Coast to Coast in 2010...

We love to travel and in 2010 Justin and I did our fair share of it.  I was lucky and got to do a little more than him and basically went coast to coast. But not in one trip. This year we did lots of little bite sized trips and capped off the year with the longest trip of the year.

In March, for the hub's last birthday of his twenties, we crapped out at the tables and hit it big on one wonderful "Monopoly" slot machine in Vegas.  We were lucky enough to have some great friends join us for the fun and our first Daniel Tosh show.  This was my 4th trip to Sin City and Justin's 3rd. This time around we stayed at MGM Grand (while the casino floor matches up with the name, the beds were a little firm for our tastes).  They have an Asian cuisine restaurant that has some yummy sushi at great prices. 

These Aria buildings reminded us of Fred and Ginger in Prague.

May and the wonderful Memorial Day weekend gave us enough time to get a trip to the Big Apple to visit my friend Amy and her fiance Doug. Amy let us crash at her awesome, totally NYC studio apartment and we spent the weekend doing the following: a Mets game in the rain, all-you-can-drink sunset cruise, karaoke, Coney Island and a Freak Show, brunch at a beer garden in Brooklyn.

Game on! Rolling up the tarp at the Met's game.

We do well on sunset cruises.

Doug teaching us his methods.  He could go pro in karaoke.

This way to the Wonder Wheel.  Swinging carts are the only way to go.

Cards over brunch is serious business.

In July, we were fortunate enough to be able to travel to Savannah to witness our friend Adam marry his wife Kelsey.  Adam, Justin and I go way back to our time in Film Committee at UF.  Savannah was warm, but still totally walkable.  We toured the Mercer house, enjoyed some awesome fried shrimp on River Street, and checked out the SCAD social scene and student-designed goods stores.

The U.S. flag hanging in front of a house in Savannah.

Walkways to the buildings that front River St.

For my birthday in August we loaded up the car and road tripped down to South Padre.  Our friends Jamie and Sara joined us for the weekend too.  Mimosas with breakfast, Cuba Libres on the beach and at dinner made for a wonderfully relaxing weekend that allowed me to catch some rays, some waves and read some Sookie Stackhouse novels. During the summer they always have fireworks on Fridays, so we saw a free show too!

Toasting to our awesome view of the beach with a morning mimosa.

Watching the sunset from our table at dinner. We did this every night were we were there.

For October, I previously blogged about our awesome time at ACL, and since it was an overnight trip, it counts in the line up of vacations, even though ATX in only 80 minutes away. Check out the good time here.

I got two vacations in one month in October because my best friend Amy had a girl's weekend in San Francisco/Napa for her 30th birthday.  We did it up right with a limo tour of the wine country and definitely didn't act our age. We stayed at the Napa Embassy Suites which had awesome made-to-order breakfasts and open bar evening receptions at which we still didn't act our age.

Miette, located in the Ferry Building. Go here for awesome lavender shortbread cookies!

A beautiful produce stand in the Ferry Building.

Going north on the Golden Gate Bridge.

View from private tasting table for Gamble Family Vineyards.

November saw us hitting the road again for an Aggie football game in College Station. The Aggies played Nebraska and managed to win it causing the audience to lose it and storm the field.  Never one to pass up an opportunity we went down to Kyle Field with our friends and celebrated the win.

Kyle Field being swarmed by fans.

In November we hit the road once more, this time with Wookie!, for a Thanksgiving trip to visit my Dad and Stepmom in Eastpoint, Fl.  Don't know where that is?  Well there is St. George Island with gorgeous beaches that are part of Florida's "Forgotten Coast." Still lost on the map?  Well there's Appalachiola across the bay bridge from approximately 10% of U.S. oysters (and 90% of Florida oysters) are fished (is this term correct for oystering??) out of the water.  During this little trip we also managed to get to Gainesville to visit our old stomping grounds.

That's sunrise you're seeing.

Pine trees along the roadways are never ending in Florida.

That's the damage a storm can do to the coast.

I ate my oysters from Boss Oysters before I thought of taking a picture.

Amy bought us this brick as a wedding gift. It's in front of Emerson Alumni Hall.

Albert and Alberta are the best mascots.

Our final trip of the year was just one month later in December.  We found ourselves on the coast of Texas once again, but this time it was to embark upon our first cruise on a Carnival Cruise ship, The Ecstasy.  The ship took us down to Progreso and Cozumel in Mexico.  Progreso was a packed day with a trip out to see the Chichen Itza ruins, which were magnificent. In Cozumel we did a little shopping.  The boat was fun, but the ruins were definitely the highlight of the trip.

Sunrise view from the balcony of our room.

In Cozumel with the boat, and of course the water, behind us.

Chilling on the balcony enjoying our last day on the boat.

Carvings on a wall at Chichen Itza.

A famous serpent head on El Castillo.

Me in front of El Castillo.

Not the steps of El Castillo, but elsewhere.  Look at how narrow they are!

The largest handball court in the world.  The losers were sacrificed.  That's a high stakes game!

El Castillo from afar.

Justin and me in front of El Castillo.

I'm a sucker for truly blue water.

We were back in town in time celebrate NYE with friends and get ready for all the fun we are sure to have in 2011.   If you're wondering where we'll go next, just stay tuned.  Since I'm not updating very regularly, who knows when I'll have a good story.