Welcome to the last post of 2020! And just like every year since I’ve started this blog, I pulled a list of the best new places I visited this year. You can find my older lists here (2017), plus here (2018) and here (2019).
I know what you’re thinking. Did you even travel in 2020? The answer is, not so much. I usually put together a “Top 5” of the best NEW places I visited that year, and I normally have some honorable mentions too, because I’d usually see more than just five new places. This year, I did my best but could only really pull together a Top 3, because I’ve only visited three new places this year. You can check them out below!
3. Hendersonville, Tennessee
You might remember that in June, we traveled to Tennessee to move Livia’s stuff out of her dorm. She was kicked out of campus due to coronavirus, hence why she moved in with us for a while! After moving, we spent the weekend with our friend Meg and her family in Hendersonville, Tennessee. I had never been there, but we had tons of fun, went on a boat ride on Old Hickory Lake and even saw what’s left of Johnny Cash’s lake house, which sadly burned down some time ago. We also ate amazing food at a local restaurant, Moby Dicky’s!
Is Hendersonville a location that I thought I’d check out in 2020? Definitely not. But it was the perfect trip to take when Covid things got a little better. It was mid-June and cases were starting to go down, it was relatively close to Nashville and we had a great time with great company!
2. Miami Beach, Florida
Thank God my friends and I organized a girls trip before this whole Covid thing ruined traveling for all of us! My friends Jessica, Sehar and Lizett and I had been wanting to travel to Miami together for quite some time, but the timing was just never right. However, in late 2019, we decided that MLK weekend (mid-January) in 2020 would be the perfect occasion to go, since it was a long weekend that most of us had off from work. It would also be a nice break from the cold for Liz and I who live in Chicago! So we booked an Airbnb and cheap plane tickets through Frontier.
Miami Beach was the perfect girls trip destination: there were beach things to do, foodie things to do, artsy things to do, and lots of going out to do. We saw the Wynwood Walls in the Wynwood art district, checked out the Levi’s space in Wynwood, explored the bars on Ocean Drive and Collins Ave (especially Drunk Bitch and Voodoo!), smoked some hookah on a rooftop, relaxed on the beach and overall had TONS of fun in the sun!
As far as food goes, we brunched at Wynwood Kitchen & Bar, had a fancy dinner at Ola, ate real Italian pizza at Fratelli La Bufala, devoured Cuban food at Havana 1957 Cuban Cuisine and tried the gelato awarded 2014 best gelato in the world at Stefano Versace Gelato.
I wish things could be as they were back in January, because I would 100% recommend Miami to all of you for a fun long weekend trip. Times are different now, but I am SO glad I got the chance to spend some time traveling with my girls before our lives changed. I’ll never forget our trip!
1. Block Island, Rhode Island
Before this summer, I had been to Rhode Island many times, but never to Block Island. This summer, when cases went down before the second Coronavirus wave hit, my boyfriend David and I went to visit my dad in Rhode Island.
Although we stayed in Providence, RI, we took a day trip to Block Island. We drove to Galilee and boarded a ferry that took us to the island. The ferry ride felt so relaxing and peaceful! The weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky! All you could see were small boats on the ocean. I caught David’s hat with one hand as it was falling in the ocean, and it was pretty epic.
Once we got to the island, we were in awe of how beautiful it looked! There were relaxing beaches and dramatic cliffs, the deep blue water met the clearest sky on the horizon, there were only a few cars on the whole island, but lots of people walking around and hiking. The architecture looked like the typical colonial coastal architecture you’d expect to see in Martha’s Vineyard or perhaps Cape Cod.
There are two historic lighthouses on Block Island, plus lots of hotels and restaurants. For example, the Spring House Hotel is one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen, I would love to stay there one day!
We also had lunch on the terrace at the Block Island Beach House: I had the most delicious bowl of steamed mussels in a white wine sauce. The air was breezy and we ate while looking at the ocean: it was magical.
There are also lots of stores and gift shops on the island. That’s where we got souvenirs and where David finally got his long-awaited lifeguard hoodie. Plus, we ate some ice cream before it was time to board the ferry again and head back to Galilee.
My father does not live in Rhode Island anymore, but David and I already decided that we’ll be back! We loved Block Island. There are also so many more incredible locations in Rhode Island that I think everyone should see at least once! I’ll write a Rhode Island post to list them all, because I truly think Rhode Island is such a hidden gem.
And with that, I wish you the most amazing 2021! Let’s hope it’s at least slightly better than 2020, right? What are you most looking forward to in the new year? Comment below!