In my spare time, I love to travel and write for GoNomad.com! Here’s my “Where We Went in 2023” summary!

2023 was a year of planning, packing, and productivity for PilotGirl.  Work was steady but so too was play.  Treating the family to birthday trips, raising awareness of environmental issues, fitness challenges, reshaping the backyard, and confronting health issues, all proved pretty daunting.  But, then again, a life on overdrive seems to be the new norm for everybody!  This end-of-year travel review is a good way to share some of the memories that mattered the most. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everyone! 

The 2023 New Year kicked off with a road trip to Myrtle Beach escorting Mom and her friend Sue to their oceanfront rental.  We ran into car trouble at the halfway mark and panic ensued.  It took the resourcefulness of a kind mechanic at a retail chain to rescue us.  Before flying home, I enjoyed a jog on an empty beach at sunset with nothing but seagulls squawking.  It was delightful!

February found George and I at the Studebaker Theater in downtown Chicago to enjoy a taping of the long-running, news-based quiz show, “Wait,  Wait…Don’t Tell Me.”  

We laughed at the razor-sharp wit of NPR’s hosts Bill Kurtis and Peter Grosz.  They were flanked by other favorite panel members including comedian/actress, Zainab Johnson.  As luck would have it, we walked back to the hotel with Zianab quizzing her on the 3^rd season of the sci-fi series, Upload.  A must-see tv series with a fictional location set in the Mohonk Mountain House!  So cool!  

Paris captures the imagination every day but there’s something magical about being there in April.   The protests surrounding the pension reform bill added to the drama of vacationing during Easter.  From the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower to the still-wounded Notre Dame, George and I were always one step ahead of the police who blocked off streets to contain the chaos. It was a thrill being in a city with such a deeply embedded culture of citizen participation and peaceful assembly.   

We overnighted on the banks of the Seine aboard a permanently moored floating hotel.  What an experience to swim in a hotel plunge pool overlooking the Charles de Gaulle Bridge. 

Our pilgrimage continued in Southern France meeting up with friends Mark and Marie in the windy city of Marseille.  Check out the article I wrote for GoNomad.com.  

We were blown away by e-biking the Celanques to the postcard-beach cove of  Sormiou.  The water proved too cold for a dip so we stayed dry exploring the Conquer Cave museum and sucking down oysters in the medieval Old Port.   

On the final leg of our European vacation, we agonized over a last-minute train cancellation to Barcelona.  We missed multiple connections and had to take a long bus ride from at midnight from Narbonne over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain.  A young stowaway in the seat behind us hid from border police in the bus bathroom during passport inspections.  The things you witness under the shroud of darkness!

We arrived at our hotel before dawn and slept until noon, but, with only 36 hours before our flight home, we crash-coursed all things Catalan like Casa Milà, Gaudi’s Basilica de la Sagrada, and the Park Güell.

In May, I treated Mutti to an early birthday in northern Maine.  We stayed warm hiking easy trails at Acadia National Park but not so much in our so-called luxury tent.  Glamping for the first time proved a lesson in layering!  

Keeping our tiny tent stove warm was futile so one night later we abandoned the elements for the conveniences of a “real hotel room” in downtown Bar Harbor.  

We feasted on fresh lobster and raw oysters with wild abandon.  We combed the beaches for unique shells and took a boat ride through the Narrows.  Mutti waited in the car while I hugged a towering rock face ascending a dizzying mountain known simply as The Beehive.   With no room for error, the little iron rungs and ladders made it one of the most unnerving hikes to date.  

In June, I escorted Dad and Marcella on a return trip to Mackinac Island in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the annual Lilac festival.  Friends Linda and her son Ben met up with us on the island.  Smoke from the Canadian wildfires made driving the north stretch through Quebec and Ontario difficult so we opted to meet in Rochester, cross over the Rainbow  Bridge in Niagara, and head west.  13 hours and a cooler full of energy drinks later, we made it to Shepler’s ferry!  

