Jamaica!

Well, it's been a bit since we got back from Jamaica and my post on the trip is obviously long over-due. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of kickball, ice-pops, and laying in parks - the little things in life that all Springs should be comprised of - all of which have been filling up my life, leaving little time for blogging. 

The trip was an absolute blast! We headed down to Montego Bay for a friend's wedding and stayed at the Riu Resort - an all inclusive hotel on the beach. For five days we gorged ourselves on buffet style meals that had a variety of global and local foods. We drank fruity rum drinks at the swim-up bar (at ten in the morning) and laid under palm trees while reading books. When we weren't lying around and being lazy we were sea kayaking, dancing on a boat to rap music, or snorkeling. 

We didn't leave the resort (aside from the snorkeling trip) which was kind of a bummer. I was eager to do some hiking, see some water falls and meet some of the island people. But, given the current state of affairs in Jamaica, one can instantly size up how dangerous most of the neighborhoods are. The town surrounding the resort was basically a slum . Concrete facades, dilapidated from hurricanes, or never fully completed were built into the cliffs, while dulled fabrics created curtains and when pulled taut - roofing. It made me sad to see people living like this, especially as we drove by in our air conditioned tour bus. I felt as privileged as I did ashamed. 

We had a great time overall. The wedding was so beautiful and the bride and groom couldn't have asked for a more perfect day - 85 and sunny without a cloud in the sky and a slight breeze. I'd like to visit Jamaica again sometime and have the opportunity to see more of the island, and definitely take the Bob Marley Reggae Tour in Ochos Rios. 

Full set of pictures. 

Montego Bay: Booked

Our trip to Montego Bay at the Riu resort is all booked. I'm so excited to finally see Jamaica!

Haiti

Please donate to help the victims of the earthquake disaster. It's as simple as sending a text message.

Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross or Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti.

Power in numbers. Power in people. Please give what you can and help.

Thank you.

Asheville, NC & Lexington, VA

We always heard good things about Asheville, North Carolina. A small, humble, yet eclectic community located at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains. The town has a great artsy vibe, the people are friendly and the vegetarian food options are limitless. Asheville was voted the most vegetarian friendly small city according to GoVeg.com and  they also sport a Veggie B&B at the Beaufort House!

We decided to have dinner at the Early Girl Eatery where we dined on soup and sandwiches for dinner. My vegan tomato bisque was outstanding to say in the least, and I felt very lucky for having have gotten the last bowl! We took a nice walk among the downtown buildings and grabbed dessert at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge where I had a delicious piece of chocolate cake and Jack (over)indulged on a brownie and hot chocolate.

The next day we poked our head in and out of the various shops sporting anything from eco-friendly home goods, designer clothes, and art. Driving north towards Lexington we took part of the Blue Ridge Parkway which at tree level has a gorgeous display of autumns finest colors. It could rival New England falls any day. Asheville is a great little city and I definitely would like to go back someday to get in some hiking and some more of that great local & veggie food.

We stopped in Virginia to visit my aunt Susan and uncle Bob in Lexington, a quaint community located in the western part of the state. My aunt recently started her own business, Farm to You, an organization which serves as the middle man between local farmers and consumers. The idea is ingenious really and is a testament to how society is changing back to becoming locally oriented. We took a tour of their organic garden located in the front yard which grows a variety of plants from lettuces and eggplant to squash and potatoes. It's amazing how efficient, sustainable and productive one can be on a small plot of land. They took us out to a delicious dinner at The Southern Inn (which boasts the towns only fluorescent sign). I had a cream of broccoli soup and a side salad which was the perfect finish to my meal which I started earlier in the day at the Co-Op, a huge plate of quinoa with corn. We sipped on wine and got into passionate discussions about factory farming and the recent "Smart Choice" label being stamped onto Froot Loops cereal boxes - you know, typical dinner conversations. We particularly liked Lexington for its austere way of life. The humble downtown with its brick architecture and narrow streets allow you to simply fall back to a time when things were simply more simple.

Virginia and North Carolina pictures.

Tennesse

Our first stop in Tennessee was Memphis. In the morning we went to the Civil Rights museum which was very moving as it's built into the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. A short film was playing at the center that day and we unknowingly walked by the key speaker in the documentary, Rev. Billy Kyles who was giving an interview. Kyles, who was there the day MLK was shot was one of the few witnesses at the scene and in the film he describes the tenacity and leadership that Martin Luther King Jr. possessed. The documentary was moving as well and highlighted an improvisational speech that Luther gave the night before he was assassinated, the speech is known as the Mountaintop Speech. After leaving the museum I felt somewhat in a daze to really come to terms with how America once was and how far we still need to come as a society and as a country.

There isn't much vegetarian fare in Memphis, in fact there really isn't any...so we decided to go to BB Kings on Beale Street which was the only menu we could find that offered something we could eat. I ordered the collard greens not knowing that they come with pork in them, whoops! Afterwards we went to the Sun Records recording studio which recorded greats such as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. It was incredible to me to be in the same studio where the founders of rock & roll recorded their unique sound. We also got to see the ribbon mic and guitars used by famous singer songwriters. The bottom of the studio has an old soda shop where they sell root-beer and milkshakes among other gift shop items. The studio is still open and at night serves as a full service recording studio.

