Celebration Trips
As the days tick by until my 25th wedding anniversary, I started thinking of all the other milestones in our lives and the trips we took for them.
When I turned 30, I was living in Atlanta with my husband (then fiancé). I missed home and my friends terribly, so we invited one of my best friends to go to Disney with us. It was less than an hour flight for us, which was a plus. One thing that I remember most is that it was cold out and we were drinking hot coffee, which seemed weird for Disney.
For our 5th wedding anniversary, and my husband’s MBA graduation we went to Hawaii. We went to Maui and Kauai. We were upgraded in our hotel to concierge level that included a happy hour every day! We snorkeled at Molokini which is a partially submerged volcanic crater in the ocean. I had been snorkeling before, but nothing like this, it was amazing.
For my 40th birthday, we went back to Hawaii, this time just staying on Maui. We stayed in Kapalua well known for the golf courses (none of which I used, but my husband did). We were upgraded here as well to a one-bedroom suite with a great lanai. Since my birthday is in the winter, we went on a couple whale watches. Humpbacks travel to the warm waters in the winter to give birth. We were on a small boat, and the whales were swimming under and beside the boat, it was unbelievable.
For our 15th anniversary we went to Amsterdam, Paris and Nice. We took the train between all the cities, and seeing the countryside was wonderful. We have many memories from this trip. I met Charlie Sheen at the Rijksmuseum and got my picture with him. In Paris we stayed in a boutique hotel. There were only 2 rooms at the very top, one of which was ours. The room had a small balcony with a view of the Eiffel Tower, and we sat out there with bread, cheese and wine every night. Nice was beautiful, swimming in the Mediterranean was wonderful. We took the local train to Eze and Monaco, and the local bus to Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
For our 20th Anniversary, we went to New York City and saw Bruce Springsteen on Broadway. We met him afterwards and got his autograph. Enough said.
For my 50th birthday we went to Florence, Verona, Milan and Venice Italy, taking the train between cities. It was winter so it was chilly, but it didn’t hinder it in any way. In Milan, we hired a private tour guide. She took us to the last supper and Teatro alla Scala (among a lot of other sites). We just happened to be in the opera house during a rehearsal, it was amazing. On my actual birthday, we hired a private tour guide to take us around Tuscany, we saw the leaning tower and had a private wine tasting at a vineyard.
For my husband’s 50th birthday, we went to Berlin, Munich and Bellagio, Italy. I never had much of an interest in Germany, but it was great. So much history and fun in one place. Bellagio, which is on Lake Como was beautiful. The food, the wine and the locals were wonderful. We rented a boat for a day and saw George Clooney’s house, unfortunately he wasn’t there.
We just returned from our 25th anniversary trip to Annecy, France; Chamonix, France and Lake Maggiore Italy, that will be a story for another newsletter.
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