As I arrive home from California, I thought it would be nice to look back at the many trips I took last year.  Things got started in March, when I headed out to Las Vegas for the IBM Think conference.  Along the way, I took in a show, Absinthe, at Caesar’s Palace, a Barenaked Ladies concert at Mandalay Bay, and a show by The Chainsmokers at MGM Grand, where I was staying.

Following the conference, I took a detour to Phoenix for a long weekend, where I took in some Cactus League action at Camelback Ranch and Peoria Sports Complex, seeing the White Sox, Cubs, and Mariners (twice!).  I also enjoyed a trip to the slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend in Page, followed by a quick trip to the Grand Canyon.

About a month later, I took a short weekend trip to New York.  Danny, Michael, and I flew to New York on a Friday night, where we met up with Angelina and had dinner with the family she was nannying for.  Saturday was a glorious spring day, spent sight seeing at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, Central Park, the Guggenheim museum, and the Empire State Building.  Sunday was spent at the Lyric Theatre, watching both parts of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, before heading home early Monday morning.

My next trip came at the end of July, as Val and I headed down to Roanoke, Virginia, to celebrate Jeff’s 50th birthday.  After a day of “work”, the highlight of the trip was Saturday’s hike up Catawba Mountain to McAfee Knob.  Sunday was spent recovering, before heading home.

I spent most of September in Europe, starting with a week in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Aside from work, there was a trip to Castle Ward in to look at Game of Thrones filming locations, a hockey game featuring the Belfast Giants, a trip to the Ulster American Folk Park and a nip across the border to the wonderful town of Muff in Ireland, and a Black Cab tour of locations in Belfast related to the Troubles.

After a bus trip to the airport in Dublin, I headed to Rome for a week.  While there, I took trips to the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Catacombs and Church of San Sebastiano, the Spanish Steps, and the Vatican, in addition to a bus tour around town.

From Rome, I flew to Edinburgh, Scotland.  In my day and a half there, I really only managed to visit Edinburgh Castle, where I managed to see the firing of the One O’Clock Gun.  From there, I flew back to Dublin, where I did nothing but hang out in the hotel and read before heading home the following day.

After that trip, I managed to stay home for three weeks, before the end of October where I headed out to Boston for 2 days.  With the first two games of the World Series going on at Fenway Park, I was around town, celebrating birthdays with Angelina, taking in a Garbage show at the House of Blues, and taking tours of Fenway and Harvard.

That weekend, I headed down to St. Louis, with the rest of the family, for an exciting marching band competition.  After spending most of the day at the former home of the Rams, we found a late night diner to celebrate birthdays alongside a population of drunks looking for Halloween fun.  Sunday morning breakfast, across the street from the Chess Hall of Fame, ended the trip before a long drive home.

I managed to stay home for a little over a month before heading back to Boston in early December with my mom to see Angelina’s first synchro competition and an ice show by the BU Figure Skating Club.

Finally, the year came to an end with a trip out to California with the family to see Danny march in the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena.  We arrived on Friday and spent the day checking out the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  The next day, we took a trip down to Anaheim to Disneyland, where Danny and his band were performing.  Sunday we headed out to Pasadena for Band Fest, where Danny and many of the other bands were performing their field shows, and a tour of the float barn, which was an incredible waste of time.  Monday, New Year’s Eve, was split between a tour of Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank and Beverly Hills, where we strolled down Rodeo Drive before having an early dinner.  Since the rest of the trip took place in 2019, I guess we’ll pick this up next year.