Guatemala pt 3

Day 4: After eating breakfast we decided to check out Santa Cantalina arch which is iconic Antigua! Just beyond the arch is La Merced which is a Catholic church and every Sunday they allow visitors to go up on the roof. It was beautiful ! 

Santa Cantalina Arch

La Merced

La Merced

The roof of La Merced

We had lunch at a famous Guatemalan food chain- Pollo Campero. I didn't think it was that great, but it kind of reminded me of KFC. 

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Ruinas de Catedral. We got some great pictures! 

At 2:00 we had our last tour of Guatemala in which we visited Altamira and Hobbitenago. 

Altamira is a mountain top eco-park. It has panoramic views as well as hiking trails and photo spots. 

The famous golden hand

Hobbitenago is a Lord of the Rings inspired park. It offers beautiful views and features hobbit style houses. We didn't spend as much time here, but did walk around for a bit. 

Once we finished with the tour, we went back to the restaurant we ate at the first night. The timing was perfect because right after dinner was the processional.

Spectators line the streets to watch and local families, create intricate, temporary, colorful, sawdust, and flower carpets. (Alfombras) 

The processions feature massive, ornate and often 3 ton wooden floats. They are carried through the cobblestone streets and often pass over the intricate sawdust carpets.

I knew nothing about any of this before coming to Guatemala. The owners of the restaurant that first night were trying to tell me about it in Spanish. I’m glad they did so I could get a heads up and do some research to find out what it was. 
It was pretty cool to see! 

Back at our hotel,  as we were turning in for the night, we experienced our very first earthquake! Our room shook for less than a minute and we didn't know what it was at first. Mike thought there was something going on on the floor above us, but I said it's probably an earthquake! And sure enough....  

Apparently earthquakes are very common occurrences and most of them are not a big deal. If I had been asleep, I probably wouldn't have even woken up for it.  What an experience! 
Almost right after the earthquake, we heard the LOUDEST fireworks ever. Pretty much every night we were there, they shot off fireworks from the church. (I think whenever people get married) It literally sounded like it was right outside of our door. 

Earthquake alert on my phone

What a fun way to end our trip to Guatemala!  LOL 

Overall, I enjoyed my time in the country. Everything went smoothly, I never once felt unsafe, and the people were so friendly. Again, most people don't speak English so it was a fun challenge to communicate using my Spanish. 

Guatemala pt 2

Day 3: We had to get up super early for our next tour. A shuttle came to pick us up and it was a 2+ hour drive to our destination: Lake Atitlan. 

There was a couple from Scotland on the tour and a couple from North Carolina! We all got along great! 

We stopped and had breakfast along the way and then once we got to Panajachel at Lake Atitlan we got on a boat to transport us to nearby villages. 

We visited the following Mayan villages: San Pedro, San Juan, and Santiago. 

I didn’t care much for San Pedro as it’s known for its nightlife. We also stopped at La Casa de Cacao y miel. (Chocolate and honey)  It was alright, but I wasn’t impressed with their chocolate. 

I really liked San Juan which was our next village we stopped at. It was so colorful! I loved walking down all the different streets. There were many art galleries as well and I enjoyed looking at the paintings of the city and the volcanos. We also stopped at a honey place and sampled some honey. It was pretty good! There was a textile tour as well. 

Our next village was Santiago and we ate lunch here.  Santiago has a lot of traditional Mayan culture. The most interesting thing we learned was about Maximón. He’s a famous Mayan folk saint/god (?) and is essentially a wooden idol in a suit and hat. Each year a different family houses this figure and it’s a huge honor for them.  What’s even more bizarre is that visitors come and offer him cigarettes (which are kept lit in his mouth), alcohol, and money. 

 
Stay tuned for part 3! 

Guatemala pt 1

Day 1: 

My husband and I left Thursday morning on a 6:25am flight. We had a brief layover in Texas and then got to Guatemala City about 7 hours after our our arrival at CVG. 

We stayed based in Antigua, Guatemala for the entirety of our trip and Hotel Casa Bella was great! Thankfully, the hotel had a shuttle to pick us up from the airport. I think it’s supposed to be a one hour drive from the airport to the hotel, but with traffic it was probably another 30 minutes. 

