Khris and Andi dance party! Alright!
Missouriiiii! untz untz untz untz untz!
Category Archives: Travel
Where are we?
Chicago to Missouri
On Friday we left early to go to Columbia, MO. This was our first road trip in the new Fiesta. We were supposed to come up with a name for the new car on this trip but I think we kind of forgot about it. The drive from Chicago to Columbia is about 6 hours. And it rained/snowed off and on the whole way!
We made a stop in Springfiled, IL to stop at a diner Don had seen on TV. It was called Charlie Parker’s Diner. The diner was cool because it was in an old building from WW2 called a Quonset Hut. I had the country fried steak special and Don had the breakfast horseshoe. The food was pretty good. I think the atmosphere was a little better though.
We made it to Columbia around 4 pm and we killed some time doing a little shopping. Then we met up with Judy and Steve and went to dinner. We ate at Murray’s Restaurant. We had to wait for a bit but we had some drinks at the bar. Don and I both had steaks. It was delicious.
The next day we woke up early to head to Saint Louis (about 2 hours from Columbia). Don and Steve wanted to check out the Star Trek exhibit at the Science Center in STL. But first we had to stop at Pappy’s Smokehouse. This place was awesome!!! I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with potato salad and baked beans. Freaken delicious. If you are gonna go make sure to get there early. We got there right at 11 when it opened and still had to wait about 30 to 40 min. The food was soooo good!!
After Pappy’s we went to the Science Center. I have never really watched Star Trek but the exhibit was okay. There was a lot of stuff to read about space exploration that was pretty interesting. After the exhibit we walked around a bit, but most of the exhibits seemed to be pretty geared towards kids, so we left to check out the arch. I really wanted to go up into the arch but the wait was long and it was getting late in the day. So we just took some pictures and next time we will go up in it!
Then we drove back to Columbia. We picked up Judy (she had to work during the day) and decided where to have dinner. We decided on 44 Stone Public House. It was an English/Irish bar. They had an amazing beer selection. I couldn’t resist and had to get a Strongbow and an Old Speckled Hen. We shared a couple appetizers. Then I had a burger. After eating we decided to keep drinking and make a fire at the house. It was a little chilly out but next to the fire it was nice.
Once we woke up on Sunday we got ready to head back home. We made a stop in Springfield again to visit a store called Scheels. It’s like a sports/outdoors store. It was pretty cool. But we were really excited to try an Irish restaurant called D’arcy’s Pint. Little did we know it was closed on Sundays. So disappointing but I’m sure we will be cutting through Springfield again in the future to visit Missouri. So we couldn’t decide what to eat, nothing sounded good. There were fast food places nearby and I said either Arby’s or Pizza Hut sounded good. We decided on Pizza Hut since we haven’t had it in forever…..ugh I remember why I never Pizza Hut. It’s okay while you’re eating it, not so good later. So I was burping Pizza Hut the rest of the way home.
I noticed some things when we crossed the border from Missouri into Illinois. Immediately the price of gas went up 40 cents. There were tons of political/election signs. And a lot more traffic signs including tons of No Parking Signs on the side of the highway, which was highway 54. Seriously…there was nothing on this highway, why in the world would there have to be no parking signs here?! The middle of no where! Even if someone did park there why would anyone care?! I guess that’s just Illinois for you.
Honeymoon-Sightseeing in Athens, Acropolis, Plaka, and Protests!
Today we woke up at 645 so we could be ready to be picked up at 8 for our Athens sightseeing excursion. The bus drove us by many of the sites and then we got out at the new acropolis museum. We had a guided tour through the museum and then we were free to roam for awhile until we walked up to the acropolis. The museum was cool, outside you could see the archaeologists working underneath the museum..here’s a picture.
The walk to the acropolis was pretty amazing. The sights were so beautiful and a little scary because the marble was slick! We took a lot of pictures.
And then came down for lunch in the plaka. The plaka was the first place where we had people begging us for money. Mostly children begging. At the restaurant where we ate children would come up to you and play music for money, but the restaurant staff kept kicking them out. It was sad. The meal that I had here though was one of my favorites in Greece, stewed meatballs and rice.
