Long overdue for our first camping trip of the season, we hit the road, heading west to a new state park in West Virginia (new to us, I mean!). My wife grew up camping in the Upper Peninsula, and I grew up camping in the higher altitudes of the Smoky Mountains, so camping in extreme heat is a no-go for both of us. Although June is typically mild in Ohio, this weekend was predicted to break into the mid-90s, so I researched as many parks and campgrounds that I could find in the mountains, landing at last on Coopers Rock. It’s about as high of elevation as I could find in under 4 hours from Columbus, but it was just enough to to drop the temperature about 10 degrees.
The campground has two camping circles – one fixed with electric and water for RV camping, and a second circle for tents only. The tent area is smaller, but the spots are spacious, shaded and semi-private. My first complaint is that most of the firepits are right along the road. Due to the campground being a small circle, we didn’t have to deal with much motor traffic, but it did feel less cozy to not be nestled under the trees of the campsite.
The tent loop circles a single bathhouse, with trails through the woods to reach it. They had running water and real flush toilets, not too rustic for camping-newbies, but a bit of a hike to the toilets for those who want closer proximity.
My second complaint was that the camp store closes at 6pm, which is right around the time we pulled in. They allow after-hours self check-in, but the closed camp store meant no firewood for us during our first night. This was a bummer, but the scattered showers led my wife and I to grab some illegal beers (no alcohol at the campground, whoops, didn’t realize that at first) and lounge in our tailgating tent to chat and stay dry.
I have aired my grievances – now, to the good stuff. Because the campground consists of a single loop, the campsites on the outside lead right into the forest. This offers a more private experience, but also allowed us to see some wildlife! When we first pulled in, two deer were chilling at our campsite, and we saw nearly a dozen more throughout the weekend. We also saw a deer feeding its fawn!
The hiking was the best part. Near the camp store (the “trading post”) is a brief, accessible trail to a large and gorgeous overlook. You can also hike the “underlook,” which is a trail going below the lookout. It’s very short, but steep with some scrambling bits at the end. I would highly recommend this trail to see more of the forest and to feel like you’ve really earned your reward (the view!).
Another trail to an overlook is Raven’s Rock. The trailhead is a bit confusing; on the first day, after parking, we began hiking the trail by the sign board and maps, but after a while all the blazes disappeared. There are still trails to explore, but not the main hike to Raven’s Rock. We passed a couple other confused hikers, so we know it wasn’t entirely user error!
The next day, we did find the correct trailhead, just a bit further down the road, towards the park’s cabins. The area had gotten a significant amount of rain in the week leading up to our trip, so to say we hiked through a creek would have been more accurate than on a trail. We definitely saw more hikers on this trail than any other, but it was still calm without a ton of traffic, which was nice. The trail (river, in our case) crawls steadily downhill for the first mile before reaching a steep incline at the end towards the lookout. The view was worth it!
Overall, perhaps my favorite part of this area was the proximity of all of the trails. While there is parking at all of the trailheads, you can walk to most of them from your campsite, limiting the need for your car while camping. We did this to reach my favorite hike, the Rock City trail.
Rock city started with a nice, gradual incline through the forest. After about a half mile, you reach a fork in the road and a picnic shelter. You can do a sharp left to take the Rattlesnake trail, or continue on past the shelter for Rock City. We had actually planned on the more moderate hike of the rattlesnake trail (hopefully free of any poisonous snakes), but upon witnessing what the rock city trail looked like, we continued that way. The trail passes through rock walls on either side, with rhododendrons creating a gorgeous canopy above you.
On our way back, it began pouring, and so we picked up our pace and took shelter in the covered picnic area, JUST in time. When the rain lightened up, we hit the trail again, back “home” to our campsite.
Back at our site, the rain continued to roll through. It’d pour for a few minutes, then the sun would come out, then out of nowhere, it poured again. Our ability to cook dinner was beginning to look a little bleak, so we hopped into the car, drove down the mountain, and went to a lakeside restaurant. We felt a bit like we were cheating, but the draft beer was fresh, the food was good, and the post-rainstorm lake breeze was lovely.
The rain continued off and on for the rest of the night, but we fortunately were able to get our fire hot enough to keep rebuilding it after each shower. Overall, we had an amazing time at Coopers Rock, and would definitely return to this campsite again in the future.
For our first afternoon in Dublin, we booked a free tour by Generation Tours and saw the top sights of Dublin, which helped formulate our plan for the week. We got dinner at the Oval bar, recommended by our tour guide. It was pretty good, but not the best meal we’d had, and a bit pricier than we thought it deserved.
From there, we headed to a pub recommended by the musician who played at our wedding!, and as promised, there was excellent music – The Cobblestone. It was crowded, and we could only fit in the back of the pub at first, which made it hard to hear the musicians, but every 20 minutes or so, someone would depart, and we’d sneak a bit closer.
Dublin Day Two: Howth
Howth is, if I dare say it, almost as incredible as the Cliffs of Moher, but minus the crowds. A little suburb on a peninsula off of Dublin, you can take the commuter train (the DART) there and back for 5€. There are four different loop trails to look at, and you can pick up the maps to each from the TI (about a 3-minute walk from the train station). We chose the second-longest, about 10km. We had planned to try the longest, but at only 2 additional km, it was way hillier, and most importantly, bypassed the Summitt (the mid-hike pub).
The hike takes you up a narrow sidewalk at first alongside gated, fancy houses and condos, but once you get to the top, the actual trail begins. There are several viewpoint detours, and the trail is well marked with the four different options (which all run together for the first half of the hike).
The views are absolutely incredible, and the first half of the trail takes you alongside the water (but way above it) for breathtaking scenery. As you near the lighthouse, the trails split, and those following the 8 or 10 km options are taken through town right past the pub. We didn’t eat, so I cannot comment on the food, but the pub had a great atmosphere, plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, and delicious beer options.
From there we followed the red markers, which took us through another hiking area that is popular with the locals and their dogs, so we had to pay closer attention to the trail markers to avoid getting lost. At the top of one of the hills, we had a beautiful view of Dublin, before hiking back down into Howth. We grabbed a seafood lunch at Crabby Jo’s, which had great smoked salmon and a delicious seafood chowder.
After lunch, we walked over to the Howth Castle, which now houses an automobile museum and cooking school (an interesting combination), but it was neat to walk around the grounds and see it. There are some paths near the castle and neighboring golf course, which are untraveled enough to make it seem like we were trespassing (we aren’t positive that we weren’t…).
