Seth had some work to do in London, so Jax and I got to spend two days hanging around our old neighborhood. First, we took a nap and a stroll in Hyde Park by the fountains.
Then we walked down Oxford Street to do a little shopping. I picked up these shoes for myself…
and some shoes for Jax that say “little explorer” on them.
This sweatshirt was appropriate – and also on sale – so we picked it up, too.
And I couldn’t go to Marks & Spencer without picking up these blueberry and oat cookies I discovered last summer:
Here’s the view from our hotel room in Paddington Station.
We are back from over three weeks of traveling! Jax was such a good sport and didn’t seem to mind being whisked from place to place, visiting five cities in three countries in less than a month.
Our first stop was Oxford, the reason for our trip over the Atlantic. I gave a paper (based on a chapter in my dissertation) at the Society for French Studies Annual Conference. It was a pleasure meeting other scholars of France and even reconnecting with a former graduate school colleague. I had to bring Jax to registration the first day, and to say good-bye on the last day as well (Seth was in London doing some work on those days, coming to Oxford in the middle for my presentation day). Everyone was understanding, although if the weather wasn’t so wonderful, I’m not sure bringing a 9-month-old to an academic conference would ever be a good idea!
In all, a great three days in this famous capitol of learning.
We are off to Oxford, London, and Paris, where I’m giving a paper about this sensationalist fin-de-siècle novel, among other things. Hope to publish updates soon!
We went up to Croton-on-Hudson on Friday and decided to stay the night at the lovely Alexander Hamilton House, a Victorian mansion converted into a bed & breakfast. Seth surprised me by getting one of the fanciest rooms, the Library, which had bookshelves filled with history about the area, and a cozy sitting room with a fireplace. What a treat!
We had a wonderful day on December 29th, our 2-year anniversary. We started out at the beach on the Gulf of Mexico, just down the street from the family house in Redington Beach:
Then we headed down to Sarasota to see if we could show Jax the Crosley Estate – the awesome 1920s mansion where we were married. The gate was closed upon arrival, but Sean, the groundskeeper, saw us and let us in. So nice!
It was as beautiful and as breathtaking as ever.
Next stop was St. Armand’s Circle, a pretty European-style round-about with cafés and upscale boutiques lining the perimeter.
We skipped the cafés, however, and opted for an ice cream snack instead.
To finish the night, we had an excellent seafood meal in the downtown area of Sarasota, on the harbor, complete with margaritas.
We arrived in Redington Beach, Florida yesterday, so we headed straight for the beach this afternoon after picking up the all-important sunblock. We’re having a great time and will share more photos of our holiday adventures!
First we picked up some Florida oranges at the Citrus stand.
Then on to the Gulf!
Seth dipped Jax ever so slightly into the water, but he made it immediately clear he was not into it.
For many more pics of our Vancouver trip, check out this slide show in an earlier post. Below is an overview of some of the highlights of baby’s first trip abroad (with the photos I have on my computer for the moment).
~Planes & Trains~
Like all good public-transportation-loving New Yorkers, we began our trek to Vancouver on the A train, where Seth lugged a suitcase and stroller bag while I carried Jax and the diaper bag. The train was packed with rush-hour traffic, but I found a seat next to a talkative woman traveling with her granddaughter. She told me she had 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild and had lots of parenting advice:
“Don’t cut his hair for a year.”
When you become a parent, everybody has something to say about what you should be doing with your kid. Why doesn’t anyone ever give me advice about what to do with my hair? Because that would be helpful!
At check-in, we sorted out our seats and meal issues: Seth had somehow ended up with the “baby food” meal selection, which everyone agreed wouldn’t be too tasty. We got our most precious parcel labeled and ready to go:
and then boarded the plane after a couple hiccups. {Apparently for international travel you have to buy an “infant ticket” at the ticket counter, even though the ticket counter gave us an infant boarding pass. Seth went back to buy one, forgetting his boarding pass, so I had to leave all our stuff at the gate and go back to ticketing with Jax to give it to him. Two trips through security with a baby. Joy.}
Just being in the plane before take-off made our little one drowsy:
I guess he takes after Seth, who always, always falls asleep during take-off. As many of you know, he has his pilot’s license, and although I’ve never flown with him, he assures me that he does not doze off on take-off when he’s behind the wheel. Hmmm.
Once we were safely in the air we put Jax in the empty seat between us. The flight was maybe 1/3 full, which was awesome for our first plane trip with baby.
