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A Short Visit to Lisbon
When you only have time for a short visit to Lisbon you want to make sure to prioritize only the best right? So we assembled together our experiences so you can be scrupulous in choosing how you spend your time there. Let’s call it, only the essentials. Jerónimos Monastery The beautiful 13th century monastery is located in the area of Belem. Even if you only have a short visit to Lisbon, keep this on your list. It’s a very reasonable entrance fee to get in and see the elegant architecture and art displayed inside. This UNESCO world heritage site also hosts the Maritime and National Archeology Museums in it’s main…
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Christmas Night Out in Wrigleyville
After being suggested to us by a friend we decided to head in to the Wrigleyville neighborhood in Chicago to check out the Santa Baby pop up Bar. Regularly the Bar -ups Bartending academy, they transform their location for Christmas each year. The website videos looked amazing and the decor inside definitely lived up to the hype. You can check out their site here. Once we got there we found that the majority of the street has been prepped for Christmas and had a lovely Christmas night out in Wrigleyville. read more
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Our Favorite Fall Orchard Near Chicago
I am an absolute autumn lover. And not for all that pumpkin spice nonsense ( I mean really? Apple Cinnamon all the way!). One of my favorite traditions growing up has always been going to the pumpkin patch to pick out that year’s jack-lantern and some yummy apple inspired treats. When we moved to the Chicago area I was eager to continue the tradition and touched lucky that my friend found Jonamac Orchard. It had all the great traditional aspects I knew and loved for the kid in me, plus some new extras for the adult visitor. read more
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What to do in Wisconsin Dells Besides Water Parks or Tacky Attractions
The Wisconsin Dells are a really popular tourist location, especially for all the swimming attractions that make it the water park capital of the world. For some reason there are also a lot of really tacky attractions tagging along with the water parks. But if you look a little deeper there are actually a lot of non waterpark, non tacky, activities to check out. To help you weed through it all we have compiled our list of what to do in Wisconsin Dells besides water parks or tacky attractions. Boat Tours Wisconsin Dells has an abundance of boat tours. If you are looking for more of an adventure , try…
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Our Visit to Mattheissen State Park
Although often overshadowed by Starved Rock State Park, we loved beautiful Matheissen State park which is mere minutes away. When we visited we stayed at the cabins in Starved Rock which we posted about here, and were then conveniently close to Matheissen too. For the best experience check it out on a weekday like we did and have the park all to yourself. Whenever you go prepare for some hiking and some beautiful scenery and rock formations. Off the Main Parking lot is a large grassy space with a couple picnic tables and a small bathroom facility. The location of the hiking path is not immediately evident but we did…
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8 Photos because you missed Hamilton the Exhibition
Did you check out the Hamilton Exhibition in Chicago? We checked it out on it’s very last day running and are so grateful we did. If you missed it you’re in luck as I have compiled our favorite photos so you can have a taste of the gorgeous scenes until they hopefully move it on to the next city and you get a second chance. This lovely statue greeted you at the entrance of the site on Northerly Island. An off the beaten track location but it was worth the trek. The first exhibit immerses you in the Caribbean of Alexander Hamilton’s childhood; focusing on his poverty and the trading…
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The Most Scenic Dells Boat Tour
There are numerous different options for touring Lake Delton by boat. I have also tried the jet boat and iconic Wisconsin Ducks and have had a good experience on both. What makes the Upper Dells Boat Tour unique is the two drop off excursions to explore the rock features on land. The tour is the only way I know to view these beautiful stop offs and are completely worth a trip. That’s why I think the Upper Dells Boat Tour is the most scenic Dells boat tour. The boat tour itself cruises at a nice leisurely pace. It has open air seats on the top deck and open windows for…
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Why I won’t be going back to Devil’s Lake State Park
Devil’s Lake has been on my bucket list for awhile now, growing up in Wisconsin it was definitely well known but somehow not somewhere I had yet visited. Unlike most State Parks I have visited Devil’s Lake is not free entry which in theory should mean they have more funding to make it a good experience for it’s visitors but unfortunately for us it was not to be. We certainly made the best of it but we had a fairly frustrating experience which is why I won’t be going back to Devil’s Lake State Park. read more
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Best of Berrien County Michigan
Every year we have a tradition of getting together with our two best couple friends and our dogs and finding a vacation rental within driving distance of Chicago. We always search Illinois and all the surrounding states but then inevitably find our favorite in Michigan. Most recently, we have found our favorites in Berrien County, a lovely lakefront County at the southwest corner of Michigan. Berrien County has a plethora of vacation rentals and unmatched attractions which I have included below in no particular order. read more
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Pet Friendly Cabin in Starved Rock State Park
We had been looking to plan a trip to Starved Rock State Park for awhile. When Ryan’s Brother came to visit it seemed like the perfect reason to go as he shares our love of the outdoors. Starved Rock is fairly well known in that is it only 1.5-2 hours from Chicago and has such cool rock formations and waterfalls to explore. As per usual on our outdoor adventures, we wanted to bring our dog Memphis along. Luckily for us renting a pet friendly Cabin in Starved Rock State Park itself was available for when we wanted to stay. read more