Many people ask “what was your favorite part of the trip?” or “where was the best place you visited?” Honestly, the best parts were all the moments in between: the car rides, the breakfasts in the morning, the cuddles on the couch in the evenings… and the best place was honestly being in the car on the journey!
All the laughing at Lin and saying “k bye” when he moved to the backseat, the stops at Buc-ee’s and all the goofy songs and podcasts we listened to made the trip complete. I miss those moments more than anything and can’t wait to start planning our next family roadtrips, especially our big one for 2026!
I never thought this life was possible for me, or that this level of love was attainable in this lifetime, but I’m damn glad it is!
Of course, we’ve all traveled before we became the Tracey Trio, and I had to scratch off the states we’ve all been to!
Lin’s states visited (red = BC “before Cate” and green is after I rescued him!)My states visitedAlex’s states visited
Thank y’all for joining us on our blogging journey, and a special thank you to y’all who have been following my stories for a long while. We look forward to sharing more about our adventures to come!
I didn’t really have any expectations for Huntsville, but I knew I wasn’t ready to head straight to Atlanta after leaving New Orleans…
Highs
We found an awesome dog park/bar where Linley was running around and tearing it up!
We also found a cool area with tons of outdoor bars and restaurants.
The place where we grabbed dinner and a nightcap was super cute and a good last dinner of the honeymoon.
We had a cozy night in at the cute AirBnB, where we watched the season finale of 90 Day Fiancé: The Last Resort haha.
During our last morning of the honeymoon, Lin and I sat outside in the sun while I enjoyed my morning coffee.
Lin got to play at another local dog park before breakfast, where we had the pleasure of meeting locals (humans AND dogs haha!)
We found the cutest brunch spot where they had dog-themed cocktails, good GF options and were super dog-friendly!
Lows
Alex’s drink at the first bar we went to was horrible… it was sweet and blue and disgusting haha.
I was very emotional on the last day of our trip; I don’t think I was ready to be home in Atlanta because some family drama came up during the trip; and it was all hitting that last day.
Buffalo
Linley had a been on him during our outdoor dinner! We don’t think he got stung but we literally had to pull it off of him. We noticed he was acting weird and it was just super random!
Media taken Wednesday, March 26 & Thursday; March 27, 2025 in Huntsville, Alabama.
But boy, even after all the fun, did it feel good to be back home!
Right now it’s pouring rain in Atlanta, and I’m in bed with two, sleeping dogs and one sleeping husband. We’re dog sitting until later this morning and now everyone is happily snoring again. Life is good!
Life felt really good in New Orleans, too. There was no stress, time didn’t exist and the pace is something I wish more people lived by. After our long but fun afternoon in the French Quarter, we headed back to our AirBnB to chill out and freshen up before dinner. We had to take more pictures of all the great things we saw along the way!
I still have dreams about New Orleans and our cute AirBnB. It’s a dream to live there or in Savannah one day, not only because of the pace but also because of the old architecture and coziness I feel in these kinds of places. Alex napped and I took some photos of Linley enjoying our place at the fullest.
The start to our evening plans were unique because we were meeting with my mentor-turned-friend, Don. Don grew up in Jersey but has lived his NO since he was 29 (bought a one-way ticket and never left!) He has two sons, is in a band and is with the coolest chic ever… talk about creating an amazing life for yourself! Don and I used to work together and it’s been hard to not have him as a teammate anymore, but it was great to have a reunion and for him and Alex to finally meet! Linley was there too, of course. Don met us around the corner and he brought us some champagne… and whiskey shots!
I had to bring the Viagra Boys shirt that I wore last time I saw Don!
Unfortunately our time together was way too short; Alex and I had reservations for dinner and Don kindly drove us there. We were hoping to spend time with him before we left, but the time we had was better than no time at all! Our dinner was amazing but we were sat next to some interesting people… all I can say is we can laugh about it now haha! It was really nice to end our stay in NO with quality time though.
The next morning we lazily hung out in our place, probably trying to recover from our entire time in NO haha. It was bittersweet because we’d wanted to be in NO together but also knew that our honeymoon was coming to an end. Lin and I strolled around the neighborhood one last time, we loaded up the car, grabbed brunch and headed east. It’s even hard typing this now because I wish we had more time there…
After a fun-filled afternoon on Frenchman Street, we headed back to our AirBnB to freshen up before dinner. The three of us stopped at this really cute food hall for a couple drinks and appetizers, and even Linley had his very first Ritz cracker!
