We Stayed Awake All Day! (and Happy German Unity Day)

Jet Lag Is Real.

One of the suggestions i've read for fighting jet lag is to stay awake once you land in a new time zone until a reasonable bed time.  No naps allowed.  This is especially tough when you land in that new time zone around 9 am local time as we did today!

Packing Light This Trip

9:34 - hitting the road

In order to keep ourselves busy we planned to do a bit of grocery shopping before even making it to our hotel.  As we headed west, we saw a scheck-in and knew it was perfect!  However, it looked closed and even had a gate blocking off the parking lot :(  Weird, but maybe it opens at 11:00 am so we decided to go after some coffee and maybe an early lunch instead.

We enjoyed lunch at a small Doner shop a few kilometers from the Scheck-In but couldn't quite understand the feeling in the city.  Everything was pretty dead.  We planned for our coffee and ayran "to-go" but communication failed and we sat instead.  Later we learned the English phrase for "to-go" that might have been successful was "Take-away".

Wifey had french fries and chicken nuggets.  Not Pictured.



Alas, enough time had passed, surely we could go get our German grocery shopping on!!! NOPE. Still closed.  Same with the home-improvement store across the interstate!  WEIRD!

An hour later, we began checking into our hotel.  It will receive it's own post later this week as we decided to try out a new lodging facility here in town.  Wifey casually asked the front desk clerk if today is a holiday and she answered, yes!  Today is German Unity Day.  Apparently on this day in 1990, East and West Germany became Unified.  Cool!  However this means that most stores and restaurants are closed.

Upon hearing our plight, the desk-clerk suggested we head to a coffee shop across the border that also happened to be located next door to a fancy-smancy grocery store.  After all, it isn't France's Unity Day! At only about a 45 minute drive away, it sounded like a perfect option. To Be Continued

NOLA

Wifey had a brief adventure for work to New Orleans.  An airport shuttle helped her avoid taxis!  

Forever grateful to the hotel staff that allowed me to check into my room when I arrived at 9 am!  

View from the elevator on my way up!

Networking lunch at the hotel!  I'm one of those crazy people who actually loves conference/hotel food! 

 The elevator call functions were outside each elevator car. You either choose your floor using the touch screen or scanned your room card and then the touch screen told you which elevator car to board and it would then automatically go to your destination.

Halal Guys:  We need you in Arkansas!  You were amazing and fed me for two days!  (Excuse the selfie - i had just ran a mile and a half and then walked a mile part-way back to my hotel)

Friday of my trip was all about the networking ... over breakfast and later in the day in vendor meetings!  Woo hoo! 

Halal Guys - leftovers make the best meals when you're literally running to catch a flight home!  My last meeting of the day let-out about a half hour early so I was able to catch an 11:30 bus arriving at the airport at 12:00; hurried through security (and only travel with carry-on luggage) and left on a 12:35 flight.  Repeat for a 2:30 flight from Dallas home after 2:00 arrival in Dallas and I made it home about 4 hours early.  Very thankful for my cleverly packed left-overs and American Airlines Gold status that allows me to change flights same-day free of charge.

La Quinta Biloxi

We recently took a last minute trip to Biloxi MS along with our fur-babies!  Since this is mostly a travel blog, you haven't had many chances to meet Bosco and Ellenor!  

Hours of googling and a phone call or two resulted in a room at the local pet-friendly La Quinta.  Our room was nice and the hotel staff gracious to our pets.  

Some things never change .... just like at home, our younger/larger dog waits by the door anytime Hubby is away.  

Our hotel room was typical for america.  It came with the expected free coffee and toiletries.  We ended up declining housekeeping services while we were there due to the annoyance of #pets, but received fresh towels and goodies daily at the front desk.  

We used the chair for a backpack landing zone to free up floor space for the dogs!

Philemon House

We traveled to Northern NC / Southern VA over Independence Day weekend this year.  Our timing was determined by work commitments and we didn't honestly realize we were going to a tourist destination over a prime vacation weekend.  As a result, we were unprepared for the expense of available lodging and the scarcity there of.  

We often stay at AirBNB's when we travel, but always choose "entire home" rentals where we have a private residence to ourselves.  

We discovered Philemon House on our bazillionth AirBNB and/or Hotels.com search of the area and it looked wonderful.  There had to be a catch ... and there was.  This was a private ROOM rental.  Not a full home/space.  After discussion and review of the listing, we decided to give it a try anyway.  We love new experiences and we had 2 days to fill.  

Conclusion: WE LOVE PHILEMON HOUSE!  

From the amazing coffee bar

To fresh cooked breakfast and dinner each day ..

To refreshing beverages waiting for us "just because" ...

Our stay here was amazing.  Melanie is an amazing cook.  She also loves Jesus and practices hospitality with a grace that simply must be her spiritual gifting.  

Our bedroom was decorated with a nautical theme.  Perfect considering our proximity to the coast.  

Photo from AirBNB listing

We were surprised by, but appreciated being provided our own key for our individual bedroom as well.  

If you're visiting Virginia Beach, or traveling up/down the east coast, make a point to spend a night or ten at Philemon House.  You will be so happy you did!

Washington, NC

We had one night un-booked during our recent trip to the East Coast and found a rather random AirBNB in Washington NC in which to stay.  This Caboose was our home for the night. The interior is designed in one long, skinny, room with all the comforts of home. Best part - the washer and dryer.  We'd certainly recommend this lodging for anyone looking for somewhere to stay in the area. 

The caboose is located just a few hundred yards from the end of the boardwalk and is in a great location if you enjoy walking about.  Which we do.

We did arrive in Washington with enough time to walk around the city.  Coming in blind, we didn't know what to expect but found Washington a charming little water town complete with giant crab statues!  

and small staircases to no-where

The local wildlife was also fun to spy among the lily pads. Since we happened to be in Washington on a Sunday, not much was open, so we'll have to give this little town another chance someday.  

The Wright Brothers

We spent the 4th of July visiting the site of the first manned flight, Kitty Hawk NC!  This National Park includes an interesting museum (Engineer Hubby understood way more of the exhibits than Wifey).  The exhibits explained various components of the science of flight as well as the hurdles that the Wright brothers encountered in developing the first "airplanes".  

Life-Size Replica of the first successful flyer

The site of the successful flights! 

The first day of successful flight in 1903, the brothers took 4 flights, the last one the longest at 59 seconds for a distance of 852 feet.  When visiting Kitty Hawk, you can walk the path of these flights and see a marker at each distance.  

Also on the National Park site is Big Kill Devil Hill.  During the early 1900s this was a large sand hill that the brothers and team would carry early designs (essentially giant kites) up and then use the cross winds for test 'flights' back down.  Despite the heat, we chose to climb up the hill and see the monument up top.  Honestly it was pretty warm, but we were determined.  Note to self: Avoid travel in the summer. 

The White House

We're at the White House!!!!  How cool!  Sadly, despite reading and rereading the do's and don't's of visiting, the traveling selfie stick still died in order to allow us to enter.  There were tears.  The white-house tour was somewhat disappointing.  We walked through a number of old public-facing rooms.  The tour might be interesting if you've never done castle tour after palace tour after castle tour after palace tour.  We're glad we went, but probably will consider this a once-and-done experience.