That evening, we went to highly-recommended Darkey Kelly’s near the Temple Bar District. It was a bit disappointing, unfortunately; the food was OK, but overpriced, and in lieu of traditional Irish music, a band played Wagon Wheel (telling the audience that the song was called “Rock me Mama”).
On Wednesday, we took the Irish bus down to Trim to see the oldest Norman Castle in Ireland. We had planned to buy our tickets at the bus station with the promise of ticket machines that allow credit cards, but mysteriously all the machines were down, so we were forced to use the station ATM, which charged a fee in addition to an absurd exchange rate. (Until that point, we had gotten our cash at Bank ATMs only, which do not charge fees. Unfortunately, we just barely didn’t have enough euros for the bus fare!).
From the top of the castle.
The return ticket was 16€. We accidentally got off the bus one stop too soon, but it worked out as we took a long walk to the castle along the River Boyne. The River Walk was lovely, passing ruins along the way, and many locals with their dogs. Markers along the path tell the story of the history of the town. I would highly recommend the walk; not only is the path along the river lovely, but there are other medieval ruins to explore along the way.
We arrived at the castle behind a school group of about 50 kids, so we let them get a head start and took a quick Guinness break (it was almost noon). For lunch, we headed to a Rick Steve’s recommended (what we’ve begun affectionately referring to as Ricky’s Recs): Rosemary Bistro. My wife loved her burger, but unfortunately, the highly recommended tuna sandwich was really just a grilled cheese with a couple tuna sprinkles. (I should have taken a picture… when I say “tuna sprinkles,” I mean it literally.)
We headed back to Trim Castle and booked the next tour, which takes place every hour. While we waited, we explored the grounds. Though we had uncharacteristically sunny weather so far this week, our day in Trim was cloudy, but the impending drizzle held off for us to enjoy the outdoors.
The guide brought us through each level of the castle, sharing a bit about the history of the castle, what each of the rooms were used for. After about 45 minutes, we reached the top, awarding us with sensational views of the surrounding area. Our guide allowed us a few minutes to wander and enjoy the tower-top views before descending back down the narrow and steep windy staircase to exit back onto the grounds.
With about an hour until the next bus back to Dublin, we sought out a pub to relax with a pint. We discovered the hard way that before the height of tourist season and midweek, little was open, but we did stop into Sally’s for a pint of Guinness. We met other American travelers who had just begun their tour of Ireland following two weeks in Scotland, and enjoyed the artwork set into the heads of our Guinness draughts.
Day Four: Dublin Day
I had gone to bed feeling pretty beat and under the weather, so my wife allowed me to sleep in. I woke up about 8 minutes before the end of breakfast, which I take very seriously, so I threw on some clothes and ran downstairs to get my traditional Irish fare for one last time.
Feeling better after some beans, eggs and a croissant, but still tired, we adapted our Dublin Day to hit the minimum. We had wanted to tour Kilmainham Gaol. Ricky’s Recs had warned us to reserve in advance during the high season, but since it was only mid-April, I figured we’d luck out. Unfortunately, we did not!
Instead, we headed to the National History Museum, exploring the Iveagh Gardens and St. Stephen’s Green along the way. The National History Museum is free, and has enough to entertain folks for hours; we, however, focused on the main galleries for an hour, before heading out for some lunch.
We headed back to a pub featuring live music that my wife had noted earlier. It had a lovely patio, but as the cold rainy weather finally arrived for us, we ate and drank indoors (plus, the music was inside!) We ordered a toastie with some tomato soup and enjoyed the music. Even at a mostly empty pub at two o’clock in the afternoon on a Thursday – the musicians were quite talented. Here, we met more Americans; the wife was quite friendly, but the husband drowned out the music with his unending talk of golf courses, so we kindly took our leave and headed out.
We attempted the Brazen Head next; it was our Dublin tourist day, after all, but we balked at the food prices and instead settled for a pint on the beer garden. The indoor area was quite crowded, and though it was cold outside, the atmosphere was a bit calmer. From there we headed for our final Dublin meal, ordered much of the same that we would have eaten at the Brazen Head… but for half the price.
Then back to the hotel to pack up and roll out!
Dublin Lez-Travel rating:
Rainbows and gay bars are all over Dublin. We felt safe, and unlike Galway-area, not the only ones.
As a kid, I’d go camping most years at Big South Fork, a national recreational area in Tennessee. Within the park, accessible only by foot (or horse), is Charit Creek Lodge. They provide the room, bed (and bedding!), breakfast and dinner. The meals are served family-style, offering the chance to meet people from all over the country. At our table, there were several Tennesseans, but also folks from South Carolina, New York, and Michigan.
The main lodge with the dining hall has two private cabin rooms on either side, with a shared back porch. I will admit that I initially balked at the price of one night stay for two humans and one dog, but when I realized that the food is, like, absolutely delicious, and far exceeded my expectations (I was picturing basic “camp food”), the cost seemed to be much more reasonable. And if you’re staying multiple nights, you also get a sack lunch! Our dinner consisted of meatloaf, a cheesy pasta dish with baked beans, vegetable casserole, and a fresh salad with nuts and goat cheese. Our breakfast was a delicious crustless quiche, sausage, and nut muffins.
Upon arriving, the first trail we tried was the Slave Falls Trail, but, just as Ohio is experiencing with this long drought, the waterfall was, well, nonexistent, and the creek a mere trickle. The woodsy stroll was lovely though, although we were a bit alarmed early-on in the hike at our first bear sighting! We’d slow down and make noise at every sharp turn to not catch a bear by surprise.
From there, we drove from the Slave Falls trailhead to the Twin Arches trailhead to eat a picnic lunch. We then hoisted on our packs, hoping to not fall off an arch with the weight of our overnight stay on our back.
The arches were incredible! Of course, the pictures don’t do it justice, but it was wild that, growing up in Tennessee, I never hiked that trail to see them.
The rest of the trail was steep down into the valley where the Lodge sits, but a nice, enjoyable and woodsy path. Most tourists hike the small, 1-mi arches loop (the larger loop is over four miles), and so we only passed two other people as we hiked about 2 mi of the full loop to arrive at the Lodge.
