Author: Luke

Today is the first day of school for the kids. And, the first day of a life back in some semblence of routine that I am looking forward to after all of the “big” things from this past year. Yes, I am thankful- this year was way out of the ordinary.

This was not a normal pace. We hit some big milestones: Taylor and I turned 40, Rosie turned 10, and a 15 year anniversary. We travelled 6804 miles by plane, and 580 miles by car, but we did it in much better shape than any of us expected. Even the 10 hour drive to New York was (pretty) smooth! And all of those milestones had to be celebrated.

Now, we have absolutely nothing on the calendar (well, thats not true, a few weekend trips), and it is a great moment to reflect and be grateful for our family and friends that we got to spend time with this past year.

Disney World in August. The kids had never done a big trip, so we took em. It was cheaper the longer you stayed. It was a wonderful trip- the kids had a blast, and I am in NO RUSH to get there any time soon. Why? Not because it was bad, but because I feel like we did it all. There is nothing that we did not get to do. 528 miles flown.

New York City in December for Rosies 10th birthday surprise. This is a big milestone birthday, and we wanted to honor her. It was a great, 3 day weekend and jam-packed. Now how do we top it for Mercy’s big birthday in several years? 453 miles flown.

Miami in January (for Taylor). This was her girls trip when she turned 40. No, I didnt post about it- but I still think it’s funny that these girls chose Miami- they are a very Asheville NC type of crowd, but it looked like a fun weekend. 711 miles flown.

Nashville in January (for Luke). This was my guy’s trip when I turned 40. I love music, and this was a blast. It was really special to spend time with these guys I have known since before college. 390 miles flown

Italy in May for our combined birthdays AND 15 year anniversary. This was a big trip- I wanna say the best trip of my life. The Church History stuff was really amazing for me, and I am so grateful for the chance to have gone. 5197 miles flown.

North Carolina Beach (Ocean Isle Beach) for 4th of July. This is our normal tradition, and we were glad to see the Core family as well. Pictured is the 4th of July parade. 207 miles driven.

Merriewold in August. This was new, and didnt want to pass up the opportunity to visit before Rosie got too old. The week was fantastic, and the kids are already asking to go back. 580 miles driven.

Taylor’s Big Birthday in August. And man, it was a big birthday party. The big gift was a crowd-funded skee-ball machine, and it is so much fun! 0 miles driven.

Lots of memories this year. Maybe our 50th birthdays/25 year anniversary will top it in the year 2035? As for this coming year, maybe we will just go to Myrtle Beach or Dollywood and keep it a bit more simple.

Taylor wanted two things for her birthday:

• Her Friends
• Dancing.

And a few months ago- plot twist! – she asked me to be in charge of planning it. After my extensive track record of planning exactly 0 parties, this was gonna be a blast.

Fast forward past the months of prepping the house each weekend to make things look good, and the whole night was a lot of fun. We rented chairs to make things look “Funky and Fresh” to match the theme of the party, and rented speakers to dance- thank you to all of my neighbors who didnt call the police as we danced until 12:00 (my legs are still sore). Missy Elliot, Lil Wayne, and TLC were all welcomed with open arms.
And, I leaned into Pepper Moon Catering so that none of Taylor’s dear friends had to volunteer to work the whole night to keep things moving. It was so, so good to see so many friends together from over the years.

Somewhere along the way of planning this party, a friend of Taylor and I’s suggested something that seemed just absurd, but possible: what if we get Taylor, the skee-ball queen, a skee-ball machine of her own? “Preposterous”. I said. Then, within 24 hours of that comment, it seemed like a wonderful idea. In summary, here is what happened. Our friend began collecting money from those coming to the party, and:

• Found a skee ball machine on Facebook Marketplace.
• It was sold by the time I could get a truck and get there.
• Found another skee ball machine in Fayetteville, NC (2 hrs away).
• Rented a U-Haul pickup truck, and drove there with Rosie.
• It weighs 700 pounds
• Had to store it in a warehouse here in town for a month (Thank you Mark!).
• Had to pick it up from the warehouse and bring it home when Taylor was out of town. It was too heavy to unload.
• Had to hire 2 people from next door to come on short notice and help me move it into its new home.
• I wasn’t murdered by a stranger in the process.

With the gift hiding behind the sheet that Rosie constructed, here was the big reveal:

And this: Yes, it was A LOT of work to put this thing together; but, it was really special as her husband to see how many people stepped up to help volunteer their time and energy to contribute in some way: a few hours before the party, a small team of specialists transformed our house with balloons, flowers, and everything else needed to honor Taylor (Thanks Mallory, Deborah, Evan, Stacey!). Others helped make the music playlist for dancing- and not one song was skipped, the playlist was awesome (Thanks Rachel!). And CiCi for letting me use her van to move that gigantic game. And thanks Sara Core for helping to make the skee ball machine a reality, she loves it. And Mark for letting us use his warehouse.

After all the years I see Taylor instinctively love on others, it was really, really special to see others love on her.

This was a big week.

After years and years of talking about it, we made the plunge: driving just short of 10 hours north to the most special place of my life: Merriewold park.

Our family had only driven 3.5 hour trips before- to and from the coast of North Carolina- so there were a few nerves about our inaugural road trip. So, we did it just like we did in the old days: and stop at the Logan house in Mechanicsburg on the way up.

Hershey Park

Ken and Lesley and Paula were kind enough to let us have dinner with them on the way up, and Mercy had a blast meeting some second cousins.

But, there was more: Hershey Park was also there. Taylor had the idea to plan in a day at the park, and to put short: I wasn’t ready for it. After doing some coasters in Disney, I thought I had it in the bag. This was a terrible miscalculation on my part. Some of these roller coasters take something simple, like an innocent swing that children might enjoy, and they turn it into a terrifying, “let’s make people feel like they are going to die” experience.

Mercy went on her first upside-down roller coaster. We are good parents, and thought it was a great idea. Wrong. She cried. Then, the ride got stuck at the end, and the workers had to come push the train back into the station. Also, this was the first ride we did.

