Fulfilling my Dad’s birthday wish meant getting up at 4am to get in line to hike Maine’s Greatest Mountain, Mount Katahdin. Mount Katahdin is located in the heart of Maine in Baxter State Park, which was protected by Governor Percival Baxter in the 1930’s.

If you get a chance, next time you’re in Belfast, visit the historic and colorful Falls Road.

The Falls was a powerful IRA-stronghold during the Northern Irish Troubles, as its many murals will attest. The larger than life, multi-colored paintings commemorate different events in Irish republican history, such as the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and the loss of 10 IRA volunteers during the 1981 hunger strikes.