Mike's Barbaric Yawp

What are His Yawps?

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My Latest Yawps

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  • Father’s Day Weekend Camping
    Woodford State Park, VT My family decided to take a last-minute camping trip over Father’s Day Weekend, and we choose Woodford State Park, based upon a recommendation from a co-worker of my wife. Typically, we camp at state parks. I prefer them over family campgrounds. I had never camped growing up, and it was my wife who turned me on to camping as we were dating. We’ve mostly camped in… Read more: Father’s Day Weekend Camping
  • Strasburg Rail Road, Memorial Day Weekend 2024
    A quick weekend jaunt to Amish Country, Pennsylvania. Steam Locomotives, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Dutch Haven, Shady Maple Smorgasbord, and The Turkey Hill Experience. My son has always had a huge passion for trains, particularly steam. At just about 20, he still hasn’t outgrown it, and I doubt he ever will. His summer plans include heading to Colorado to participate in NOAC 2024 in Boulder. He intends to ditch a… Read more: Strasburg Rail Road, Memorial Day Weekend 2024
  • May 10-11, 2024 Northern Lights
    Fighting the Clouds… As an avid, self-proclaimed Space and Weather geek (along with my general love of photography), I thoroughly enjoy any naturally-occurring phenomena, and the challenge of trying to capture images of it. On one night, back in June of 2009, I had the opportunity to photograph the aurora borealis from the golf course just down the road from where I live. I took several that night, and here’s… Read more: May 10-11, 2024 Northern Lights
  • Bermuda Cruise, 4/14-4/21/2024 #1
    Bermuda from New York on the Norwegian Joy Yup, another trip to Bermuda on the Joy… My previous posts about my family’s cruise last year to 2003 talked about how we thoroughly enjoyed this trip. It was meant to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, but we ended up bringing our son along. We did this because we had promised him a trip to see clear turquoise waters. Since we will… Read more: Bermuda Cruise, 4/14-4/21/2024 #1
  • Wtf? Where did April go?
    There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day… I’d like to think that I’m not the type of person who makes excuses for things. That being said, I know that I’m a professional procrastinator.  I mean, I still have Christmas lights hanging on my shrubs out front… Along with my habitual procrastination, I’m also a pretty big planner. I don’t like to go about anything half cocked. When… Read more: Wtf? Where did April go?
  • FINALLY!  April 8th, 2024, Total Solar Eclipse
    Magog, QC As I’ve previously written, it has been my goal to finally cross off a bucket-list item of mine, a total solar eclipse. This one has been on my radar for several years, and I was willing to travel anywhere from the Ohio/Indiana border to the Maine/New Brunswick border in order to experience it. This was something I’ve always wanted to see, and I’ve seen countless pictures and videos… Read more: FINALLY!  April 8th, 2024, Total Solar Eclipse
  • April 8th Eclipse
    Narrowing down the choices OK, so the weather geek in me has been agonizing over cloudcover forecasts for the past few days. Originally the plan was to drive anywhere from Houlton, ME to the OH/IN border, as I’ve got family in both spots. Anywhere in between would be just a long day-trip since I don’t have lodging anywhere else. One of the websites that my weather-geek friends and I use… Read more: April 8th Eclipse
  • Celebrating Patriot’s Day in Lexington and Concord
    The Best Way to Learn About the Beginning of the Revolutionary War Patriot’s Day has been a Massachusetts holiday since 1894, and it represents far more than just the day that the Boston Marathon is run, and an 11:00am Boston Red Sox home game. I have lived in New England my entire life, and remember learning years ago in school about the start of the Revolutionary War and the Battle… Read more: Celebrating Patriot’s Day in Lexington and Concord
  • Things to do in New York Before or After a Cruise
    I would never recommend arriving for your cruise on the morning of embarkation. Arriving AT LEAST the day before often saves many potential headaches and added stresses to what is already the most stressful day in a cruise vacation. The good news is that departing on a cruise from the New York area offers an endless supply of things to do. If you’re leaving from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, you’re… Read more: Things to do in New York Before or After a Cruise
  • Mike’s Guide to NOT Spending a Fortune at Fenway Park
    Maybe we were very lucky with our two kids, I dunno.  I have come across so many families who say things like, “You took your kids where?  We could never take our kids to a movie.  …or out to a nice dinner.   …or to the beach.  …or for a 2-hour drive to the city, let alone a baseball game!” I never really understood it.  I wasn’t willing to stop living… Read more: Mike’s Guide to NOT Spending a Fortune at Fenway Park
  • The DEFINITIVE Travel and Parking Guide for the New York area Cruise Terminals
    This post covers the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, and Cape Liberty Cruise Port So you’re contemplating a cruise sailing from the New York area, or maybe you’ve already booked it. Congrats! Whether you’re headed to the Bahamas/Caribbean, Bermuda, north to New England and Canada, or to Europe, it’s a great place to sail from. Now that you’ve made the decision where to depart on your trip, you might… Read more: The DEFINITIVE Travel and Parking Guide for the New York area Cruise Terminals
  • Amazon Camping Must-Haves
    One of my favorite getaways is camping. Growing up, camping wasn’t anything that my family was into, but when I met my wife, all of that changed. We were young, poor, and were always on the lookout for ways to travel inexpensively. Camping surely fit that bill. Even though I’m older now, I haven’t outgrown camping. We still prefer camping in State Parks, as they’re typically very inexpensive but offer… Read more: Amazon Camping Must-Haves