After checking in, we dropped off our belongings in our massive room with one queen bed and four single bunks. They provide lanterns, as well as a cooler to put in any food or other yummy-smelling thing to the bear neighbors. We went to shower next – it is a shared facility for all Lodge guests, but the individual stalls were large, spacious, the room was warm, and the water was hot – definitely the best “camp” shower experience I have had. Note: towels not provided!
I’ve already shared what they served for dinner (while drooling just thinking about it). They also offer beer and wine for purchase, so my wife and I tied up the dog with a bone and sat in large rocking chairs with our beers, enjoying the gorgeous Tennessee fall weather.
In the morning, full up on quiche and sack lunch stored in our cabin cooler, we hiked up the Charit Overlook Trail. It’s a very wide horse trail, and though steep, it wasn’t rocky. All three of us could walk side by side. It was a hike I wish we had taken more time with, because the views from the top were lovely, but we hastened back down the mountain to check out by 11.
We packed up and gathered our belongings from the cabin and returned to the rocking chairs to eat our sack lunch.
On our way out, we did the western part of the Twin Arches Loop, about 2.5mi. It climbed out of the valley much more gradually than the eastern part of the loop, and once we were up on the ridge, the views, rock formations, and parts of the arches all were incredible to enjoy.
To make the most of our second day in the park, we booked a hotel in Richmond, KY, to avoid driving the 4.5 hours home in one go. We drove the two hours to our hotel, picked up a pizza. We were way too pooped to enjoy the stop and went right to the hotel, but we’ve been to Richmond before; it’s a cool college with great BBQ and beer. Dogs were allowed at Dreaming Creek Brewery, and they typically have a food truck on site as well. Smitty’s BBQ was fast-food meets cafeteria-style restaurant barbecue (reminds me of Buddys BBQ back home in Knoxville); we got tons of food for so cheap, and all of the everything was tasty.
We were fortunate enough to be sitting next to an off-duty Irish flight attendant (also gay), who not only provided sound advice for our trip, but also asked her friends for better wine and whisky than what they serve by default.
We landed in Dublin at 6:00am, flew through border control. We caught our coach (we used Dublin Express) to the Heuston Station, where we ate a full Irish breakfast – our first of many – and boarded our train to Galway.
We booked a room at the Hardiman Hotel next to the train station and just off Eyre Square. It is a beautiful old building and lovely hotel, but fair warning: the rooms were HOT. The ancient windows made our hotel room into a greenhouse, as the uncharacteristically sunny days we enjoyed baked our room to over 80 degrees. The glass was hot to the touch and we could smell our curtains burning against it.
But otherwise, our stay in Galway was lovely. Once we arrived, we strolled the riverwalk while we waited for our rooms to be ready, enjoying the nice weather. After checking in, we grabbed dinner at The King’s Head, where I had my first of several Beef and Guinness Stew (mouth-wateringly good). And my wife, self-proclaimed fish and chips aficionado had the best she’s ever had. It was a somewhat pricey place, but the food was well worth the cost.
We crossed the street to Tig Cóilí, which featured traditional Irish music in the evenings. The pub was crowded, but we lucked out with bar stools near the back and enjoyed the music.
What we learned about trad music sessions: many of the musicians don’t know each other and don’t play together regularly. Typically, any musician is welcome and can bring their instrument to join in. No mics, minimal singing and almost entirely instrumental, we observed musicians of all ages (as young as 18 and as old as perhaps 75) come together. One musician will begin a song, and one by one, the others join in. This was my favorite part of our experience in Ireland, where instead of shitty music blasting or mediocre DJs, there is live, talented and free music in almost every pub on almost every night, particularly in Galway, played by musicians just because they love it, with seemingly the only payment of a couple free drink tokens.
On our first full day, we joined a tour company to explore the Cliffs of Moher. Our tour guide was a bit eccentric, but he got us from point A to B (dangerously dodging bikers participating in a cross-county bike event). We chose the tour with Galway Tour Co. because they offered the most direct route to the cliffs, and the longest amount of time to explore (two hours).
The path alongside the cliff is very narrow, barely wide enough for the two-way traffic, which made for a frustrating initial hike with fellow tourists packed in to get a glimpse of the UNESCO World Heritage site. We hustled as fast as possible down the path, stealing only a couple of glances at the cliffs, until we had hiked about half a mile and the crowds thinned out considerably. If we’d had more time, we would have loved to hike to the end and back, but unfortunately, most of the tour options are built around the philosophy of “here’s a thing to look at,” then “here’s a place to eat” then “here’s a quick stop for a selfie” and not built around allowing time to actually explore and experience.
From there, we boarded the coach to Doolin for lunch. Now that we know what we know, for our next visit, we’ll take public transit to Doolin and begin the Cliffs of Moher hike in town, instead of at the overcrowded Visitor Center. In Doolin, we ate at McGann’s Pub,which had a delightful smoked salmon salad, and the best chips (fries) that we had in our time in Ireland. I finally ordered my first Guinness, which truly is worlds better in Ireland than American, even though we were across the country still from the brewery.
Day Three
On Sunday, we booked a ride on the ferry to Inishmore (Aran Islands). Related to what I said I’d do differently with the Cliffs of Moher, if we had made Doolin a home base for the cliffs, I would have done the same for the Aran Islands, taking the ferry from Doolin to Inishmere, the smallest island.
Instead, we took a coach from Galway to Rossaveal to board the ferry to the largest island. The coach was a bit under an hour, the ferry 40 minutes. We reserved bicycles on the island from Aran Bike Hire, and it was a total clusterfuck with the entire ferry filled with tourists running to grab the bikes and begin their adventure. I had to go through three bikes before I found one with sufficient air in the tires, but it had plenty of other issues (loose brake calipers and jumpy shifters, for starters). But, the price was reasonable and the bikes got us to where we needed to be. (Next time, however, I’ll try the other bike rental company, Inis Mor Bike Hire, which is also right by the pier).
We took the low road first to be able to see the seal colony at low tide. Fortunately, as we are regular bikers, it didn’t take us long to get ahead of the crowds and families, and we enjoyed our ride more once we got out of the thick crowd and ahead of the horse-drawn carriages too (passing them was very scary though!).
The views in Inishmore were absolutely gorgeous. We biked the five miles or so to the Fortress (Dun Aonghasa, 5€). It’s a climb on foot up to the top of cliffs where the ruins sit, harboring gorgeous views. Careful: there’s no fence or railing between the fortress and to the rock and ocean below!
