The Best of 2011

I wasn’t going to do a 2011 “Year in Review” post, but now that the year is over, I’m feeling nostalgic. I knew I would travel less in 2011 than in 2010 (after all, I traveled 11 of 12 months in 2010), but what I lacked in quantity, I made up for in quality. I discovered some wonderful new places, revisited some old gems, stretched my travel boundaries a little, & even survived an emergency landing! When I think back over the last 12 months, my mind is blown at the opportunities that have been afforded to me.

Happy New Year to all my readers & get ready for two epic trips in 2012!

Best New Travel Destination
The nominees: Camden, Maine; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Vancouver, British Columbia; Richmond, Virginia; Ft. Myers, Florida

The winner: Vancouver, British Columbia

*(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved*

While my time in this beautiful city was short (just a few days out & back for a travel blogging conference), it was long enough to get me hooked & overly excited for my next visit. The people = ridiculously nice, the food = plentiful & delicious, the city = stunning. Surrounded by snow capped mountains & pristine water, Vancouver combines natural & urban environments perfectly. I can’t wait to get back there & explore more.

View more photos from my trip to Vancouver here.

Best Repeat Travel Destination
The nominees: Hershey, Pennsylvania; New York City; Minneapolis; Miami; Barbados
The winner: New York City

Come on now, are you really surprised? Anyone who has read my blog for any period of time knows that the Big Apple has me wrapped around its Empire State Building shaped finger. There is nothing I don’t love about this city – the hustle & bustle, the people, the architecture, the green space, the neighborhoods, the food, the endless possibilities for discovery & adventure. From walking the Brooklyn Bridge to walking the Union Square Greenmarket to walking the High Line, the walk-ability alone should make put it on the top ten of your “must visit” list. Having a pretzel in Times Square, at midnight, should skyrocket it to number one.

View more photos from all my previous trips to New York City here.

Best Hotel

The nominees: St. Regis Hotel, Vancouver; Distrikt Hotel, NYC; Bass Cottage Inn, Bar Harbor, Maine; Hotel Hershey, Hershey, Pennsylvania; Swissotel, Chicago; Omni, Richmond, Virginia

The winner: St. Regis Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia

This category was the most difficult for this self proclaimed hotel geek. It’s hard for a hotel stay to be perfect – there are so many things that can go wrong. But, at this risk of turning this post into a love letter to Vancouver, my stay at the St. Regis Hotel in Vancouver was darn near flawless. Not affiliated with the Starwood St. Regis hotels you may be familiar with, this independent boutique hotel has been housing Vancouver visitors since 1913 & did everything right during my stay. The front desk staff was friendly (even at 1:00am when I checked in), the room was beautiful (the leather walls were beautiful & unique), the amenities are plentiful (free WiFi, free long distance calls back to the States, & unlimited, free in-room bottled water), the location perfect. When in Vancouver, I won’t hesitate to stay at the St. Regis again & neither should you.

Read my entire review of the St. Regis here.

Best Local Food

The nominees: lobster rolls (Maine), flying fish (Barbados), crepes (Vancouver), chocolate everything (Hershey, Pennsylvania), deep dish pizza (Chicago)

The winner: flying fish in Barbados

I’ve had a lot of good local food in my travels, but flying fish always wins as my favorite, largely because it’s difficult to find outside of Barbados. In fact, I’m pretty sure that your neighborhood Harris Teeter/Publix/Kroger doesn’t have flying fish at their seafood counter. It’s most often served fried, with french fries (in my opinion the best way, because honestly who is counting calories when you’re in the Caribbean?) but I’ve also had it broiled & grilled with salad. Regardless, when it’s caught in local waters & fresh off the boat, it can’t help but be delicious.Read more about my insistence of only eating locally when traveling here

Best Experience

The nominees: walking in the footsteps of soldiers in Gettysburg, seeing the first light of day on the top of Cadillac Mountain, visiting the completed 9/11 Memorial in NYC, liming at Oistin’s Fish Fry in Barbados

The winner: watching the sunrise on top of Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Maine

When the alarm went off at 3:45am on our last day of vacation, I wasn’t really sure it was worth crawling out of bed just to see something as ordinary as a sunrise. But I had heard from countless others that it was worth the early wake-up time, so off we went into Acadia National Park. We were joined at the top of Cadillac Mountain by a surprising number of others who had come to see the first rays of light anywhere in the United States. As the sky turned from pink to orange, a hearty cheer rang out when the golden sphere finally popped above the horizon. We stayed for about 45 minutes after the sun came up, watching the fog roll in & out, the sky continue to change & Bar Harbor, 1500′ below, begin to wake up. I now think that getting up to see the sunrise will be a new tradition on all our trips.

Best Adventure

The nominees: kayaking ten miles around the Porcupine Islands through a slightly crazy rough sea, going from sitting on the couch to cycling 33 hilly miles through Acadia National Park, being surrounded by monkeys at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, row boating in Central Park

The winner: cycling through Acadia National Park

When we booked our flights to Maine in March 2011, I had not been on a bike in a good 15 years. I heard from a much more physically active co-worker about the great cycling in Maine & knew that my cycling-nut husband would be excited to go for several rides. So I set a personal goal for myself: relearn how to properly ride a bike & cycle the 27 mile Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park. Many months later, I found myself in spandex on my first road bike peddling past boulders, cliffs, pine trees & majestic valleys. The ride was long (actually turned out to be 33 miles) & exhausting (who knew Maine was so hilly?), but beautiful & totally worth the blood, sweat, & tears I left on the road.

You can read about my entire cycling journey here.

Best Transit Experience
The nominees: flying to Barbados for the last time, riding the Amtrak Cascades route from Seattle to Vancouver, our flight losing cabin pressure & making an emergency landing, walking the Brooklyn Bridge
The winner: riding the rails from Seattle to Vancouver on the stunningly beautiful Amtrak Cascades route

I am a self admitted sucker for train travel – it’s just so much more relaxing than flying. So I jumped at the chance to take the Amtrak Cascades train route from Seattle to Vancouver. As I settled into the plush, leather seat next to the expansive picture window (oh how different from riding Amtrak back east!), I knew the ride was going to be special. I munched on hummus & local wine as we rolled north, past the picturesque Puget Sound at sunset, past farmers in the fields, & over the Canadian border. As night fell & darkness enveloped the train, I fell asleep with a smile on my face, knowing this would be a journey I would experience again in the future.

Read the story of my trip here & the how-to here.

Best New Travel Gadget
The nominees: iPhone 4S
The winner: iPhone 4S

I am one of those people who is super slow at adapting to technology. I didn’t get a digital camera until 2007 (& only got one because I didn’t want to carry 40 rolls of film around Europe for our honeymoon). I didn’t get a flat screen TV until 2010. Until the fall of 2011, my phone only did one thing: make phone calls. I loosely depended on my work-issued BlackBerry for my travel needs, but it never really cut it. Finally, it was time to upgrade cell phones & I ended up with an iPhone 4S, largely because it was one of the cheapest smart phones available. Fast forward just two months & I’m in love. How did I ever live without the high quality camera? How did I ever live without the Open Table app, allowing me to make dinner reservations on a whim? How did I ever live without the Kayak app, allowing me to quickly price flights when I’m day dreaming about the next trip? Heck, how did I ever live without Angry Birds & Words with Friends? A traveler without a smart phone is like a traveler without a solid set of luggage: it’s do-able, but not nearly as enjoyable.

Best Travel Partner
The nominees: my lens sherpa, my coffee maker, my bag hoist-er, my purse carrier
The winner: my husband, who does all those things & more

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