We had the rest of the day to do whatever so we decided to take the tram and go to the coast. It was hard for us to figure out how to pay for the tram but I guess we did it right! We rode to the end but there wasn’t really anything there so we got back on and got off at a marina. The marina was beautiful and had a nice little mall. We left the marina and walked the coast for a bit. We saw people fishing, swimming and snorkeling. It made me want to snorkel!
Of course on our walk we found cats!
Then we took the train back to the plaka right in front of the parliament building. There was a protest happening here and it was cool to see. There were tons of police and riot police. Luckily it wasn’t violent.
Then we walked back to the hotel and started packing. Around 830 we saw a sign saying there would be a strike for cabs and all public transportation the next day. We were a little worried this would interfere with our ride to the airport. Luckily there was a Gate 1 representative at the front desk and she told us not to worry they would send a private bus to pick us up.
We went to a little place and got some gyros and beer to bring back to the hotel for our last night in Greece. It was the best gyro I’ve ever had; even though I’ve only had a few…it was amazing! It was hard to believe our honeymoon was ending, it was amazing. I never dreamed I would go to Greece for my honeymoon. It was the best experience. After eating we went to sleep to await our 230 wake up call to go to the airport.
Honeymoon-Mykonos to Athens, by air. Dinner with a view of the Acropolis
We woke up around 8 today and got packed to go to Athens. While I was packing and Don was in the shower I heard a strange noise. The little orange cat had gotten through our patio door and was hanging out in the hotel room. I loved this cat! He was so cute. We played with the cat for a little while and then went to breakfast. Then we did a little photo shoot with the cat and of our cute balcony. I really loved Hotel Despotiko. Everything about it was great.
The bus picked us up around 10 to go to the airport for our flight to Athens. The flight was very short, maybe 30 minutes. It was totally worth upgrading to the flight instead of doing the 5 hour ferry ride.
When we arrived in Athens our guide found us and took us to a bus. On the 45 minute bus ride to the hotel she went over things. We checked in and looked around the hotel and then decided to venture down to the plaza. Here’s some pictures of Hotel Stanley and its views. The views from Hotel Stanley were spectacular. The room itself is very basic.
We were told to take a taxi since the public transportation was on strike, but Don thought we could walk it. He was right; it was no more of a walk from our apartment in Lakeview to Downtown. We went to a restaurant close to the hotel because I was starving. It was pretty good. Then we walked and saw some sites. But we mainly saw shops. We had a beer at one of the restaurants and then walked back to the hotel. It was a good walk. But really Athens is just a city. It is unique though with all of its ruins.
We got back to the hotel and had dinner on the rooftop. I wanted to eat outside but it was so windy so we moved indoors. It was really cool because the Acropolis was lit up so after dinner we took a few pictures of it while having a drink .
Honeymoon-Mykonos, Delos tour
Today we woke up around 730 and got ready. We had breakfast at the hotel. The bus came and picked us up at 9 for the Delos tour. From the hotel we went to the port and we had to walk all the way to the other side to get on the boat. We talked to a few people we had seen before like Michelle and Steve. We also made friends with an old couple that had been at our hotel. They were from North Carolina.
Of course on the walk we saw this lovely cat…
On the boat to Delos we talked to a woman about getting seasick and traveling. Delos is an island that has ancient ruins from about 5000 bc. There was running water and toilets, even a sewage system. It’s an active archaeological site and it was pretty cool. The water surrounding the island was pretty, so blue. The tour was guided and lasted about an hour and a half. It was very informative. We saw the remains of an old house and a huge house with marble. There was also a theater and the birthplace of Apollo. I will just put some of the best pictures here…
After the tour we had a snack at the café and then headed back to the boat. The boat brought us back at 130. It made us so tired. We got back and ate at a little restaurant and then walked back to the hotel. We followed the coastline so we could see the windmills.
When we got back to the hotel we jumped in the pool and laid out. We slept, relaxed and read. I love Mykonos.
