Memorial Day in NC - May 2023

We had planned on a weekend on Ocracoke with the NC gang.  Unfortunately the weather halted the ferry, so we redirected back to RDU but had a blast all the same! 

The gang bowling

We booked the 5pm Southwest flight on the Thursday before Memorial Day.  In the spirit of retirement frugality, we took the train to the airport which was only an hour.  We even got there in time for a beer and tacos before the flight took off.  John picked us up in JoAnna's car as his was in the shop.  After a couple of beers we went to bed, knowing we were up at 4am to drive to Ocracoke.

Phil and Joyce met us at the house at 5:30am on Friday so we could ride with them.  About 90 minutes on the road to Swan Quarter Ferry,  John got a text saying that the ferry was canceled because of high winds.  We pulled off the highway to have a brainstorm session at Bojangles.  After considering a variety of options around the Outer Banks, we opted to head back to RDU and just take advantage of the local area.  Kim and Jonathan were already out that way from the night before, so they redirected back to the city.  After unloading at John's house, we went to 10th and Terrace on the rooftop of Residence Inn in Raleigh for drinks and a few appetizers.  Keith, Kate, and the girls met us there, before we all walked to Morgan Street Food Hall for dinner via the Raleigh train station.  A stop at Videri Chocolate Factory also might have happened...  Post dinner we went to The Box Car for video games, which was shockingly busy!

Out and about in Downtown Raleigh

Saturday we all met at the Drive Shack, a Top Golf-like facility.  The place was already booked, so we put our names down for a couple of bays.  It took at least an hour for a waiter to show up to get us drinks and appetizers.  Once the two bays opened, we did have a great time.  After cleaning up at the house, we made our way to Phil and Joyce's house for some incredible Cuban food - a really fun night.

Golfing

Yummy dinner at Joyce and Phil's

Sunday morning, a few of us met at Fosters for brunch.  It was a drizzly morning but we were able to get a couple of tables outside.  We then went to Bowlmor Lanes for 2.5 hours of bowling which was a blast - and fun to go back to the place we had bowling league while at Duke.  We Ubered back to John's, had a nap, and then went to Keith and Kate's for dinner - Italian, hosted by them, with Phoebe providing her amazing bread.  Julie was able to join us for dinner, as was Johnny Mac.  

Final bowling score

Yummy dinner at Keith and Kate's

Monday we decided to get the earlier flight home, arriving at 12:30.  Just in time to prep for the big move!

Louisiana - May 2023

While Keith was spending all of Shawna's hard earned money in Spain with Tom, Shawna went to Louisiana to spend 5 days with her mom to celebrate an early Mother's Day.  Shawna flew out of Chicago on Saturday morning, arriving into New Orleans around noon.  She picked up the rental car and then drove to her mom's house, getting there around 3pm.  That evening, she treated both her mom and Nicole to dinner at Rocky's Tails and Shells where Shawna ate to her heart's content - cup of gumbo, platter of crawfish and bread pudding for dessert.  And if that was not enough, she also ordered a platter of fried catfish to take home!!  The crawfish was really tasty.

Dinner at Rocky's

On Sunday, Shawna and her mom drove to Ginger's new house near Alexandria - she and Michael had recently moved there.  After getting a tour of the house, the three ladies went out to lunch at Verona Italian Restaurant in Alexandria which we had been to many, many years before with Brock.  Michael opted not to go as he was licking his wounds that Keith had not come on the this trip!!  Lunch was really tasty.  We then went to Dillard's to get a few things and then dropped Ginger off back at her house.

Yum!

Shawna took Monday off to spend more time with her mom.  We met Hope in Marksville for lunch at Habibi's Lebanese Cuisine which was pretty tasty and then picked up some things at Walmart.  That evening, Shawna cooked dinner at home.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Shawna worked from the house and spent Tuesday evening with her mom.  She drove back to New Orleans on Wednesday evening, getting a late flight back to Chicago so that she would be there on the Thursday when Keith's family came to do their final visit with us there.

Spain Boys Trip - May 2023

Tom accepted an offer to change jobs which required a 2-month garden leave.  With Keith recently retired and Kim & Shawna still gainfully employed, the boys scheduled a last-minute trip to Madrid to spend a week in Northern Spain!

For the last 25 years, we have been super-planned with our holidays so we can maximize every minute.  This trip was MUCH less planned - perhaps because Tom and Keith were in charge!  And, we were incredibly pleased that we did the whole trip quite inexpensively.  

Keith's flight left on Wednesday at 10am.  With "free time" he took the train to Midway rather than an Uber.  In line, a couple saw Keith with the hiking poles and asked if he was hiking the Camino de Santiago.  While the answer was no - it is now on the list to do with Kim and Tom.  Once he landed, it was an immediate taxi to Zou Zou, near Penn Station, to meet Tom and Mark for lunch - a meal we rightly guessed would be the most expensive of the trip!  It was great to catch up with Mark for a couple of hours before we had to make our way to JFK for our flight to Madrid.  Keith was lucky enough to have an aisle seat with no one next to him, but only got ~1 hour sleep on the flight.

