Best Summer Ever

So... this summer is going to be off the heezy! Why??? Because I'll be travelling the whole time...

I KNOW! YAY!

I haven't taken a real vacation since June 2006, when I went to visit San Francisco with my sister. I know... shame on me for not getting out more. Since then, I have taken weekend trips to Atlanta, New York City and Atlantic City, but this time, I'll be taking some REAL vacations and spending my time away from work travelling to these wonderful places:

Atlanta, Georgia

Memorial Day weekend will be the start of my vacation season. I'll be visiting my friend Jeannine again for the weekend. It's not technically a "vacation", but I'll be getting away from good 'ol Washington, DC, and spending time with her and her family. I might actually spend the weekend in Albany, GA with her husband's family, doing some country stuff like shooting guns and riding around on an ATV. I've never done anything like that before... and even though it sounds a little like not exactly what I would do on vacation... I'm thinking that it'll be fun, though. Because ATV's are awesome, lol. After that, I'm headed to...

Seattle, Washington

I've never been here! And I miss the West Coast. I'll be here for 4th of July weekend with my friend Anne. Lots of stuff to see here... the Pike Place Market, the first ever Starbucks, Voodoo Doughnut (a day trip to Portland is in the itinerary) and we'll also be taking a cruise around Puget Sound (money permitting). And of course, we'll be hitting up Mr. Space Needle as well. And then lastly, I'll be going to three different places in the United Kingdom...

Manchester, England

Remember when I blogged about winning $2K in prize money for travel at my company's X-mas party? Well, I plan to spend that money on a trip overseas, starting on my birthday in September (for two whole weeks!!!!). I won't be going to Paris (waaaaaah... another time), but I'll be all over England and Scotland. My first stop is going to be Manchester, where my friend Dawn's husband, Andy, is from. He's from a small town here called Wigan. I'm crossing my fingers in the hopes that we'll see a soccer (aka football) match and drink lots of beer with the townies (lol). From there, it's off to...

Edinburgh, Scotland

I just want to see a castle, and pretend that it is mine! We are going to spend the weekend here. Perhaps I'll see a few people in kilts. And hopefully I'll have some money to buy one (we'll see). And perhaps I'll talk to some Scottish guys who'll have accents so thick that I won't know what the hell they are saying. And perhaps I'll eat some haggis. Yes, haggis, aka sheep intestines. EW. Well, at least it's cooked. And then, my last stop will be...

London, England

Oh, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to go here! It's the home of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Bridge, and of course, this lovely man pictured below:

Sadly, I found out that he won't be portraying Hamlet on stage until next year. So, he may not be in London when I'm there (ugh... depressing). I think at this point in time an act of God would have to put him in the city at the same time that I'm there, since he likes to work all of the time and then spend his free time in NYC. Perhaps I'll get lucky and he'll be in town that week. We'll see.

Even if he's not there, I'll still have a good time. I'll definitely be hitting up the Sherlock Holmes museum and be paying a visit to the street that they film the BBC's Sherlock on. Man, I love that show. And instead of meeting my dear Cumberbatch,  maybe I'll pass by Prince William and Kate Middleton! Or meet Daniel Craig! Pipe dreams, yes I know. But who knows. It could happen, people!

So that's my summer. I forsee myself being insanely broke by the time I come home from the U.K., but honestly, I think it'll all be worth it. And I promise to update my Twitter and Instagram feeds with lots of pics so everyone can see what I'm up to when I'm visiting all of these places.

Now I just have to get my passport and buy some luggage... I know! I'm so lazy.