Category Archives: Flight Paths

Flight paths is all our chirps about traveling and places we have gone and explored.  Includes some tips of what to bring and where to go and what to do in our travels.

Flight Paths: Escape to Savannah

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Chirped by Tina

Just before the COVID-19 craziness really started to set in, my hubbie and I flew (gasp!) down to Savannah, GA to meet up with some friends we hadn’t seen in ten years. (As a side note, there was no shortage of travelers and no sign of masks in either the Philadelphia or Savannah airports the first weekend of March. I did notice we weren’t the only ones sanitizing our immediate area on the plane though!) Since that weekend, our kids’ colleges decided to send everyone home for “remote learning” while they assess the situation. Our status as empty nesters has been revoked! Luckily, reading our blog comes with no risk of contagion. We’ve got a whole backlog of projects and adventures to tell you about! So let me start by sharing some highlights from our long weekend escape to Savannah…

I started this post before the schools, restaurants, wine stores, and everything else started shutting down here in PA and around the US. We’re now embracing social distancing! I liked one sentiment that I read, to the effect that we’ll never know if we overreacted to this pandemic, but we will definitely know if we under-reacted… For the sake of our parents, grandparents, and immuno-compromised friends and neighbors, why not err on the side of caution and stay home? We’ll try to focus on some make-at-home projects in upcoming posts, but for now, please indulge me while I celebrate this recent trip to Georgia, that occurred just before the “spit” hit the fan…

Perry Lane Hotel

Long weekend escape to SavannahWhat a gorgeously appointed hotel, right in downtown Savannah! The decor is eclectic but elegant. Our suite offered little touches like a small cloisonné panda and a framed family letter addressed to “Sweet Pea”. The Perry Lane features a fantastic restaurant Continue reading →

After the Holidays Cheep Trills

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Chirped by Cass and Tina

The holidays have come and gone, along with the college boys, and we are back and resettling into our empty nest routines. Time to compile a top ten list of cheep trills from our long hiatus!

Favorite Book

Cheep Trills - Favorite BookIf you’ve never ventured into the genre of post-apocalyptic fiction, A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, by C. A. Fletcher, is a perfect place to dabble your toes. I can also heartily recommend the Audible version, voiced by the author himself. Fletcher does a fantastic job of narrating, and you know you’re getting all the right nuances when the writer is also the story teller. Plus, it’s a terrific story, at least as stories of what happens after the apocalypse go. It’s easy to be transported to this future landscape, a hundred years or more after most of the world’s population has died of old age. It’s a world Continue reading →

October’s Cheep Trills, 2019

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Chirped by Tina and Cass

October has come and gone, and time has flown by like the leaves from the trees in our backyards! It’s been a busy month, but we’re taking a moment to appreciate another top ten list of the whos, whats, and wheres that lit the candles in our jack-o’-lanterns last month!

Favorite Book of the Month

A perfect book for October, Something in the Water, by Catherine Steadman was an edge-of-your-seat mystery thriller. I (Tina) listened to it in the car on Audible over the course of several long trips. Don’t be alarmed that it’s read by the author – Steadman is also an actress, and a fantastic narrator! Told in the first person, with a lot of reality-checking, self-doubting questions directed at the reader (“Well that’s what you do? …Isn’t it?”) I was totally captivated. Yes, I was cringing and yelling at the main character for some of her questionable choices, but when she was scared, I was gripping the steering wheel tight. As a book club book, it can lead to some interesting “what would YOU do in that situation?” discussions, too. And it hooks you from the first paragraph: “Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? Wonder no longer. It takes an age…” It’s possible that it’s even better as an audio book than as a traditional book, because you get all the nuances the author/narrator intended? Might not be high literature, but it sure was entertaining!

Favorite Local Restaurant

Our favorite restaurant of the month is Slate Bleu in Doylestown, PA. This cozy French bistro has an amazing variety of creative small plates and an extensive beer and wine Continue reading →

Flight Paths: Ten Cheep Trills to Savor in St. John

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Chirped by Tina

My husband and I returned in July from a fantastic vacation with friends on St. John in the US Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands got hit by two devastating Category 5 hurricanes in 2017, Irma and Maria, and are still recovering structurally, economically, and ecologically. Despite the lingering signs of destruction, much of St. John’s flora and fauna have bounced back. Tourism is once again going strong and bringing much needed income to the island’s recovery process. And from personal experience, the snorkeling is still as bountiful as we remembered from our first visit in 2003! After a week in the Caribbean, coming Continue reading →

Summertime’s Cheep Trills

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Chirped by Cass and Tina

Oh where has the summer gone? Our last Cheep Trill was in April and our most recent Chirp was June’s Crafting for a Cause.  As is probably the case for many of you, summertime has been busy! Between having the kids home from college, vacations, visits to and from friends and family, etc… these days of summer are just flying by. Now we are in the midst of packing the kids up to head back to school again! But we’re taking a moment to breathe, and celebrate ten favorite things from the past few months…

Favorite Book

Our favorite book for the summer was The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah. Set in the 1970s in the wilderness of Alaska, this book could put a chill down your spine on the hottest summer day. We loved the descriptions of living off the grid, surviving the dark, cruel Alaskan winters, and a community that pulls together to help each other in times of trouble. More disturbing were the family’s constant battles with the father’s violent temper and PTSD from his days as a Vietnam POW. The writing beautifully captured Alaska in all its fearsome glory – as Continue reading →