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Thank you, Bahamas! That was FUN! #bahamas #abacos

Thank you, Bahamas! That was FUN! #bahamas #abacos

Heading home from our trip to NYC, Portugal, and M

Heading home from our trip to NYC, Portugal, and Morocco. This post covers Marrakesh, Morocco.

We only had the equivalent of two full days in Marrakesh, so we mostly walked around the Medina (old city), and enjoyed our hotel, the famous La Mamounia. It was an easy side trip from Portugal (only a 1.5 hour flight from Lisbon).

Marrakesh is a fascinating place. The streets of the Medina are chaotic, busy, and frenetic, while the courtyards are usually serene and beautiful. It seems like someone is trying to sell you something throughout every narrow passageway of the maze-like Medina. We enjoyed it, but we found that it can be a little much, too.

La Mamounia is a stunning hotel with excellent service.

We hope to visit Morocco again sometime and explore more of the country.

And this wraps up my 50th birthday trip (the actual birthday was back in November). It was a lot of fun to add two new countries and one continent (Africa) to my travels.

#marrakesh #marrakech #morocco

We are wrapping up a great trip to NYC, Portugal,

We are wrapping up a great trip to NYC, Portugal, and Morocco. This post is about Portugal. (See my previous post for NYC and the next post for Morocco if you are interested.)

We really enjoyed Portugal - It’s a beautiful and livable place, with very friendly people. We traveled the country for nine days, which is really only enough time to do a highlights tour. But we saw and experienced a lot in those nine days: Lisbon, Porto, Sintra, Algarve, and Comporta.

I could have posted a hundred photos. It’s probably best that Instagram limits me to ten!

#portugal

Closing out a quick stop in NYC (and by quick I me

Closing out a quick stop in NYC (and by quick I mean roughly 20 hours). @paigeschnell and I always have a good time in the city. Our stay at the recently renovated Hotel Chelsea was a highlight. If you are unfamiliar with the history of the place, I suggest you look it up. We stayed across the hall from a room that Bob Dylan lived in for a time.

1-4: Hotel Chelsea
5: Rockefeller Center
6: Cartier building
7: Trailer Park Lounge
8: Tacos Guey
9-10: Barcade

Happy Thanksgiving Eve from Grayton Beach! #gray

Happy Thanksgiving Eve from Grayton Beach!

#graytonbeach #30A #gulfofmexico #sunset #thanksgivingeve

What do you do if you arrive in Florence, Alabama

What do you do if you arrive in Florence, Alabama and discover that @jasonisbell is playing his own hometown music festival (ShoalsFest) that same night? That’s easy… You GO! (And I did. Fun night!) … And congrats to the little kid on his dad’s shoulders in the first video. He has mastered the concert hand motions at a young age. 😂

#jasonisbell #jasonisbellandthe400unit #shoalsfest #shoalsfest2022 #florenceal #florencealabama

Here in Auburn, Alabama (where we are in town for

Here in Auburn, Alabama (where we are in town for a football game tomorrow night), they say that you know God is an Auburn fan because sunsets are orange and blue. On a night like tonight, I can’t disagree. View from the rooftop bar of the Laurel Hotel and Spa. That’s Samford Hall on the right.

(I’m here supporting my Auburn alum wife @paigeschnell. Otherwise, go Buffs!)

#auburn #auburnuniversity #wareagle #laurelhotel

Scenes from Mackinac Island, Michigan last weekend

Scenes from Mackinac Island, Michigan last weekend… The island is known for its lack of cars, the Grand Hotel, and fudge… I loved the fact that there are no cars. Everyone gets around on foot, bike, and horse drawn carriage. (And you arrive and depart by ferry.) It was pleasant and civilized. We stayed at the Grand Hotel (first four photos), and really enjoyed it. Their restaurant called The Woods (second to last photo) was also a fun experience, in part because of the carriage rides to get there and back. And yes, I bought some fudge. Apparently it’s a Michigan thing. It seemed like every other shop sold fudge. (And it was good!)

