January

In January, we went to Clearwater to celebrate my oldest friend’s wedding. She and her husband were sweet enough to acknowledge my birthday and a couple of others happening that weekend at their rehearsal dinner. We stopped by the beach to splash in the freezing cold ocean for a few minutes on my birthday before heading to Orlando for a week.

March

In March, we spent a weekend in Nashville to pick tulips at Liberty Grace Farms in Columbia, TN (about an hour south of town). 
We also went to midnight breakfast at Monell’s, and it was incredibly fun. You are seated at community tables and served a family-style southern breakfast feast. The food was delicious, and the random company was delightful. This will definitely be on our Nashville to-do list anytime we visit over a weekend.

April

April was a big road-tripping month! We drove to Indianapolis and went to Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at Newfields, explored downtown, and ate at the classic St. Elmo Steak House. We also explored downtown Carmel, IN, including the Museum of Miniature Houses. 

Then we headed to Muncie, IN to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law's family to see the solar eclipse in totality. We visited the Ball State Planetarium and Ball State Orchid Greenhouse; we ate at Pizza King, Concannon’s Bakery, BerryWinkle, and Lowery’s Candies. 

Next on the road trip, we stopped in Cincinnati, OH/Newport, KY because I really wanted to go to the zoo but it rained the entire two days we were there, so no zoo visit for us. 

On our way to our last stop, North Carolina, we drove through West Virginia and stopped to see the Mothman statue. 
In North Carolina, we went to a Savannah Bananas game, visited the North Carolina Botanical Garden, and hit up one of our favorite late-night eateries in Durham, Cosmic Cantina. We tried two new places that we really liked, Foster's Market and Simons Says Dip This.

May

To celebrate our anniversary in May, we went to Outer Banks, North Carolina. This was our first time at a North Carolina beach and it just happened to be freaking freezing the entire time. 

We visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Bodie Island Light Station, and Wilson Whirligig Park.

July

After Lucy died in July, we had to get out of the house. We decided on a foot spa weekend in Knoxville. We went to Wake Foot Sanctuary to relax, ate a giant cinnamon roll at Cafe 4, visited the UT Gardens, and ate our favorite Knoxville soft serve at Cruze Farm Dairy.

August

It’s barely summer without a trip to a state fair, so we headed to Louisville, KY for the Kentucky State Fair. It can’t compare to our adventures at the Iowa and Minnesota state fairs last summer but it was still fun. 

I even rode an Uber scooter and didn’t crash or fall off, which is kind of a miracle because I’m a disaster on two feet and a flat surface. 

September

In September, we went to Asheville, NC, to do some shopping and snacking downtown and to pick apples at Justus Orchard in Hendersonville, NC. The next week, Asheville and the surrounding areas were devastated by Hurricane Helene. It was wild to see pictures of the places we had just visited completely flooded or washed out.

October

October was our biggest travel month of the year! We spent two weeks in Sweden and Norway celebrating Christopher’s 40th birthday! You can read more about that trip here, here, here, and here. 
We fed and pet reindeer, saw the northern lights, saw so many OLD buildings and towns, and had a coffee and treat (Fika) every day.

December

Our last trip of the year was visiting my parents and youngest brother in Abingdon for Christmas. 

Christopher and I saw two new states and two new countries together this year. It was a great travel year. 

Did you go on any fun trips this year? If so, let us know where you went in the comments!