Wardrobe: What to Wear While Visiting Roadside America

Admittedly most people on my visit to Solomon's Castle were donning their best red, purple, and white as they were mostly members of the Red Hat Society. For the rest of us, the challenge is balancing really cold AC indoors and warmer temperatures outdoors.

I wore a black sundress, but I thought it would be fun to create a look that took the standard Florida wardrobe staples - a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals - and elevate them a bit with interesting accessories. You could wear this to any of the quirky sights that make up the classic Americana roadside tourist stop.

long sleeved t-shirt, bag, shorts, sunglasses, sandals, earrings

A Poetry Tasting: Peach Stop

As I'm cruising around Napa Valley wine tasting today, please enjoy the second installment of our poetry series written by Kate Lindblom! This is a tale of her east coast road trip (where she and our friend Brandy stopped in DC to see me!).

Road Trip 2012: Tampa to Boston.
Summer.
America's east coast beckons!
But first,
a peach stop.

We've barely stepped over
the threshold
of the first state line
when we take an exit
seriously
that promises
Georgia peaches
pecan logs
peanuts
clean bathrooms.

Next to the feed store,
the goods sit on tables
under a green tent
with local people
manning the peach-colored bottles
of cider
and peach-colored jars
of jam
while a peach-colored kitten scampers away
on our approach.

Open plastic jars labeled “College”
sit here and there
between the Southern offerings,
all with a thin layer of coins
and a crumpled dollar or two
at the bottom.
Ziploc bags filled with water
hang under the eaves of the tent
each with a penny dropped inside
to keep the flies away
and the customers curious.

Business is good.
My friend goes inside the feed store,
which manner dictates
since we parked in front of it,
while I test the heft
of the nearest bottle of cider.

As I pay,
I notice a young raccoon in a cat trap
at the edges of the whole affair.
Another tourist points
to the black-eyed animal
who's surrounded
by scattered peanut shells.
“Oh, it's wild”
is the nearest boy's response
as he smoothes out the bills
in his hand.
I walk to the car,
and look back
at the captive animal
with its blank face
and resting paws
as it lolls in its cage.

My friend gets into the car as I do.
We both try to share our own experience
of the local color in the minute we were apart.

I talk about the raccoon.
She tells of the feed store smell
and a man who greeted her kindly
and asked,
“Where's Booger?”
A voice from the back answered,
“He's right there.”
She looked down to see a gloomy dog,
a boxer,
lying on the floor listless
as if in preparation for the heat.

We drive back onto the highway
and faster we accelerate,
the more satisfied we are
in our Georgia encounter
and with our first peach stop.

Essentials for the long haul

necklace, dress, bag, sunglasses, popcorn, gummies, M&Ms, Garmin, sandals

Not only did I enjoy a country drive with Gman last weekend but a few of my girlfriends are taking a road trip from Florida up to see me in D.C. then head up to Boston for the Fourth of July festivities (remember when I went a few years ago?). So I got to thinking about car ride essentials, things for entertainment and nourishment. Here's a list of my long haul necessities:

A comfy dress for hours of sitting with accessories and sandals that are either easily removed or easily napped in (baggy pants would work too).

Candy and salty snacks for a special treat (am I the only one who gets the munchies in the car?) and lots of water to wash it down.

Sunglasses to combat the glare on the road.

Music! Gman and I love listening to satellite radio on long drives. We switch between music, listening to sports (I don't know why I like doing that, sounds boring right?), and the comedy stations.

A Garmin because you will get lost and your phone will die.

Are you taking a trip by car this summer? What are your essentials?

Destination: a year of travels

I'm still in shock that it will be 2012 in only a few short days. This year flew by! Not only was it full of exciting travel destinations - Paris, Florida, Seattle, to name a few - but also unforgettable memories, happy and heartbreaking, and a life changing move from New York City to Washington D.C.

I'm also still in shock that it has been a year since I started writing this blog. It is a project I have wanted to start for a few years now without knowing exactly how to begin or what creative direction to take. I've been saving up journals, scrap notes, and snapping pictures for a long time without a specific path in mind. It has been wonderfully challenging to develop stories from my trips and way to fun coming up with wardrobe inspirations. I have enjoyed exploring wine and food with you and I can't wait to dig deeper into art and art history.

Writing has been a journey too. Having an outlet for my passions has only deepened my drive to pursue them with wreakless abandon.

Thank you for your support and encouraging feedback throughout the year. Every time I hangout with friends and family and someone says, "I read your blog!" my heart feels simultaneously joyful and humbled. 