Ok ok, enough with the naysaying- it was a great experience. Rosie wanted to do all the big-kid roller coasters, and I was perfectly happy doing the rides with Mercy.

If you haven’t been, its an awesome park. Taylor had visited before because Milton Hershey School was a client of hers, and I thought it was an innocent, small park- only to realize how wild and big it is. The girls had a blast, and Ken and Lesley- thank you so much for hooking us up with tickets!

Manhattan

The clubhouse at the lake is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays- meaning no kids or entertainment for the day. The best way to spend the day is in New York City- just 90 minutes (or so) away. Rosie got a chance to go back in December, but Mercy had never been before.

What to do with a 10 year old and an almost 5 year old in the greatest city in the world?

John’s on Bleecker Street for the greatest pizza in the world. Taylor and I got a fancy pizza- sausage, ricotta cheese, green peppers; it was just ok. The pepperoni that we got the kids though- absolutely unreal I ate most of theirs, and we ended up giving 1/2 of the leftover adult pizza to some construction workers, since we couldn’t lug the pizza along with us all day. They were grateful.

The Color Factory, not far from John’s, was the next stop, and it is a great stop: well done, clean, interactive, creative, busy. They have things that talk about color blindness, a silent disco, a gigantic ball pit, and a confetti room. It was pretty expensive- but what isnt expensive in New York City?

The weather was perfect- so we hopped the subway uptown to Central Park- the playground Rosie played on was a lot of fun back in December, so Mercy needed a chance to go at it too. It was completely different in the summer with the leaves on the trees- not as much of a view of the whole skyline surrounding us, but we did manage to get at least one solid pic together. And rosie was such a proud, patient older sister sharing all the fun things with Mercy- it was really sweet to see.

Finally, our last stop for just a few hours in the city was Serendipity 3 in Times Square. This is a place we wanted to visit in December with Rosie, but could not get reservations (it is well known for its Christmas decorations). Tay was pretty sold on it, so we went: really good. Enough dairy to stop up a person for days. Since I had to drive 2 hrs back home that afternoon, I wanted a bit of caffeine, not something they offer a bunch of. So, I asked for 2 espresso shots in a white chocolate something. The waiter hadn’t heard of such a creation, but was really into the idea. It was the right way to go in such an over-the-top dining place.

Merriewold Park

We went every year as kids. When my parents got divorced, we went less frequently until the summer after 7th grade. Since then, I have been only twice.

Its a park with about 100 homes; my great grandfather bought a hunting cabin there and turned it into a little summer home, making Rosie and Mercy 5th generation logans to visit the park. In 2018, a big storm came and took down the Logan house.

There is no sign for the place- just a guardhouse you would pass without knowing, and a plaque on a rock alerting visitors to their location. And the park has very few lawns- mostly an endless landscape of ferns stretching as far as the eye can see.

You can’t just get an air bnb there either: you have to know people, and lucky enough, we were able to connect with the Studer family, and stayed in their 130 year old home. It was amazing.

Par 3 golf, fishing, the clubhouse, tennis, dirt roads: its hard to say why this place is so special. Its the most relaxing place Ive ever spent time at in my life.

But why? What is special is what is not at the park: it is far from the highway (cannot hear cars), there are very few cars (can’t hear cars again), and very few of the homes have air conditioning: there aren’t even air compressors interrupting the silence. No motors on the boats in the lake: just rowing or sailing. Again, just a profound, peaceful silence.

No homes built on the lake: just trees. And I can count on one hand the number of things that have changed in 30 years.

Rosie rode a bike around and enjoyed her independence. Mercy enjoyed making sand castles. And I enjoyed absolutely every second: there was absolutely nothing to worry about. No stranger danger, no theft, Mercy couldn’t really wander away- she had a life jacket and couldn’t drown. There not even anything to buy (also something Mercy can get really focused on, snacks). The only thing to buy is a greasy (but delicious!) cheeseburger, or a mint-chocolate chip milkshake. Sure, they have other things, but those other items aren’t really important.

We did the paddle boards, tennis in the mornings, I did a couple rounds of par 3 golf, we saw more deer than I have ever seen in my life, enjoyed connecting with the people at the clubhouse, showed Mercy and Rosie my name as the “swim champion” of 1997 on the wall of fame. We played ping pong, fooseball.

There is a new playground: Mercy loved it.

Also, mercy had fun on the rope swing. Here is a picture of me on the very same rope swing at about 4 years old:

But it turns out, that is a picture of my older brother Jake; my whole life I thought that was a picture of me!

We saw Allison Smith and her fam: Mom Joan, and dad Tom; Also Julie and Liz; weird not having seen them in 30 year, and Joan said “welcome home, Luke”. That felt special, Merriewold does feel like home.

The wildlife was pretty active:

• Bald Eagles
• A family of beavers
• Fish
• Deer
• Rabbits
• Water Snakes
• Turtles.

The kids arent scared of snakes, but I am, and I had to justify my fears by spotting one.

Taylor was a bit concerned about the food situation for the week: would she be home cooking each meal all week? It turned out alright. We ate at a local place called Yannis a few times: once we ate in, once to go on our way back from NYC.

Also while we were there, Taylor and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary: Rosie made us a special cake she was really excited for. It turned out really, really good. We got to enjoy it with Hernan and Cathy Torres, who took the almost 4 hour drive from Rhode Island to come visit.

We did fishing on the last day, and Rosie caught two perch. She hooked a large (maybe 4 pound?) bass twice; the line snapped both times, and I was crushed: fishing in that lake has a long, proud tradition in the Logan family.

The days passed quickly by, then it was time to come home, so we did: a single drive home in a filthy car, but after such a relaxing week, the time went easy.

The last 4 days of our trip were in Tropea.

Why Tropea? That is a question I have gotten never, but I still think I need to explain it. When planning, I simply bought a large map of Italy, and googled things; the map gave me a better since of how far things were from one another when googling “Best beaches in Italy”, and Tropea was always top of the list. And, it was a central place to go see lots of other fun things; Bari or Lecce were close behind.

