Bean Town!

I had the opportunity to visit a good friend in Boston and wanted to share a few details from our trip. We visited a lot of the historic landmarks in the city such as bunker hill, the site of the Boston massacre and Paul Reveres home. I had no idea that Boston was such a walking-friendly city, it's great! 

We saw so many sites in Boston, some of my favorites included the infamous Cheers, Harvard and drinks at the Liberty Hotel.  The hotel is an old jail, converted into 3 different bars and as well as hotel rooms. 


We also had some amazing seafood meals! Boston's food was delicious. We had dinner at one of the best seafood restaurants in Boston, Legal Seafood.  It was right on the water and we were even treated to fire works while we were eating.

I can't wait to visit the East Coast again soon!

Has anyone been to Boston? What were some of your favorite things? 

XO, 

Gilded Girl

A visit to the iconic Macinack Island

Hi Everyone! I recently got back from Macinack island and wanted to share a few things that we did there.

For those of you who have never been, Mackianck is a cute island off the coast of Northern Michigan.  It is about 8 miles around and allows no vehicles on it.  Visiting the island is like taking a step back in time.  There are only horse and buggies, and bicycles allowed and you need to take a Ferry ride to get to the island.   This is the view that greats you when they ferry pulls into the harbor.

One of the true gems of the island is the iconic Grand Hotel.  Established in 1887 the hotel is almost on top of the hill in Macinack and has amazing views.  

We had some delicious dinners on this island.  One of my favorites was broiled white plank fish, as well as a few cocktails!

 The beautiful bridge in Macinack, it signals that you are getting close and especially awesome to see up close from a boat.

 This is the Macinack yacht club, very nautical and quaint.

I chose to stay in a quaint bed and breakfast right on the island.  They offered a continental breakfast in the morning that was absolutely perfect.  Each room was decorated differently although all had a similar motif of paisley and a victorian-esque theme.  I woke up pretty early each day I was there and had some time to reflect, read and enjoy the slow pace of the Island as everyone was waking up.

If you ever have the chance I highly suggest visiting Macinack.  It islike taking a step back in time and there are a ton of things to do there.    Have you ever visited Macinack or anywhere that you felt completely removed from modern ways? 

XO,

GildedGirl

Pretending I'm a California Girl: Part 2

Phase two of my California trip.  We had a lot of recommmendations of places to go and this second post is about the rest of the trip.  One of the areas we explored was called Abbot Kinney.  This is an area near Venice Beach filled with great art, stores and restaurants.  

One of the examples of art we saw there!

There was a really neat vintage and reclaimed artifacts store called Tumbleweed and Dandelion (how adorable is that name?!)  Everything in there is American made and really beautiful!   

We also ate at several restaurants including the famous Lemonade! I had a mint and cucumber lemonade, fantastic!  They also had a delicious sprinkle cake! 

To end the day we had a delicious meal at a restaurant called The Tasting Kitchen.  The food was delicious but I loved the decor more.  Amazing dishes and flatware as well a tree growing in the middle of the restaurant.  Yes, a tree!! It was as much of an experience as a meal. 

We did a lot of other things, and saw a lot of other places but these were some of my favorites so I wanted to share them.   I love unique restaurants and shops and this area had a ton of that! Has anyone else been to this area and really enjoyed it? I can't wait to go back to CA!

XO,

Gilded Girl

Pretending I am a California Girl, Part 1

Summer is here and I have been doing a lot of vacationing, eating and spending time with friends and family.  Our first destination was the Los Angeles area.  I hadn't been there since I was in elementary school so I was excited to explore the area.  I am going to do a series of posts on some of my favorite things that we did there. 

 One of the first things we did was to visit some wineries in Southern California. This area, specifically Santa Barbara and Los Olivios is not really well known yet but they are gaining more and more notoriety.  The employees at the different wineries told me they are about a decade behind Napa.  This winery was called  Sunstone Winery.   It can be rented out for private parties, wouldn't that be fabulous?  They had gorgeous grounds and some really interesting wines.  One of the best things I tried there was their flavored olive oils, blood orange olive oil? Delish! 

The second place we went was Beckman Vineyards.  The views were incredible and the staff was more than friendly.  They even let us try a couple of wines that were off the tasting list, BONUS. :)  The best wine we had there ( and the one that I had shipped 3 bottles back home) was their Cuvee Le Beck.  It was really good and like nothing I have ever tried. ! 

 I would absolutely recommend coming here for a day trip and enjoying all these wonderful wineries, especially if you love wine as much as I do!  Both wineries also offered shipping for their wines to where you live so you don't have to worry about lugging it in your bag or having to check a bag full of wine!  Ever been to a winery that you really liked? 

XO,

GildedGirl