Although it was overstimulating for Alex, the two of us had to go to Bourbon Street just for the hell of it. The best part was catching jazz outdoors at one of my favorite local spots. Next visit we’ll spend more time on Frenchman Street – where all the locals hang out – but it was funny to laugh at the Bourbon Street shenanigans, have mediocre food and ultimately head back to see Linley.
Luckily our next day was much better than the previous evening! Linley and I walked around in the morning together, strolled through the local neighborhoods, and admired the old architecture and funkiness of the cafes nearby. Once we got back, the three of us enjoyed a great brunch and even better conversation with some locals. We really loved how friendly and laid back everyone was, and kept fantasizing about moving there one day.
Our afternoon was full of adventure in the French Quarter! Linley was a good boy in the Uber and it was fun to experience the quarter with Alex and Lin this time. 💛 We wandered around, enjoyed the waterfront walk and view, met some kind strangers near Jackson Square, and ended up getting beignets and hurricanes. Hearing all the jazz music and the overall atmosphere brought back some fond memories. But doing all this with my two favorite guys made this time in New Orleans extra special. I can’t wait for next time! And stay tuned for another post…
Media taken Monday, March 24 & Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in New Orleans, LA.✨
New Orleans hits different when you’re with your two best friends (the third time’s the charm)!
Although heading east after The Grand Canyon was bittersweet, we had a blast in New Orleans, and were majorly looking forward to that leg of the trip. Alex and Linley had never been, so experiencing it through their eyes was really fun. And it was fun to stay in a part of town and explore new places I hadn’t yet!
We stayed near Crescent Park in the cutest AirBnB (definitely one of my favorites of the honeymoon, and one of my favorites ever!) and walked New Orleans’ version of the Beltline toward Frenchmen Street. It was great to see another part of town that wasn’t as touristy as places I’d stayed at in 2022 and 2023.
Frenchmen Street is WAY better and much more local than Bourbon Street (next time we’ll be staying there more). We enjoyed delicious espresso martinis, mezcal drinks and seafood lunch at this cute cafe, and one of the employees brought her newly-rescued dog in! While we were eating, a gentleman struck up conversation with us and told us about some of the local history while we waited for his bike to be repaired across the street. He was a local artist himself, and it was amazing to hear about his life and all that New Orleans had been through. When we were done with our afternoon cocktails, Linley even found some “Jerry beads” along the way!
Before heading out for dinner, we knew we weren’t done exploring. While admiring the local architecture, funky art and old, southern charm down neighborhood streets, we stumbled across a dog-themed bar called Pepp’s Pub. All dogs got their photos taken and we even got our photos taken after a shot, too! A kind stranger who’d lost her dog not too long ago sat with us and it was awesome to hear about her life and her beloved pup.
All of our first afternoon reminded us to slow down, always chat with strangers and to appreciate the moments we had as our “Tracey Trio!”
We continued to have such a great time in New Orleans, but more to come on that later 😌
Photos taken Monday, March 24, 2025 in New Orleans, LA 💛
On our way back to the southeast, we stopped over in Dallas after a long drive across Texas. Ironically, Linley is actually from Texas, but we suspect he was from the Houston area and was abandoned during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. #adoptdontshop 💛
Highs
Our AirBnB was awesome! We were in the middle of downtown and had some incredible views.
We stumbled upon this cute park on our walk, and also stopped at an Irish pub on our way back to the AirBnB.
We were finally able to do some laundry while we watched our favorite trash TV: 90 Day Fiancé!
Lows
This was my second time in Dallas, and in my opinion, it just feels like a generic, big city without a lot of culture.
Once we left the Irish pub, we found more restaurants that would’ve been even better… oh well!
Buffalos
A drunk lady outside at the pub befriended me, and her dog was super cute. Drunk women love to talk to me haha!
Linley wanted to mark everything… and I mean everything…
Back to the honeymoon posts! 😀 Albuquerque, New Mexico did not disappoint. From the delicious food to the kindest people, I highly recommend paying this city a visit. My only regret is that we should’ve spent more time here instead of Santa Fe, but c’est la vie!