We sat in the sun and enjoyed the views for a while, until the crowds we escaped on bike began arriving. We hiked back down to our bikes and took the high road back towards the port. On the high road, instead of passing the carriages, we were passed by tour buses. Typically at safe speeds and distances, but a few gave no fucks and flew by us, likely to pick up their customers at the fortress.
We stopped at Joe Watty’s Pub. It was a delightful place, and not very overpriced despite the tourist crowds (our menu was for “low season” though, so this may not be the case during the summer). We had another seafood salad that was just as delicious before headed back to town. We had an hour to explore before our ferry departed, and we tried to bike out to the Black Fort, but with steep unpaved roads, we couldn’t make it with our dinky city bikes. We made a mental note to reserve mountain bikes next time. We boarded the ferry early to snag a spot on the roof (outside, where downstairs was indoors).
That night, we hit our favorite pub of our time in Galway: Tigin. The bartender was an absolute delight, and the musicians for the trad music session were wonderful. It wasn’t overly crowded, either, so we had a seat and could enjoy the tunes without drunk Irish students or loud Americans bumping into us.
On Monday morning, we enjoyed our last hotel breakfast (which had been delicious. If you risk the hot rooms to stay at the Hardiman, definitely get the package with breakfast). We walked to the train station and headed back to Dublin!
Lez-Travel Rating for Galway:
While we didn’t see any obvious display of pro-LGBTQ culture, we explored and didn’t need to hide that we were together; no one made any comments or gave us judgmental looks. A few establishments had rainbow flags, but not many. Going outside of the city and into the country did not feel as stark of a difference as it does in many U.S. metro areas (like Columbus), either. We didn’t feel out of place in the less urban areas outside of Galway. We did a few tours, and both times I believe we were the only gay couple in the group, but all the tour guides were friendly and accepting.
What better reason to travel to the South of France than the marriage of two good friends? We booked our travel into Paris, with the high speed train to the region of Provence. The wedding took place in a small town in the countryside of Provence.
The day of the wedding, we had some time to explore before returning to get ready for the festivities. We headed to Les-Baux-de-Provence, a small village in the Alpilles mountains, situated beneath the ruins of a large medieval fortress, Chateau des Baux. We paid to park at the bottom of the hill and began the trek up the mountain.
When we made it to the top, we stopped to catch our breath before roaming along the edge of the cliffs to enjoy the magnificent view. In fact, we enjoyed the view for too long that we had to abandon our plans to pay to enter and explore the chateau, and instead began our trek back down the hill to head out.
Our next task was to drive back down the winding roads to St-Remy-de-Provence. Wednesday is market day in St. Remy, a massive collection of vendors that stretches through a significant area of the town. The bride had requested we purchase some lunch snacks for her – and did the same for ourselves. Fortunately, our friend was with us who spoke conversational French (my wife and I – far from it) and helped us purchase a diverse selection of cheese, meats, and bread.
At a cost of only 40€ (also about $40 at the time), we purchased enough cheese and meat to feed the entire bridal party and ourselves (four of us, about 10-12 people overall). And the quality – far from anything I have enjoyed in the States.
Despite the notion that the French hate Americans (honestly, due to my interaction with American tourists, I don’t blame them), that was not our experience in the southern countryside. The vendors were incredibly friendly to us, and were thrilled that one of our party spoke French. The vendors would correct small errors with a smile, and thank us. They even let us sample every cheese before we made the purchase! And I mean – decent hunks of sample cheese, and one for each of us.
Following the wedding festivities, my wife and I and our two friends journeyed on to Cassis, along the coast in the southern part of the region. My wife and I had rented a car, as Cassis and the town of the wedding were not easily accessible by train (due to the mountains, the train station in Cassis is 2 miles from the town).
[*A note on driving in France, as we made a couple of mistakes: 1) the speed limits aren’t suggestions like in the States. If you go even 2 km/hr over the speed limit, you could get a ticket. And you won’t get pulled over; there are speed violation cameras that will automatically send a bill to you – a whopping 135€ – if you aren’t careful! and 2) it’s illegal to turn right on red. Did we turn right at a red light? Yes. Did we get pulled over immediately? Yes. We were pulled out of the train station/rental car parking lot… fortunately, the police officer only shamed us a bit for not knowing the rules (fair) and did not give us a ticket.]
Wanting to check out La Route de Crêtes, a remarkable 30-minute drive along the seaside cliffs linked Cassis to La Ciotat, my wife and I drove first to La Ciotat, and explored a botanical garden, Parc du Mugel. A reasonably priced pay-lot is nearby for parking, then a 10-minute walk down a steep hill and past a beach will bring you to the park entrance.
The park was beautiful, and entry is free. It had lovely views of bay, and vegetation I did not expect to see in France (bamboo!? Palm trees!?). At the top of the hill, you’ll also get a beautiful view of the Calanques.
Once we got our fill of the park (hardly… I could have wandered there all day), we headed back to the car to start La Route de Crêtes. It definitely lived up to expectations. Though a somewhat scary drive at times (a VERY narrow, winding road), the views were breathtaking, and there were plenty of places to pull over and take in the views from outside the car. This one was our favorite lookout spot.
Once we arrived in Cassis, we found our hotel with some effort. An amazing thing about these towns in France is that they close off smaller streets and alleys during market days or dinner time, so that restaurants can use those areas for outdoor seating. But – the closed roads did make it tricky to get to our hotel! We ended up parking up the hill and dragging out luggage to our hotel, just off the city center. We stayed at a new Best Western; the rooms were very small and simple, but the price was reasonable and location was perfect.
We met our friends at a Rick Steves’ recommendation: Divino, a small and reasonably priced wine bar. The bartender was very friendly, and handed us some free charcuterie and olives to enjoy with our wine. He had three house selections (one white, rose, and red, all local) already selected and open, 7€ each, so you could select something without too much pressure and need to struggle through a French menu.
The next morning, we once again enjoyed market day (Fridays in Cassis). Though not as expansive as St Remy, the market still had much to offer, and we purchased cheese and bread to enjoy on our Calanque hike.
The Calanques: calanques are narrow valleys with sea inlets, surrounded by cliffs. Near Cassis, there are three notable Calanques: Port-Miou, Port-Pin, and d’En-Vau.
