Killiney Hill. Southern boundary of Dublin Bay, Ireland. March, 2011.
I have no doubt that I will return to Ireland someday. It has bewitched me, which is why I am sharing, quite fittingly, photos of the "Witches Hat" obelisk atop Killiney Hill.
My husband and I returned to Ireland together a few months after our wedding. We had been once before with my family in the winter, which was all snow and enchantment and exploration. That's where we got engaged, in the stunning, blustery gardens of Powerscourt Estate.
This trip, just he and I, was in the spring of 2011, a little over a year later. It was an entirely different world, and took us to many new places. It was our very first traveling experience without adults. Oh the bravery and the folly and the whimsy! And most especially the gosh darn GPS who (we named her Julie) was intent on our destruction.
Our first day there we took our little rental car and parked at the base of Killiney Hill. We hiked up the wooded walkway, the sunshine streaming in rivulets through the branches, taking our time. Once we reached the top, it was incredibly quiet and the views were cool and hazy. We spent over an hour just sitting in the grass, soaking up the view and allowing the Witches Hat to tell us her many stories.
View of the Sacre Coeur from the Arc de Triomphe; Paris, France. March, 2013.
Exhilarating. That's the only way to describe this cold, sunsetty evening, the whitewashed light of the setting sun casting a bright line across the Sacre Coeur.
The Arc de Triomphe has the absolute best views in Paris.
I'm not even going to ask if you've seen The Notebook - I'm just going to take it as a given, because anyone who hasn't at least seen the iconic love story between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams is a kind of creature I don't really understand.
We had the opportunity two weekends ago to go to Charleston, SC for a day and a half.
It was a quick trip, but it was just long enough to soak up much of the magic that surrounds Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun.
Charleston is a pretty enchanting city.
The fascinating (and tragic) history, the quaint streets, the southern charm, the waterfront, the food.
The fact that it was also the setting for many iconic Notebook scenes is just a really, really big bonus.
A lot of what we saw was the embodiment of Noah and Allie's first date.
The theater, and of course the place where they danced and then plopped down in the middle of the street to watch the lights change.
It's one of the most beloved scenes. Such simplicity, such romance.
I was glad I looked up the cross streets beforehand, because we were walking around during the daytime and I never would've recognized it. There isn't actually an overhanging stoplight there, either. It's quite different in the film - but the one thing that stands out is this amazing baby blue building.
I'm not gonna lie - I legitimately wanted to try and finagle a way to risk my life and lie down in the middle of the road later that night.
The problem was, once we parked our car at the hotel that afternoon, we couldn't move it, because it was $20 every time to go in and out of the parking garage. So we had to stick with walkable places within a mile or so and this intersection was several miles away. It was just too far to go back to.
Still, I thought about it and wished for it. But it just wouldn't be the same, without that overhanging stoplight, without Dusty beside me (who would have had to man the camera), and obviously with the additions of the rush of modern oncoming traffic. Puts a damper on things.
There are so many little corners of the world that I will not go.
Sweet little towns I will not see, darling cupcake shops I will not sit in. Tiny boutiques and gourmet restaurants, historical buildings and crumbling bits of history. Times and places and textures I will never touch.
I may never go to Charleston again. This tiny window of a visit may have been the only chance we ever get, and while sometimes I wish we could have had a bit longer, the sweet brevity of it may have been the best part.
Maybe the charm of a town is its many mysteries.
Earlier this summer, my husband and I made a little getaway to Richmond.
We booked a hotel smack dab in the middle of downtown, with a great room and an incredible view.
It's amazing how rejuvenated we felt after such a small getaway. Richmond is only a little over two hours away from us, but we felt like we were far from home and ready for adventure.
Being in a city environment with new restaurants and new shopping areas (and a big theme park that we went to on Saturday!) was like being in a whole new world.
We walked around holding hands, went into a beautiful historic hotel, stopped for coffee, went shopping, and even went to one of those phenomenal theater experiences where they serve you food at your seats. We had delicious blue cheese nachos, pasta and coffee while we laughed out loud at The Heat (and the incredibly drunk girl sitting behind us that had to be escorted out.)
As I was thinking about summer coming to an end, I was looking back through this trip and remembered taking a few outfit photos on our last night. We got dressed up and went to a super cool restaurant called The Boathouse which sat right on the water and overlooked the Richmond skyline. It was a lovely weekend, one I hope we're able to repeat with similar mini getaways to nearby places. Sometimes you don't have to go that far to feel like you're whisked away to something exciting.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