Getting to Tropea was not simple or without event. A few funny things happened, and here is basically how it went down:

1. We left Capri in a Ferry to Naples; 45 minutes, so far so good.
2. Take a subway from the ferry to the main train station, to take a train south. The subways are the only ones in the world without English translation. I was very lost, but couldnt let Taylor know I was lost.
3. At the main train station, there was a strike: we couldn’t hop the 3 hour train ride south. We could either a) rent a car, or b) fly on a regional flight. All the rental cars were sold out, so we got a taxi to the airport.
4. We missed the flight, and the next flight wouldnt put us at our hotel until after midnight.
5. We rented a Fiat, and I drove the 3 hours and 49 minutes to get our ORIGINALLY scheduled rental car in Lamezai Terme (we were supposed to get it after our 3 hour train ride).
6. Drove over an hour to get to our hotel in Tropea.

The most important part about this whole situation, was that we didn’t argue once in this stressful scenario!

What did you do in Tropea?

Our originally scheduled trip had us doing day trips from Tropea each day: that is why we chose Tropea (follow that link to see the original itinerary, and a few notes).

After a quick stroll on the beach and breakfast the first morning, we got back in the car and drove 90 minutes south to The coolest place we saw on this part of the trip: Scilla. This town is called the “Venice of the South” because it is an old fishing town where the water rises up between some of the buildings where the fisherman live as they head out to catch swordfish.

In a straight line, it is not that far from Tropea to Scilla- but the drive is a meandering one. It was a special, energetic kind of feeling to drive through the southern Italian countryside. In the middle of it, a funny thing happened. There was a dog that looked a lot like stormy. As we passed, we saw some sheep in the middle of the road. Within a few seconds, that dog that looked like stormy came right beside our car, along with three other dogs. They were sheep dogs, and they thought our Fiat was a threat to their flock. They barked, and were pretty scary. What is the protocol for running over a sheepdog in a foreign country? The irony of this moment was that the week before, I had just read a book to Mercy about sheepdogs, and how cute they were and how they bonded and protected their flock.

There is a castle perched up high, splitting the waterline of the town in half: one side has nice sand, the other side has a port and some great restaurants.

For this part of the trip, there were no solid plans: no restaurants as a destination, no objectives whatsoever- so we just walked around. I did hear on one podcast about how some people were able to get a kayak and paddle around, so thats what we did first to burn off some calories.

Walking past the castle to the other side of the town was an amazing walk: the town was just so, so beautiful. We meandered, and got some lunch, then headed south to Reggio Calabria: The most beautiful kilometer in Italy. Below are some pics from this part of the trip: click on the image, and it should show a full-sized version.

My honest opinion? This was a phrase for the town that has stuck around entirely too long. The story is that an earthquake destroyed most of the original buildings in the town in the 1800s, and they rebuilt this waterfront; it was beautiful, but I dunno; we had seen some beautiful things to this point in our trip, and this wasn’t holding up.

The only thing on the list for our time in Reggio was to get some Gelato from Cesare, and shut the front door: it was just such a surprisingly, amazing and by far the best gelato I had ever had; possibly better than the best ice cream I ever had in my life as well. I got three scoops because, Italy, and have 0 regrets. We were just glad the line was not too long because we were there ahead of the busy season.

The next day trip we switched up plans: we scrapped the drive East to see Badolato on the Adriatic Sea, and opted for a shorter trip: North to Pizzo.

I was disappointed. Our goal was to see the most beautiful beaches, and there were none. Also there was context for this part of the trip: we were averaging 20k steps a day, and 50+ flights of stairs, according to my Garmin. More stairs in Pizzo were hard to get excited about.

The Piedegrotta was a highlight in Pizzo though: a “church” carved out of the rocks where a ship was wrecked hundreds of years ago. The sailors on that ship prayed and said, “If we survive, we will build a church for you.”

They held their promise, and over the years, the size has grown and more “Statues” carved from the rocks.

Capo Vaticano was our last destination. Before going, all I knew of it was that it was the “Resort” part of the beautiful beach area of Tropea. However, their definition of the word is quite different than what I consider a beach resort. This day trip was intentionally short: we tried once again to see “the most beautiful beaches” in the area, known as “The Coast of the Gods”. A blog post I referenced showed some of the beaches on Google maps, and once again, we were a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, they were great: but were there before the busy season and it was a bit cooler temperatures than I would have liked; and overcast/cloudy.

It turns out, the “most beautiful beach” was right outside our hotel in Tropea.

It was a great choice to finish up our trip: laid back, restful, adventurous, and without a schedule; well, maybe a little bit of a schedule, but no reservations- we could just do what we wanted. We loved the beach, and the water was just clear as glass.

What was the food like?

In Tropea, we went to:

• Hostaria Italiana da Nino for dinner the first night.
• Ristorante Il Pirate in Scilla, a pirate themed-restaurant for lunch.
• Cesare gelato in Reggio Calabria; best in the world?
• Il Convivo in Tropea
• Lido Azzurro for lunch, on the sand in Tropea (No website)
• Tropea Hostaria Italiana, a pizza place, our last night.

Our hotel had free breakfast, which was a great way to start each day. Breakfasts were different in Italy: No eggs, but cured meats (like salami, prosciutto, etc), fruits, pastries, lattes, etc.

A bottle of wine at dinner was around 22 euros ($25 or so?), and always hit the spot. They just tasted better than American wines at the same price point, and someone had to finish them each night.

Where did you stay?

We stayed at the Hotel Rocca Del La Sena, a short 1/3 mile walk from the historic part of the city, perched up around 100 feet on a cliff over the water. The view from our room was spectacular looking over the Mediterranean, despite the cloudy weather we had for much of the time.

The hotel was nice- the food was great, the people were very helpful. It was a very walkable location, and booked full. It had a pool (we didnt use, it was a bit cool, and the pool was tiny). What was different on this trip is that the places we stayed were secondary, as we were so busy doing other things all day, we spent very little time in the rooms.

The only thing we did not like was that our room had a bathroom like a college locker room with a big drain in the center, no tub, etc.

However, Taylor picked the place, and it was great.