Port-Miou is a thirty minute walk from the Cassis city center, and it is a climb. You walk up from the port and through the wealthier part of town, so don’t forget to turn around and enjoy the view as you go (you may need to catch your breath anyway!). At the edge of town, you hike down a bit to reach Port-Miou.
View from in between Port-Miou and Port-Pin
A large sign for hikers show the other paths to the next two calanques. One route is steep and rocky, the other travels around – longer, but more gradual and more accessible. Even in the off-season (mid-October), the trail was quite crowded, so if you go in summer, start early!
We made it to Calanque Port-Pin in another twenty minutes from Port-Miou. The views were spectacular, and the small peddle beach beautiful. We got a later start than intended, and knowing it was another hour to Calanque d’En-Vau (each way), we bailed on seeing what is said to be the most beautiful of the three (next time!), and headed back. Exhausted from the hike and heat, we were thrilled to discover an offer from our hotel: since it was new, they offered each guest a free 1-hr private use of their spa. Fully recovered, we met our friends at a wine bar, La Maison de Jo et Gaby. We had intended to follow another Rick Steves recommendation, La Chai Cassidain, but sadly it no longer existed and had been replaced, in the same location. Nevertheless, it was delightful; we grabbed a small table in the alley and the bartender handed us a small menu with that day’s options for wine by the glass. The bartender understood English but spoke only French, taking time to help us with the pronunciations. He refused to pour my wife’s glass until she was able to pronounce the name of the wine correctly!
For our final destination, we headed to Nîmes, stopping first at Pont du Gard, a massive, 30-mile aqueduct designed by the Romans to provide fresh drinking water to Nîmes. In fact, it provided nine million gallons per day.
We had to return the rental car that afternoon and only had an hour available to explore Pont du Gard, but if we could do it again we’d allow 3-4. There are tours available and plenty of walking trails to get better views of the aqueduct. You can also rent kayaks to view the Roman sight from the Gardon River.
In Nîmes, we had a casual first night, picking up some pizza and heading to our airbnb to watch the Tennessee v. Alabama football game (Go Vols!). The next morning, we headed out to enjoy a full day of touring the city. Rick Steves mapped out a full day’s tour for Nîmes, complete with recommendations on where to eat.
The day started with the Roman Arena. We purchased the culture pass there, which provided us entry into all the roman monuments and the museum. The arena, much like the Colosseum in Rome, was pretty incredible to see firsthand. The climb to the top provided amazing views of the entire city as well. The audio-guide, though showcasing some over-enthusiastic voice-acting, was still quite informative.
From there, we walked across the street to the Roman World Museum. The museum was interesting, displaying thousands of Roman artifacts in the three-level, bright building. It’s worth a see if you have the time, but if you’re short on time, I’d recommend focusing on the Roman monuments.
The restaurant Rick Steves recommended was no more, so we hit up another place in the recommended square: Place du Marché. A note on eating in France – it takes a WHILE. Though the food is always incredible, meals are long, social events, even when you’re trying to simply grab a quick snack and coffee and then head out to sightsee (as we were hoping to do in Nîmes!). And if you’re hungry between 3-7pm, you’ll have a hard time finding food. Most restaurants serving dinner do not even open until 7:00 or 7:30pm.
From there, we continued the Rick Steves walking tour, heading to Maison Carrée. Dated back to AD4, the Maison Carrée is a stunning temple that’s stood the test of time, being consistently utilized for a variety of purposes since the Roman Empire. From there, we headed to the Fountain Garden, a lovely park (free entry) and the Temple of Diana, which is within. Finally, we walked over the Castellum, a small site on a residential street which is the end of the 30-mile aqueduct from Pont du Gard. And how about this: based on the water available, the lower holes serviced the wells of the neighborhoods. The higher holes – so, only when water was sufficiently available – serviced the homes of the wealthy. How’s that for equity!?
After our walking tour, we grabbed a pint (we had been drinking so much wine, as is customary, that we had really missed our beer!). We sat at a table outside, casually taking in our view: the massive, 2,000 year old arena. How the locals could get used to that is beyond me!
After our casual pint, we went around the corner to a bar with dozens of beer on tap, including many unique Belgians (which we looooove). At this bar, you could pour however much you want, so if you don’t want to be dragging yourself home after too much Begian tripel. And small pours means you get to try more!
To wrap up the day, we headed back to our airbnb to pack up and rest, needing to catch the 5am train back to the Paris airport in the morning.
Lez-Travel Rating for Cassis:
I felt a little out of place in Cassis, but it wasn’t because of my queerness. It was a huge tourist spot, and though winding down for the season, was still thriving with tourism. Perhaps it was more my socioeconomic status than my queerness, though the costs weren’t extreme, the town felt… uppity? I would go back for the nature and beauty that surrounds Cassis more than the town itself.
Lez-Travel Rating for Nîmes:
While we didn’t experience or see much LGBTQ culture (though in fairness, we didn’t seek it out), we wandered the city hand-in-hand without fear of harassment or hostile looks. Some establishments had the Pride flag hanging, including where we got our post-walk beers by the Arena.
Resources:
For our travel plans, we used primarily Rick Steves Provence & the French Riviera. We bought a used, older edition for cheap, (which I’m sure is why some of his recommendations had since ceased to exist). My favorite part about the Rick Steves book for this trip was him outlining a day-long walking tour in Nîmes. It saved us from planning out and estimating how much time each location would take, and we just followed his guidance and it was perfect!
For our third anniversary, we wanted to get out of the city: enjoy nature and explore an area with minimal covid-risk, which brought us to the beautiful outdoors of Vermont. We found a lovely airbnb in the town of Ryegate, near the border of New Hampshire.
As a New Englander at the time, all the fuss for nature and mountains is focused on New Hampshire. Let me be clear: Vermont is far superior to New Hampshire. As John Oliver once said, “New Hampshire is just Florida with foliage.”
Vermont is just as beautiful, and though it boasts lower peaks than New Hampshire’s white mountains, you get to avoid the traffic, tourist crowds, and focus on enjoying nature.
In mid-October, it was peak autumn colors. Near Ryegate was a cluster of state parks that we explored, all around the Groton State Forest: Kettle Pond, Big Deer, New Discovery, Ricker Pond, and more. An old rail-trail (Cross Vermont Rail Trail) links many of those state parks. The packed-dirt path leads through the woods with great views of the foliage and the water. We had our dog with us on the trip, so we didn’t bike for long, but I would definitely return and do more of this 30-mile bike path.
