Destinations

Hanging Rock State Park

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About an hour outside of Greensboro and two away from Charlotte, Hanging Rock State Park is a great day trip adventure. I started my day with a heavy breakfast at a pancake house. If you are a beginning hiker like me, then you will be pleased to know that the park has a map that has each of the trails labeled based on their difficulty. I took the easiest trail available and still had a pretty good time.

Equipped with water, trail mix, goldfish snacks, and a determination to succeed, we took our approximately two-mile hike up to the viewpoint. I will say that even though I took the easiest route, it was still challenging. The first mile and a half up was pretty straightforward, but then you get to the stairs, and it gets a bit steeper from there. If I could go back and do this day over, I would have worn my actual hiking shoes instead of my regular walking sneakers.

Once I made it to the top, I spent about 15 minutes enjoying the view, the breeze, and my snacks. I am calling this a day trip because the hike itself took about 3 hours from start to finish. It was about an hour in both directions, but I took a lot of breaks. I ended up realizing that hikes just weren’t for me, but it was still a great experience.

After making it back down and taking a moment to fully rehydrate and catch my breath, we made our way out of the park. By the park exit, there is an ice cream shop that sells handmade ice cream, waffle cones, and smoothies. They make your waffle at the time of ordering, which means it’s super fresh and crunchy.

They have a ton of great flavors and great service. Honestly, the ice cream was so good I’d be open to taking another hike just to go back.

After the ice-cream, I was exhausted, to say the least, so we headed back home. Overall, hiking might not be for me, but I loved the views from the top, and the ice cream made the whole experience worthwhile.

Check out the second half of the video below for more.

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Raleigh, NC

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In a place where there are almost always events going on, it’s not hard to find something for just about everyone. I took a day trip to Raleigh with my brother and friends to explore the Art of the Brick Lego exhibit that they were having. What started as a trip to an exhibit ended in a day trip trying local restaurants.

Our Art of the Brick tickets were for 11:30 am. We got there around 15 early and got checked in at the front desk. From there, we spent about an hour walking through the self-guided exhibits trying to guess the number of blocks that were used. After that, we took a moment to heal our inner child by spending some time at their coloring station. They had a cool machine that lets you scan your coloring page in and have it displayed in a digital exhibit with the others.

After the exhibit, we were all hungry, so we went to a restaurant located in the same plaza as the art exhibit called Arepa Culture. Since my brother was with us, we were looking for options that would suit vegetarians as well as meat eaters, and this restaurant fit the bill. Our arepas were really good and filled in a way that didn’t make you feel groggy or tired. After that, we realized we wanted to stop by Two Roosters Icecream (my absolute favorite ice cream place in Raleigh), so we wasted some time shopping around before heading over.

Since I am allergic to most artificial fruits and flavors, I rarely get to have strawberry ice cream. Two Roosters has handmade ice cream with real ingredients. My favorite flavor is the Strawberry and Honey, but they have tons of other options as well. They have a lot of locations in Raleigh, but most of them have outdoor seating, which was perfect for the weather that day.After this, we were all exhausted, so we got on the road to head back home.

Art of the Brick will be in Raleigh until August 31, 2023. If you have time to stop by it is so worth it.

Check out the vlog below for more.

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Asheville, NC

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When you need a quick breather away from home that also feels like home, Asheville is a great destination. Home to one of the prettiest arboretums in North Carolina, you can be in nature with city benefits.

The air feels fresher, and there is ample opportunity to turn your stay into some quiet time. During my weekend in Asheville, I stayed in a tiny house (watch the video below for a tour) and had some much-needed me time.

 

The Asheville Arboretum is a great place for nature lovers as well as those who only sort of like nature. They have a lot of nature-based exhibits and art installations in the park to explore. We didn’t spend too much time on the trails, but they were a few options for those as well. Beyond seeing all of the cute exhibits and mini gardens, I think my favorite thing was the souvenir shop. If you are a honey lover like me, they have honey sticks in all kinds of flavors and from a lot of different origins.

After spending some time touring the Asheville Arboretum, we got groceries and then went to check into the Airbnb. While there are grocery stores everywhere, the host did recommend that we get our groceries on the way in. This ended up being a great decision because the closer we got to the Airbnb, the smaller and more specialized the stores available got. This meant that any specific items that you may require would need to be picked up in town; however, the local grocery stores offered a wide variety of products as well.

While there, we had a little at-home cookout with the grill that was at the Airbnb. That next morning we had a slow wakeup but explored a local area and got ice cream at a local shop. We concluded that night with S’mores over the fire. This was a peaceful weekend that was also relatively inexpensive. For more or to see the airbnb we stayed at, check out the video below.

