Stranger in A Strange Land :
​The Beauty of Travel
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
Confessions of Crystal

Recent Adventures: Pittsburgh

26/6/2014

2 Comments

 
Hello lovely people of the blog-o-sphere! After my recent hiatus, I have returned with updates on some of my recent adventures. First of all, I went to Pennsylvania for a little over a week to visit family. While there, I took the opportunity to visit sights that I had not yet seen in Pittsburgh. It was fun pretending to be a tourist! I visited the Strip District, Spaghetti Warehouse, and the Incline. Pittsburgh's idea of an incline differs greatly from the one in Manitou Springs. Instead of climbing up 1,000 feet in elevation on old railroad ties, you can just sit on the Pittsburgh Incline and let it carry you up and down. It took less than three minutes each way!
Picture
While home, I also visited the yearly Saxonburg Firemen's Carnival. I have great memories of the carnival, visiting almost every summer during my childhood in Pennsylvania. Alongside the carnival, they hold annual pageants. I was Little Miss Saxonburg 2004, Junior Miss Saxonburg 2006, and Miss Saxonburg 2009. This year was the fifty year anniversary of the pageant so I was able to meet some other former Miss Saxonburgs, including the very first!

After I returned to Colorado, it was pageant week! While I had an amazing experience as a Top Fifteen finalist last year, I remember not knowing what to expect as the pageant neared. I had such a great time this year and don't think there could have been a better group of girls! Though I did not perform my best and was not a finalist this year, I was genuinely happy and excited for those who advanced. The Miss America Organization has so many benefits: friendship with the other contestants, community service through Children's Miracle Network and a personal platform, and scholarship opportunities. I had the honor of receiving the Academic Achievement Scholarship presented by Miss America 1974 Rebecca King Dreman! I was also happy to receive the Duke of Edinburgh silver award and Non-Finalist Talent award. I have a whole year to work on my on-stage question and interview skills now! Thank you to everyone who supported me on my journey!
Picture
Tomorrow I will blog about my second trip to Boulder, so check back then!  As always, thank you for reading!

Question: What do you think would make a good on-stage pageant question?
2 Comments

Adventures in Boulder (Take Two) and at The Spice Island Grill

26/6/2014

2 Comments

 
I enjoyed my first trip to Boulder so much that my mom wanted to visit during her recent trip to Colorado.  That was definitely fine with me!  Our first stop was one of the few places I did not get to visit on my first trip: the Dushanbe Tea House! The tea house was a gift to Boulder from Boulder's sister city in Tajikistan. The house itself is gorgeous, constructed with blue tiles. We took our tea outside under some flower arches.  They had a plethora of tea options and I chose a Japanese green tea with matcha and some sort of rice. 
Picture
We went back to Native Foods Café for lunch, which actually met my mom's approval.  Our visit was during the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, so we went to see I Hate Hamlet on the CU Boulder campus.  My favorite Shakespeare play is Hamlet so I enjoyed this satire and greatly appreciated the references to other Shakespeare plays.  The next day, I visited the Leanin' Tree gallery and Celestial Seasonings for the second time each.  I don't know if it was because I was concussed the first time or because the machines were actually operating during the tour, but all of the teas and herbs were much stronger scented this time.  We also visited the café and sampled quite a few of their teas.  When I saw the literature mug, I thought it would make the perfect souvenir to go with all of the tea I purchased last time. It has a time line of periods in both British and American literature as well as many titles I've read!
Picture
Much to my confusion, I woke up yesterday morning to many messages about my supposed trip to Jamaica.  After visiting Spice Island Grill in Colorado Springs, I posted a photo expressing that now I was ready to go to Jamaica.  I'm not actually going to Jamaica, but the Spice Island Grill is decorated very Jamaican so it was a nice island escape in rainy Colorado Springs.  They also have an expansive vegetarian menu, so I got BBQ tofu steaks, fried plantains (which my mom kept calling plankton), and pumpkin soup.  Our meal took over two hours...they were on "island time!"
Picture
Jamaica is now high on my list of places I want to travel to!  Where are some of your dream destinations?
2 Comments
<<Previous

    Crystal Chilcott

    Hi, I’m Crystal!  I love to travel and am currently a graduate student in Scotland. You’ll get all the best tips and insights from my experiences as a former ice-skating coach in Iceland and former study abroad student. Of the 27 countries I have visited, a type 1 diabetes diagnosis has been the strangest land yet.  Type 1 has not slowed down my travels and you'll learn how to take type 1 with you on the road! You can connect with me further on Instagram @CrystalChilcott, or send me ideas of where I should travel next via email: crystalmechilcott@gmail.comHappy Travels, Crystal

    Subscribe to Stranger in a Strange Land by Email
    What am I up to today?  Check out my Instagram feed below to find out!

    Categories

    All
    Austria
    Baby Brown Swiss Dairy Cow Incident
    Books
    California
    Cambly
    Canada
    Cats
    Chicago
    Coffee
    Colorado
    Croatia
    Czech Republic
    Denmark
    Diabetes
    Dumb Things I've Done In Foreign Countries
    Favourite Posts
    Figure Skating
    Florida
    France
    Germany
    Greece
    Hungary
    Iceland
    Ireland
    Italy
    London
    Macedonia
    My Travel Playlist
    Netherlands
    Northern Ireland
    Other Writings
    Sanibel Island
    Scotland
    Slovakia
    Spain
    Stranger In A Strange Land Series
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    Travel Tips
    Turkey
    Type 1 Travels
    UK
    Wales

    Archives

    December 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact