Remembering some (warmer) times

/ Meg

Outer Banks


This is never-ending winter is enough to make anyone stir-crazy. Just when I thought we were out of the doldrums and heading into cherry blossom season, one of my most favorite times of year, I got wind that we were looking at more snow on Monday. It’s currently 18 degrees.

Whut?

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I’ve been flipping through some of my favorite vacation photos in recent years. Though we tend to favor mountainous areas over beachy scenes, we have spent our fair share of time in the sand at my family’s annual Outer Banks vacations. We baked outside Westminster Abbey during our April 2011 trip to England, and also soaked up the sunshine at a mission in San Juan Bautista in California.

Let’s daydream on a chilly Friday, shall we?

And perhaps brighter days will be here soon.


Sunset

Battery Park

Redwoods

Grasmere

San Francisco

English countryside

San Juan Bautista


P.S. Though our plans aren’t completely finalized yet, we will be returning to several of these places this summer. Can you guess which ones?


43 thoughts on “Remembering some (warmer) times”

  1. I love your photos! They’re gorgeous, especially the sunset one! What lens did you use to take these?

    I definitely need to remember warmer times with the third polar vortex that’s coming my way. Is that San Francisco I see? I love northern California and the weather is so nice.

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    • Thanks so much! My favorite lens (and the one I probably used to take all of these) is a Tamron 18-270mm. It’s the best all-in-one lens ever. And yes, that is San Francisco — one of my favorite places anywhere! Can’t wait to go back!

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  2. Mmm…I’d say California! =) It is really beginning to feel as though this winter will never end isn’t it?! It has been so cold that the ice on the sidewalks is never melted, despite how much salt is thrown down and the walls of snow lining the sidewalks grows higher and higher!

    Your photos were a lovely ray of hope and a promise that spring and summer and warmth will come =) Happy Friday!!

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  4. Ooohhh lovely escape venues. I’m guessing San Francisco??

    I do love your spring cherry blossoms – have visited DC area twice when they were blooming. Also spent several days wandering and absorbing at Arlington where the variety of trees and flowering shrubs standing watch over the tombs was beautiful and comforting.

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    • You got it, Sammy — we’ll be San Francisco bound in a few months! 🙂 And I’m so glad you enjoy the cherry blossoms. Arlington is such a fantastic and moving place to visit.

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    • Thanks, Maureen! I’m desperate for some warmth. I recently that travel agents have been getting lots of foot traffic lately, just from icy stragglers desperate to get away . . . I believe it!

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    • Hope you managed in the storm, Erich! It was quite a mess here in Maryland, and we’re all still digging out. The roads are a disaster. Spring can’t come soon enough.

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  8. Thanks for these beautiful pictures. I’m tired of this never-ending winter myself. We are expected to get 4-8 inches over the weekend in Central Illinois. 😦

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  10. It’s 70 in Texas today, and I snuck out of the office at lunch, grabbed some take-out, and took a time out in my car for some sunshine and fresh air (windows down, of course). It was delightful and I wish I could do it again right now.

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    • Well, 70 degrees would be heavenly! A few weekends ago we had those 50-degree days, and I was so desperate to get out that we basically just drove around until we found something to do. Cabin fever has set in hard.

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  11. I hear you! I am so over winter and ready for spring. We are going to get more snow on Sunday/Monday. UGH! It’s the never-ending winter. I absolutely LOVE the first picture. It made my heart skip a beat when I saw it on my feed. I’m definitely longing for summer days…at this point I’ll take 50 degree days. 🙂

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    • I’d definitely take 50 degree days, too! Can’t wait for some sunshine. I’ll take any scrap Mother Nature will throw us.

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  14. I really wish we had planned our Florida trip in February. I am impatient for it to be here all ready! At least February is basically over. It is always the longest month for me!

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    • Definitely glad March is here, though it’s just as chilly as February so far! Planning vacations in winter is the perfect antidote to the blues, I think.

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  16. Beautiful photos! Is the green hilly one Ireland?

    We went to OBX a few years ago in the off season and it was fantastic. I’m not much of a beach person, but my mom had just passed away a few months before and we needed a low key week of relaxation and no thinking. OBX was perfect for that.

    Later that year we went to DC for the first time and ended up visiting during the heat wave, so we were traipsing around the city in 115 degree heat trying to see the sights, while they were warning everyone to stay indoors.

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    • The Outer Banks are definitely perfect for relaxing, Erin. We love going and enjoy the simple, beachy atmosphere. The green hill shot is actually England, but I have very similar ones from Ireland! 🙂 And yep, that sounds like D.C. If we’re not complaining about the cold, we’re definitely whining about our hot, humid, sticky summers. But I’m going to try and remember these 3-degree days when we’re all griping in July . . .

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  17. I need a little (LOT!) of summer as well. Minnesota will not reach 0 degrees today and it annoys me to no end 🙂 I feel like a bear and I dont want to leave my house 🙂
    I hope you visit all of those places again – it looks wonderful!

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    • Zero degrees?! It was 16 this morning, and I thought that was bad. This has been the awful, no-good, unending winter . . . and I really can’t wait until it’s done!

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  18. I’m guessing Outer Banks! We’ll be heading to SFO this fall but I’m not sure how long our trip will be–we’re going for my little sister’s wedding. Gorgeous pictures! I love the one looking up at the trees. We’re having a lovely 70 degree day here but tomorrow they’re predicting freezing rain. Sigh.

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    • You’re on to something, Trish! 🙂 And San Francisco is sounding pretty likely, too . . . I’m sure you’ll have a blast at your sister’s wedding. I love California!

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    • Thanks! I have a Canon Rebel T1i and typically use a Tamron 18-270mm lens. But remember it’s the photographer, not the camera, who really creates the shot. 🙂 Just use what you have and make it work for you!

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