Let me start off this post by saying, traveling with toddlers is HARD! Nobody warned me, lol. Charles and I questioned every bit of this trip. Was it the best idea, no, did we regret every minute of it, YES, were my kids happy, big YES. There were a lot of things at play that made this one of the worst trips I’ve ever been on.
Most of D.C. was blocked off for celebrations and activities happening that weekend. My husband had planned this trip months ago. Only a week before did we discover all this stuff was happening the weekend we planned to go.
My son was a little under the weather. He was feeling okay, but not 100%. Needless to say, he was a bit whiny and over the heat, which is definitely not his baseline. He’s a chill kiddo. Still, he was slightly sick. Walking the city in the blazing heat, he was just over it.
Speaking of heat, it was HOT!!! I mean, it’s June, it’s to be expected. But, the streets were blocked off and there were no Uber’s in sight, we had a challenge. We had to walk over a mile in high sun to get to our destination, the museum.
My mother-in law and aunt in-law traveled with us. They are awesome, but old school and prone to unsolicited parenting advice. Moms who know what I’m talking about understand exactly where I’m going with this.
The hotel wasn’t that great. The AC was broke. This made the rooms and lobby area humid and muggy. Our television wouldn’t turn off either. Maintenance came 3 times to figure out what was going on. They only told us it would have to get unplugged for the duration of our stay.
Due to all the festivities in the city during our visit, most restaurants were closed. Others had odd hours. Note to self, help my husband plan the next trip, LOL.
Even with all the messiness of this trip, there were some good moments to look back on. We visited a yummy restaurant right outside of D.C. called Orleans Bistro and Grillin Fredericksburg, VA. The food was amazing and definitely worth the visit if you’re local. I did snap some cool pics. My daughter was over the moon to have finally taken her first metro ride. My 70 year old aunt in-law challenged herself. She walked the full mile to the museum in the scorching hot sun, might I add. She was very proud to have done this. I was proud of her for sure! Charles and I got a chance to explore the city ourselves for a few hours too. We went back to the museum and almost made it through the whole building. We said we’d come back just us one day. This was my second time in D.C. and there is still so much I haven’t done. All that said, there were certainly moments of joy for sure.
Here are some snaps I captured. They will definitely be filed away under “I’m hot, I’m tired, I’m over it, but the kids are happy so it doesn’t matter” album.
I feel like I start off every post on this blog with a big “Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve posted, life has been crazy, blah blah blah” statement. Well guys, I’m sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve posted, life has been crazy and blah blah blah, LOL.
TBH, with the death of my mom, keeping up with my blog has been the last thing on my mind. I’ve really been working to maintain some kind of presence on Instagram, so if you’ve been following along on IG, I want to thank you for all of your support. This blog means so much to me as it is really how I started all of this, but it’s just been easier to maintain my other social pages at the moment. I’ve honestly been thinking about getting rid of my blog page because the lack of activity on here. This is all up in the air for now as I do have a special attachment to this social media outlet as it is a collection of all my dearest memories and brings me back to all of my humble beginnings as a beauty blogger.
Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on what I decide to do. In the interim, I wanted to share a bit about my most recent trip to Vancouver and Alaska. To start, I’m dropping some more honesty bombs on you today and want to say that Alaska was not on my bucket list of places to travel, but I’m so glad my husband talked me into this trip because it was certainly one for the books.
Vancouver, Canada
We decided to book a family and friends cruise. Family and friends turned into just 2 family members and one friend, but that is good compared to past years planning trips like this. Our cruise ported out of Vancouver, Canada, so we got there a day early to explore this amazing city and I must say, the food and coffee are AMAZING. I snapped no pics of food or coffee simply because I was too busy enjoying it. Sorry, not sorry. All that being said, keep scrolling down to check out our Vancouver adventures…
So I don’t have too many pics from Vancouver because we were only there a short time, but what I did see of Vancouver was fantastic and I def want to go back for a visit and to explore the city just a bit more. The pictures clearly do Vancouver no justice if you ask me, but if I could sum up Vancouver in a few words, I’d say it’s a very touristy city or at least what I saw seem to be. It’s a clean and medium pace city with AMAZING coffee, great food and very kind people. It’s a major city, but felt more down to Earth and homie. Almost the opposite of New York. Locals were super kind and they had a bunch of great coffee shops and food spots to eat at. We LOVED the Cactus Club Cafefor drinks and desserts. Before porting, we stopped by Uno Gelato in Vancouver. I got the pistachio gelato and it was very good. I sampled like 5 flavors before deciding on the pistachio. They have some pretty unique flavor options, most, to me, were very strong flavors, but the pistachio was just right. On the way back from our cruise, we grabbed brunch at De Dutch. They have ginormous Dutch style pancakes and mouth watering loaded hash browns for all my carb lovers out there.