Once we checked into our hotel, we decided to explore the city a little bit. We walked to Cerro de la Cruz and then ate dinner at a local spot. 

The couple that owned the restaurant were very friendly. I didn’t realize how few Guatemalans actually spoke English!  This has been excellent practice for me and my confidence in Spanish is growing- even though I still get flustered! 

Day 2

We had a tour of the Pacaya volcano. I knew going into it that it was going to be steep, but our guide took off right from the beginning and there was no way for me to keep up. We ended up riding horses up and then we walked back down.  As we were walking down we met a random couple from Ohio which was kind of funny- what are the chances ?!

My favorite part of the excursion was roasting marshmallows in one of steam vents near the volcano. 

Pacaya is an active volcano that’s 8,373 feet high.  

After getting back from our excursion we took an Uber to Antigua Boreal. They have a restaurant with good deep dish pizza and a massive rainbow slide!! 

Stay tuned for part 2! 

State 46: Louisiana

To be honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with Mississippi and I didn’t have high hopes for Louisiana. These were both states that I didn’t really have a desire to go to other than wanting to check them off my list. 

In fact, I have always disliked New Orleans ever since I was a kid. When I was little, my parents took me to some fundraiser that was New Orleans themed. I hated the food and I remember getting in trouble at the fundraiser so ever since then I’ve despised New Orleans. (totally valid reasoning, right??) Not only that, but I know it’s a party city and that’s not really my style. 

If there was one thing that I was looking forward to though, it was the swamp tour. I booked through Cajun Encounters and had a great time! We took a boat through the Honey Island swamp and got to see alligators and raccoons! I even got to hold a baby gator! 

Gator sighting! 

I love raccoons! 

Holding a baby gator!  He was so sweet!

I know the swamp tours are such a touristy thing to do, but we don’t have that in Ohio so to me, it was worth it and still cool! 

After that, I drove the rest of the way to New Orleans and checked into my hotel. It was going to be getting dark soon, but I really wanted to see Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street is iconic New Orleans and I always thought the architecture looked cool. I decided to take an Uber to a restaurant I knew was close to Bourbon Street.  That way, I could walk to Bourbon Street, eat dinner, and Uber back. (can’t drive on Bourbon Street.)

Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street

The restaurant I found was called Mona Lisa and it was excellent! Not only that, but I made a friend! 

I don’t know his name, but he lives within biking distance of the restaurant. We had a lot in common and talked about travel, picky eaters, his children, and it was a very enjoyable evening! 

The next morning, I woke up and headed to the World War II museum. I only had a couple hours before I had to catch my flight so I didn't have nearly enough time to explore everything. I quickly breezed through the exhibits and it reminded me of a museum I went to in London. People could spend days here just looking and reading through everything.

While I was in New Orleans I saw a billboard for Mardi Gras World. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit, but it seems like such a touristy New Orleans thing to do and I kind of wish I had more time! It showcases the history and craftsmanship of Mardi Gras. If I'm ever in New Orleans again, I will probably try to stop here!

Also, the tour company that I did the swamp tour with, offers other tours (including bus and walking tours) of New Orleans that would be interesting. Again, if I had more time, I would probably add on one or two of those as well! 

Overall, I enjoyed my time in New Orleans more than I thought I would! I don't know if I'll go back, but I wouldn't be opposed! :) 

State 45: Mississippi

Let me start out by saying…I did not intend on visiting either Mississippi or Louisiana this year. 

The plan for 2026 had been Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. (Idaho with the girls and Washington/Oregon with Mike)

At some point I learned that Oregon and Washington are the only two states that my dad still needs to complete his 50 states. I asked him if he wanted to come with us and he seemed interested… that got me to thinking… what if my dad and I could complete our 50th state together?! 

I’m now on a mission to get my other three done so I can complete my 50th state the same time my dad completes his. How special would that be!? 

There was a weekend of opportunity in which I wasn’t dog sitting so I planned that weekend for MS/LA. 

Mississippi:

Stupid me booked a flight for 6am so I had to wake up at 3:39am Friday morning. Not cool. 