Everyone reveled in the car-free paradise that is Mackinac especially surrounded by fragrant purple blossoms, butterfly conservatories, horse-drawn carriages, and natural landmarks.  We brought our bikes (and ponchos) for a waterfront loop around the island of Lake Huron.  The photos don’t show it but the sun did peak out in time for the parade. Next time we stay for the entire week to recuperate! 

In July, Ingrid alerted me to a 30% discount at a legendary ADK camp called the Elk Lake Lodge.  Mutti and I went screaming up the Northway for a rare overnight.  We paddled, swam, hiked, and learned all about owl rehabilitation.  Caretaker Mike provided trekking poles and maps for navigating a hallucinogenic trail of mushrooms to the top of Lightning Hill.  The lodge is in the shadow of the Dix Mountain range climbed months earlier while peak bagging my 46.  

That same month, it was Mystic Harbor that caught the fancy of friends Debbie and Jen.  Aboard the Schooner Argia, we toasted to friendship as the sun melted into the horizon.  Donning our sailor knot friendship bracelets, we danced like Queens to an Abba tribute band at the Mohegan Sun.  The girls made out like gambling bandits while I crashed in the hotel room. Drinks on Debbie!  

As most of you know, Mutti is from Germany so it was off to see the Aunts and Uncles in late August.  Uncle Harald arranged a minivan rental so that the five of us could travel in comfort from Aalen to Lake Konstanz, also known as the Bodensee.  

We visited several World Heritage sites including a first class dinner with a view off the veranda at the medieval Meersburg Castle and a ferry ride to Insel Mainau.  The almost-tropical island was hedged by endless flowers of all varieties dotted with park benches and fountains.  The butterfly house was especially unique.    

In the town of Konstanz, Uncle Harold entertained us with cheeky stories of a 30-foot statue; a woman holding the Pope in one hand and the Emperor in the other.  She was called Imperia and she was the first of a cluster of irreverent monuments in charming little towns around the lake with fables that made us roll our eyes. 

Southern Germany has some of the heartiest and richest food in the world.  We loosened our belts and feasted on heaping plates of cheesy Spätzle,  Bavarian knödel, and schnitzel.  I’m no fan of beer or eating red meat but my relation agreed not to hold that against me.  

One of the most memorable tours was of the 2500-year-old Pile Dwellings Museum, a permanent outdoor exhibit of antiquities built on stilts above the water.  Learning about the history of relics from the Stone and Bronze Age was truly a fascinating highlight, that is until a deluge washed away the fun.  We went running for the car but it too was soaking wet having forgotten to close the windows.   

The extreme weather in Germany this summer brought torrential rains that flooded streets and forced vacationing campers to higher ground. Thankfully, our hotel was perched above most of the calamity.  We watched in awe as a lightning storm tore through that seemed to have no end.  

Come November, George and I found ourselves in the North and South Fork shining a light on the fact that life is too short to stay home when it’s your birthday.

George treated me to 3 days of sun, surf, and salty oysters starting at the most beloved icon on Long Island, the Montauk Point Lighthouse.  

Fun fact: Built in 1796, Montauk is the first lighthouse in New York State and the fourth oldest active in the U.S.  

We took snapshots of kitschy roadside attractions like the Big Duck and Popeye.    

The adventure made for a nostalgic trip down memory lane.  The last time I was here was when I worked for WRGB TV.  I shot a half-hour vineyard feature with then-lesser-known celeb, Rachael Ray and entertainment reporter, Dan DiNicola.  I’m guessing that was circa 1999 or 2000, a world ago. 

The tasting room at EV&EM, owned by TV correspondent Dan Abrams, a show that I live-streamed for on NewsNation, was the pick of the vineyard.

Abrams staff made the birthday extra special with a constant stream of pours.  Thank you to Chris from Peeko Oysters for showing us how to shuck (and jive) through enough bivalves for Thanksgiving stuffing.  

The Lars Anderson motorcar collection, the oldest in the United States, not far from Boston, made Mr.Mobil’s year complete.