Nashville with the Nephews

The first road trip that Virginia and I took was the fall break before we were engaged - it was meant to be a short little jaunt to Louisville, KY, to see our good friends Jason and Donna and Virginia's sister Lisa.  That short little 4 hour drive ended up turning into an 8 hour one...and so when we embarked upon our recentest married road trip, the though "please let this not turn out like our last road-trip" was forefront in my mind.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were going to go camping with Kris, Eryn, and their four little boys, but unfortunately nearly all of them got some sort of sinus crud at the last moment.  Not letting that cancel our plans, Endy and I (the boys named her that when they were quite little, and have affectionately named me "Uncle Crease") headed up the road to visit them at their home in Nashville.

It is always an adventure here in Nashville.  All four of my nephews are five years old or younger - yes, Eryn is quite the woman, and I respect her tenacity and fortitude.  One day, she's going to have a squad of courageous young men to take care of her.  For now though, our hours here are spent in laughing, screaming, chasing, hiking, wrestling, "mom-he-did-this-or-that-ing," and so on, and I love it.

I have always wanted to be the fun, super-cool, loving uncle who spoils his nephews, and barring one of my siblings getting married in the next year or so, there was little chance of that happening in my family.  Fortunately, I got to marry into a wonderful family full of nephews and nieces for me to dote on.  In fact, I was Uncle Crease before Endy and I got married.

Each of my nephews are highly unique - their names alone should tell you that.  Madigan is the oldest (and loudest), and perhaps the most protective and philosophical.  Eryn is constantly quoting him, and he is constantly informing me he would like to be a paleontologist when he grows up - specifically to study sauropods.  He's five.

Paugie is the quieter one (when he's not echoing his oldest brother), and is extremely easy to talk to.  I'm quite sure he wants to be a Hobbit when he grows up: he just doesn't know it yet.

Jevy is the loner of the group, if such a thing exists between these four lads, preferring to choose who he loves on, and when he loves on them.  I have learned to give him his space, and occasionally he will approach me for affection of some simple sort.  He is a mystery, and I love it.

And finally, Kelton.  What a sweetheart.  He is a constant flirt, full of laughter, and runs faster than any toddler I've ever seen.  He looks at me with a twinkle in his eye, and I wink back; we share secrets in those glances that no one else will ever know.

This weekend has been so incredibly relaxing for me.  It is so nice to be around people I love - even though I haven't known them for very long - and to start stepping into the role of Uncle Crease I have always wanted.  I can't wait to grow with my nephews, and make marvelous memories with my brother and sister-in-law.  Being here is inspiring - and so, blurring the lines a bit between my travel blog and my poetry blog, I have written a poem for each of my nephews.  Enjoy!  And happy traveling to see your loved ones.

Protector and lover,

Ideal older brother,

Garrulous fun,

Energy never done:

Madigan the Mighty

The hobbit-child,

Observes the wild,

From perch on the couch,

In a studious slouch:

Reflective Paugie

Chewing the shirt,

Gaze divert,

Walk for a mile,

Happy, sideways smile:

Steady Jevy

Helter-skelter,

Little heart shmelter,

Loving and sweet,

Steady on the feet:

Constant Kelty.

Swan's Island, ME

Greetings travel lovers, friends, family, and any other interested readers!  Pardon the clouds of dust as I crack open the pages of the must old blog for the first time in months, but I feel that I requires an update.  I AM MARRIED!  What an adventure; what great travels!  Virginia, now Creasy, will be my life-long travel companion, and so I find it only fitting to write a new post telling you about where we started our trek together: Swan's Island, Maine.

Virginia had always wanted to go to Maine, and had mentioned it to me before in conversation, and so, with much help, I planned a trip up there without telling her.  That's right: our honeymoon was a total surprise to the bride, and it turned out to be one of the greatest trips I've ever taken.

The day of our wedding, right after the reception, we headed out by plane to Charllotte, NC, where my Dad had a wonderful hotel waiting for us.  We had to catch our next flight to Philly the next morning at 6am, so we used Uber for the first time - at 4am - and got through security with plenty of time to spare.  I figured we would be fine to travel standby...the tickets were cheap, and we were on a tight budget, so I just went with.  A very long story short, we arrived in Bangor, ME about 17 hours later, with at least 12 of those spent missing continuous flights out of Philly.  We now have a subtle hatred of Philly; I still call it the City of Brotherly Hate.

The final look I had of Philly before heading to Bangor.

We spent the night at the airport hotel and enjoyed a good breakfast (they were very polite to the honeymooners), and the next day, our now good friend, Jim Stone, picked us up and drove us to Bar Harbor, where we took a ferry 45 minutes off the coast to his small rental cabin.

The front of our little cabin.

My lovely bride posing at the steps of the back porch.