Highs
Our AirBnB was super cute!
We drove by the Breaking Bad house, and didn’t get screamed at by the paranoid lady who lives there haha!
We had the most delicious dinner and mezcal drinks, and the restaurant was super dog friendly. Our server loved us and Linley even got a free chicken dinner from the owner!
We walked to Bar Uno, a super dog friendly bar downtown, and our bartender was incredible. He was super nice and loved Linley, too… as did the other patrons.
Simply walking around and exploring our area with Alex and Linley was so much fun; it’s always the little things!
Low
I had the *worst* bloody nose at night. It woke me up and I had the worst night sleep of the entire trip that night by far.
Buffalos
At Bar Uno, a lady came in who was clearly on pills. Our lovely bartender actually cut her off and called it out. It was sad to see someone going through that, but really responsible on our bartender’s end and Alex and I sincerely appreciated his nonjudgmental approach. Well done, sir!
I missed the morning walk before heading east because of my stupid bloody nose and shitty night’s sleep, but Alex and Lin saw some hot air balloons together! Although slightly jealous since they’re a New Mexico staple, I was happy they got to experience them together!
For those of you who have been reading along for a while, y’all know how much I love New York City. It’s a place where *healthy* family memories were shared with *healthy* family members of mine. My favorite cousin used to live there as her family was located in Tarrytown, but I haven’t visited since Katy moved away in 2023. Last weekend, Alex and I *finally* flew together for the first time to visit our friends, Amy and Danny. It was wonderful to make new memories in the city, although I did miss Katy’s quality time very much.
Amy and Alex have always had a brother/sister-type friendship. It’s been lovely getting to know her and her husband even though we’ve been ships passing in the night (I moved to Atlanta in September of 2023, while Danny and Amy moved to NYC two months later). Alex and I have wanted to visit for a while now, and all our schedules finally aligned.
While Linley was living it up at our aunt’s and uncle’s house with his pup cousins, Alex and I arrived at the airport early on Friday morning. We were tired but excited, and quickly woke up when we felt the energy of the city (for example, the traffic controller in the rideshare lane was yelling and insulting all the drivers, which we personally loved)! We stayed in Chinatown and ate on the border of Little Italy for lunch, where I enjoyed gluten free mozzarella sticks and cacio de pepe. Alex and I also enjoyed some delicious mezcal cocktails, which was an excellent way to kick off the weekend!
After our amazing lunch, we strolled through Dumbo and walked the Brooklyn Bridge. We also ended up at an outdoor bar called Jury Duty, which was ironic because not only did we see a few brides and grooms walk by from the courthouse, but it was also the day of Luigi’s “not-guilty” plea. Talk about a wild coincidence haha!
We strolled back to our hotel and met up with Amy and Danny for family-style Thai seafood dinner. We laughed and caught up while I tried a fish eye for the first time. It was so nice to try new places and celebrate Danny’s new job, Amy’s birthday, our recent marriage and my official last name change. So much to celebrate! The kindest thing that Amy said was, “You’ve meant so much to me because of how happy you make Alex.” That meant the world to me, and it’s been great to grow our friendship, too!
After dinner, we kept the conversation going at a really cool speakeasy bar. It was fun to people watch and talk about travel, how we all met and just overall continuing to catch up. Even though we don’t see each other as often, it always feels like no time has passed—a good sign of a great friendship!
Saturday morning was fun and full of exploring Chinatown more. I’d only been once but it was fun to revisit with someone who is actually Chinese! Alex was in heaven. With hotel coffee in hand, we strolled to a congee place called Big Wong where Alex enjoyed some pork dish that could’ve been a dinner, and I tried shrimp congee for the first – but not last – time. Good thing we had an hour wait for brunch with Amy and Danny, because we definitely over ate!
Once Alex grabbed some food from a bakery and another market, we made our way back to the hotel, and finally brunch with Amy and Danny. We had an hour-long wait, which was okay because the people watching outside was prime, and we had time to grab coffee from a nearby spot. I loved all our conversations and seriously miss Amy and Danny already! For lunch, I had a whitefish sandwich and banana bread, all gluten free. We also had fun navigating the subways after as we ventured to Central Park. The flowers were so beautiful and it was Alex’s first time walking within the park itself. We all majorly needed a nap before heading back out for dinner and our nighttime comedy show!