What else?

While we were strolling around Tropea one night, after a bit of wine and before dinner, I got a text from a friend back home stating that a new pope had been chosen. We weren’t looking at our phones much, so had no idea, but I was pretty excited- and wanted to find a TV to watch this event unfold, almost expecting the pomp of a sporting event.

The first person I found that could help point us to a restaurant that would have a tv was a police officer. They are there to protect and serve, right? Anyways, I was confident and excited, and shared “They elected a new Papa!”, and asked where a restaurant was with a TV. They tried to see if I was in trouble or anything, then just realized I was a foolish tourist, and pointed me to a restaurant that would be showing it.

At the restaurant, we sat with the waitstaff; and a boat tour captain got to talking to us in Italian about the situation. We don’t speak Italian and told him so, but he didnt care. After several minutes, Taylor and I gathered that he was likely saying they like Americans, just don’t want an American as Pope.

Takeaways from the trip: There are a couple things that were hard to foresee when planning this trip from back home:

• This was the end of our 10-day trip, and it was a special experience; it was hard to appreciate the food after eating out every meal of every day by the end of our 10-day trip. This is a luxury we won’t repeat again for quite some time though.
• We were downright tired by this part of the trip: my legs weren’t ready to tackle that many flights of stairs each day for 10 days (my Garmin said 50 flights of stairs daily for 10 days).
• Going in the “off season” was great.
• The adventure part was amazing. We didn’t have any solid plans, and it was fun to figure it out together.
• Google maps worked great: for walking and driving.

What a special trip.

The SPCA of Greensboro just got a puppy that was likely part of an unwanted litter. Her picture was just listed on their website, and if it was anything like the other pet adoption places I was looking at, she would be gone really quickly.

Rosie, Mercy I and headed over to their place: 20 minutes across town, to meet their limited hours: 1-4 a few days a week. We were excited, and one of the top items on our checklist for a new, furry friend is for the kids to meet and help choose this new dog.

Other things on our list:

• Low to medium energy
• Not a jumper
• not gigantic
• 1 year old
• potty trained
• not a pit bull (no shade, there are some pretty sweet pits, but our kennel doesnt take them)
• Not a barker
• likes the kids.
• Not tiny- 20-50 pounds or so.

Basically, we wanted Stormy; she set the bar pretty high. And as much as she did great, one thing she didn’t do well was bond with Rosie and Mercy. She mostly ignored that they existed, and every kid should have a childhood dog that they love and play with.

At the SPCA, it took a minute for them to go get the dog (Petunia was her name), but when they came back with her:

• She didn’t jump
• She didnt bark
• She liked the girls
• The girls liked her
• She wasnt a tiny dog
• She smelled terrible
• She didnt bite….

Her paws looked gigantic, and the girls really liked her. Her farts smelled terrible.

Ever since Stormy died, I was looking for a dog. We wanted to adopt- that part was certain. But we haven’t been through the process in a while, and way back when, Stormy was literally the only dog we looked at.

These days, the process seeemed a bit different. In order to visit a dog that is up for adoption, you have to fill out an application to adopt the dog. Then, you have to be approved. Then, you have to visit on the hours they are opened. Most are only open 15-20 hours a week, like 1-4 on Tuesdays-Thursdays, and Sunday afternoon 2-4.

Also, whenever you do finally get a chance to visit, there is a great chance the dog you want to see has already been adopted; it seems the dogs that fit my criteria above only last 2 days before getting adopted.

Add to all that, I wanted the girls to come visit the dog as well and help me make the decision. I went and saw a few by myself, but none were “the one” for our family.

Then we met Petunia. Or Hazy. The girls liked her. I liked her, and I knew she would be gone if we went home to think about it. Taylor saw the picture from the adoption site, and said “Oh Luke, she is so cute” (Taylor hardly ever sounds lovey dovey about a dog like that). Here was her picture from the adoption website:

So, we got her. Rosie was very concerned: would mommy be upset? Valid question. Maybe Rosie has more sense than I do in those kinds of situations.

We did ask the questions:

• “What kind of dog is she?” We dont know.
• “How big will she get?” We don’t know.
• “Is she potty trained?” We don’t have a house for her to visit to test if she is.

It wasn’t too helpful.

I have made lot’s of rash decisions that I have regretted; I was hoping that this wasn’t one of them.

She is pretty chill. Taylor likes her. She poops and pees everywhere; sorta. With confidence, I am trying to do all the potty training and proving that this is a decision WE will not regret.

She seems to be doing great. It has been 3 weeks, she is mostly potty trained, and I forgot how much work a puppy is. The last puppy I had was back when I was a kid- Stormy was a year old and potty trained when we got her.

It took 2 days as a family to mull over names; we picked “Hazy” because we wanted to stick with a weather theme, since our last one was “Stormy”. A close second to the selected name was “Misty”, but when put to a vote, Hazy was the winner.

She is pretty chill; doesnt chew much. She will take something like my shoe, carry it to another room, chew for 5 seconds, then move on to something else.

She isnt good at walking on a leash- she pulls. Its fine, but fast forward another 20-40 pounds, and we will have issues. She does run good though.

The first couple days, she slept on my feet while I was working- that was pretty cute.

She really likes the kids, and waits by the door for them to get home from school- she kinds knows their schedule.

The first day she came home, she took a big poo poo in Mercy’s room, and Mercy did not like that.

The family likes her- and we miss stormy.

Each morning for these last few days of school before summer break, I go into Rosie’s room and wake her up by throwing Hazy on her bed; Hazy licks Rosies face, and does a much better job getting Rosie out of bed than I ever could.

Potty training sucks; the first two weeks I watched her like a hawk- didn’t let her out of my site knowing she would immediately take a dump. We rolled up 3 rugs and put them away so she wouldnt soil them. She is learning pretty quick, and I think we can call her potty training a success.

But when she does go outside, she will take a dump on the deck instead of the yard. There is more work to be done, but hopefully it will last another 10-14 years.