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iFly : Concord

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For Christmas my family and I took a day trip to iFly in Concord. Our session was pretty early so we started our morning with breakfast on the road.

Our session started promptly at iFly beginning with a tutorial session. In that session we learned the hand signals and how to hold our bodies in the air. From there it was time to gear up and head for the tube. The whole session takes about 20 minutes depending on the time packages people in the group got and whether or not people buy extra time.

Our package gave us around 5 minutes of flight time that was split between 3 people. This doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but once you’re in the tube it starts to feel like too much. So we ultimately didn’t need any extra time.

Ifly was a confusing experience for me because it was fun but also sort of challenging. While I do not have a real fear of heights, adjusting to breathing at those various heights was different to say the least. Since the tube is powered by a huge fan, it makes sense that I felt like air was being forced into my body. Honestly, managing my breathing was the most challenging part for me. The tutorial that you’ll take beforehand will teach you how to position your body but also teach you the hand signals to change directs and/or hold position. The high fly was my favorite part. It was so cool to go that high in the tube and not have to feel that drop that usually comes with descending from such heights.

After leaving ifly we were famished. So we headed across the street to get our name on the waitlist for Olive Garden. While we waited we walked around the plaza to do a little shopping (the after Christmas sales are always amazing).

Overall I think ifly was a great experience and I enjoyed being able to spend the day in the area with my family.

Check out more from this trip and watch my fly time in the video below.

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Header Stating Videri Chocolate Factory

Videri Chocolate Factory

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North Carolina has always Been the state I considered to be home. I’ve had the opportunity to work, play, and adventure in so many parts of this state and some of those experiences deserve their own time to shine.

The “From NC, With Love” series of posts will be where I detail my local NC excursions. From hidden gems to local favorites, I’m going to bring you all with me through North Carolina.

This week our local favorite is Videri Chocolate Factory.

Located in Raleigh NC, Videri has a walk through that allows customers to watch chocolate being made. The walk through area also has explanatory images and displays up that provide more context to the process you are able to watch. Samples are available and there are also a wide variety of options with the chocolate in them (icecream, coffee, candy, etc.)

cup of ice cream and a Infographic about chocolate
outdoor seating

There’s seating available inside and outside of the establishment. While there my family and I sat inside as well as outside. We tried a little of everything and my favorite was a honey latte I got at their in-house coffee bar. The espresso was flavorful and not at all bitter, which I loved.

Overall this is a cool hidden gem in Raleigh and a tasty pastime for anyone in the area looking to try new things with friends or family. There is ample space to sit and catch up with loved ones, but this would also be a place you could go to solo. The walkthrough is self guided, and going alone means being able to decide the pace you take.

 

As a chocolate lover, I think this would be a place that a lot of people could enjoy together. I enjoyed being able to experience it with my family. For more on this gem, check out the video below

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Excursion week

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We’d been counting down the days for this trip inside of a trip. We spent excursion week relaxing and learning about Ghanaian culture and the people. This trip was filed with day parties, beaches, good food, and new activities. We went to markets and museums, but also spent much needed time by the water.

One of my favorite parts of this trip was visiting Cedi Beads where we were able to take glass and make our own beads as well as shop for jewelry they’d made there.

We spent a good amount of time at the beach as well. We started the week at Labadi beach and ended the week at Brenu Beach Resort.

I love staying by bodies of water so the days spent at that resort were refreshing to say the least.

While in that area we also made a stop at the Cape Coast Slave Castle, which is now essentially a museum. Physically being able to walk through history was eye opening and an emotional experience but I was grateful to have been able to go.

When we got back from excursion week, it was back to class and also time to prepare for our final performance. Be sure to check out our excursion vlogs and final performance in the videos below.

And Ghana…. Medaase Paa

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Kumasi, Ghana

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During college I was fortunate enough to do a summer abroad in Ghana. We stayed in Santasi, Kumasi. While there we were assigned volunteer positions and we took classes at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. While technically this trip was for school, I also count it as a vacation because I had a good amount of free time to explore as well.

Our weekdays alternated between class and our volunteer sites (mine was a local school), but during the weekends we were out exploring local markets, museums, and restaurants. There was one week that we spent exploring different parts of Ghana that we liked to call “excursion week”, and I will cover what we did on that trip in my next post.

For this post I wanted to highlight some of joys of living locally in Kumasi. From trying new street foods to preparing a dance performance at the Kumasi Culture Center, there was always something going on.

One of my favorite things about Santasi was the many fruit stands. In the mornings I’d stop at those same stands and get a bofrot for breakfast, and on the way to dance practice I’d get a vegetable spring roll. In the markets I was able to buy fruits, fabrics, and beads. We got clothes made and tried new foods all in the same area.

Kejetia Market is Kumasi’s largest market as such it takes some time to navigate. That means that we had to split our trips up over various weekends.