The weather the entire week was amazing, staying right around 65-70, with fog in the mornings, and beautiful sunshine in the afternoons, making hiking around the small island (it was no more than 8 miles across) extremely enjoyable.  Our first day out, we took a rough, hand-drawn map and made our way to Fine Sand Beach.  It ended up being a lot longer hike that we estimated, taking us most of the afternoon, but we had a great time.

*Finally* finding the correct trailhead!

Over the next several days, we hiked all over the majority of the island, except for the westernmost side which was largely uninhabited and wild.  Oddly enough, there are no snakes, no large animals, and very little wildlife at all on the island itself.  The main wildlife, according to our host, is to be found in the water and on the beaches, with whale, seal, dolphins, and other aquatic animals being the main specimen.  We got to see a group of seal on our ferry ride home.

After recovering from our day of hiking, Virginia and I decided to hike all the way across the Swan's Island to the Southeastern-most point, where an old lighthouse stood.  For many years it would guide the fishing ships around the rocky shore-line, and is said to be one of the most beautiful places on the island.  It was certainly our most favorite spot.

A sailboat off the coast.

The Carrying Place, an old portage used by native Americans.

Our first view near the lighthouse, with a schooner in the distance.

Looking over the point together.

Jim drove his old truck across the island to pick us up at the old lighthouse, to spare our poor honeymooning legs the journey back, and on our way, we decided to pick up some fresh and locally caught lobster to cook for ourselves.  It was our first time cooking lobster, but it turned out positively delicious.  Coupled with a few side items and a Jones Cream Soda, our home made meal was spectacular.

Our lobsters, Fred and George!

Gross looking, but delicious!

They say a picture is worth one thousand words, so I'm using that as an excuse to say this post is actually an impressive 10,000 words or so long.  At any rate, our trip home was much less uneventful than the trip there - we only got laid over 3-4 times - and we arrived back home in Maryville late at night, and crashed together at our new apartment.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the true adventure begins.  The married life is treating us exceptionally well, and we plan on continuing our traveling blog soon - this time in the form of camping with our 4 nephews: all of whom are 5 years old or younger.  We couldn't be more excited.  ;)  Until then, happy travels!

St. Augustine Days 1-2

Hello travel lovers!

I'm back after quite a while, and even though this trip isn't nearly to the scale of my summer antics, I feel the need to chronicle my travels again, if only for my own remembrance.

My oldest younger sister, Jessica, is on tour with the Maryville College Choir, and my fiance Virginia McGary (oh yeah...I'm engaged now!), and the rest of my siblings are all on spring break.  Being the devoted family we are, Mom and Dad decided to be Jessica's "roadies" of sorts, and so we followed them to Simsonville, SC to hear their first concert.  We spent the night with Grandma and Papa there in SC (with amazing southern food, Krispy Kreme Donuts, and some good time just visiting), and got up early this morning on hit the road.

This is our very first trip without Jessica.  I admit that I'm distraught all the time - I quote lines that only she'd know, or go to make a silly face, or take a poochy lips selfie, and she's not there.  That's life, I guess; we're growing up, she's in college, and I'm engaged, and it's bound to happen.  But even though this trip is a first, I'm also expectant: this starts an era of trips taken apart, but also more meaningful trips together.  Perhaps one day I'll be going on a double date with my fantastic sister.  Maybe I'll write to you about a neat roadtrip we take!  But for now, she's not with us, and that's sad.

Our first stop was the beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia (Virginia and I had Relient K's song stuck in our head the entire time, which you should listen to right now), where we met Jessica and some of her friends at Spanky's restaurant for some fantastic chicken tenders and fried spuds.

While we were there, we took a quick ferry ride across the river (despite the attitude of our ferryman we had a jolly old time), and strolled down River Road looking at the shops.  Supposedly Savannah houses the second largest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the States, and nearly every shop window was stuffed with my Ginger Heritage memorabilia.  Jennifer found out she's a pigeon whisperer, tantalizing several of the fatter specimen towards her outstretched hand.  I think should could have caught one if she wanted.

Wind blown and a bit tired, we piled back in our grey carriage and took Virginia on a brief, but scenic, tour of of the old town, making sure, at Jen's request, to see Paula Dean's personal restaurant.  We have decided yet again (this being our second visit to Savannah) that this is one of the prettiest cities we've seen.

Threeish hours later, along with several rest-and-stretch stops, we arrived in St. Augustine, Florida, and our very first stop was the seaside.  Virginia hasn't been to the beach in a very long time, and spent most of her time frollicing with Jennifer in the waves.  Don't be fooled - Jacob and I did a good bit of prancing ourselves.

All in all, I'm extremely happy to be back on the road with my family.  I'm happy to be a traveler again, even in this different capacity.  We're hopefully going back to the beach tonight for a little seashell hunting by flashlight.  I'll let you know if we catch anything cool.

Until Tomorrow!

J