After 3 days in Rome, we headed to Capri via Pompeii. Why Capri? We wanted to see the beach, and I looked at lots of places around Italy, and it seemed like Capri was a fun little spot; not because it has beach (the only beach is tiny, just like everything else on the island). But, the views and the beach vibe are second to none.

But first we visited Pompeii, and it just happened to be on the “free entry” day for the whole country- which meant the line was insane. As we got close, the first words that came to mind were, “this is like the Myrtle Beach of Italy.” Definitely touristy on the outside.

It was gigantic- way larger than we expected it to be. Lots of fun, the only drawback was that “there weren’t enough dead bodies.” Tay was on a mission to see the pictures as described in her high school history book on the subject. She was devastated to learn that her text was not 100% accurate.

Lets talk about Capri:

Its fancy.

Its an island right near the Amalfi Coast, a 45 minute ferry from Naples, and its pretty darn small. When planning this trip from home in North Carolina, it is kinda hard to know exactly what constitutes a “good idea.” But, it was important to have dinner reservations so we didn’t end up hungry at dinner time with no good options. Luckily, there was a great option that was a 20 minute walk from our room, and it was beautiful:

The walk to dinner was also more treacherous than we expected:

Capri is a tourist town; not only that, it is a seasonal town too; when we were there, it was early May and a few weeks before this hot-weather destination got busy.
This explains the three phone calls I got from an Italian phone number on our walk to dinner. Each time I answered the phone, I asked if the person spoke English, and they hung up. The phone call was from the restaurant we were heading to, and they wanted to confirm our reservation.

Was it odd to confirm the reservation? I thought so. But, the reason why they were confirming was because the restaurant was opening for the first time that season that night, and the only reservation was ours.

The meal was delightful:

Also worth pointing out: this was the fanciest little restroom I have ever used in my life:

After the meal, and some delicious wine we had a photo shoot with the chef/owner and his family. His two young, and exceptionally well behaved children were there too.

On the shuttle from the restaurant back to our hotel, I was fishing through my fanny pack to find the exact right number of Euros to hail a ride, and the person waiting noticed I was one euro short, and loaned me the difference. We got to chatting on the shuttle, and he said he was from Ecuador and travels the world, but never goes to the same place twice. The next day I got to wondering, the average income in Ecuador is about $6000 a year- so, who on earth were we sitting beside on that shuttle? What kind of person from Ecuador can afford to travel the world?

Our only plan for Capri was to see the Blue Grottoes. What are the blue grottoes? It is an underground cavern- it was used by Caesar Augustus for his bath house- they found marble statues of him on the seabed when the caverns were rediscovered.

The location was lost over time, but rediscovered about 100 years ago (we learned this on our treacherous walk to dinner, with signs explaining history of the island). Now, it is open only 1 out of every 3 days or so because even slightly choppy seas make it too challenging to enter. And when planning this trip from Greensboro, it was really hard to figure out what tour group to use, and whether the caverns would even be open the day we wanted to go. I made it a point to ask the people from our hotel, and they said that the decision for whether the caverns would be open is made at 9am.

As luck would have it, they were, and it was even more beautiful than we expected. Highly recommend:

Once you get there, you have to jump from the boat you rode in, to the tiny boats that are small enough to fit through the entrance to the cavern.

It was so, so spectacular. Somewhere it was listed as one of the 7 wonders of the ocean world, and we were not disappointed. I can’t imagine how crowded it would be during the high season.

What else is there to do? Each day so far, we went from “Oh, thats the prettiest thing I have ever seen in my life” to another, “No that is the prettiest thing I have ever seen in my life.” The art in Rome, the beautiful city alleys, to the natural things in Capri. I say this because just wondering around the “roads” of the island was a beautiful way to spend time. This clip is our walk through “The Garden of the Gods”:

There was a small hike near our hotel that we went and explored: just two miles or so. Again, planning this trip from North Carolina is a challenge for details like this, but we had enough gas in the tank to get in a few more steps for the day, and we werent disappointed:

What was the food like in Capri? While I was on a mission to eat as much pasta as possible in Rome, Taylor wanted to eat as many Caprese salads as she could during our time in Capri. We also took advantage of our free hotel breakfast, and tried to eat at the cheaper places we could in such a famous and beautiful location. They are known for their lemons in Capri, so two things really stood out: Lemon pizza, and Limoncello:

Finally, one thing that was really bizarre to me was life on the island: the cars. Some of the roads on the island are small, the rest of the roads are tiny. The road signs are handpainted porcelain, and the vehicles they use are smaller than golf carts.

Another caveat about Capri if you are mulling over a visit: its a lot of walking, and tons of hills! My legs were so tired, and I finally looked at my watch, and it said I was averaging 24k steps, and 34 flights of stairs each day.

I love church history, and in Rome, the history of the church spills out from the Vatican into many different places around the city, and my goal was to see as many of the Holy Relics around the city as possible. 

Was it worth it? It was even more special than I could have imagined, and these are things I will think about for the rest of my life, it was so, so spectacular for a nerd like me. 

This is where both Peter and Paul were in Prison, called Mamertine Prison. It is just a hole in the ground- with a stainless steel staircase that allows people down single file. From the outside you cannot tell what it is, but they built a church on top of it in the 1st or second centuries. That church started falling apart, so they build another church on top of that one. Taylor and I paid the 6 euros to go down, and it was just a silent, grim little 15 foot by 15 foot hole. 

St. Peter in Chains was the next stop (I planned the whole route from home, not knowing how many places it would be possible to see). These are the chains that the angel broke to set Peter free- just sitting out in the center of a church, like it isn’t a big deal. How come the Catholic Churches get all these cool relics? 

St. Mary Major Basilica was a few blocks away- and it was where the pope was recently buried, and also home to the holy manger of Jesus Christ; yes, the one from the Christmas carol, “Away in a manger.” They did recent studies to prove the claim, that the wood is from the time of Jesus, and made of the kinds of trees native to the area.

There was a line to get in. When I say line, I mean a line around the block. And the block is the size of the Greensboro Coliseum: The Italian army was there ensuring order and running the metal detectors; there were metal barricades, and dozens of tour buses were dropping off people to pay their last respects to the pope. Though we wanted to go, that was an easy “no”. Though sad, it was also uplifting to see the huge popularity of his tomb. 