Our dinner was lovely as we enjoyed more pasta, and Alex and I enjoyed mezcal espresso martinis! After dinner, we had the best time at our Gotham City comedy show. I’ve always wanted to go there and I’m so glad we finally did! The host and all five comedians were absolutely hilarious and the jokes and laughs kept flowing. We stayed up wayyy past our bedtime but it was so worth it!
I hope y’all enjoyed this break from the honeymoon posts (which will resume tomorrow…) but in case you missed him as much as we did, here’s what Lin was up to while we were away:
Sedona, Arizona – although touristy – didn’t disappoint!
Highs
We lucked out weather-wise! It was a little hot on our way to the car, but I’m so glad we visited and hiked when we did!
Linley had a big ole smile on his face the entire hike! 😀
Alex and I wore our matching dog fist shirts, and we met a sweet couple and their young daughter who wanted to pet Linley. They apparently had the same shirts as us, and also a small, white dog named Waffles, but didn’t wear them or bring him along. It reminded me of how much Alex and I love bringing Linley wherever we can!
The views were absolutely stunning! I mean, they were truly breathtaking (proof below).
We met so many friendly people on the hike, all of whom loved Lin!
Lows
The parking sucked. The touristy energy of the area sucked. It definitely wasn’t our vibe, but we had a great hike as a trio regardless!
I had to carry Lin’s poop bag for a while, and because of the heat, it stank BAD haha! 🤣
Buffalo
Lin’s paws were stained with the orange-colored dirt from the hike. He majorly needed a bath and a good grooming after our trip haha! All the dogs at the parks and along walks wanted to smell him after that… 😅
We definitely had fun in Flagstaff between visiting the Grand Canyon and hiking in Sedona the following day!
Highs
The brewery we stopped at was awesome! Bummer we had to sit outside, but other than that it was great!
Our Thai takeout was wonderful, and enjoying it at our cozy AirBnB was perfect.
Stargazing at both our AirBnBs was amazing! I wish we would’ve enjoyed it a bit more…
The distillery we found after our Grand Canyon adventure was so great, that we visited three times while we were there!
We stopped for lunch and great cocktails after hiking in Sedona, and a kind couple paid for our drinks!
Lows
We couldn’t sit outside at the brewery, and it took us so long to find a spot that we could actually bring Lin into for dining… which just so happened to be our AirBnB! It was a headache but it was all good in the end.
Alex definitely got sunburned from sitting in the sun after hiking in Sedona…
On our last night in Flagstaff, we picked up some Indian takeout and it was absolutely horrible. It was flavorless, watery… none of what we were expecting. We love Indian food and we definitely need to order some soon now that we’re back in Atlanta!
Buffalo
When we visited the distillery for coffee on our way back East toward Albuquerque, Misty (our lovely bartender and barista!) accidentally made Linley three pup cups instead of one. She thought we asked for two to go, but we really wanted to mugs to go! It was sweet and Linley definitely enjoyed them.
I’m going to put a pause on the “high, low, buffalo” theme for our honeymoon posts; the Grand Canyon was absolutely beautiful, it was the perfect day, and it was an incredible first visit for all three of us! I promised Linley that I would take him someday when I first rescued him over seven years ago, and it meant so much that we finally made it together — with our other best friend right by our side, too! 💛
From all the adults and kids who were smiling and greeting us as we walked by, to the kind gentleman who took his dog on a similar road trip just because, and the two young women who gave Linley some love on our way out: we had the best day as a family and couldn’t have asked for anything more. 🥹
Media taken Thursday, March 20, 2025 at the Grand Canyon. ✨
The ranch we stayed at in Flagstaff, Arizona deserves its own post. From location to views, appliances to coziness, this place was just what we needed and then some. We’ll be back and this was probably our favorite AirBnB of the entire trip.
The best parts? Our big, family breakfast, seeing the gophers dig in the neighbor’s yard, and seeing Lin run around and have so much fun!
Media taken Wednesday, March 19 & Thursday, March 20, 2025.
Traveling with the Traceys 