After Memphis we headed up to Nashville also known as Music City to see sites such as the Grand Ole Opry, The Gibson Bluegrass Guitar Factory and Music Row.  We took a nice stroll along the campus trails at Vanderbilt University which houses old brick buildings. We grabbed lunch at Cafe Coco which had a great selection of vegetarian and vegan fare. I had a toasted croissant topped with a black bean burger, cheese, spinach and artichoke dip and onions, even though it sounds like a strange combination it happened to be absolutely delicious and just melted in my mouth. Jack had the tortellini in a cream blush sauce with some garlic bread which was also very tasty. Afterwards we took another walk heading towards some of the most oldest and famous buildings in the area such as the Elliston Place Soda Shop.

Both Memphis and Nashville had good, fun, and lazy vibes. 

Please see our full set here.

New Orleans

New Orleans is filled with a grandiose spirit, a mystical warm ambiance which seems to fill the streets. The architecture is wonderful and more than I had expected from the French Quarter. Flowers hung boldly from wrought iron balconies and above the narrow block style streets.

I was excited to go to New Orleans - for me the city has always held some undying mystique and culture. Of course, we did not account for the Giants / Saints game and the BBQ Festival which made getting a hotel room very difficult.

We spent the afternoon walking around the French Quarter on a chilly fall day taking a walking tour that is outlined in the Lonely Planet Guide. Even though it was only noon people were already walking around the city with their "hand grenades" and other various beverages of an alcoholic sort. Bourbon Street to me was kind of lame and is the French Quarter's answer to making frat boys happy - a macabre red light district, if you will. The other streets which surround the area are filled with adorable homes, dimly lit bars, and boutique shops. I fell in love with some antique chandeliers and furniture... one day.

After our walking tour we took a seat on some steps to enjoy street entertainment which was absolutely hilarious. The gentleman walked down steps on their hands and even did flips over some audience members, all while having a good time and making jokes about the passerby's.

We celebrated our one year anniversary in New Orleans and time has seemed to really fly by. We dined at an African restaurant and later found a cozy bar where we sipped on wine and whisky. Many weddings were going on that evening and they paraded around the streets with their respective wedding parties sipping champagne and following a small marching band. The evening was filled with great romanticism.

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Our cab driver that evening talked to us about Katrina and the aftermath. His family lived in St. Bernards Parish which was the hardest hit. All 500 square miles of the parish were submerged in water ranging from 4' deep to 20' deep. While some of the parish has been rebuilt most of the residents have re-located to areas which are at higher ground. It's very disheartening to know how the United States Government ignored these people and their pets and are still working on finding a solution for the levys. The Army Corps of Engineers still hasn't finished their levy rebuilding project and if hit by another strong storm surge the parish will be devastated, yet again. Please see the following websites to learn how you can help donate or volunteer to aid these residents and their pets:

The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund

Animal Rescue New Orleans

Habitat For Humanity New Orleans

Brad Pitt's Project to Rebuild Eco Friendly Homes in the Lower 9th Ward

Please view our entire NoLa collection here.

Texas

They (meaning the citizens of Texas) famously quote, "Everything is Bigger in Texas", and that is true in many regards. From the excessively large white pick-up trucks, to the portions of food, and even the people themselves, everything is bigger in Texas.

Our first night in Texas we stayed in the Sonnora Caverns area as a half way point en route to San Antonio. The campground had lots of deer at dusk munching on the large variety of grasses. Along with one other camper we had the grounds to ourselves and ate leftover mexican food while reading our respective books. Myself, still diligently making my way through Michael Pollan's, The Omnivore's Dilemma and Jack reading an Edward Abbey novel he picked up in Utah. The night was absolutely gorgeous. A pleasant change from the cool weather we had been experiencing in Colorado and New Mexico. The sunset created a silhouette of a single tree in front of our tent with blending hues of orange, yellow, red and purple.

San Antonio is quaint tourist town with a mixture of American/Mexican History and modern urban living. The Alamo offered a good amount of history and exhibits for free and is located in the heart of downtown. River Walk is a nice area of the city which offers shops and restaurants along a man-made river. Also, boat ride tours are available.

Jack and I were both very excited to get to Austin. It was on our list of "places we might want to move to".  We wanted to find ourselves lazily walking down sixth street and absorbing all of the live music and maybe go for a stroll around downtown experiencing as much as we can.  We spent our first night dining at Veggie Heaven...for those of you who don't know Veggie Heaven is also the name of one of the best vegetarian restaurants ever located in New Jersey, so of course we had to go and compare the two. The Austin Veggie Heaven had decent food but paled in comparison to the one in NJ! We took our lazy stroll down sixth street which on a week night was rather dull. The scene is devoted to rowdy college kids and we felt we really had no place there. There was an abundance of live music though which is always good.

Before leaving Austin we stopped and grabbed breakfast at a small cafe and had breakfast tacos which were amazing! Simply potato, cheese, and egg with spices filled the warm flour tortilla which was dipped in a small cup of salsa. Afterwards we went to the flagship Whole Foods which (unlike Whole Foods in NJ/NY) offered a ton of local organic products! Thankfully.

We camped at Brazos Bend State Park where we got to see a bunch of Alligators! One of them began to follow us with the most evil (or hungry) glare I've ever seen and we decided to go back to the camp where (once the sun went down) we got attacked by mosquitos and ... raccoons. A raccoon came literally out of nowhere and tried to steal our bag of jasmine rice! Luckily Jack went after him and we salvaged our beloved rice, but not without a fight.

In Houston we stopped at the Space Center where we got to touch a moon rock, see models of the interior of space shuttles, and watch a movie on a five story screen. The space center is a pretty educational experience but its exhibits are geared more towards children, even so we still had fun.

Jack and I were both disappointed by Austin which is sad to say. The downtown area was small and didn't offer much. Also, it didn't help that in October the weather was 92 degrees and very humid. And the search continues for a place to call home...please view our full set of pictures here!