That’s a baby seat belt they gave us. Not sure how effective it would be during turbulence, but we held him during rough patches anyway.
~Vancouver Photo Shoot~
I was amazed with the natural beauty in British Columbia. The mountains were misty and steep against the water, which reminded me of the South China Sea. The view from Laura and Corey’s apartment was surrounded by snow-covered mountains. On a drive through Stanley Park we took in some views of the water from a very well-lit parking space. We just had to snap a bunch of pictures:
~Thanksgiving in Whistler~
We weren’t expecting to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal, especially since we were spending Thursday-Saturday in Whistler. But Laura, Corey, and Seth went out to the village grocery store and found all the fixings.
Awkward family pose…
While Seth, Laura, and Corey did this:
Laura is the skier in the white jacket moving at what I’d call a “careful” pace.
Jax and I walked around Whistler Village and hung out at a funky café.
Turkey Day leftovers were a delicious warm-up once everyone was back from the slopes.
On Saturday Seth forewent the snowboarding and we three walked around the village.
Love ‘em or not, Starbucks had an awesome wreath:
~and back in Vancouver~
Laura and Corey have this cool peppermint tea Corey got in Vietnam. A little green ball “bloomed” into this:
On our last day in Vancouver we walked to Gastown, home of the steam-powered clock:
It was a really hip neighborhood, somewhat reminiscent of SoHo, but with a more small-town feel that was awesome. We found some authentic Mexican food (something Laura hadn’t been able to find since moving from California) and danced the afternoon away:
Walking along the waterfront provided some photo ops:
…and I saw a bald eagle for the first time in the wild.
We loved British Columbia and will definitely return before too long!
A week ago, Seth and I spent a 3-day weekend exploring New England. We’ve driven around Connecticut and Massachussets before, but this time we stopped in some new places on a slow tour up the coast.
Friday was a business day: Seth and I headed to Framingham, MA, to meet some of his colleagues at Computer World Magazine, for the first time in person! They were fun and had some great suggestions of things to do in the area. We took their advice and went to the Elephant Walk Franco-Cambodian restaurant in Waltham for dinner. Because it was restaurant week, we were able to have the most delicious 4-course meal for just $33.08. The fusion of flavors was divine, and I have nothing but praise for this restaurant (there’s one in Boston, too).
When it was time to do some touristy exploring on Saturday, we took the old highway towards Boston and first stopped in Lexington, the “birthplace of liberty” and where the “shot heard round the world” was fired and started the Revolution (they still don’t know who fired it or from which side it came).
This church isn’t as old as the U.S. (it was built in the mid-19th century), but I thought it was pretty and typical of New England architecture.
The next stop was Cambridge, which neither Seth nor I had ever had the excuse to see before. It was cool to see the campus of the country’s oldest university. Once again, the steeple seemed to be the prettiest picture to take:
Seth and I had been to Boston before, but never in the touristy center on such a beautiful Saturday. The area around Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market was packed. There were plenty of street performers out for the crowds, but this one-man band was my favorite:
After a seafood lunch we headed to the harbor and decided at the last minute to jump onto a ferry that would take us to one of the harbor islands to see an old fort. The sky started to darken on the way over, but it cleared up once we got to George’s Island.
The view of Boston from one of the fort’s watchtowers:
Fort Warren was first built by the French and was last used in World War II. It never saw any battle, but was an important station to protect Boston in wartime. What was especially cool about the boat ride to and from George’s Island is that we went right by Logan Airport, and had planes flying right overhead. I just had to hold by breath when the smell of jet fuel got a little strong!
We ate shabu shabu for dinner in Boston’s Chinatown and headed back to our hotel to watch some Olympics and swim.
Our first stop on Sunday was Providence, RI, another city we’ve driven past many times but never really explored. The riverwalk was pleasant and definitely the highlight of our walking tour:
The last stop on Sunday was Mystic, CN, the old ship-building city with a cute mainstreet filled with shops and little cafés. The bridge (built in the early 20th century) opens quite often, since nothing taller than a kayak will fit under it.
On the mainstreet, we checked out a pretty (expensive) baby boutique and then decided that the artisinal ice cream next door would be a more affordable treat. Seth and I split a mint-chocolate-chip cone and I liked the painting on the wall:
We headed back to the car and then back to the road. Taking a few more driving detours (especially to avoid some bad highway traffic), we got back to New York just in time to return our rental car. It was our last pre-baby trip, but we’re also excited to go back to show the baby all of these fun and historic places just a short drive away.
