In the mean time, we'll travel!

As you can imagine, we're a little restless now that school is out for the summer. Add to that the fact that we have a REEALLY extended summer this year, and you've got a recipe for travel....before 2 years of extended travel...ahem.

Anyway, we've got lots of friends and family to visit on our Farewell America tour of 2010, and we'll be spending the better part of July traveling the Eastern seaboard. Here are our stops:

Before we board our first plane, we've got an epic road trip ahead of us. We'll be going to:

Atlanta (it's where the players play) to visit one of my college roommates and her boyfriend... and *fingers crossed* visit with one of the Mister's cousins. Then....

The thriving metropolis of Easley, South Carolina! (So there aren't all that many shots of its skyline, so I had to go with the MapQuest shot.) My grandparents and an aunt live in Easley, and it wouldn't be a farewell tour without visiting the hot spot of Pickens County!

We'll head East, inching our way to the coast, and take a stop in....

Another center of commerce and culture: Florence, South Carolina! Not only is this stop one stop closer to the Carolina coast, but it's also home to my favorite pseudo aunt and uncle, and I couldn't be more excited to spend a few days with the family we chose.

From Florence we head down I-95 to a city I haven't visited since I graduated in 2006, and I've missed it dearly:

CHARLESTON!!!!! Oh, Holy City, how I've missed you!! We're going to spend our second anniversary in my most favorite city in the world and excited doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about it. We're going to eat shrimp and grits, walk the battery, and--best of all--spend hours lying on the beach, any beach, all the beaches, of the fantastic Charleston coast.

One of the best parts of this trip to the coast: I might get to see one of my old rowing teammates for the first time since I graduated! Our timing couldn't be better because she's about to relocate as well!

In Charleston we ditch the car and hop a plane to....

Washington D.C.!

What better way to begin the end of our time in this fair country than by visiting the capitol city? We've got some obvious business to take care of at the embassy that'll hopefully expedite our visa processing, and at the same time we'll have the chance to visit with friends-some of whom we haven't seen since our wedding!!

Personally, I'm REALLY looking forward to finally visiting the Washington Monument!! When I visited in high school, that giant phallus was closed for renovation. Then 9/11 happened, and it was closed due to security concerns. When the Mister and I visited DC last year during Spring Break, I didn't get tickets in time, so we missed our chance.

But not this time, my friends! I've already called dibs on a trip to the top for two at dusk! I'm suuuper excited!!

After all that excitement, we're heading up the coast to....

THE BIG APPLE! We'll hopefully be able to reconnect with old friends who were also at our wedding who will be relocating to New York City very soon. Even if we don't get to meet up with those lovely friends, we'll get to have some time together in a city we've never shared. We've both been to NYC, but we've never been together, so that'll be fun and I predict lots of love-challenging trips on the subway in our future.

For New York, we continue up the coast even further to...

Yes, its skyline isn't really all that recognizable, but we'll be visiting Providence, Rhode Island for a few days. We were originally going to visit close family friends outside of Boston, but I'm a horrible person and I scheduled our visit at the same time they were out of town, so I fail. I guess the bright side is we get to visit what we've heard is a really nice New England town. From what I can tell, it's got a nice urban park, lots of cute historic sections, and unique shops. We'll meander our way through one of the oldest places in the country and soak in the Americana.

After a few days of that, we'll take the train a little further up the coast to....

The stunningly historical city of BOSTON!! There we'll be able to spend a few days with my sister and her husband in their new home. I'm really excited to have some time before we leave the country with my sister and the Mister and I both really love Boston, so it's a win-win!

From there we ride the train back to Washington D.C. to finish up the last of our business with the Saudi embassy before we pack up and head home! I can't speak for the Mister, but I'm really getting restless, and I hope all this travel will quench some of my travel thirst.

Vicariously yours,