St. John Lateran is the seat of the Pope: his home church in Rome, and was the home of the Pope before the Vatican was built, and it is simply massive- 110,000 square feet, and known for the 12 statues of the apostles, with something related to the way that they were each killed: speared, beheaded, clubbed, and skinned alive among others. Yet, not a single one of them recanted their faith. These statues are 15 feet high, and simply humbling to look at. Tucked in a corner in the front is a copper relief piece of art, with the wood from the table of last supper. 

Above the alter is a massive structure including the skulls of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. 

The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls was our next stop- a 20 minute taxi ride south of the city. Again, tour bus after tour bus was dropping off pilgrims like me (luckily no line for us though). It was almost destroyed in the 1800s, but rebuilt with the most brilliant colors, and the most gigantic basilica yet: 127,400 square feet (just measuring length by width). 

A chorus was practicing, and the acoustics in this facility are amazing. The roof has 30 something frescos that tell the story of Paul; the front has the hole in the ground where his body was disposed of when he was beheaded. They thought they would dispose of the Christian movement when they disposed of him, but it had the exact opposite impact. 

Nearby is the Tre Fontane monastery: the site where Paul was beheaded. When the sword separated his head from his body, his head bounced off the ground three times, and opened three springs of water. Weird, yes I know. 
A monastery was built on these springs, and 200 years ago, they began making beer from this source of water: the newest of the 11 Trappist breweries in the world (Trappist breweries must be made by monks, and donate all their proceeds to charity). It was an unusual visit for sure- I didn’t know what to expect, but there were bus loads of groups and tours of children coming through Tre Fontane the whole time. 

Im not lying when I say this beer on tap was the best I ever had- but strange to enjoy a beer under pictures of a beheading everywhere; a little unsettling. 

Finally, the Vatican. If you have been, you know. Besides the countless works of art, I want to share about St. Peter’s Basilica. 

It took 200 years to build, and there is nothing on earth to compare its gargantuan size to: 352,800 square feet, TWICE THE SIZE of the Biltmore Estate. Also, TWICE the size of the Greensboro Coliseum. 

Because this is the year of Jubilee (no, I am not catholic), we got to pass through yet another set of holy doors- we also passed through them at the other two basilicas. 

Inside St. Peter’s, the main structure over the alter has 4 major relics: the skull of St. Andrew, the spear that pierced Jesus, a part of the true cross, and the veil of Veronica (the veil used on Jesus face when he carried the cross). 

Also, the Chair of St. Peter: a massive, massive display. Just look at the little man beside this thing- his job is to protect this thing, all day- only one of the most special and holy items of all time. 

These things were so, incredibly special to see. 

The other things to see. 

The Coliseum-it is huge, and since they cleaned the outside several years ago, it is bright white and a beautiful site in the middle of the city. 

It may be possible to see it without a tour guide, but definitely get a tour guide. 

Right beside the coliseum is Palpatine Hill- this is the true historical center of Rome, and our tour of the Coliseum included a tour of Palpatine Hill. It had amazing gardens and a great view of the city. 

Just strolling around town, we saw the Pantheon at night- bustling with kids and families and people eating Gelato. My god, how does everyone in that whole city eat Gelato each night?

Also the Trevi fountain. Yes, I rolled my eyes at Taylor’s innocent request to see it (everyone says there are too many crowds). Yes, I was wrong: it was beautiful, and worth seeing. There were tik-tockers everywhere.

The Vatican Museum is special. Buy tickets ahead of time.. The line for tickets was several hundred yards long, and you don’t want to waste limited time in Rome waiting in a line; most tours of the Vatican include a “skip the line” option. 

The Vatican museum is wild- the size and number of exhibits is hard to describe. If you have been there before, you know. They have 9 miles of exhibits; I think our tour guide said it was the second biggest museum in the world. There is so much beautiful art, but at a certain point it is hard to appreciate it all. 

No matter what you do, you are limited to 3-4 hours without needing to eat. 

The food. 

There are 4 types of traditional pasta in Rome: Caccio Pepe, Gricia, Carbonara, and Amatriana. Lots of places claim to have the best, but ultimately that comes down to preference. I ate pasta 5 times in 3 days, and don’t regret it for a second. 

Do yourself a favor and make dinner reservations in Rome. It is busy, and you don’t want to end up in a situation where you are hungry after touring (and walking) all day, without a place to sit and enjoy dinner. 

For breakfast, expect something like a pastry and a cappuccino. That too was special each morning. 

Though you can stake out some great lunch spots, I would steer clear of making lunch plans. There are so many places in the town to explore, it would be hard to be tied to a specific area for lunch. We just grabbed something on the go, and it worked out great. 

For dinner, we did some research, but found that many restaurants do not have a standard “reservation” process like we expected from back home. They are busy, they serve food, and if you are there, you can eat; if you want to know what they serve, you might be able to find it on their Facebook page. 

One of the highlights was Mr 100 Tiramisu. They had 100 flavors of Tiramisu- do I love it? Not in the USA. No. But in Rome? Oh my goodness it was delicious- we shared 3 pieces. 

Where to stay

There are lots of “right” answers to this question. We stayed on the Campo di Fiori square, near Trastevere, and it was great. It had a rooftop bar (we brought our own bottle), and we could see the Vatican and the rest of Rome from up there. 

If you want a busy, but not loud, area of town, that area won’t disappoint you. 

What stood out about Rome. 

It was the liveliest, safest city I have ever visited. We walked a ton- about 18000 steps a day, and saw a good part of the city. 

When planning a trip like this, it is hard to know exactly what it possible to fit in to just a few days: but Rome was more walkable, and safer than I expected, and after walking all of the miles, there was hardly a single storefront that was not occupied. 

Police and military people were found in most areas with people; we passed some every 1/4 mile or less. 

