West Virginia Fall Road Trip 2020 Edition, West Virginia, USA

Blackwater Falls

Fall in the USA is beautiful. This year we visited West Virginia and camped at Huntington /Fox Fire KOA. With rolling hills, beautiful valleys, numerous waterfalls, and bridges, WV was marvelous, especially in the fall.

Day 1: First day we drove to North-East WV from Huntington. Blackwater Falls State Park is one of the many state parks in WV. Even though the drive was 3 hrs long, it was one of the best drives in the midwest in the fall. Nestled between the mountains, the Blackwater Falls is best seen during peak fall colors. There are multiple observatory decks to view the falls. The main observatory deck is a short hike from the parking lot and the hike is not too difficult. For good views of the falls, we took a short drive to Blackwater Falls viewpoint. Another notable place for beautiful views of the mountains and gorge is the Pendleton Overlook. Lindy Point Observation deck is another beautiful spot for panoramic views of the Blackwater River and the gorge. 

Blackwater Falls Lookout

Day 2: Second day, we drove from Huntington KOA to South-East WV. US Route 60 runs parallel to Kanawha river from Charleston to Hico and there are several scenic spots in between. Kanawha Falls and Cathedral Falls are beautiful after heavy rain. Hawk's Nest Overlook is a good place for a small picnic. This place is almost heaven-like with its colorful mountains and floating clouds. Babcock State Park is 15 minutes drive from Hico. The infamous Glade Creek Grist Mill in Babcock State Park is next to the beautiful waterfall is a photographer's dream come true.

Hawk's Nest Overlook

WV is famous for Whitewater rafting and bridges. There are numerous bridges throughout the state and the New River Gorge Bridge is one of the most photographed bridges in WV.  This 3030 ft bridge is best viewed from Fayette Station Bridge. Rafting below the bridge in the New River Gorge would be an amazing experience. Another way to see the bridge would be to take a guided tour of the catwalk 25' beneath the bridge. Even though the participants are securely tethered, walking a 24" wide catwalk at 850 feet above the New River would be a great adventure. Due to COVID, we skipped both river rafting and bridge walk.  

New River Gorge Bridge

Day 3: On the third day, we decided to explore the nearby towns. By now, we realized that exploring nearby towns to be extremely rewarding. Blenko Glass Company in Milton, WV is famous for its glass blowing tours. The factory tour is closed due to COVID. But, the visitor center is still open and has a good collection of hand-blown glass for purchase. Kenova's Pumpkin House in Kenova, WV is famous for its carved pumpkin display during the Halloween season. Every year, around 3000 pumpkins are displayed in this family home. Unfortunately, it was canceled in 2020. 

Memorial Fountain - Marshall University

We decided to visit Harris Riverfront Park in Huntington, WV. On the way to the park, we saw Steel of West Virginia and suddenly realized that this was the University on which the 2006 movie 'We are Marshalls' was based. After visiting the park, we took a quick visit to Marshall University Memorial Fountain. A fabulous find in Huntington was Kustom Kreams. A rolled ice cream shop with a fabulous selection of flavors. It was fun to watch the staff make rolled ice cream.

Overall, West Virginia is an awesome fall destination.

Upper Peninsula Road Trip, Michigan, USA

Arch Rock - Mackinaw Island

Sunset - Mackinaw Mill Creek Campgrounds

Michigan is one of the beautiful states in the USA.  Michigan's Upper Peninsula is beautiful at any time of the year and there is no better place than Michigan to spend a relaxing summer. Fall is even more impressive with hues of reds, oranges, and yellows. This was our first time RVing ever and we stayed at the Mackinaw Mill Creek Campgrounds. The campgrounds were beautiful with quick access to the beach and upper peninsula. Since this was the first time with our RV, we had to work out a few kinks. 

Bridge Views - Mackinaw Cruise

Bridge View Park:

A great park for beautiful views of the bridge. A quick stop at bridge view park to capture beautiful pictures would be a great start for your trip.

Mackinaw Island:

A trip to Michigan will never be complete without visiting Mackinaw island. Numerous boat companies provide transportation to and from Mackinaw Island. Boat tours start from both sides of the Mackinaw bridge. Generally, a short tour under the bridge is included in the tour. A day trip to the island would be sufficient. But if one would want to stay overnight, there are plenty of cottages on the island. No outside vehicles are allowed on the island. No golf carts are available for rental either. The only way to get around the island is by bicycle, horse carriage, or on foot. Horse carriage guided tours are available. But, due to COVID, we decided to keep our distance from other people and opted for the bike rides.

There is no better way to see the island than a trip on a bike around the island. If you like to explore the island at your own pace, a bicycle is by far the best means of transport.  There are many points of interest along the way. Fort Mackinaw, Skull Cave. The famous of all is Arch rock, a limestone arch overlooking the lake. 

