Tag Archives: Vacation

The Pickerts Take New York

This past week my entire family flew to New York and my brother took the train down to meet us in NYC. We stayed at a little vacation rental house in Brooklyn and took the train into Manhattan. Here are just a few of the things we did….

The Pickert Family

We ate at Lombardi’s Pizza, the first pizzeria in America. I’ve eaten here with JMO before but it was a fun place to share with my family. The day we went my friend Bonnie was with us, so we were able to get a picture of the entire family.

Mike and Meg on Ferry

We took the ferry from Battery Park to Liberty and Ellis Island. It was VERY COLD.

Emily and Lady Liberty

Emily looks adorable on the ferry. She took close to a million pictures of everything New York had to see. Our family only makes it into about 5 of her pictures. Check out her Facebook to see how little she cares about us.

Octopus and Me

We walked around Chinatown and SOHO. Michael found some spicy sauce he likes to put on all his foods. He thinks it will spice up the bland food on the farm. In this pic I am holding up a dried octopus. I have no idea what these are used for.

Bull and Parents

We walked around downtown, Wall Street, saw the NY Stock Exchange and fought other tourists to take a picture with the bull.

Black and White cookie - Emily

We ate black and white cookies, Emily was the only person who would let me photograph them eating it.

Overall, it was a fun trip. We were exhausted from walking everywhere, but we saw a lot on the four days we were there and not a lot on the days we traveled to and from the city. Michael is back at his farm and the rest of us have made it home safely.

If you are interested in the complete collection of our vacation photos, check them out on Flickr!

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Vegas Baby.

Oh Las Vegas. It was definitely an interesting past few days. Going on a trip with 9 girls was not something I had experienced before. I did not take very many pictures b/c almost everything of interest was being photographed by at least 4 other people, these photos will surface soon and I will just snag them then.

So here is the rundown of events completed:

1. Dinner Friday at a burger joint in NY, NY.

2. Night out at Rain in the Palms (the place the Real World people worked at that season).

3. Sweated profusely at the pool at MGM, didn’t float lazy river b/c floats were $16??!!

4. Ate bad Mexican food.

5. Wandered around. WALKED. Feet ached. Bellagio Fountains.

6. Ate at Serendipity 3. Adorable and tasty. Frozen hot chocolate consumed.

7. Saw “O” – loved it. Can’t really described what happened but I may need to work on my flexibility.

8. Played roulette. Leah and I won money. $40 turned into $95.

9. Walked, ate, shopped. More games.

10. Ate bad Italian food.

11. Saw Thunder from Down Under. Laughed hysterically for an hour and a half.

12. Gambled more. Began losing.

13. Stayed out till 6am.

14. Almost missed plane.

15. Slept from 7ish last night to 11am this morning.

16. Making this list.

Leah & Me

Me winning money

Bellagio

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Tybee Island




We got to Tybee Island lighthouse at the same time and a church group. An elderly church group. So we walked up the stairs, shared landings, and walked down the stairs behind ladies discussing what it was physically like for them to climb 200 steps. It was also insanely windy.

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Mrs. Wilkes, Hearse Ride, Planters, Ruby

On my journey a few weeks ago, Mike and I stopped in Savannah, Georgia. It was gorgeous, old, and chilly. We were not prepared with warm clothes. I had a fleece that I’d brought for my flight to Orlando that I wound up wearing everyday. Mike had sent his winter clothes home with mom, but found a Christmas sweater in a suitcase that he wore everywhere.


Since I brought the camera, all of my vacation pictures consist of Michael standing in front of something. There is a lot more where this came from, but one only needs so many pictures of her brother.



Above is the hearse that we traveled around town in. Ghost tours are only worth the time if done from the back of a hearse. The tour guide dropped us off last and then discussed with me how he thought Savannah must be over a pocket of energy, like in LOST, spirits are drawn to this spot. He stated very plainly that he had seem more ghosts in Savannah than anywhere else. The tour guide said they had similar tours in New Orleans, where he is from, but there were no real ghosts there. Soo…. if you are looking for ghosts, Savannah is your only option in the deep south.



We tried to watch Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil because it is mentioned every two minutes in Savannah, we were bored instantly. Above is the Mercer house, the setting of the book and film.


Above, Michael and I drinking wine in a 200+ year old basement, we know how to have fun.

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Rainbows and sunshine.

I’m burning cds right now for the possibility of a car ride. I am no longer positive I will be spending 20+ hours in the car with my little brother. Car difficulties. Details to be determined. I have a one way ticket to Orlando on Saturday morning. I still plan on going, I still plan on escaping my work life for a few days, but all the fun day to dayness will have to be flexible.

It is already decided that Savannah MUST stay on the trip itinerary. Biloxi can go. New Orleans can go. Grandparents stop must happen if there is a car ride. But Savannah must happen. I have grown excited and am in awe of the charm of the city. I need to see it. Paula Deen must make me a meal and I need to run into Ruby on a street corner.

So cross your fingers that my trip turns out to be exactly what I need and not a reminder that cars are the worst investment in our lives.

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I sound semi prepared for something.

Mike and I just finished our road trip brainstorming session. I’m flying out to Orlando on Saturday to pack my brother up and take a week to drive from Orlando to San Antonio. I haven’t been off an entire week since this time last year and I need to escape. I desperately miss summer and holiday vacations and think my mental health is deteriorating without these breaks. I have high hopes for this trip. I hope to bond with my brother, who I haven’t spent this much time with since we lived in the same house. I hope to bond with my grandparents a little. I hope to get a tan and to RELAX.

The line up right now looks like this:
Saturday: Arrive in Orlando. Michael is organizing a community garage sale. We’ll pack up whatever is left. That night we will go see Pete Yorn at the House of Blues and go out with his friends for a last hoorah.
Sunday: Start the driving. Stop in St. Augustine. Remark that it is the oldest city in America. Sit by the beach. Drive to Savannah.
Monday & Tuesday: Stay in Savannah. Details to come. Rent bikes on a tiny island? Eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant? Go on a ghost tour? Go on a swamp boat tour? More details to come here.
Wednesday: Drive 8 hours and land at grandparents home.
Thursday: Bond with grandparents.
Friday: Drive over to Biloxi. We were planning on staying here at our dear dear Martin’s Lake, but if you stay a weekend you have to stay 2 nights, and that was a little too much. Now we will ride paddle boats swim around and rinse off in the communal shower area before or after eating at a casino buffet. I heard Boomtown was no more, which is slightly upsetting. But we will drive by one, feel nostalgic about it and choose it. Then we will play black jack because we never could when we lived there. Then we will drive to New Orleans.
Saturday: Spend the day in New Orleans walking around and buy art and sno-cones and margaritas.
Sunday: Head on home. Not sure if we’ll make it all the way back to San Antonio or just Houston. So between a 6 to 9 hour car day. I need to get some music together and possibly a book on tape we would both enjoy.
I’m excited.
P.S. Does anyone want to take me to the airport on Saturday morning?
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