Gulf Shores, Alabama

June 16, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 3 Comments

We “shore” had fun on our long weekend trip to Gulf Shores! It was one of my last weekends of “freedom” before starting my new position for Delta Airlines, and it was great to have some quality time with my two favorite fellas.

We drove in two Fridays ago, and immediately dropped off our things before grabbing dinner and drinks. Our AirBnB hosts had some interesting taste, that’s for sure…

We walked around a local park, where Lin immediately got attention and love from other dogs and people, before heading to a nearby brewery. We enjoyed some live music and nice conversation with a couple who lived in the area for the last decade or more. We always appreciate conversations with strangers and local recommendations! And of course, Linley got even more love and attention—not that he needed it haha.

Our dinner closer to the beach took forever because the weekend wait times were insane, but it was nice to sit down, relax and cheers to a great first evening of the trip. We met some kind wait staff and guests at the table next to us, who loved Lin and kept feeding him fries.

The next morning, we headed straight to the dog beach, which was not what we expected. But alas, we had fun before grabbing lunch at a local spot on the main beach. And although the dog beach wasn’t what we expected it to be, we had a blast watching the blue herons near us and watching Lin grab sticks from the water.

I wish we could’ve brought Lin on the main beach, because that was beautiful! I wanted to get on the water so bad, but we’ll save that for when we’re in Savannah this fall instead. Even being by that water was beautiful, and we had a blast sitting up at the beach bar. We enjoyed some mezcal drinks and delicious seafood, while, you guessed it, Linley got more love! It was cute to see him dig in the sand to cool off again, which is something I’d missed from all our Michigan beach adventures.

No Tracey vacay is complete without an afternoon nap, and that’s exactly what we did during the hottest part of the day. Once we woke up and freshened up, we all got some ice cream and walked around a cute shopping center along the pier. We got some cute dog mom, dog dad and a funny toy for Linley after we all enjoyed our desserts and a drink, and then walked along the water before heading out for dinner.

Our wait for dinner was so long, but we luckily found a great backup spot that was super dog friendly. The best part was that it was called “Cosmo’s” after the owner’s dog, and we couldn’t pass up the chance to visit. We enjoyed good seafood, live music (and the singer brought his chocolate lab, too!), kind wait staff and even a stroll through a local pet store after dinner.

My mental health hasn’t been the best with some family and friend stuff that’s come up lately, so there’s a part of me that felt really bad about bringing some of those feelings up during the trip (i.e.: I never want to ruin Alex’s time or feel like a burden). But I also know that these two make me smile more than anything in the whole wide world, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. 💛

Media taken Friday, June 6 & Saturday, June 7, 2025 in Gulf Shores, Alabama✨

Favorite parts of our honeymoon

May 28, 2025May 28, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 2 Comments

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!)

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!

Cheers! 🍻

New Orleans (Part III)

May 26, 2025 / Cate Tracey / Leave a comment

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…

But we’ll be back. 💛

Media taken March 25 & 26, 2025 in NO.✨

New Orleans (Part I)

May 7, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 1 Comment

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 💛

Old City; New Travel Buddies

April 30, 2025April 30, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 1 Comment

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:

Media taken Friday, April 25 – Sunday, April 27.

Sedona

April 24, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 1 Comment

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… 😅

Media taken Friday, March 21, 2025.

Fun in Flagstaff

April 23, 2025April 23, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 1 Comment

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.

Media taken March 20-22, 2025 in Arizona.✨

The Grand Canyon

April 21, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 1 Comment

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. ✨

Our Flagstaff AirBnB

April 18, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 3 Comments

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.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

April 17, 2025April 17, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 1 Comment

Santa Fe did not disappoint! From the food and drinks, to the beautiful hiking, and all the crazy weather in between: I highly recommend paying this unique town a visit.

Highs

Our AirBnB was awesome! It was the quintessential desert stay that we wanted and needed. We also enjoyed nice breakfasts there each morning; Lin enjoyed sitting at the table with us! 💛
The rail yard near our place had some amazing breweries, and it was cool to see the trains roll by while we walked and enjoyed our time in the area.
It took forever to find a good, dog-friendly spot for dinner, but once we did it was worth it! We enjoyed good food and spicy margs before our next day of adventure.
We had a very fun, windy hike in the morning during our full day there. We almost got lost of the hike, but luckily we didn’t, and it was great to beat the crowd and the heat!!
Our lunch spot was wonderful and I enjoyed some of the best nachos to-date. They also let Linley hang out inside with us, and he was getting all the attention per usual.
After an eventful drive, we hung out at a brewery outside of the city center, and had a blast making it a restful part of our afternoon.
We stopped by a really cool pottery bar for a drink before dinner, and it was fun to watch people make pottery while we had great martinis out of pottery glasses!

Lows

Santa Fe really isn’t as dog friendly as I’d thought it would be. Even some places don’t seat you outside during certain days or times of the week… in hindsight, I wish we’d spent more time in Albuquerque as opposed to Santa Fe.
Linley actually had some bad altitude sickness in the morning on our second day there! I’d had it bad in Peru with my mom in 2018, so I knew all the symptoms he was experiencing. He bounced back in time for the hike, but definitely look for warning signs in yourselves and pets (nauseous, cold and shaky, etc.)

Buffalo

We really had a wild full-day of weather, including a dust storm AND a snow storm in the same day! It was wild, but very cool to experience.

Photos taken Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

Oklahoma

April 16, 2025 / Cate Tracey / 3 Comments

Like the places we visited in Arkansas, Oklahoma City was a very underrated place with some really surprising, unique spots!

Highs:

Our garage-style AirBnB was super cool! We loved it and had the best time. We barely stayed in, but we enjoyed coffee and laughing at the local news the next morning before we left. (Shout out local news… it’s always so much better than the other garbage!)
We enjoyed drinks and brunch in a cute part of town that actually reminded me of a small, beach town I’d visited near San Francisco. Linley, of course, got more attention…
The park downtown that we walked through was absolutely beautiful! So many families were out and about, and it was a gorgeous day overall.
We popped into a cool library-style distillery before dinner, and when I say we had the most creative cocktails yet, I mean it! Alex ordered a pho-nomenial drink that literally tasted like Vietnamese pho! Our minds are still blown… 10/10 would recommend!
Believe it or not, we had dinner on a “lake” with the most beautiful sunset. It was a lovely way to continue our trip out west. And my gluten free vege burger with a gin and tonic didn’t hurt either!

Lows

Bricktown was super crowded! The river walk was way too touristy and packed, and that part of the day really wasn’t as enjoyable. But we quickly remedied that with the distillery visit I mentioned above.
I slept like *garbage* that night, because Linley kept pushing into my back the entire night. I love when he snuggles up to me, but it was a little too far… he made my stomach push out and it was feeling it for a while there! (He’s worth it, but still!)

Buffalo

We made the most of our dinner, but boy did it get cold while we were sitting outside! Next time, I’ll remember to bring blankets for all of us.

Media taken Sunday, March 16, 2025.

There’s something about disposable cameras…

April 8, 2025 / Cate Tracey / Leave a comment

March was our best month yet! Our best friends got married in one of our favorite places, we were married at one of our favorite places, and we had the honeymoon roadtrip of a lifetime as a trio. Although more photos of all that will come, I wanted to share the disposable camera photos our friends and family took during our reception. I immediately knew having these out would be a hit, and what a great idea it was! I look forward to seeing more photos soon, but here’s what we have so far…