#mackinacisland #michigan #grandhotel #grandhotelmichigan

A few more images from Ketchikan, Alaska… Unfort

A few more images from Ketchikan, Alaska… Unfortunately, the boat excursion to the Misty Fjords Wilderness was canceled, so I spent the entire (short) trip in town. But that was still a lot of fun… The first few images show the marina, and the dive called the Potlatch Bar next door. That’s where I met Kevin and Marie, a couple who do commercial fishing for a living. They gave me a tour of their boat. It’s a fascinating career and way of life. (I didn’t get a good photo of their boat, so it’s not shown.)… The last one is a video of a fish ladder. I didn’t see any salmon using it, but there were plenty of salmon in Ketchikan Creek, some of them swimming upstream in this location.

#ketchikan #alaska

I finally made it to Alaska. Cheers to 50 states i

I finally made it to Alaska. Cheers to 50 states in 50 years! (See the comments for the long winded version.)

#ketchikan #alaska

It’s been great to be back in Seabrook, Washingt

It’s been great to be back in Seabrook, Washington for a few days. I first visited five years ago in January. It’s really amazing to see the progress since then, and I enjoyed the late summer weather. The town center is especially remarkable, and it’s largely been constructed since my last visit. Congratulations to Casey, Stephen (@outatthebeach), and the entire team at Seabrook. The town is beautiful and a lot of fun. Highly recommended. #seabrook #seabrookwa

My recent three weeks in Colorado included four ni

My recent three weeks in Colorado included four nights of amazing music. First was the Yonder Mountain String Band (1 and 2) at TACAW, a really nice venue in Basalt (and the kind of place we should have on 30A). Then three nights at Jazz Aspen Snowmass: Leon Bridges (not pictured), Chris Stapleton (3 and 4), and Stevie Nicks (5, 6, and 7). All were great. (I especially loved that Stevie Nicks ended with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock n Roll.”) And we enjoyed lunch at Los Montanas in Aspen (8 and 9), and some time in Snowmass Village (10). But the Snowmass “mall” desperately needs an update. If you’re out there, owner of Snowmass, please call me! I’m ready to help!

#jazzaspensnowmass #snowmassvillage #TACAW #losmontanas

Happy hour / river therapy #redstone #redstoneco

Happy hour / river therapy

#redstone #redstonecolorado #crystalriver #threesisters

I’m excited to see Cinnamon Shore, and a house I

I’m excited to see Cinnamon Shore, and a house I designed there, featured in this month’s Southern Living magazine. The article is about the comeback of Port Aransas since Hurricane Harvey in 2017 (five years ago this month). The photos show the same house and dune crossover (which I also designed) from two different angles.

#schnellurbandesign #cinnamonshore #portaransas #texas #mustangisland #thenewtexascoast #urbandesign #newurbanism @southernlivingmag @cinnamon_shore

The second day of the anniversary weekend (and the

The second day of the anniversary weekend (and the actual date of the anniversary) was mostly a travel day. But we ended the day in Aspen, including dinner at Matsuhisa and a drink at Hooch. It’s good to be back in Colorado! (And if nothing else, we are definitely eating well.)

The anniversary weekend is off to a great start wi

The anniversary weekend is off to a great start with @paigeschnell!

We traveled to Nashville for Paige’s work and a concert. After wrapping up work on Friday afternoon, we had one of the best meals in recent memory at The Continental, Chef Sean Brock’s relatively new restaurant. (It opened a little over a year ago.) We followed that with drinks at Robert’s Western World, our favorite Lower Broadway honky tonk.

And then the main event: the Turnpike Troubadours at the Ryman. Strangely, for all of our trips to Music City, including plenty of concerts, it was our first show at the Ryman. (We had tickets for shows that were canceled due to Covid.) Turnpike was great as always, and the Ryman actually exceeded my already high expectations - an amazing venue.

Cheers to 18 years!

#thecontinental #robertswesternworld #ryman #rymanauditorium #turnpiketroubadours #nashville #musiccity

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