  • Bermuda 2023 (Part 6)
    A Perfect Day. Finally, the Rainy Weather Broke, and a Phenomenal Day was on Tap! I’ve been looking forward to writing about this day since I decided to start this blog. Looking back at my life, there have been a handful of days that I know that I’ll never forget. I’m talking about something far more profound than just creating a memory or two. Sometimes the stars align, and you… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 6)
  • Amazon Cruise Essentials
    Must-Haves for a Cruise Vacation If you’ve ever gone on a cruise, there are some must-have items that you don’t want to forget to bring with you. Staterooms are small, and storage is at a premium. Even if you’re going on a short trip, organization is key! Here are some things that I’ve picked up from Amazon that have made my trips much more enjoyable. I’ve included only the items that I have found… Read more: Amazon Cruise Essentials
  • Bermuda 2023 (Part 5)
    Day 1 in Bermuda! I have to admit, I didn’t sleep much the night before our 8am arrival into Bermuda. As soon as I started seeing it get light outside, I headed out to our balcny to see what I could see. I knew from checking the weather before we left that there was a chance of showers off and on throughout the day. Yeah, it was pretty murky out. Warm and humid. The balcony… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 5)
  • Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker
    Christmas Eve, 2023 My last post was about attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In it, I talked about how after the parade we enjoyed a great meal at our favorite Brazilian Steakhouse, Fogo de Chao in New York. It got me thinking about other times that we have had a great meal at Fogo, and here’s my most recent trip there. It seems like each time we eat at a Fogo, it’s… Read more: Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker
  • Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
    *** Bucket List Item *** My wife has been dying to head to New York to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for as long as she can remember. She grew up watching it on TV as a kid, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa at the very end. We love Christmas, and it’s a yearly tradition to watch all of the classics. It was fantastic to see the parade that Miracle on… Read more: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
  • Kennebunkport, Maine
    Saturday, January 28th Who says that Northern beaches are only worth visiting in the Summer? My wife and I decided to take a quick little overnight trip to coastal Maine. Maine is one of our favorite places to visit, and we typically spend time in the Ogunquit area. Wanting to visit someplace new, we headed an additional 20 miles north to Kennebunk/Kennebunkport. Winter is definitely off-season up there, and while I don’t… Read more: Kennebunkport, Maine
  • Bermuda 2023 (Part 4)
    Sail Away, Cruise Days 1-2-3. It’s now after lunch, and we’ve got some time to kill before our Aft Balcony room is ready. Time to explore the ship! Since we had checked our luggage, it was being brought to our room and we obviously didn’t have access to any of it. As a first-time cruiser who did my homework, I had learned that it was best to carry a backpack with everything… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 4)
  • Bermuda 2023 (Part 3)
    Departure Day! Now that I had a date and destination booked, I started obsessing over every detail of the cruise. I researched absolutely everything! Maybe I went overboard, but it was my first cruise and I wanted it to be perfect. It seems that embarkation day is always the most hectic and stressful day of a vacation that’s supposed to be relaxing. I wanted to make it go as smoothly as possible. The ship… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 3)
  • Bermuda 2023 (Part 2)
    Finalizing a Ship and Destination As I posted previously, originally, we were looking at taking a cruise on the RCL Allure of the Seas out of Galveston. Logistically it was going to be tough for this trip, so I had to make another choice. I started narrowing down a sailing to Bermuda out of either New York, or Boston. Since I had already done some research on the Allure, I had come to… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 2)
  • Bermuda 2023 (Part 1)
    Why a Cruise to Bermuda? I would have to say that this cruise to Bermuda is really what inspired me to start to travel more, and to start to document my many adventures.  We love spending time near the water, whether it’s at the beach, river, or lake, and in 2022 we had promised my then 17-year-old son a trip to visit turquoise waters when he was a senior in… Read more: Bermuda 2023 (Part 1)
  • Anticipating April…
    It’s a cold, quiet Saturday morning around here.  While I’m being lazy and procrastinating starting my day, I’m counting down the days until two of the adventures I’m planning take place.  They’re very different and I honestly can’t say which one I’m looking forward to more. First up is the total solar eclipse happening on Monday, April 8th.  It’s always been a bucket list item of mine, and I’m all… Read more: Anticipating April…
  • Mike, and his Barbaric Yawp
    I have finally decided, after experiencing almost a half century of life, to share with you my past/present adventures and the tidbits of knowledge I’ve gained along the way. When I was a child, my parents did a great job of providing me with every opportunity they possibly could. Some of those opportunities I squandered (Mom and Dad, sorry about leaving college early… I know it bothered you but you were always… Read more: Mike, and his Barbaric Yawp

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