We hit up many hiking trails nearby, but our two favorites were Owlshead Mountain Trail (park at New Discovery State Park, pay to enter) and Devil’s Hill.
Owlshead Mountain Trail was a moderate out-and-back trail, up to the 1800ft peak with incredible views. Devil’s Hill, however, was our favorite; lightly trafficked, and free parking at the trailhead. Devil’s Hill is a partial loop, so the dog got fresh sniffs and our legs got a bit of a break with the more roundabout, less steep descent.
And though I harp on Vermont being better than New Hampshire, we did swing through the White Mountains on the drive back to Rhode Island – stopping for a couple of hikes at Franconia Notch State Park. And I stand by my judgment: it was packed. We did the Artist’s Bluff Trail, and though beautiful, it was crowded, and at certain points, we had to wait a while for others to pass before we could continue the climb. We also did Bald Mountain, a short out and back hike that was slightly less crowded and had incredible views as well. But overall, my main memory is how the parking lots were mostly full, the portable toilets were overflowing, and all this on a random Wednesday in October… what is it like on a Saturday?! Listen. Just go to Vermont. If I could do it all again… I’d have spent our last day in Vermont, too. Though we had two full days of hiking in Vermont before heading out, it wasn’t enough!
It’s hard to comment on a Lez-Travel rating on this trip. Because we traveled from our airbnb and only did hikes, even cooking and eating at our Airbnb, we didn’t really explore the surrounding towns or go out much. It was a rural part of Vermont, and the interactions we had with other hikers were friendly, but minimal.
Finally – after several years together in New England- we made it up to Acadia National Park. We camped at Mount Desert Island Campground, a private and slightly pricey (but well worth it) campground in Acadia. We had a hike-in campsite – which proved challenging to carry our belongings up the hill through the woods, with a dog, but the privacy and the views were well worth the effort.
Initially, we had made this reservation for the summer, then it was cancelled due to covid, then rebooked – and finally, rescheduled again, as by that point we had adopted our dog, but as dogs are only allowed at this campground during off-peak months. So – September of 2021 – we made it.
A short hike through the woods from our campsite brought us to the “Gathering Place.” Normally when camping, we like our slow mornings and make our own coffee and breakfast, but the Gathering Place had delicious, fresh pastries – something different each morning – and coffee. The prices were reasonable, and like a hotel, they’d add the cost of everything to your “tab,” by campsite number, to pay alongside your reservation total upon checkout. Now that’s some fancy camping.
In the summer, shuttles service both Bar Harbor and many of the popular trails throughout the national park, but during our visit in the off-season (post-summer but pre-fall foliage), we drove where we wished and had no issues with parking. Note: you do need to purchase a pass, which allows you to park wherever in the park. You can do this online in advance, or at the ranger stations in the park.
Our hiking adventures were fun and flexible in Acadia. With the small peaks, most hikes were quick, and we could bounce around and do a couple each day, stopping for excellent seafood around the many restaurants in Bar Harbor especially, but also Northeast and Southwest Harbors. In fact, we’d recommend the latter two areas – the food was just as good, prices were cheaper, and we never had to wait more than a couple minutes for a table. Bar Harbor is definitely worth spending at least one evening, though! The one night we attempted to dine in Bar Harbor had its struggles (definitely plan ahead and make reservations!). We ended up on the patio of a Irish pub that had good beer options and decent food.
For day one, after our hike, we hit up a bar for lunch and to watch Ohio State and Tennessee football games. Unfortunately, both of our teams lost in their final drives, but we made great friends and had a lovely time with tourists and local alike.
You can’t go wrong on any hike in Acadia. We chose Kebo Mountain, Gorham Mountain, Jordan Pond Trail, Flying Mountain, and others I failed to note. All were not too challenging and rewarded us with beautiful views. Jordan Pond is an easy, but quite long, hike around the lake, and we enjoyed that when our knees were tired! Jordan Cafe we missed out on – they shortened hours post-summer and only are open for lunch.
Beehive is a favorite, but not dog-friendly (lots of climbing, ladders, cliffs, etc!)
On our second day, we headed to the west side to Nor’Easter Pound and Market (Northeast Harbor). They have a huge outdoor patio that is dog friendly, and the food was great!
Have you ever seen a happier dog?
On the third day, after Flying Mountain Trail, as we were already on the west side of Mount Desert Island (Southwest Harbor), we headed to a restaurant called the Upper Deck. It was not dog-friendly, but our dog was exhausted from the hike, and the weather was cool, so she was happier to nap in the car and we were able to keep an eye on her from this casual, bright marina restaurant.
Resources:
To plan our hikes, we visited the Park Visitor Center. The line was quite long (so I hesitate to think what’d it be like in peak season), but it moved fairly quickly. There, we were able to tell the ranger what we were looking for and get some advice on the best moderate-difficulty and dog-friendly hikes. The ranger gave us a map and circled all the hikes we had discussed, which was very helpful!
Lez-Travel Rating:
Three rainbows for Bar Harbor and Acadia. Hopefully it’s fair to speak of the stereotype of my own people: a lot of gay women love dogs, and love hiking. We felt like we were in good company on the hikes and around town. No funny looks, and we saw plenty of other queer folk, among locals and tourists alike.
For my wife’s birthday, we headed north to what must be the most lesbian-friendly city in the world: Burlington, Vermont. A magical place filled with dogs, hikes, lakes, beer, and – of course – gay women – it was the perfect birthday adventure.
We booked a spot at the city campground – North Beach – which was tucked away just north of downtown along an old rail trail. Dog friendly year-round, the prices were reasonable and the campsites – despite being so close to the city – were decent. You won’t find yourself tucked away in the woods out of view from all of your camping neighbors, but you still have some shade and privacy and a decent amount of space for your car, tent and gear.
The first night, we walked to the downtown area to a nice restaurant with a dog-friendly patio, water bowls for the dogs already set out all over. We ordered cocktails, which were delicious, and definitely felt safe and in good company as dog-moms and as lesbians. We watched the sunset over the lake and enjoyed some music traveling over to us from a venue across the parking lot.
