A friend joined me for five nights of my 10 night stay in St. Petersburg, Florida. We rented bicycles for 2 days and took the complimentary bus from our Airbnb to downtown St. Petersburg. There are some slots for bicycles to be stored while riding on the bus.
These are some of the sites we saw while cycling.
I love areas like this where you can cycle along the water front.
I took the complimentary shuttle from my Airbnb near St. Petersburg Beach, Florida to downtown St. Petersburg and then walked about a half a mile to the Salvador Dali museum.
Salvador Dali was from Figueres, Spain. Major themes in his work include dreams, the subconscious, sexuality, religion, science and his closest personal relationships.
The admission price is normally $30, but on Thursday evenings from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. it’s half price.
These are a few of the sites I saw while bicycling at St. Petersburg Beach. I cycled about 8 mi round trip.
Bicycling is a great way to get some exercise and see things at a slower pace.
I’ve seen Chihuly glass sculptures in various places but this collection was exceptional!
If you’re ever in St. Petersburg, Florida, try to make a stop at this museum.
I’ve been to the beach a few times since I arrived here in St. Petersburg, Florida. My favorite things to do at the beach are to walk and people watch.
My friend Scott and I left Tuesday Morning on a road trip to the Smoky Mountains National Park. I had booked an Airbnb for two nights above Gatlinburg. It was more room than we needed, with three bedrooms and two baths. The highlight of our lodging was the view from the balcony on the third floor.
The following day we did a 2 1/2 mile hike at Laurel Falls.
Autumn is my favorite season, I love the colors!
We stopped to check out Mannish Branch Falls, but weren’t able to cross the creek to see it up close.
Our next stop was “the Sinks”.
Our second hike was 5.5 miles at Rainbow Falls. The elevation change was 1,500 ft.
The mountains were dusted with snow.
Since it hadn’t rained much for a while, the falls were smaller than usual but still beautiful.
We saw two bears from the car.
All together we walked over 10 miles yesterday, and my body knew it. After a hot shower, some pizza, and a couple of Tylenol, I was almost good as new.
On Sunday (10/2/22), my friend and I left our Airbnb in Louisville and went to the Speed Art Museum before heading home.
We both loved it. It has a variety of art…modern, Ancient, African, European, Kentucky, etc. Plus on Sundays it’s free.
Next we drove to Libby’s Southern Comfort Restaurant in Covington, Kentucky. We both had the yummy Shrimp Roll.
It was a quick 30 hour road trip filled with good food and interesting places.
Picking up where I left off from the first part of our Louisville road trip…we checked into our Airbnb at 4:00pm on 10/1/22. It’s located in Paristown Point near the Highlands neighborhood. It was clean and modern.
We had some wine and relaxed on the front porch, before getting ready to go out for dinner. On the eight minute walk to our restaurant, we passed a number of other restaurants. You’ll notice the friendly people as I took this photo…
We dined at Taco Luchador. It’s very inviting with inexpensive delicious tacos.
On the walk back to our Airbnb I noticed the unique lighting…
Tomorrow I’ll post about our Sunday in Louisville.
My friend and I left yesterday (10/1/22) from my place in Covington, Kentucky and drove an hour and 43 minutes to Louisville, Kentucky for an overnight stay. I had been to Louisville once before about nine years ago on a girl’s trip. I took my bicycle since we would be cycling for part of the day. We couldn’t check-in to our Airbnb until 4:00pm, so I had an 8 mile bike route pre-planned on Google maps. It included riding through the neighborhoods of Smoketown, Nulu, Downtown, and Old Louisville. I researched the LouVelo bike share so my friend could rent a bicycle. There was a station 7 minutes walk from our Airbnb, so I parked the car and we purchased a 300 minute plan ($25) for her. I’ve only seen this friend a few times in the past 8 years. I met her when I took a group of people to four countries in Europe back in 2014 and she joined the group. Although she’s 16 years younger than me, she doesn’t bicycle very often and never in a City, so she cycled quite slowly.
I discovered that Muhammad Ali was born in Louisville. Here’s a sculpture in his honor.
We passed Louisville Slugger Field
The downtown architecture is nice
We stopped for a tasty lunch at the Sidebar at Whiskey Row restaurant
As we passed a playground, I suggested we take a swing
After three hours of exploring and having lunch, I drove us to the Ohio riverfront where we walked across the Big Four Pedestrian bridge to the Indiana side of the river. The weather was perfect!
Come back tomorrow for the final part of our day/evening.