I landed in Jackson, Mississippi around 10am which was nice because then I pretty much had the whole day to explore. 

I had an interesting seat mate who I thought was going to get herself arrested. As soon as the plane landed (we weren't even at the gate) she jumped up and sprinted down the aisle so she could be the first person off the plane. (she had a tight connection) They yelled at her over the announcements and a flight attendant eventually came after her. So bizarre. 

First order of business was getting my rental car which smelled very strongly of weed. Thankfully, they let me exchange my car. My new car had two different license plates on it. The front said Illinois and the back was Missouri. I wasn't going to go back in a second time so I just went with it and prayed I wouldn't get pulled over. 

The main thing I went to Jackson for was the Civil Rights Museum.  The museum itself was just okay. I think it was fairly well done, contained LOTS of information, but I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, I woke up at 3:39 that morning.... I had a hard time focusing and reading everything. Not to mention it was swarming with school groups. 

I ended up eating lunch at the museum - the Nissan Cafe by Nick Wallace. It took OVER an hour to get my food!! They didn't warn me when I first ordered so I bonded with some of the others who were annoyed at the wait. The food was good - just not worth waiting that long for! 

Civil Rights Museum- Jackson, MS

Civil Rights Museum- Jackson, MS

Next up, I drove almost 3 hours south to Biloxi, MS. I didn't have anything really planned there- I just wanted to walk around a bit. I saw the lighthouse and the beach and the Hurricane Katrina memorial. 

Biloxi Lighthouse

Sign at the beach- Apollo 13 astronaut was from Biloxi

Hurricane Katrina memorial 

Biloxi sign-proof I was there!

I was so tired by this point I checked into my hotel in Gulfport (20 min away) and probably went to bed by 8:00.

Next morning I woke up and went to TrainTastic. TrainTastic, for those of you who don't know, purchased EnterTRAINment Junction's American Railroad Museum and a few other things.  They have train displays in ALL gauges and it was better than I thought it would be. Unfortunately, I'm still incredibly biased because EnterTRAINment will forever be the best. 

I remember my dad always saying that he didn't want to just have a table with a train running around on it... and that's pretty much what TrainTastic was. EJ was immersive and you could never see what was coming around the corner. I really liked that aspect of our facility. 

TrainTastic was still good for what it was - and they had some cool things like a train simulator.  I took more videos than photos, but I'll post a few of the photos down below: 

One of many displays at TrainTastic

One of many displays at TrainTastic

This was from EnterTRAINment!

It was good being able to see some of our stuff - they only had a small piece of the American Railroad Museum on display, but hopefully they'll add the rest later this year!

That is all for Mississippi- next up: Louisiana! 

Indiana Dunes National Park

I was reviewing my 50 state list and was looking at the 15ish states that don’t have a blog to go with them. (Because I visited as a child/didn’t have a blog when I visited) 

Indiana was one of those states. 

Sure, I’ve crossed into Indiana multiple times since we’re so close to the border, but my only touristy memories were of going to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Honestly, I don’t remember much and most likely didn’t really care about either one.  

I was trying to find some other things to do in Indiana and I came across the only national park- Indiana Dunes! 

Roman and I left Friday afternoon and had a 4.5 hour drive. We stopped at Cool Creek Park Nature Center in Carmel, IN to break up the drive and stretch our legs. We did the Beech Trail which took about 20 min and wasn’t that exciting. 

We made it to our condo just as the sun was setting! 

On Saturday, I woke up to see the sunrise from the condo and it was beautiful! I couldn’t go back to sleep so we started our adventure! 

Our first stop was the West Beach Dune Succession trailhead. It was nice because at 7:30am no one was really there and it wasn’t too hot! 

I think it was my favorite trail that we did!

We then went to Calumet dunes trailhead which was kind of lame, followed by Mt Baldy. 

After that we went back to the condo, had lunch, and took a little siesta. 

We went back out around 2pm and tried the Tolleston dune trails, but it was hot, Roman was tired and we didn’t make it that far. 

We also stopped at Portage lakefront and river walk and then got Roman a pup cup from Dairy Queen for being such a good boy! 

The next day we drove back home, but not without making a pit stop at Albanese home of the BEST gummies !!