One thing neat about Rome is the water. They still use the viaducts that the ancient Romans built, and in most squares and hidden in many corners, there are water fountains just running water for anyone to take. There was one beside where we ate dinner, and we just watched: someone came and washed vegetables, several couples filled water bottles, some washed their faces, some dog came by and drank. 

Caution: This might be hard to read. I had to tell the story though. Proceed with caution, this is a tear jerker.

“You did a good job Stormy; you did a good job.”

I kept saying this over and over again. Taylor, Rose and Mercy had left the room. It was just the vet, me, and the vet’s technician. I held stormy’s paw, rubbed her head and her soft ears, and just kept saying “you did a good job.” For 13 years she did. She was shaking, and had blankets over her. She was on a stretcher for a dog, and I was on the floor of the vet’s office, right by her side. I don’t know if she was shaking from the pain, or the cold- and I don’t want to know.
She had an IV in her. And a catheter, under the blanket. She was a bit tired from the medicine, but alert. I was crying, and the vet explained what each of the shots in her hand were: one to numb her, one to send her home. Tears dripped down my nose and hit the tile floor. We already made the decision. The papers were signed. The vet tech had to turn her head to keep from crying herself, as I rubbed stormy’s neck, and the shaking calmed down. The vet pulled out her stethoscope, checked for vitals. The shaking stopped. The vet said some kind words, said I could take all the time I needed to say goodbye; Stormy’s eyes stopped moving. I hugged the vet; I hugged the vet’s technician, told them I couldn’t manage to be there as she grew cold, I had to leave.
For the first time in an hour, I went outside; it was a thick, heavy rain, and I sobbed. 

Earlier that Friday morning, when I let stormy out I noticed she was walking a little weird- almost as though she was trying to grip the wood floors with her paws. We got the kids ready, and stormy was just laying on the floor; she was healthy the day before and walked to school with Rosie and I- but Taylor and I both noticed she seemed a little lethargic. I called the vet before 8, and fortunately they could see Stormy at 9:30. It wasn’t an emergency: Stormy at dinner the night before, she wasn’t throwing up, didn’t have diarrhea, but I wanted to see what the Doc thought regardless. 

After Taylor got back from the gym and stormy hadn’t moved, we knew something was bad. 

“Wanna go for a walk?” She stood, and took a few steps, then stopped. I managed to prop the door open, already had the trunk open, carried her to the car, and drove stormy in to the vet.

She wasn’t an angel. But she did have an important job: when Taylor and I were first married, we were trying to figure things out. How to be nice to each other, how to live together, and do the chores. How to do finances. How to cook dinners, and how to clean up after dinners. 
We argued. I wouldn’t say a ton, but there were some challenges, and we had been entertaining the idea of getting a dog. I suppose God saw our situation, and said “They have enough issues to deal with, I’ll give them Stormy.” Stormy’s job was to help us stop being selfish, and be a little kinder to one another. And she did a great job. 

Not only did Taylor and I start getting along better, but Stormy went on to keep doing her job with the countless guests who have visited our house over the past 13 years. Even with the rowdy kids, Stormy knew how to win them over: she would come sit beside me, and allow the children to poke her, rub her, lean on her, and lightly abuse her in all sorts of ways, knowing I would protect her. If that wasn’t an option, Stormy would just politely leave the room and go be an introvert. 

But that was the exception instead of the rule. Stormy always wanted to be with the family, because Stormy was a part of the family. She didn’t want to be the center of attention, but she wanted us to know she was still around. 

She was my buddy. She was a bookend to my day: the first words of my morning were to stormy, along with a pat on the head. Often she would come downstairs right after me in the morning; even on the days when Taylor woke up first. 

At night, she was often the last one I spoke to, followed by another pat on the head and reassuring her how much she was loved. 

Her favorite thing to do was watch me do yard work: raking leaves, cutting off branches, mowing the lawn, playing with the kids, sharpening lawnmower blades, cleaning the grill. If I was outside, she was outside. If I had to go inside to get some scissors, she had to come inside too, even if it was for less than 90 seconds. 

A few times she stayed at Taylor’s parent’s house while we were out of town. Their dog, Jager, was stormy’s best friend. One of those trips, Taylor and I were in Mexico, and got a call from an unknown number; they got Taylor phone number from Stormy’s collar and said they found our dog. We didn’t learn until we got home that Stormy got out of the Register’s yard, and went into the neighbors car while they were unloading the groceries, and at the chicken wings out of the car. Uncooked chicken wings. 

During those visits she went and ate fertilizer, a leather boot, golf gloves, and rat poison. Other times she ate a bag of chocolate, on three separate occasions. 

She was mischievous, in every way. Just last month, the babysitter was over, and outside jumping on the trampoline with Rosie and Mercy while Taylor and I were on a date. Stormy ate 3/4 of a pizza off the counter, and had some of the worst gas you could imagine that night. I was kinda bummed there wasn’t any leftover pizza for lunch the next day. 

Food not only had to be on the counter, but moved all the way back to the wall to make sure the dog wouldn’t snatch it. I spanked her a few times. Then realized, she really doesn’t care: she would rather eat the food, or get in the garbage and get spanked, than not get in the food. 

She wasn’t the smartest either. She would listen-sometimes. For example, she would stay if she wanted to. Or until something else caught her attention. She didnt do a ton of tricks. She was ok when walking on the leash. But perfect or not, that’s what made her part of the family; I’m glad my family keeps me around, despite not being the smartest:)

Stormy was there when we had our first ultrasound with Rosie. She was there when Mercy came home from the hospital. She let Rosie dress her up in outfits a lot during the covid years. 

When I was down, stormy knew it and she sat close; she never licked, but would sit close; or just lean on my leg. Or, she would lay down and press the top of her head into me. 

She walked Rosie to school every single day; the highlight of my day. 

When Taylor arrived at the Vet, the doctor came in and explained things. Stormy had a tumor on her spleen that ruptured. Chances are, it was a cancer, and the tumor ruptured and healed in smaller ways several times by now; this would explain why stormy was crying for the past month every night around 8pm; I dismissed it though because Stormy was wagging her tail while she did so. 

