by dessert: the famous cannoli at Mike’s Pastry.

One day we decided to head to Harvard Square. We enjoyed a visit to the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

We had lunch at the famous Mr. Bartley’s Gourmet Burgers joint. We also took a stroll around the university grounds.

After a few great days exploring Boston, we were ready to head to the next adventure. We will probably come back though, there’s so much more to explore and see!

Indian Rocks Beach, Florida

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The winter of 2022 was our time to get back to traveling and get back to the beach, specifically Florida. In February we traveled to the east coast (Cocoa Beach) to meet up with Abi and Oscar. In March we invited Grandmom to come with us to the west coast, to Indian Rocks Beach. We went from unsalted and frozen to salted and warm!

This was a perfect destination for us. The area was quiet and less of an activity hub, which suits us well. There were some great restaurants we could walk to, including a delicious French bakery, and we were only a short walk from this beautiful beach.

We visited the St. Pete’s Saturday Morning Market (farmers markets are always my happy place!).

We went to The Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

We went to a Detroit Tiger’s Spring Training game.

And Silvia and I even got to visit the Dali Museum in St. Pete!

Now there is only one thing I need to remember when we go to the beach: no matter how cold the water may seem, always get these boys in their bathing suits because they will jump in every time!

Legoland, Florida

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Legoland was not originally in our plans when we traveled to Cocoa Beach to meet up with loved ones after over two years of not seeing them. But it was early March and there were storms and cancelled flights and airport chaos. After some frustrating attempts to make it back home, we realized we were staying put in Orlando for an extra couple of days. With all the many options available, we decided to go to Legoland. Best decision ever!

Cocoa Beach

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February 2022… almost two years since the Covid-19 pandemic started and over two years since we had last seen Abi and Oscar. It was time, time to hug them again, time to travel again, and time to take a break from the Northern Michigan winter. So we booked our tickets to MCO, found a great Airbnb just a few steps from the beach, packed our bags and headed out for a few days in Cocoa Beach.

It was relaxing, it was warmer that Petoskey, and we got to spend time with our loved ones. We spent our days enjoying the beach, the pool and the hot tub.

We went to some unique restaurants.

We even got to see a rocket launch from where we were!

What a perfect way to get back to traveling again, thanks Cocoa Beach, we had a blast!

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore,MI

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Our first official camping trip as a family of four was to the Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan.

We had flown to Empire for a quick day trip the year before, and we enjoyed it so much we decided we would go back and stay for a few days, so we could explore more of this beautiful Michigan coast.

We were lucky enough to find a campsite at the Platte River Campground (these go fast!) and decided to rent a travel trailer for a more comfortable experience. After a short drive (2 hours approx.) we arrived at our destination and set up camp.

We decided to head over to the Platte River that afternoon for a bit of kayaking a swimming.

That night we had some s’mores by the fire, and everyone slept soundly, partly thanks to the campground being so quiet. It was so quiet we were even able to hear hooting owls.

The next day we set out to hike the Empire Bluff Trail. We chose this trail because it seemed appropriate for our family, and it was! The boys hiked on their own the whole way (well, Benji rode on Papi’s shoulders for a little bit), had a blast playing in the sand, and we were all rewarded with the beautiful views of the Lake Michigan shoreline.

We got sandwiches for the adults at Shipwreck Cafe (we had packed the kids’ lunch) and headed over to Empire for a quick bite and some playground time, always a good choice to let our boys get some energy out.

Later that afternoon we enjoyed the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, with a stop at the Lake Michigan Overlook, of course.

After that we decided to let the boys take a quick swim in North Bar Lake. Then it was back to the campsite for some dinner, a fire, and more s’mores.

The next day we decided to rent a raft and go paddling on the Platte River. The raft was a good choice in that it allowed us to not worry about tipping over (which in a canoe with a 2 year-old would have happened more than once) and it also was very convenient to stop along the way, get out and enjoy the water for a bit, and then get back in the raft easily. The hard part was that it ended up being quite windy, which meant a lot of hard paddling for the adults in several spots. In the end, lots of fun was had by all.

That afternoon we grabbed our lunch and headed over to the Glen Lake picnic area, and afterwards drove over to the famous Dune Climb, where we all had fun running down the dunes and playing in the sand.

The following day we decided to go explore Leland. We were curious to see this picturesque little coastal town, and also make some plans for our next visit to the area, in hopes of going over to the North or South Manitou Islands. We had delicious (and massive!) sandwiches from a place called Cheese, then walked around Fishtown.

Sleeping Bear Dunes did not disappoint, and I have a feeling we will be back!