Travel Memories through Ornaments

We don’t have many travel-related ornaments right now. I’ve decided that I want to start collecting these more as we travel. They bring back memories as we get them out every year to put on the tree.

Below are some of the ornaments we have collected to date:

We were in San Francisco a couple of years ago.  We loved this city.  One of the highlights of this trip was Alcatraz  Island in San Francisco Bay (Sept. 2011).  We took an evening tour, and it made it more interesting, as you had the eerie fog over the Island.  Even though I am not necessarily a fan of audio tours, once I got used to the flow of this one, I thought it made the tour much more informative.  Read more about our tour –  Alcatraz.

In Sept. 2012, we spent an extra couple of days in San Diego, following a week in Los Angeles.  We enjoyed our time here, but did not even make it to some of their most popular attractions – SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo.  I guess that means we’ll have something to do on the next trip. Read about our trip to the highlight of this trip to the Midway – San Diego.

This past June, we had quite the trip going to various stops in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.  One of these stops was a couple of days at Mackinac Island, MI.  We absolutely loved this stop.  It was truly a step back in time.  It was very fascinating that the only mode of transportation – other than for emergency situations – is horse drawn carriage which is the reason for this ornament.

During May of 2012 we went to the Tulip Festival in Orange City, IA.  We loved the proud Dutch traditions that this festival celebrated.  There was food, costumes, dances, and so much more.  We would definitely check it out again.  You can see what we experienced here – Orange City.
In 2010, we went to the annual Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM.  We don’t have a post yet about this trip.  We will definitely try to share a flashback post on this one in the upcoming months.  Albuquerque is one my husband Tim’s favorite destinations.

North Dakota. While stationed  there in the Air Force, Tim became a dedicated UND hockey fan.  We went to a game at the famous Ralph Englestad arena to see the then North Dakota Sioux hockey team play.  They are just North Dakota hockey now.  That is a whole other story.  A future post about Grand Forks, North Dakota will be posted. 

We were in Ireland/North Ireland in 2005, while my step-daughter Mallory spent a semester abroad in college.  In Northern Ireland, we visited the cities of Coleraine, Portstewart, Portrush, Derry and Belfast. We spent a fun weekend in Dublin, Ireland, where we bought this ornament.

We got these travel related ornaments for our love of travel.  My step-daughter Mallory gave me the Passport ornament this year.  The New York one is also from Mallory from her last trip there.  The luggage one we bought ourselves.   

What are the most cherished ornaments that you have on your tree?