Finally, this tumor ruptured. There was a chance that emergency surgery could “buy us some more time”, but there was also a chance that the surgery would reveal that the cancer had spread pretty far. Taylor cried. This was the kind of thing that cost the vet her own dog the year before. 

Should we get the girls from school to have a chance to say goodbye? Stormy was stable. Would that be traumatic? Would it be less traumatic than if Rosie came home from school, and never got a chance to say goodbye? Should Mercy have a chance to say goodbye as well, or is she too young?

We had to get both girls. They had to have a chance to say goodbye, and they did. Right there in the vet’s floor, while stormy was on the dog stretcher, under a blanket. We took turns sitting closest to her. When it was time, they left, and the Vet and I were alone with Stormy that last time. 

When we got home, Rosie wasn’t in her room. She wasn’t watching tv. She was in Stormy’s bed, with a blanket on top of her, and a pillow under her head, holding Stormy’s collar, crying. 

The next day, I asked Mercy: “Do you think Stormy is in heaven eating as much trash as she can (since Stormy LOVED getting in the trash can)?”
Mercy replied “What if Jesus says ‘no’”? 

Touché mercy. Touché. There isn’t enough theology in the world to answer that question. 

Now, it is three days later, and I can’t sleep. I keep thinking, “did I do the right thing? Did I miss something? Was there another way to get a year or two from an otherwise healthy dog?” I know the answer is no, but that last scene keeps playing in my mind. 

At the same time, this was the best way it could have possibly played out. It would have been even more challenging to watch her grow much older, and lose the strength to make it up the stairs. Also, we are glad this happened on a weekday, when the vet was opened. And while we were in town- there are a few trips coming up, and it would have been even worse if it happened while we were away. So I am glad she went out with a bang: healthy the day before, and over the rainbow bridge the day after. 

Stormy did a good job. She did a great job. She wasn’t perfect, but she was perfect for us. And now, I am ready to get another dog. Since stormy set the bar pretty high, I’m pretty confident our next dog will just be a jerk. Stay tuned. 

After a few weeks (months?) its hard to know where to start; there has been a lot going on. There has been a lot going on, but the reason I haven’t written anything is because I have been busy planning our next big trip, and it is a masterpiece.

Just last week, Mercy graduated off of her training wheels, and is up on a two wheeler.

It was a lot of fun- she is a quick learner, and it was the same park Rosie learned just a few years ago.

Rosie came to cheer on her sis as well.

We did a fun game night at the neighbors house, and learned a fun game; it wa really nice because Mercy was able to play as well, and she almost won.

Also, Mercy is a little older these days, and having a blast with some of “her friends”- meaning she gets to do something special, and not just hang out with the little brother/sister of Rosies friends. As a younger sibling myself, that feeling is real.

We also finally reached the age where Mercy and Rosie are annoying one another. But, for the most part they are amazing friends in between.

Mercy loves to watch Rosie dance, and is getting a bit bigger to sit through parts of Rosie’s performances:

We also had a crazy hailstorm- it was the strangest thing. Just a few moments of gigantic hail- only a few of these large hailstones covered our yard. However, it was enough to crack the windshield of our car. Then I learned that insurance covers that kinda thing- except these days, replacing a windshield is not just swapping out the glass- cars are fancy and the windshield has sensors, so it took hours to finish.

What trip?

Finally, the reason I have not done any morning posts on the blog is because I have been busy planning our big 15-year anniversary trip to Italy. It has been a lot of fun to watch youtube videos, learn about the country, read travel blogs, listen to podcasts, and have the freedom to create our own custom trip. It really helped a lot this year with the seemingly endless days of snow and ice when the kids were out of school to have something fun (and warm) to look forward to.

For the trip, we are going to Italy: Rome, Capri, and even further south to Tropea, a small beach town near the “Toe”.

Rome will be busy; Capri will be Fancy; and Tropea, hopefully, will be a calm couple of days on the beach. Then, at the end of the trip, hop a short plane ride back to Rome to catch our flight back home.

The tours are scheduled, dinner reservations are booked, the rental car is waiting- the countdown has begun!

People ask me “What does it feel like to turn 40?”. The answer is that I threw away all of my white socks, and went to Costco and bought 36 new pairs of identical white socks. That was a few weeks ago, and I cannot explain how helpful that decision has been. Also:

Taylor threw me a “surprise” family birthday dinner- I knew that some friends were invited to the party as well, but didn’t quite know who so it was a really, really fun surprise to see friends- new and old- show up.

Looking through things, I didnt get any pictures of some of our “new friends” (meaning, less than 10 years, hahaha), but Clint Swaringen, Mark and Margaret, and several others showed up too. Thank you all for coming- it was great to see you!

These people have been around for every important milestone since I was 16 years old- and that is something absolutely significant in my life (also, we missed you Cores, hope you get over the strep throat quickly, we will make it up some other time!).

My 18th birthday, 21st birthday, 30th birthday, 40th birthday- not to mention weddings, graduations, kids birthdays, Halloweens, Memorial Days, New Years Eve’s, etc. I digress.

Ok ok, the pictures from above aren’t EXACTLY from my 18th birthday, 21st birthday, or 30th birthday- but they are all AROUND those times. It turns out I don’t have many pics from those events because digital pictures weren’t exactly big, nor was there an awesome blog to record such moments in my life.

But the pictures from above are around those times- and the very last image with me and Charlie Hiser and Houston and Taylor Symons WAS from my 30th birthday- that was a wild night just over a month after Rosie was born, and we didn’t take many pictures that evening, and for good reason.

It really was an honor to have so many important people show up- life throws lots of curve balls, but I feel like a rich man to have the company of such good friends for all of the important moments.

Taylor gave a speech. Here is evidence, that I am still “fun” despite feeling like a boring old dad sometimes:

In the old days, Taylor would put her speech on a cake, in the form of a poem. We have come a long ways together since then 🙂

Somehow I got away without being roasted- over the years these people had plenty of ammunition for a moment like this. It was probably because children were around, but the Lynam’s gave a special speech as well:

Thank you Taylor for putting this together- it meant more than I thought it would. You make it look easy to put together such fun events.