Downtown and the campground were linked by a paved walking trail, which sits along several urban parks on one side and gorgeous Lake Champlain on the others, so every morning we’d begin our day with a nice long walk, plenty of sniffs for the dog. For breakfast we headed to the Skinny Pancake, specializing in, of course, crepes. The food was great, and they had live music! Tonks was not keen on the trumpet.
Rail-trail along Lake Champlain
For my wife’s birthday dinner, we hiked over to a seasonal waterfront restaurant, Spot on the Dock. The food and drinks were okay, but the view, atmosphere and live music were definitely worth it. Not trying to hide its success as a tourist spot, it still had much to offer. Tonks, again, was scared of the trumpet.
The highlight of the trip was definitely getting to sample all of our favorite Vermont beers from the source. Switchback Ale is one of my go-to favorites, and was just as enjoyable from the brewery. The other beers, however, we weren’t as fond of, but we had fun picked out flights and sampling their many brews. At Switchback, dogs are allowed inside and outside. As we were camping and had Tonks with us, we hadn’t been indoors during our entire visit, so we took that opportunity to sit by the windows inside and enjoy some AC!
Exhausted after our big day, Tonks naps at Switchback Brewery
We also visited Zero Gravity, and I love their beer – in New England I snag a mix-pack every time I see one at the liquor store. The brewery is a great spot, with tons of dog-friendly outdoor space, and, they’re open all day! Like, in the morning, too! Kegs and eggs, anyone?
Foam Brewers was another great brewery we tried out. Also with a dog-friendly patio. A smaller brewery than the other two, it sits along a park and by Lake Champlain, easily walkable from our campsite (about 1 mile).
On our way out, we hit up Myers Bagel Bakery which was… the best damn bagel I have ever had in my life. And yes, I’ve been to New York. After we feasted, we waved farewell to beer-loving, bike-loving, outdoorsy, lesbian metropolis of Burlington. It’s the greatest gem of all of New England.
Lez-Travel Rating:
It may not surprise you to see three rainbows here. Burlington is one of the most gay-friendly places I have ever visited. It probably deserves ten rainbows.
As our travel had, of course, been cancelled for spring and early summer, I had a few days off that were scheduled to expire on July 1. We love camping, and certainly that had been our hope, but though originally scheduled to reopen at the start of phase 2, campsites didn’t end up reopening until July 1. We instead looked at a variety of cabins in New Hampshire near the White Mountains, and found the perfect fit. A little efficiency one-room cabin near Lake Winnipesaukee, complete with a fire pit, grill, and walkable to the lake.
The drive up was rough – not because of usual traffic now gone due to covid – but first because of a hailstorm (not common in New England!) and then because of the wild amount of Trump signs. Wondering what these two lesbians got ourselves into, we glanced nervously at each other and a took a deep breath of mountain air with a bit of the stench of Trump.
Day 1
We pull into our cabin, immediately unload the car and bikes, take a seat on the lawn chairs outside the cabin and crack open a beer. We hadn’t been seated but for a few minutes when the host’s neighbor came home, said hello, and then opened the back of his trunk. Boxes of fireworks tumbled out of his car. He threw the boxes back inside, kept out a couple, and slammed the door shut. Grabbing one of the boxes, he walked over to us, and started passing along handfuls of firecrackers. Wide-eyed and unsure of what to do next, we put them in a pile (we never used them).
It started to rain, and we walked a bit down the street to a restaurant with a covered outdoor patio (Dockside in Alton Bay). No sooner had we sat down did the skies open; seated comfortably with draft beer in hand (only the second since March), we enjoyed the sound of the rain on the lake and watched the lightning in the distance.
We ordered lobster rolls and a couple draft beers each; they had a phenomenal selection of local crafts brews than we enjoyed while watching the rain. We overstayed our welcome a bit and headed home in the rain.
Day 2
Monday we awoke to only some light rain! Thrilled at our good fortune, we hit the road to a nearby rail trail in Wolfeboro, NH. 12 miles each way, it’s a packed dirt trail that was perfect for our cyclocross bikes with wider treaded tires (wouldn’t have been as fun on a full road bike).
We rode nearly the full distance, turning around as we started to get hungry.
We grabbed lunch in the continuing drizzle on the lake on Wolfeboro at Garwoods, a nicely spaced out patio on the lake. One woman tied a sweater around her face because of the restaurant’s ‘masks required sign.’ At first, we were discouraged by the seemingly-inflated menu prices, but put that aside for the sake of our amazing view of the lake. But we didn’t pay for the view alone: I had the MOST DELICIOUS salmon sandwich I have ever had in my life. Come to find out later, they also have a great bloody Mary. “Top 5 of my life,” the man we met from DC-area said, but unfortunately, we didn’t make it back to try it ourselves.
After lunch we drove to Mount Major, but by then the downpour was so intense we decided that climbing a mountain wasn’t in the cards. Instead, we took a stroll on a snowmobile trail, which was flat and peaceful, through the woods.
On the drive back “to town,” we blasted the floorboard heat to try and dry our only pair of sneakers.
Day 3: Mount Major
Still.Raining. But finally time to embrace Mount Major, rain or shine. Fortunately, most of the way up we are able to avoid the rain. It’s a short hike by miles, but nearly straight up at the end. My favorite hikes are those with crawling on rock faces and turning around to see breathtaking views! As I straighten out to stand up at what I think is near the top (spoiler: it wasn’t!), I sigh with relief that the rocks aren’t wet and slippery (yet) as I take in the view of the lake.
We press onward to the very top, where we have a full 360 view of the mountains, the lake and all around. Three ways up meet at this point and all are well marked to find the right path back down. We had about 60 seconds of views before the cloud cover came in at incredible speed and, after another 60 seconds, the first crash of thunder.
Glad to have brought our raincoats (which were cumbersome on the way up), we pull them on and rush back down the mountain, moving quickly to get under tree cover before the first lightning. We decide to take the longer, less steep way down, to enjoy the woods and avoid the slick rocks now that the rain had begun.
Days 4 and 5 we are back “at work,” working remotely from the cabin while enjoying the view from the lake. Of course, it’s still raining, but in the evening we’re able to put our skills to the test and manage to light a fire with the wet wood, and get it hot enough to stay lit once the drizzle starts again. The fire pit was a huge perk of our stay in NH, especially since we had not been able to go camping yet due to covid, and, though we love rain, being unable to have a fire the first few nights bummed us out! We made up for it with three nights of huge fires.
