Now that it’s 2020, and we are officially in a new decade, we thought it might be fun to look back on the past 10 years at all of the places we’ve been and adventures we’ve had. Check out our timeline below!
2010– We took our first international trip to London, England in 2010. We got to visit Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, Big Ben, the London Eye and more! We also took day trips to Oxford and Stonehenge. And you know we found King’s Cross Station and Platform 9 3/4.
2012– In 2012 we took our first trip to Nashville, Tennessee for a Supernatural convention. While there, we also visited the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
2013– We ventured to Kansas City, Missouri in 2013 to watch the Braves play the Royals. While there we visited the Kansas City Zoo, which is the most awesome zoo we have been to so far. We also paid a quick visit to Topeka, Kansas and had to pay so many tolls!
2013– We also went on our first white water rafting adventure in Ocoee, Tennessee in 2013.
2014– We took a road trip in 2014 that brought us up the East coast to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We watched the Braves play the Pirates, toured the Steelers’ stadium and admired how clean this city is compared to Atlanta.
2014– Next up on the road trip was Cincinnati, Ohio. As luck would have it, the Braves played the Reds right after the Pirates so we knocked two stadiums off of the list on one trip.
2015– It’s fair to say that Hawaii is on most people’s travel bucket list, and we were fortunate enough to visit in 2015. Our first stop was Maui where we spent a few days relaxing on the beach and watching the waves roll in. We also got a chance to go snorkeling and found a geocache.
2015– We quickly realized perhaps we should have visited Maui second as our next stop in Oahu was not quite as relaxing. It was more action packed with attending a luau, hiking Diamond Head and touring sites such as Pearl Harbor and the Battleship Missouri. We also got to swim with dolphins at Sea Life Park.
2015– If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ve either been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida or it’s on your list. In 2015, our friend Kayla invited us to stay with her family for a few days so we could go experience this… ahem… magical place.
2016– The year that could possibly be titled the year of conventions. Or perhaps that is every year… Nonetheless, in 2016 we took a weekend trip to Cleveland, Ohio to attend Wizard World Cleveland (to meet Chris Hemsworth mostly). We weren’t in town for very long, and will be back someday to watch the Braves play the Indians, but we had a pretty good time and some really great spiked hot chocolate.
2016– Our second Wizard World of the year was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We had a bit more time here than we did in Cleveland so we put our tourist hats on and visited Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and ate some delicious ice cream at the Franklin Fountain.
2016– In the latter part of the year, we set off to Maine to take Grandmama on her dream vacation and our first stop was Boston, Massachusetts. We weren’t in Boston long (and will return someday), but we did take time to throw fake tea in the harbor.
2016– Next up on that trip was Hyannis, Massachusetts on the Cape Cod peninsula. We spent our days venturing out to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket where we saw an old mill, whaling museum and 800 lighthouses.
2016– Finally we reached one of Grandmama’s dream spots: Portland, Maine. We saw the Portland Headlight, ate crab rolls (well, technically Courtney only tasted the crab as she doesn’t eat seafood), went lobster fishing and all around enjoyed some beautiful scenery.
2016– Our last stop on this trip was Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Grandmama wanted to visit the Amish country so we spent time going on a tour of an old homestead, schoolhouse and shops, and had an authentic Amish dinner.
2017– In 2017 we traveled to our second foreign country, Canada! We went to Vancouver for a Once Upon a Time convention and to visit Storybrooke (aka Steveston). We had quite a few struggles on this 3-day trip but it turned out well overall. We also dined in a revolving restaurant with incredible views of the city and went on an iZombie tour.
2017– Later that year, we took off for Texas. First stop: Waco. Being big Fixer Upper fans, of course we had to visit Waco. We stopped by the Silos, shopped in the Magnolia Market and bought baked goods from the Silos Baking Company. We also visited Waco Mammoth National Monument, which was actually very cool.
2017– Next up: Houston. We watched the Braves play the Astros and visited the space center, aquarium and natural history museum. We definitely recommend checking out the space center if you have a chance.
2017– Last up for our Texas trip was Austin. We visited Graffiti Park and Zilker Botanical Gardens, took a food tour, ate huge donuts from Gordough’s, and saw 5,000 bats fly out from under Congress Street bridge. Keep Austin weird, as they say.
2017– Also in 2017, we headed back up to Ocoee, Tennessee for the second time to go white water rafting with Adventures Unlimited.
2018– Where should you take yourself for your 30th birthday? Why not Italy? In 2018, that is exactly what we did. We booked a tour with Perillo Tours and set off for a dream vacation. We landed in Venice where we got to ride in a gondola, drink a bitter cocktail (still scarred), walk around St. Mark’s Square, visit the glass blowing island of Murano and more.
2018– The second stop on our tour of Italy was Florence. Here we were wowed by the statue of David, saw some great city views from the Boboli Gardens, tasted delicious wines at an Italian winery in Tuscany, and ate the best sandwiches of our lives at SandwiChic. Really, all of the food in Florence was on point, but those sandwiches…
2018– What would a trip to Italy be without a stop in Pisa. We were only here a few hours, but we had time to explore the Duomo, Baptistry and Camposanto Monumentale (cemetery). And to take pictures of us holding up the tower because you basically have to or what kind of tourist are you?
2018– The big surprises of our Italian vacation were Sorrento & Capri. It was much cooler here than in the other cities since both sit on the Amalfi Coast and the views are stunning. Limoncello is everywhere and we were not even mad about it. We only wished we’d had more time here!
2018– On our way to Rome, we stopped in Pompeii. We stood in the middle of this ancient city staring up at Mount Vesuvius, thinking about what it must have been like living there all those years ago. Then we temporarily lost our tour guide because it is easy to get turned around here and also because she straight up left half our group.
2018– The last stop on our Italy vacation was Rome & Vatican City We hit the highlights: the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain and walked the Spanish Steps. We also got to see the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. So many sights crossed off of that bucket list.
2019– In July 2019, we headed to Nashville, Tennessee for Con of Thrones. This go around we actually spent time on Broadway, bar hopping and enjoying rooftop views. We also visited the Ryman Auditorium and RCA Studio B. We stood where Elvis stood, y’all.
2019– In late July, early August, we set off for our next baseball adventure. This one begins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We watched the Braves play the Phillies and ate even more ice cream because it is amazing and that is all.
2019– After only a few days (we had already been to Philly after all), we hopped the train down to Washington, DC where we learned that the streets are confusing, it is hard to find a Lyft/Uber pickup location when you don’t know where you are, and it is too hot in summer to walk the 2 miles from the Navy Yard to the National Mall. We visited several museums, Arlington, and the Ford Theater, did nighttime monument and a food tours, saw the Declaration of Independence, the Capitol and the White House, and of course watched the Braves play the Nationals.
So all in all, we visited 4 new countries, 10 states (plus all those we drove through), saw 1 wonder of the world, and had so many great adventures. Here’s to the next 10 years and whatever travels this new decade may bring.
Our McTravels 