One Stitch Two Stitch

A Trip to St. Augustine

I went on a field trip to St. Augustine with my students earlier this month. The first time I visited this city, I was just passing through, so sadly the sight-seeing was a bit rushed. It was a wonderful trip, enriching for the kids, parents, and teachers who went. Two quick facts about St. Augustine: it's the country's oldest city and its 500th year anniversary is this April 3rd. Here are some of my favorite places:

Aviles Street is the oldest public street in the country.

Pretty tiled mural off Aviles Street.

Spanish Military Hospital is now a museum. The tours are highly educational and give unique insight on how soldiers were medically treated during the colonial days.

The Cathedral Basilica right off St. George Street is absolutely breath-taking. It's the first established parish in the New World.

Words can not describe the beauty of this cathedral. I didn't take an outside shot of the church but if you'd like to learn more about the cathedral, visit their official site.

Want to be greeted by screaming peacocks perched from the tree tops? The Fountain of Youth was my favorite tour of the trip. Beautiful Indian and white peacocks strut around this archaeological park. The exhibits include Ponce de Leon's much sought after spring (they offer a taste of the mineral water!), a Timucua Indian Village, a planetarium, spanish cannon firing demonstrations and more.

It was such a peaceful place. I could've stayed there all day!

The Castillo de San Marcos was our last stop and it was a fascinating tour. From the fragile "coquina" (tiny shell) wall the fort is constructed from to the maze of rooms to the sprawling courtyard to the live firing of the cannon, the students were hooked (and so was I). Well, I hoped you liked this mini tour of this historical city. If you're ever in Florida, you should definitely make some time and visit St. Augustine!

This Saturday

My bf and I drove down to Flamingo in the Everglades National Park for some fresh air and a scenic hike. I'd never been there and was excited to discover that you can camp right on the beach! We took the Coastal Prairie Trail, a 6 mile hiking path that leads to a secluded beach. Unfortunately, my flat feet only took me about 2 miles, but I promised my bf we'd make it on our next trek. It was really beautiful. I especially loved spotting egrets take flight from the mangroves on the trail. Here are some peeks from our hike . . .

Hankerings - Road Trip Time!

With school almost over and the bright and happy summer ahead, I'm prepping for my road trip up north. I've had my eye on some essentials that I'd love to take along for my trip!

* Great tunes to listen to:  The Looking Away by Animal Kingdom

* This sturdy & stylish chevron tote bag by oktak

* Some writing inspiration  - 642 Things to Write Journal

* This beautiful wooden iphone case by TWoodzing

* Adding some pics to my journal with this Polaroid Instant Digital Camera

* Protect my eyes with these lovely vintage sunglasses from zabbaleen

Summer Trip Stop #2 – Phoenicia, New York

I don't think I have ever fallen in love with a town like I have with this one. Phoenicia is an idyllic, one-horse kinda town that offers the perfect mix of whimsical store fronts, great eateries, and beautiful scenery.

Phoenicia's Main Street and view of the Catskills Mountains

Outside Cafe and Ice Cream Parlor rolled into one!

 The town's pharmacy displays a lot of odds and ends and functions as a thrift store as well.

More of Main Street! My bf and I ate at this great Mexican restauraunt called The Alamo Cantina (right where the pioneer statue is). The food was really good. Right next door there's this really fun vintage store and a little further down is a perfect little ice cream shop that sells the best homemade fudge!

Phoenicia is definitely the place for tubing (we skipped that day because the water was ice cold!)

I loved Phoenicia so much that we paid several visits to it throughout our stay (of course, I did have to coax my bf a bit since he wanted to sightsee other towns)! Phoenicia is worth many visits! Sue

Summer Trip, Stop #1: Edgar Allan Poe's House

I had mentioned in my previous post that my recent absence was due to my summer trip. My bf and I flew up to Pennsylvania and drove to upstate New York for a total of 8 days, and it was so much fun! The first 2 days of our trip were spent in Philly and I got the chance to visit Edgar Allan Poe's house. To say that I'm a fan of Poe is an understatement and taking a tour of his home was like an outerbody experience (I was that excited!). Here are some peeks of the tour:

 This really cool mural is located right across the street from Poe's house.

 I took this picture outside the gates of the house. The facade of the house actually faces the roadway, but to enter visitors must go in through a side entrance.

 This raven sculpture is located right outside the home. It definitely adds a feeling of creepiness to the house.

The house in itself is quite large but the rooms are tiny. Poe's room and writing quarters were located on the 2nd floor of the house.

 This is the infamous cellar (eerie, right?). It's supposed to be the inspiration for his short story "The Black Cat." If you've read the story, the cellar where the main character's wife is entombed holds a hair-raising resemblance to Poe's own cellar.

This is the side-end of the house that leads to backyard and pretty flower garden.

 A view from the opposite end of Poe's home.

Even though Poe only lived 6 years here, it is said to be the most productively creative years of his life where he wrote his most celebrated short stories like "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" (a personal favorite). It was also a time that was filled with great tragedy since his beloved wife Virginia perished of tuberculosis here.

If you love Poe and are in Philly, make time to visit his home! Oh, and as promised, here's my crafty homage to Poe: a free Poe Embroidery Pattern for you to enjoy (drawn by yours truly). I do ask not to distribute this pattern for sale since it's intended for personal use only. If you do whip up this pattern I'd love to see it, so don't forget to drop me a link! Talk soon, Sue

My Trip to Washington D.C.

I was lucky enough to travel on a fieldtrip with my students to Washingtion DC. We spent 4 days in the capital and it was such a fantastic experience. Since I had never been, I was a bit awestruck by all the sites. These are some of my favorite places we visited:

 Iwo Jima Memorial

 Mount Vernon

 The Capitol

 Fresco in the Capitol's Rotunda

 FDR's Memorial Park

 The Natural History Museum

 The Lincoln Memorial

 The White House

A couple of interesting things I noticed: all the monuments are larger that you can ever imagine like the Thomas Jefferson Memorial was mammoth. The original constitution is written on four, very large, pieces of parchment paper. Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot is quite small.

We were lucky enough to visit Washington during the Memorial weekend, so there were many vets and special events happening which were quite enriching for the kids. I did notice that eventhough, we spent 4 days, it still seemed like not enough time to really see everything. I'm definitely planning on coming back again! Sue