We Take Ourselves With Us

Our second stop on the cruise was Athens--we'd be there for two days, so when we were planning the trip, it seemed to make sense to book a tour of the Acropolis on day one to anchor our trip.  Then, the European heatwave made itself known like Hephaestus bringing all the fire.  The forecast said 101 as a high, and in fact, it was so hot the day before  we arrived in town that the Acropolis was closed for the entire afternoon. Luckily, we at least had the sense to book the earliest Acropolis tour we could.  Our group was small--just 8 people, and we'd all been together on the Olympia tour as well.  (Highly recommend Travel Insiders, a local team we booked these two excursions with.)  So, we were through the ticket gate and on our climb up to the Acropolis quickly.  One observation about the climb: the entire walkway to and from the Acropolis is made of marble--shiny, slick, no-traction marble, which made for an interesting journey up (and down) the ...

Good morning, Day Two! We slept in a bit and then rolled down to the buffet for breakfast, finding new nooks along the way.  Our destination was Dollywood, and with temps estimated to be in the mid 90s, we sunscreened and hatted up. For thirty years, I lived near the Mouse; our kids started on Magic before their first birthdays. We even had season passes.  But, since moving to New York, we've grown to love regional theme parks.  The kids love their focus on roller coasters; we love their smaller size and attention to detail.  It's like they know they're not Disney, so they try extra hard.  Staff are super nice; food is usually surprisingly good; and everything seems more affordable.  So, no surprise that we loved Dollywood. This tree situates Dollywood in the timeline of life that includes when the Grand Ole Opry began televising--but of course.  All that country music turned Penn into Nosferatu. And Ned into a pre...