On Friday, 9/10/22 my friend Sherry and I walked (I rode my bicycle) less than 10 minutes from our hotel in Mackinaw City to the Star Line ferry that takes you to Mackinac Island. The ferry ride takes about 20-30 minutes. There are two ferries to choose from, the other is Shepler’s. They’re about the same cost. I took my bicycle on the ferry for an extra charge of $14 and Sherry rented one on the island for 5 hours. We cycled 8 miles around the island. We both agreed it was the best cycling experience we’ve had because the island is car free, the paths are wide and flat. You do need to watch out for the horse dung and the multitude of horse drawn carriages close to the main areas of town.
We passed beautiful homes.
We both agreed the parents of these children shouldn’t have allowed them to climb these rocks.
We walked up lots of steps for this view.
Back in town…
About two-thirds of the way around the island, we stopped for lunch at the Grand Hotel. They had a buffet for $75 (nope), so we opted for sitting in the bar area and had their sliders which were good.
The inside is quite colorful and pretty.
Down by the docks…
Leaving the island…
Later that evening, the view of the moon was beautiful from our hotel room…
Suddenly there was a beautiful display of fireworks which was quite unexpected…
My 10 day Pure Michigan road trip was everything I had imaged!
On Thursday, 9/8/22, my friend Sherry and I drove three hours from Marquette to Mackinaw City for a two-night stay. We arrived around noon and since we couldn’t check-in to our hotel until later, explored the town a bit and had lunch. Of course we purchased some of the famous fudge.
Me being silly…
We drove 5 minutes to our hotel, the Best Western Plus Dockside Waterfront Inn and checked in. The view of Lake Huron from our balcony was lovely.
After settling in, we relaxed at the shore…I even went swimming for a few minutes.
We made our way to the pool/hot tub for more fun and had the place to ourselves.
After showering we walked less than 10 minutes to the Hook Lakeside Grill for a drink and dinner.
Pretty views…
Tomorrow I’ll post about our trip to Mackinac Island
Continuing from Part 1 of Day 7, we arrived at the Pictured Rocks Cruises and boarded the 2:00pm cruise that lasts 2 ½ hrs. There’s an open-air top deck and enclosed bottom deck. Originally, I was planning to hike at Pictured Rocks, but with more research discovered the best way to see the beautiful cliffs/rocks was by boat.
The rock formations were beautiful!
My friend Sherry
The Captain took us into a small cove
We drove back to the Airbnb and walked across the street to Blackrocks Brewery and split a flight of beer and then walked 5 minutes to a pizza place for dinner.
Another beautiful and fun day in the UP.
Wednesday morning, 9/7/22 my friend Sherry and I drove 50 minutes from Marquette to Munising Falls. It’s only a ½ mile round-trip walk to the falls.
Back in the car, it’s only 10 minutes to Wagner Falls
Next, I drove 20 minutes to the Upper and Lower Overlooks near Miner’s Beach. The view was beautiful from the Upper Overlook.
The Lower Overlook view is nice also…
Lastly we drove 20 minutes to the Pictured Rocks Cruises, arriving at 1:20pm and waited in line for the 2:00pm departure to see Pictured Rocks from the water. I’ll post about that tomorrow.
We started our first full day in Marquette driving to Laughing Whitefish Falls State Park, where we had a short hike to a waterfall.
Next, we drove to Sugarloaf Mountain and walked up 304 steps to the viewing platforms. Wow!!
Lake Superior is large enough to fit five states in it.
Our last stop was Presque Isle Park. We drove around the one way loop and stopped a couple of times to view the lovely scenery.
After stopping at our Airbnb to freshen up and have a drink, we walked to The Vierling Restaurant and Marquette Harbor Restaurant.
We shared a smoked whitefish appetizer and had a delicious Whitefish entree (it looked so good I forgot to take a photo 🙂
Another wonderful day!
My first morning in Marquette, I cycled 8 miles on the multi-use path along Lake Superior.
I cycled in to town and saw some interesting sites.
My Airbnb was right across the street from Blackrocks Brewery.
I went from there to the airport in Marquette to pick up my girlfriend Sherry who was spending three nights with me at the Airbnb and then our next stop was Mackinaw City for a couple of nights. After she settled in, we walked less than 10 minutes to The Iron Bay Restaurant for dinner. We shared the Whitefish tacos and we each had a bowl of the Whitefish chowder…yum! The flight of beer was also delish!
We walked down to the shoreline and then back to our Airbnb, it was a full day!
Sherry Lachelle Travels 