Keith, Mark, and Tom

Bilbao

We cleared customs quickly and grabbed the Budget car rental Tom had arranged, immediately driving north to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim.  Well, almost immediately.  We did stop for a Starbucks to help keep us awake for the 4+ hour drive.  We parked the car (fully loaded with our stuff) in an underground lot near the museum.  The architecture was stunning, though our lack of art sophistication meant we did not quite appreciate the contents of the building!  Our attention span lasted about three hours.  It was then only a one-hour drive to San Sebastián, where we spent the first three nights.

At the Guggenheim

San Sebastián 

When Keith first proposed a boys trip to Spain, Shawna was super-supportive, with only one request: please don't go to San Sebastián on this trip.  Well, Keith turned that into "how about Tom and I go there as research for OUR trip?"  Ever the understanding wife, Shawna gave the idea a green light!  The AirB&B arranged for our access to the public parking garage.  After we checked into our AirB&B just outside of Old Town (a couple of blocks northwest of the new cathedral), we walked to Old Town and began our consumption of pintxos and beer!

The next morning we had arranged an eBike tour of the city to help orient ourselves.  We booked the "Basque History and Cultural Shared Tour by Bike" on Viator.  Carlo, the guide, was excellent.  We had ~10 people on the tour which went throughout Old Town and Gross.  It was also Keith's first time on an eBike, which he promptly adopted as the best form of transport ever!  After an afternoon nap, we hit Old Town again for more pintxos and beer.

Cycling San Sebastián

We love the eBikes so much that we rented two ourselves from the same place (La Bicicleta Donostia) to tour the city.  One of our stops was Parque de Atracciones Monte Igueldo.  This is a 100 year old amusement park at the top of the mountain - it requires taking a funicular to the top.  The park was really cute - the rides still feel a hundred years old.  We walked around, went on the roller coaster, and then headed back to the bikes.  That afternoon and evening were...you guessed it...more pintxos and beer!

Pintxos

We went to too many pintxo bars to count (or even remember), but a few of our stops were Sirimiri, Aralar, Lobo, Gandarias, Le Comidare, Hemeretzi, Ganbara, Casa Urola, Bar Sport, Hemeretzi, Beti-Al, and La Vina.

Logrono

Following our time in San Sebastian, we drove down to Logrono, in La Rioja.  For some reason, we both had the image of Logrono being a small town - instead, it is a town of 200,000.  Once we checked in to the AirB&B between Epsilon park and the Santa Maria Cathedral, we went over to Laurel Street for...you guessed it...more Pintxos!  Laurel was a hive of activity.  After a nap that afternoon, we went to a food truck fair and had Mexican and beer - a little break from the local cuisine.

The next day we rented two eBikes from La Rioja Bike Tours via Rebeca at Rioja Like a Native Wine Tours.  We had originally planned a group tour with a van, but we had struggled to find any availability.  But we lucked out, because the self-guided bike tour was outstanding.  Jose met us at 10am with the two bikes (ok, eBikes) and gave us a route that was downloaded on the Kamoot app.  The route took us to two wineries.  The first was a very old, traditional one in Laguardia: Carlos San Pedro.  The route took us off the main roads and took us the full 3 hours to get there before our appointment at 1pm.  In fact, we went a bit out of the way because the Kamoot route thought we were doing a different vineyard, 10 minutes north of Laguardia.  But the tour was great - it took us to the caves under the city.  We chatted with a British couple while on the tour.  Because we had time until our next winery, we had food and a beer at Bar Velar Laguardia.  

Wine Cave

We then got back on the bikes, and hit the next winery: Marques de Riscal in Elciego.  The second one was as modern as the first was traditional - and they produce 6M vs 40K bottles annually, respectively.  Marques has a hotel on site that is a Frank Gehry design - just like the Guggenheim.  We did arrive an hour early so sat in the inside bar to have a glass of wine, then did the tour.  The evening was more pinxtos, then bed.

Cycling in Rioja

Marques de Riscal

Like in San Sebastián, we went to too many pintxo shops to count, but some we did hit were Bar Lorenzo, El Soriano, Bar Samray, Bar Blanco y Negro, Bar Jubera, and Bar Soriano.

Madrid

After our time in Logrono, we headed to Madrid. We dropped the rental car at the airport and Ubered to our AirB&B in Sol.  After quickly checking in, we walked to the Plaza Mayor where we had a beer and people-watched: a heap of Manchester City fans were in town for their semi-final game vs Real Madrid.   There were lots of Manchester songs - all under the watch of a horde of Spanish police.  We popped back to the room before going out for the evening.  Keith had found out that Al (Steve and Jan's son) was in Madrid that day with his girlfriend Lana.  So we first met them at 1862 Dry Bar for a cocktail before going to dinner at Restaurante Casa Salvador.  We then watched the end of the football game at a random bar - thought it was pretty disappointing as the game ended in a draw!  

Keith, Tom, Lana, and Al

After saying farewell to Al and Lana, the night ended with a bit of a bang as a pickpocket took Keith's passport and wallet.  Fortunately, Keith noticed and took off after the guy - he dropped everything on the ground other than about 50 euros.  So what could have really sucked ended up pretty easy!

Our flight was at noon on the Wednesday - we ended up with an empty middle seat so the flight some was pretty comfortable. We went our separate ways at JFK - Keith was able to catch the earlier flight home to Chicago after transferring to LGA.  

Overall it was a great trip - the food and drinks were great, the scenery in Rioja country stunning, and we were inspired to return someday to hike the Camino!