Local, Near and Far: Our journey of exploring the world.

Month: June 2015 (Page 3 of 4)

Chicago Architecture Cruises

There are SO many things you can do in Chicago. SO many. But, this time around, we’re just focusing on a few that we particularly have enjoyed.

During our time in Chicago, we went on a couple different Architecture Cruises–one left from Navy Pier and sailed out into Lake Michigan while giving a great history of the skyline; the other was on the Chicago River and went up and back down the North and South branches and then out into the Lake for a final view of the city.

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If you’re interested in architecture I would highly recommend checking one of these tours out; these are just the two that we were able to do, but there are others out there as well. The tours we took were/are very different from each other, which is another thing to consider. When planning a trip, it helps to do your research to determine the best use of your time and money. Continue reading

Chicago Itinerary: What to Do in Chicago With Two or More Days

Traveling to a new place can be daunting, let alone to a city that has so much to offer. How do you even try to figure out what attractions to see, where to go, and which are worth skipping? This is especially important when you are going for a short trip and you want to maximize your time. Wasting your time by going to an attraction that is not worth it or worth the wait is a point of frustration for me.

My goal today  is to provide a Chicago itinerary of what attractions to visit on a two or three day trip (or more). Every traveler will have different tastes/interest and likes/dislikes, so not all of these recommendations will be suited for everyone. Also, Chicago is a huge city and there is no way that every attraction, great restaurant, or event could be handled in this one post. This itinerary will focus mainly on the top attractions that we recommend visiting while in Chicago. In the future, we will revisit this great city to hopefully fill in the gaps by providing more information and reviews as far as attractions, events, restaurants, etc.

Whether you are a relaxed traveler or an active tourist, have young kids, teenagers or no kids, we all travel differently. Even at various stages in our own life, we may have times where we are not as quick as we once were. In the past, you may have been able to see six attractions in a day, now you are lucky to see four. The point is you know what will serve you best to make this or any trip the most memorable and enjoyable. We are here to help and give some recommendations from what we have found during our time in Chicago. Even if you are staying longer in Chicago, use this itinerary as a guide to know what to expect.

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8th Wonder Brewery

While visiting Houston a few weekends ago, I wanted to meet with some friends on a Sunday afternoon.  Rebekah was practicing for a choir concert, so I had some time to kill.

I thought it would be fun to meet Isaac and Jessica in downtown Houston for a beer.  Wanting to find a brewery that was open on a Sunday afternoon, I used my newly-created Texas Craft Brewery List.  Within a few clicks, I had found a match.  8th Wonder Brewery met all my requirements, mainly, a brewery open on a Sunday producing Texas Craft Beer.  While I came in with low expectations and knowing nothing about the brewery, I quickly found this place to be awesome!

If you love Houston, you will love this brewery.  If you don’t love Houston, you will still probably love this brewery.  But if you love Houston sports and Texas Craft Beer, you will be in heaven!

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History of Fort Worth

Every Friday we take a break from our regular blogging schedule to allow the authors an opportunity to feature a certain topic they are passionate about. In the past you’ve read about art, studying abroad, experiencing culture through food, and the great burger adventure. Through this and other future posts we hope you’ll enjoy reading, we hope to share with you our personalities, passions, and interests on a more personal level.

Did you know I enjoy history? I do. Knowing and understanding the history of something helps me to appreciate art, people, buildings, cities, culture, and traditions all the more. Today I want to share with you a brief segment on the history of Fort Worth. I’ve muddled through a few different resources and have condensed the information to be able to share it with you today.

I should also note: I’m a timeline person. It probably has to do with being instructed to “make a timeline” with pictures when I was a child plus, I appreciate the linear format for easy reading/understanding. Here goes nothing! Continue reading

May State of the Blog Report

Three months down and many more to go! In an effort to give you a peek behind the curtain, we are back to share with you something very near and dear to our hearts:  the State of the Blog Report.

Just as a reminder from the first report: we intentionally make known our  status reports as a way to share with you and the blogging community what we have found that works and what doesn’t. It is a way for us to see what our baseline is and how we need to improve.

We do these posts because it is helpful for us to see where we have come from, where we need to grow and work on, and hopefully help others who are starting their own blogs. We do not claim to know it all, we simply and humbly share with you our results saying this is where we have come from , this is what we are building on, and where we hope to keep growing.

The thing about blogging is that it is a LONG journey! Very rarely is a blog successful overnight or in a week, or even a month. Being a successful blogger takes time. For some, they are blessed with quick success. But for many, it is a slow and steady build up that for some ends up fizzling out as the time and factors of life get to be too much to produce the content needed.

We all see and read about the success stories. In our humanity, we don’t always think about the time, effort, and energy it took to get to that point. At least I don’t, I should say. But for many, the numbers came after a long time. It came as the content got better, the website was improved, the marketing continued, and really there was more content and the fan base continued to grow. This is part of the reason for doing these post in our infancy so that you can see how we grow (and if that happens).

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