Travels

Ho ho!  As you read this, I'm somewhere in the air en route to northern California for the weekend, not tapping away at my keyboard--but thanks to Blogger's magic, I have scheduled a post in my absence!

Earlier this week, I looked at the books in my bookcase to pick one to bring on the plane, in case I either finish Little Bee and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake on my Kindle or they don't click for me.  Avid readers (book readers, not Miles and Laurel readers) can empathize with me when I confess that this task yielded a stack of books on my nightstand.  

One of them was 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, an encyclopedia grouped by region that breaks down the world's most magnificent travel destinations into 200-word blurbs. The global section was too expansive to even begin sifting through, so that night, I perused the U.S. listings.  Like anyone with employment experience in college admissions, I have a motley mix of states under my belt.  I've been fortunate to be in unforgettable places like Cape Cod, Mount Rainier, and a New Hampshire blueberry patch because of work travel.  

I was alarmed to learn, though, that despite seven or eight work trips to Connecticut in five years, I somehow missed all four of the recommended 1,000 Places sights.  I've also never actually been to Minnesota's only recommended spot, the Boundary Waters.  Minnesota's lone entry is nothing compared to New York City, for example, which garnered 11 pages worth of recommendations alone, or the Hawaii section, which had five entries for five islands. 

Bottom line: By perusing the 973-page book, I learned that I haven't really checked off much of the country, let alone the world.  But there's time!  I'm also optimistic because during my next trip to California later this month, I have the chance to investigate two listings: the Monterey Peninsula (p. 577) and California Wine Country (p. 583).  Finally, this is not some sort of Julie/Julia project that calls for working my way through the whole book, which would probably require me to be jobless but also somehow still be in possession of a lot of money. 

Isn't it always fun to dream about travel, though?

Here are five places I have visited that 1,000 Places insists on checking out, in no meaningful order whatsoever:

Outside Grand Central

• the Las Vegas Strip: I haven't experienced the strip in the intended way, but I'll never forget my only (so far) visit there.  I had a layover in Las Vegas and decided to lug my little wheely carry-on suitcase toward a taxi and head over to the strip.  It was no later than 8:30 in the morning, and I just walked up and down the strip, wheely carry-on in tow.  It was very sunny and that there were very few people on the streets, although the folks who were out had not been in for the night yet.  It was a bizarre way to experience such an iconic scene.
• New York City: So far, my visits have been limited to strange, crunched half-days on either side of workweeks in the region.  When I saw the city for the first time in 2006, I took the train in from the suburbs and walked around for a long time, completely without direction.  Since then, I have visited the Museum of Natural History, taken a running tour around Manhattan and Brooklyn, and dined with friends.  My work travel to the region is done, so I should schedule a real trip sometime.
• Aspen: I've landed here twice for work.  The drive from Denver is incredible (and incredibly winding, and sometimes incredibly scary, depending on the angle of a switchback and whether it is snowing).  My last visit coincided with peak aspen leaf-changing season, so the whole landscape was lit up in fiery yellow.  This area is worth its spot on the list for sure.
• Freedom Trail: Josh and I traveled to Maine last summer for a wedding and spent about 15 hours in Boston afterward.  Seeing the Freedom Trail listed in 1,000 Places made me smile because I remembered walking the trail in miserable pouring rain and cold wind that kept flipping my umbrella.  I love New England's depth of history and would jump at the chance to visit Boston again in weather that allowed lingering along the trail.
• San Juan Islands and Pike Place Market: Yes, we checked off both of these last month!  If they weren't in the book, I would've gotten out of bed, stomped on it, and then thrown it out the window right then and there.

Aspen leaves in early October

Now let's get to the good stuff.

Five places on my wishlist, in no meaningful order:

• Attending the Albuquerque Balloon Festival has been a longtime dream.  I am drawn to beautiful colors all mashed together (see: all of my cloud and sky pictures), and I can't imagine a sight much prettier than bright balloons against a blue sky.
• Savannah's Historic District: I am developing a deep interest in southern cities.  You'll read more about this in coming months.
• The French Quarter in New Orleans: See above. I would like to listen to music here, look at the architecture, and get a feel for the New Orleans spirit--and eat the beignets.
• Acadia National Park is way, way up the Maine coast, and from what I've heard, it sounds like one of the most glorious places in the country.  There is also a marathon there called the Mount Desert Island Marathon, which is supposed to be very hard but is on my life's wishlist.
• (tie) the Great Smoky Mountains and the Outer Banks, North Carolina: I signed on for an Outing Club backpacking trip to the Great Smoky Mountains during spring break of my senior year, but a surprise late winter blizzard rerouted our group to the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas.  Don't get me wrong: those mountains in Arkansas are surprisingly beautiful.  But I would love to spend a trip hiking in North Carolina.  And then sitting on the beach in North Carolina.

What's on your wishlist, Reader?  

If you won two round-trip flights in the continental United States, Carmen San Diego-style, where would you go?