Sitka, Alaska
So our first cruise port was in Sitka. Sitka is small, cute and gave me a great hometown vibe. They have nice shops in downtown Sitkta where you can get the cutest souvenirs and of course, anywhere I go I’m looking for coffee. Found the best coffee spot that made salmon cream cheese in house. If you’re ever in Sitka, you have to check out Highliner Coffee Co. Best bagel and cream cheese that I’ve ever had, hands down. They also have a pretty robust menu full of yummy pastries, breakfast sandwiches and all kinds of coffee and tea beverages. Confession, I visited two coffee shops in Sitka because why the heck not! Sitka Flowers and the Chocolate Moose had my 2 favorite things in the entire world: plants and coffee. I got the best darn coconut latte and enjoyed smelling all the flowers and looking at the plants while sipping my morning brew. Keep scrolling to check out our Sitka adventures.
So enough about coffee, I’m sure you’re wondering about the real food. So, one of the locals recommended we try Beak Restaurant. We took a short bus ride to downtown and from there it was about a 7-minute walk from the port and well worth it if you ask me! I ordered their Beak Mac n Cheese made with tillamook cheddar. It’s very creamy and savory. Charles scarfed down his buffalo dog and if that doesn’t tell you how delicious it was, I don’t know what will. We had a chance to chat with the restaurant owners and all their staff and they were all super friendly and the customer service was top notch. If you’re ever in Sitka and have an appetite, I highly recommend checking out Beak’s.
Juneau, Alaska
Despite the rain and cooler temps, Juneau was a vibe. The plan was to go dog sledding in Juneau, but because of the weather, we had to cancel and opted to do some whale watching instead. I learned a lot about the humpback whales and saw several on our whale watching adventures. Juneau is another location full of positive vibes and super friendly locals who just love their city and sharing all about what the city has to offer. I’m sure you’re wondering about food. Well, we decided to eat at Twisted Fish Company Alaskan Grill. I ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon and it was AMAZING. It came with some molasses which I don’t typically eat, but I was feeling adventurous and doused my salmon in it and don’t regret one bit of what I did. It was the perfect mix of savory and sweet.
Keep scrolling for some pics from our Juneau adventures.
Hoonah, Alaska
Last stop on this trip was to Hoonah, Alaska where we visited Icy Strait Point, a tourist attraction in the area. This was my favorite location on the trip because we hiked to some pretty amazing views and I took my first skyglider gondola up to the top of a the mountain where I saw the most amazing aerial view of this beautiful state. If you’re thinking about visiting Icy Strait Point, I definitely would take advantage of the skyglider gondola’s. They have a free one you can take that gets you halfway up the mountain, but if you want to go to the very top, you’ll have to pay. FYI, it was about $50.00 per person. Once we made it to the top off the mountain, we took some amazing pics because the views are INSANE and we bought a smore’s kit and roasted some marshmallows and just enjoyed the fresh mountain air. Hoonah was pretty warm and really only required me to wear a few layers. We also did a light hike to work off some of the sugar from the smores or at least that’s what I’m telling myself, LOL.
Icy Strait Point has several tourist attractions and excursions you can take advantage of. We were a bit exhausted, so we decided to save some coins and just enjoy the views and good food, but I would highly recommend ziplining or whale watching if you ever go out there for a visit. I heard nothing but good things about these excursions from some of the friends we made on the ship while there. Lastly, to end our day in Icy Strait Point, we ate at Duck Point Smokehouse Restaurant. I ordered the Halibut Burger with French fries. The fish was super fresh and delicious! We enjoyed our meal outside, right near their fire pit overlooking the water. They have other restaurants you can check out here if you’re looking for some crab legs and/or lobster. Alaska is known for their seafood, so wherever you go the food won’t disappoint.
I would say it was a pretty amazing trip. It was a relaxing trip with time to reflect, sleep, enjoy good food, friends, family, and great views. Stay tuned for another post about my packing recommendations for a trip to Alaska in the summer. I had a few people ask about the weather and how to pack, so I’m here to share all the details as well as some lessons learned on what not to pack for a trip like this, so stay tuned.
Lastly, have you ever been to Canada or Alaska? Drop some food excursion recommendations in the chat. Would love to hear about your experience(s).
Coils Curls & Coffee 