Ice cream from Joann's Fudge

All the biking around the island needs a sweet ending. Mackinaw island is also known for its tasty fudge and there are numerous fudge shops to visit. We visited Joann's Fudge. It was enjoyable to watch them making fudge on the marble slab. Keeping up with the expectations, they had delectable flavor choices and the fudge was undoubtedly delicious.

The Raft on Kitch-iti-kipi

Kitch-iti-kipi: A true hidden gem of Michigan. With increasing popularity, there is a huge influx of visitors recently. The park is open throughout the year. Visit during the winter months if you crave a one-of-a-kind experience. Kitch-iti-kipi is the largest freshwater spring in Michigan. The pool is 40 feet deep and the water is at 45 F throughout the year. The fissure at the bottom feeds the pool with 1000 Gallons/min of spring water. Ride the raft to get a good view of the lake. The fish and the bottom of the lake are clearly visible from the raft. Go the extra mile and visit Kitch-iti-kipi.

Pictured Rock National Lakeshore and Twelvemile Beach: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is the crown jewel of the Upper Peninsula.  The national lakeshore stretches from Grand Marais to Munising. There are plenty of walking trails, waterfalls, and beaches to explore. The longest of all beaches is the Twelvemile beach. The beaches are filled with colorful stones unique to this area.

Twelvemile Beach

Pictured Rock Cruises: The best way to see Pictured Rocks are from Lake Superior. Pictured Rock Cruises is a popular choice. However, few other options like Kayaking, SUP, boat rentals are also available. There are no bounds to how much I regret not prebooking the cruise tickets for Pictured Rocks. Little did I expect that cruise cancellations were possible due to water levels. 

Tahquamenon Falls: Michigan's UP has numerous beautiful waterfalls. If time permits, take a trip to Tahquamenon Falls (both upper and lower falls). The upper and lower falls are connected by a 10-mile walking trail. Both upper and lower falls are accessible by road too.

Visit the upper peninsular to enjoy Michigan's rugged beauty.

World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta, GA

If you miss this attraction, you really are missing a bottle of free coke and sampling of Coke around the world. Oh wait, there is a 20$ for admission. Entry to the museum is in batches and every guest receives a small coke tin in the front room. Next is the introduction room that holds 125 years of coke artifacts. This is followed by a 6-minute feel-good video.

From the theater guests enter the main lobby. It showcases several coca-cola bottle sculptures from around the world. At this level, guests have the opportunity to take a picture with the infamous polar bear. 

This museum is also a bottling plant but it produces only 1200 bottles per minute. This is way less than the production plants.

 And more memorabilia.

The fun part is tasting beverages from around the world. Some were great but some were disgusting. If you have the time and wouldn't mind spending money or just want to visit this place out of curiosity, go ahead and visit. But you won't miss much if you decide to skip this museum.

48hrs in New York City with young kids

New York City is on every tourist bucket list. When it comes to places to visit in a limited time frame, can be extremely overwhelming. But the timeframe of my visit and size of the group I was with narrowed down my choices for me. We visited NYC with two young kids and our parents. So anything involving long walks, hikes, public transportation, stairs, and booze is out of my list. I see various posts on Pinterest listing about 10-15 places to cover in 48hrs with kids. I cant imagine how efficient they must be if they were able to visit so many places in 48hrs with young kids.

Day1 Statue Cruises: Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Statue Cruises is a must-do attraction in NYC.  The cruise tours Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty. Always reserve tickets online and be prepared for extended wait times based on the time and day of the year. Cruise is reasonably priced around 18$ per adult. Kids enjoyed the cruise, views, and snack bar on the cruise ship. This tour kept us busy the whole day.

Day1 Broadway & Times Square: Even though the morning view of NYC is amazing, nothing can top off night time view of NYC. Time Square is one of the busiest streets in NYC and is known for its LED screens. Feel the warmth of Time square's neon screens at night. The best part is munching on roasted nuts on a cold day. No other city is quite as vibrant as the Big Apple at night. Kids loved meeting their favorite Disney character at the Time Square. Be sure to tip them.

Broadway- The best place for theater in the world. If you can add a play or a musical to your itinerary, go for it. Time Square would be a good spot for visiting once. I wouldn't do it more than once since it is crowded, expensive to park and there is nothing more to see. I would spend my time elsewhere next time.

Day2 9/11 Memorial: The 9/11 Memorial is free of cost but the visit to the museum is around 25$ per person. the visit takes around 4 hrs. Admission to the museum is free on Tuesday from 5pm till closing. Reserve tickets online before your visit. Free admission needs ticket reservations too.

Day2 One World Observatory: If you can do one observatory, this has to be it. Located right next to the 9/11 memorial, One world observatory has the best views of NYC.

Standard tickets are around 35$. Do not miss the introduction video at the auditorium. We did the priority reserved at 56$ a ticket, it skips a lot of lines and waits times. The views are amazing even though tickets are pricy.

Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park and Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois

No trip to the windy city Chicago is ever complete without a picture with the big shiny bean in the Millennium Park. We chose a Thursday to cover Millennium Park, Grant Park and the Art Institute of Chicago as the Art institute has free entry on Thursdays. Parking is very expensive and any discounts on entry fee is always welcome. 

Art museum has an amazing collections from across the world. It has a wide array of collections and prepare for miles of walking if you are visiting all locations at once.

One World Observatory, New York City, NY

Located right next to 9/11 Memorial, One World Observatory has the best views of New York compared to other sky scrapers. If you want to do one skyscraper during your next visit, this should be the one. Ticket price is steep but the views are absolutely worth it.

Visitors have to go through TSA like security process. Elevator takes you all the way to 102 floor. Introduction video in the auditorium was amazing. It walks you through the construction of Freedom tower and reveals New York sky line at the end.

Views are amazing and the best.

No doubt it is a concrete jungle out there. But, still love the Big Apple.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, New York & New Jersey, USA

New York!!! A trip to New York city is never complete without a visit to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Best time of the year to visit is around late April- early or early September right after schools start. Crowd is comparatively light on a week day. Statue cruises start from either Battery park on the NY side or Liberty state park on the NJ side. Both cruises stop at Ellis Island and Liberty statue. The cruise ships are pretty good with enough seating and refreshments on board. If you wish to get a good picture of Manhattan sky line or Statue of Liberty, head to the top deck of the ship.

Before boarding the cruise, expect a TSA level security check and very long lines. Visitors have three levels of access at Statue of Liberty. Regular access, Pedestal and Crown access. it is always a good idea to reserve tickets from StatueCruises before visiting. Regular access and Pedestal access have almost same prices. I would strongly recommend Pedestal access as it gives a better vantage point, lesser crowds and beautiful pictures.

Pedestal access has elevator access for most of it. Strollers/ wheel chairs are not allowed. How ever, there are a flight of stairs at the start and end of elevator. Views from the top of pedestal are amazing. you would be amazed by the construction of huge granite pedestal. From pedestal starts the Crown access.

Crown access is whole another story.  It is very hard to come across an open reservation to Crown Access. There is no elevator access to the top. Spiral stairs are the only way to reach Crown and boy they look exhausting. Climbing that stairs with two young kids at this point seems like a circus feet. Hence, I am saving it for later date. May be some day in next 10 years !!!!!!Visit to Ellis Island was pleasant. Museum with audio tour and exhibits was a very nice addition to the cruise.

This is why I LOVE Smale park, Cincinnati, Ohio

These photos speak all about Smale Riverfront Park. Carousel, splash pads, river walks, play areas for the entire family, rose garden, picnic areas, slides, rock climbing and lots of photo ops.

We started at carousel ride because my kids love it and one ride is never enough. Then we stopped at "sing the Queen city" mural for a quick photo session and took a long stroll on the suspension bridge.

Next stop splash pad.

And then walked down the stairs to the park.

These play areas are fantastic and they are spread throughout the park. I love the giant piano and the pig and the swings and the rose garden. Oh, I love almost everything about this park. 

Don't miss this park if you are visiting Cincinnati.

Small and cute Rose garden.

I love these picnic benches on train tracks. Do they move? I don't know. But I tried to move them :)

Thanks, Cincinnati. For not being a disappointment. Hope to visit again. 

Topiary Park, Columbus, Ohio

Columbus topiary garden made it to the list of '5 of the world's fascinating topiary gardens'. I remember seeing the original painting by George Seurat during my visit to Chicago Art Museum  and I was really exited to visit this garden. 

After reading a ton of positive reviews online, I decided to visit this garden as it was only a couple of miles detour on our way home. Boy was I disappointed!!! This should probably make into the list of places "not to visit in Columbus"

The concept of topiary garden of a painting is amazing. It was rather entertaining as my kids and I tried to compare original painting with the topiaries in the garden. The park itself is small and is located in the heart of Columbus downtown. Street parking is available and is free during weekends. There is a small trail that goes around the park and few picnic benches. There is not much shade in the park either.

The sad part is lack of maintenance. There is a small pond in the middle of the park and it is outright disgusting. Metal frame that is used to shape the topiaries is exposed. It bothers me to see such a great place completely out of shape. While the park attracts lot of visitors, I think it would be a good idea to charge a couple of dollars as entry fee if that helps with the park's maintenance. I bet no one would like to see such hard work going to waste.

Sunflower Field, Mason, Ohio

Want a beautiful pictures in sunflower field? Well, head to Natorp's Sunflower field in Mason, Ohio. Courtesy of Natorp's nursery, sunflower field is planted in the corner of Snider and Irwin-Simpson road opposite to Cottell park.  Almost every summer, this sunflower field is open to public.

No matter where in the world you go to, it cannot get prettier than this.