I loved being able to go outside and explore the various vendors and local events, but I also found myself looking forward to dance practices. During our last week in Ghana we had our performance, so every week leading up to that we had drum and dance practice. Our drums were made just for us and it was even as though they chose their owners. Mine was green and had a giant sunflower carved into it (my favorite color and flower), which we thought was auspicious because we hadn’t met us yet or asked for any requests from us.

Overall this trip was an educational and fun refresh. I honestly can’t wait to go back.

If you’d like to learn more about this trip, then check out the videos below.

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Los Angeles, CA

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California holds a special place in my heart so it makes sense that I am always trying to find some reason to go back. This trip to Los Angeles was my first solo trip. After years of group trips and family vacations, I finally decided to take a solo trip to Los Angeles California to reset and spend time with myself.

For me, this trip was about taking a much-needed pause from work and life, in general, to relax and explore. My first day there was spent at the Science Center, which is located in front of Exposition Park’s Rose Garden. After winning a game of Je-Paw-dy with Alex Tribark (dog-themed Jeopardy) and going through the many exhibits, I headed out of the museum’s back doors and across the walkway to the garden.

There was a beautiful array of colors and green grassy spaces to sit and relax. It felt like a wonderful place to have a picnic so I ordered some delivery to the park. Two Hands Korean Corndogs is one place I get every time I am in California.

Since this trip was more about relaxing than anything else, I spent the rest of my journey bouncing between Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Santa Monica and its pier are a much quieter and more relaxed Beach experience. It wasn’t too many people when I went but even when there were more people it never really got loud or chaotic. There is a stall that rents out umbrellas as well. While I don’t recommend falling asleep in public places, I definitely took a couple during my time there.

Venice Beach on the other hand has excitement at every turn. Not only is the strip lined with stores and restaurants, but there are also locals showcasing their art and skills at various tables and stalls as well.
Overall Both beaches were fun and gave me exactly what I needed. I started my days with tranquility at Santa Monica and ended them with excitement at Venice Beach making this trip a success. 

If you would like to see more of my beach trip in Los Angeles, check out the video below.

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Cherry Blossom Festival, DC

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What started as celebrating a birthday ended in a day filled with exploration DC culture.

Every year during the cherry blossom festival festival communities in the DMV area decorate their homes with sakura flower designs, host events, and plan pop-ups. I was only in the area for a day but still saw some stunning performances and decorations.

I went to the Sakura Sunday event at the National Harbor. There were various performances (we got there in time to see the drum performance) and food/merchandise booths set all along the harbor.

While in that area, we explored the local stores. I specifically loved Sticky Situation, which is a honey shop. There they sold flavored honey and sauces. We also picked up a good amount of saltwater taffy as well at some local candy shops.

We had dinner at pisco y nazca. There I was able to try ceviche for the first time and many other foods. We got the tasting menu which came with various plates for us to try. My favorite was the causa crocante and the tostones sampler. For my main dish, I got the Lomo Saltado which is “wok seared tenderloin, soy and oyster sauce, onions, tomato petals, jasmine rice, fries.” It was all so good, but I was happy to try new things and even learned a lot about different kinds of food.

We ended the dinner with tres leche cake before hitting the road. This was the first of many “Rest of the time” warriors trips (as I went straight back to work the next day), but it was so much fun that I can’t wait for the next one.

To see more from this trip, check out the video below.

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Charlotte Getaway

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Sometimes you’ll have days when you just want to get away. You might not have a particular destination in mind, but you’ll know a break from your daily routine is needed.For me that was this trip to Concord. Tucked away in the scenic outskirts of Charlotte, this farm retreat was all that I needed to refresh and more.

This treehouse stay is listed on Airbnb and was so much fun. They had animals and treats for us to feed them. During the cooler months the hot tub would be the perfect way to warm up a little but they also have a pool for those warmer months.

As this was a “remaining time” warrior trip, we made the most of our approximately 48 hours in the area. After walking the grounds to appreciate the natural views, meet the animals, and refresh ourselves in the outdoor eco-shower, we ventured into Charlotte and spent a day in the city. I’II never be able to say enough good stuff about Uptown. Between their parks and many food options, I am always able to find new things to try.

For lunch, we stopped at Let’s Meat KBBQ. It was my first time at a Korean BBQ place, and the food was delicious. You pay a base price for the all-you-can-eat menu and order three items at a time. My favorite items were the marinated steak, corn cheese, and Japchae (sweet potato noodles).

This trip was set to end by the fire pit at the farm cooking s’mores, but pollen and my allergies had other plans. Overall a great break from a regular work week and I can’t wait to plan more trips like this in the future.

To see more of this trip check out the video below.

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