Wonder Wander

Wonder??

Wander!!

I love visiting new cities but even more than that, I love revisiting cities and purpose to go wandering beyond what I was able to see and do the last time I was there.

No matter where I travel to, I always wonder.  

I wonder what it would be like to live there.  Chicago or Boston in the Winter….thats a hard “no” for this girl.  Little Gasparilla Island or Charleston in the Summer….if you know me at all, those are much more plausible.

I wonder what shops and restaurants are locally owned and which ones are the best ones.

I wonder where the street art is.  I wonder where the lesser known photo ops are.  

I wonder what little bar I can go to when I want to sit and write or work a bit and have a glass of wine.

I wonder where the best rooftop patio is or where I can find a quaint place with outdoor seating so I can people watch.

The things I wonder about when I am traveling seem to be unlimited. 

So, how do I usually find all these things and so much more??

I would like you guess but my fear is that you would say “Google” or “Yelp” or some other too-trendy, super mainstream website.  I don’t find answers to any of my wondering online.  

All my wondering is answered by wandering.  For real.

I will often walk out of my hotel and flip a coin which will decide if I go right or go left and walk.  I have no intended destination (and because of that, I am grateful for Google maps 😊) and usually, no pressing timeline or deadline.  

If I am in a city with a metro system, I have been knows to pick a stop to get off and just begin to explore.  Yes, I will ALWAYS ask the concierge at the hotel which locations or stops I should avoid.  Im not ever careless with my safety.

When my son and I were in Chicago for about a week this Summer, we did A LOT of wandering.  I could not begin to tell you how many steps we managed to fit in every day.  Enough that our feet hurt when we climbed in to bed at night. But also enough that our hearts were full and we all kinds of new memories in our brains.

As we wandered downtown we literally ran in to a restaurant called “Roanoke”.  Since that is where we currently live, we thought we should go and check it out.  We, and by “we” I mean Landen, was very excited to see some of the buildings used in the Batman movie.  He was a COMPLETE tourist, taking pictures of the buildings, sometimes standing in the street when there was no traffic to get the “best shot” 😊 He didn’t care that people were watching him or laughing….he was completely in the moment.

When we randomly got off the metro at the “Wilson” station, we found a great street sign, some street art and a FABULOUS little restaurant called Lucy’s.  You can read about our experience eating at Lucys here.  It is a place not to be missed!!

I am thankful that he is so easy going and is up for the adventure of finding out whats out there.  Sometimes we find cool stuff and other times, nothing grand….just the “normal” city stuff, but no matter what, I am grateful for the time I have with him and also the opportunity to show him how to navigate a big city as I hope he will continue to do this on his own.

So sure, plan to have dinner at the “Best Seafood Restaurant” and take pictures at the “Top Attractions” but I also encourage you to leave some time for wandering.  I can almost promise you that those adventures may bring some of your best memories.  

If you are a wanderer like me, please share!!  I would love to see pictures of and learn more about the places that you wandered to.  I will keep on sharing what I find out in this great big world as well.  

And remember…..the only real way to satisfy the WONDER is just to WANDER.  

Enjoy each and every minute.