On our last day, we pack up the car and, of course, it’s the first rainless day we’ve had yet, so we head north around the lake for another hike, West Rattlesnake Mountain. A shorter hike with spectacular views, it was a perfect hike to end on. As we passed Mount Major, cars were parked a mile up and down the road, beyond the huge parking lot. Rattlesnake Mountain had been busy, but not ridiculous. (We got a lot of stares for wearing masks…!)
It was a lovely vacation, besides the Trump signs, the one bad meal, and the inability for New Hampshire people to wear masks.
Covid-19 is real. It is scary. Wear your damn mask.
Rattlesnake Mountain
Lez-Travel Rating:
Despite the many Trump signs, we felt safe around Alton Bay. A huge tourist area, I expect the locals are used to people from all sexual preferences and backgrounds, and though we didn’t seem to be in a crowd of queers, no one gave us any reason to feel unsafe, or even uncomfortable. Even our Airbnb host, a Trump fan, knew we were married and could not have been kinder to us (not to imply that all Trump fans hate the gays).
Traveling can be a difficult passion for those who have a demanding and/or low-paying job (speaking from my own experience working in the nonprofit/education field). It was important for my wife and me to travel for our honeymoon, something we had not done yet together due to post-graduate schooling, long-distance, and a wealth of other factors circling around finances and, well, being gay.
Our first “vacation” together was after four years, a gift to ourselves when my wife completed her PhD, purchased on significant discount from Groupon. Well, the resort was mediocre at best, but we enjoyed the beach and the sunshine, that is, until we suffered drastically from food poisoning on the third day.
But I digress. This complex budget is where I started…
I like planning, though our actual activities varied significantly from our plans! In fact, we spent about $500 LESS than this initial budget.
It might be surprising, but this was step one. I included everything we were interested in doing, so it could be a part of our wedding budget, and scaled back from there. I researched day trips that were reasonable, I calculated from the local currency to the dollar, I even looked up average cost of meals so I could determine how many days we could “eat fancy.” To decide where to go, we researched countries of interest and looked at the cost to fly there and average cost of accommodations. Central Europe was our focus, and flying in to Prague and out of Vienna was the most reasonable, and, according to our research, among the most gay-friendly.
Note: In Prague, we didn’t see many lesbian couples, but we always felt safe and not out-of-place, especially in the Vinohrady area. Only once did someone do a double-take at us, but it was at the Charles Bridge and it was a man in a University of Alabama hoodie. In Vienna, gay and lesbian folks were everywhere! I’ll go more in depth in other posts, but definitely a space we felt not only safe, but… a part of the norm. More so than in Boston!
My tips:
Stay in an Airbnb – take note that some have cancellation policies and some don’t.
Use public transit/ City bikes
Stay away from touristy areas for meals
Travel off-season
Many tourist destinations have free or discounted days or times (for example Prague Castle)
Following a painfully long layover (saves money!), we landed in Prague on Monday afternoon. One thing we agreed to splurge on – taxi service from the airport. Our Uber was not much, and saved us time and headache trying to get from the airport. Typically I’d swear by public transit, and I’d recommend this video to see how.
We arrived in time to check in to our airbnb. In searching for our airbnb, we were pretty flexible on the location because we knew we planned to visit a different part of the city each day. We researched primarily safety and cost, and actually, lucked out with a large studio apartment in the Old City, where we were close to a few major tram lines and could walk to the city center.
Besides the airbnb, our biggest money-saver was THE WEATHER. This may seem unfair, because obviously there is nothing one can do to plan around weather until it’s happening. As you can see on my ridiculous budget spreadsheet, we planned for many museums and attractions. In Prague, there is so much to do outdoors that is free. Our favorite was the Vyšehrad (Prague’s “other castle”). We toured some caverns for a couple bucks each but the grounds and rest of the castle was free. There are a couple restaurants where we enjoyed a cheap beer outdoors. We spent the entire afternoon wandering around, and spent maybe $5 (yes, that includes the beers).
The second biggest money-saver was… WE LOVED PRAGUE AND VIENNA. Seriously. There are dozens of awesome day trips in a 90 minute radius, and we planned to do 1 or 2, but there was so much to do in Prague and we loved every day so much, we had no desire to leave the city. If we go back, I have this list to refer to, but 5.5 days in Prague was not even enough. Once we leave the city-center, there are multiple other neighborhoods each with a distinguished and unique character. And I would recommend the same. Don’t spend all your money trying to cram the entire country into a few days, and spending that much more time on trains and buses. Guided day trips are expensive. Pick a spot and stick to it, well enough to get to know it. The most money we spent in Vienna was the day it rained (we went to museums) but avoiding the day trips was actually our best financial decision.
There are always free guided tours. One company I have used often is Sandeman’s New Europe tours, but other companies do guided tours for free as well. Yes it’s “free,” but please please please, always tip your tour guide.
In Vienna, we stayed in Wieden, which according to our research was not the most gay-friendly area, but we found it to be very inclusive. It was a quiet but hip neighborhood with lots of young folks, and major bike lines into the center of the city. The cost of our meals and airbnb was definitely much more than Prague, but still significantly less than Boston and other major US cities. The most money we spent on dining was US$75, including tip, tax, two entrées and three alcoholic beverages each. This was our one big “fancy” meal, I mean, we were not trying to be frugal, and we left tipsy, full, and happy on one of the best meals of our life. (In Boston, $75 would get you two beers and two burgers.)
The same meal in a touristy area of Vienna, however, could have been double that. So, my recommendation in that respect is to avoid dining in the city center. Grab a beer and snack if you’d like, but save the dinners for other neighborhoods – you’ll get a more authentic experience that way, anyway!
As most vendors prefer cash payment, we typically used cash during our stay. The ATMs of banks do not charge ATM withdrawal fees – so keep that in mind, as that is a cost that can add up quickly! Be sure to take note of your own bank, too, if it has international fees.
I wrote above that we spent much less than we budgeted. Again, this is primarily due to our outdoor activities in place of admission to museums and other major attractions. Flights were $680 each (round trip); airbnb was $85/night in Vienna and $75/night in Prague (that includes ALL costs: base cost, cleaning fee, Airbnb service fee, and tax); meals, attractions, Ubers, beers, wine, public transit, EVERYTHING ELSE totaled $900. That’s $33 per person per day in Prague. It’s $52 per person per day in Vienna.
Lez Travel 