So for this week's destination, I want to take a trip down memory lane. Here's where we went in 2011:

Hudson River Valley, NY {and again here}
Montauk, NY
New York, NY {we explored NYC a lot...}
Gettysburg, PA
Key West, FL
Sanibel Island, FL
Sarasota, FL
Gainesville, FL
Seattle, WA and Mount Rainier
Paris, France
Dublin, Ireland and Glendalough
The Bahamas
Washington D.C. {and here too}

And my road trip honeymoon with Gman to Boston, Nantucket, Bar Harbor, Lake Willoughby, and of course the legendary camping trip.

I'm already planning more excursions this year and can not wait to share them with you. Gman and I are driving up to Savannah for New Year's so after a bit of Shoe Love tomorrow, I'll be taking a short break to check it out and catch up with friends.

Best New Year's wishes to your and yours!

xoxo Jamie

Baggage

Orla Kiely

Fact: I love weekend bags. Also fact: I've been oogling this one. The playfulness of the cars in so many different colors inspires me to pack up my polka dot bikini, sunglasses, and flip flops and go for a road trip tour of Florida beaches... which I'm sort of doing this week as we travel from family to family up the West coast of Florida. What are you doing for the holidays? Do you travel or does family come visit you? do they stay with you? Can you believe Christmas is only a few days away?!

Road Trip Essentials

It doesn't take much to convince me to go on a road trip. It's like saying "wanna go for a car ride?!" to a puppy. I love driving cars; automatic, manual, vintage, new, truck, sedan, compact, pretty much anything I can get my hands on. And I love looking out the window watching the world go by (when I'm the passenger...). There is something meditative about it to me.

However, being in the car for long periods of time and driving through towns you have never been to definitely calls for some food and music essentials. Here is what we usually do:

Food:

My family has a running joke that every time we step foot on our boat we immediately crave Cheez-its and an icy cold beer. It's like that with me and cars too. As soon as I get in the car I get the munchies and I want to take a nap. So I like to bring a cooler with cold drinks, sandwiches, chips or Cheez-its (or Goldfish... mmm), fresh fruit, and mixed nuts. It's a good idea to bring at least one meal with you as you never know what sort of fast food or mystery restaurant you might be dealing with on the journey. I like having options.

Like these options, which we bought out of a truck at a truck stop gas station last spring...

 

Music:

Sitting in the car 45 minutes let alone nine hours can be boring. We usually bring satellite radio and go back and forth between music, NPR, and the comedy channels. I grew up listening to classic 70s party music, which is still my preference, while Gman wants to sing along to 90s grunge as a reminder of his youthful glory days. "That's when music was real music," he says. Funny that's how I feel about what I like... Besides if I listened to music from my youth it would most certainly include NSYNC and Backstreet Boys and there is only so much of that one can take.

I usually don't sing along to music as my singing voice is reminicent of a dying cat. But being on the open road affords me the freedom to roll down the windows and belt it out. Gman wears earplugs (just kidding! He laughs at me).

There is also something to be said about quietly listening to the wind rush by while looking out the window at idyllic pastoral landscapes. Being on the open road gives you the immediate liberty to take yourself to another place, to fantasize about what it's like to live somewhere else, and to be still and relax.

Do you like being on the open road? What do you bring with you?

Wardrobe: summer road trip chic



Trousers, Top, Tote, Shoes, Sunglasses, Bracelet, Scarf

Silk pants with an elastic waist are a few steps up from sweatpants, although still comfortable for sitting in the car for long periods of time. You could throw some heels in your bag and step out of the car to a fancy, romantic dinner! Driving mocs are a must and a catch all tote will be easy to transition from car to destination. Try wearing this with a chic yet easy-to-rest-your-head-while-sitting-back-relaxing-in-the-passenger-seat hair style, like this braided top bun.

Destination: Road Trip

 

Last summer Gman and I took a road trip for our Honeymoon. We debated going down to the Caribbean or to Maui or the Maldives but a) we grew up in Florida at the beach and b) living in Manhattan we rarely went to Brooklyn let alone the greater Northeast. So we thought, should we explore these spaces so near to our home?

When we started dating, Gman invited me on a road trip from Ft Myers through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and ending in Mississippi to visit his grandparents. It was a big step for him - who previously had not admitted we were dating. That road trip was so much fun! We learned a lot about each other and really began to see our connection. Most importantly as his best man toasted at our wedding, Gman said I didn’t annoy him after 9 hours in the car, so I must be the one.

The more we thought about it, a road trip seemed an appropriate choice for our Honeymoon. Our trip started in NYC, then went to Nantucket, Boston, White Mountain National Forest, Bar Harbor, Maine, and swung by Willoughby State Forest and Stowe in Vermont before returning to NYC. The trip was 10 days and we wanted to be in Boston for the 4th of July (as you saw here).

Since summer is now upon us I would like to share our adventure with you! Perhaps you will be inspired to go to one of these destinations for your summer vacation.