Got Married, Went Road Trippin' Part 1 | Las Vegas > San Francisco

It's about one month since we landed back from our Las Vegas Wedding / West Coast Road trip. At the time those long drives from city, to small town, down dirt roads and back to city again felt like they would never end, but now it's all starting to slightly feel like a distant memory. But it's a memory that will never be forgotten, because it wasn't just any road trip, it was the road trip after the happiest day of my life!

Seeing so many of our friends + family's smiling faces for a whole week was a pretty magical feeling, and the actual wedding ceremony was perfect. Spirits were high, food portions were ideal, drinks were endless, temperatures were ridiculous and sleep was pretty much none-existent...but I wouldn't change a thing.

We said goodbye to our guests (albeit a few of them who joined us on the road trip) in Vegas, and thanked them for making our week one of the most memorable in our lives. Over the next 10 days we would drive from The Wynn in LV to Hollywood Roosevelt in LA, via Yosemite, San Francisco, Monterey and Santa Barbara.

 Wandering in Badwater Basin, Death Valley

The drive from Las Vegas, through Death Valley, to Yosemite took the best part of eight hours, but what an incredible way to see the country. Going from 48 degrees in Vegas to around 10 in Yosemite National Park was quite an exerprience. We spent two days exploring Yosemite, and if I'm totally honest, my words wouldn't be able to justify the feeling this place gives you. I was so in ore of the scale (how small it made me feel) and beauty of the place that my camera didn't come out of my bag that much. I'm OK with that!

From El Portal in Yosemite, we drove three hours to San Francisco.

 Luggage for our trip c/o Horizn Studios

Two days in San Francisco gave us a good amount of time to explore, but not nearly enough to see everything I hoped for.

We stayed at Hotel Zetta, just by Union Square. The hotel was seriously good, from the small detail of the lobby decor and rec area, and the staff's attentiveness, to the British-inspired (but not corny at all) restaurant. When the staff found out we'd just got married they drew us a personalised cartoon of San Fran, and popped a bottle of champagne in our room! What can I say, if you want people to be happy, just equip a lobby with a pool table, photo-booth and Shuffleboard!

The step-counter was going crazy while we were there. We covered lots of ground but did miss a fair few things I wanted to see...until next time.

 Sweatshirt c/o Asket | Shorts c/o Realm & Empire | Jacket by Several | Sneakers by Vans | Cap by Norse Projects | Sunglasses by Moscot | Bag by Instrmnt

 The view of San Francisco skyline from Alcatraz Island

I don't want to make these travel blogs too text-heavy, no one needs to read an essay on how good I thought our visit to Alcatraz Island was or how I have a tendency to spend way too much time trying to find good coffee. Photos will do the talking, and with that being said, Part 2 of our West Coast Road Trip will cover our journey from San Francisco to Hollywood!

Thanks for visiting,

Mat

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City Guide | 24 Hours in Nottingham

It’s true that a little local knowledge definitely goes a long way. When we set off to Nottingham a couple of weeks back, we’d done a bit of research, asked a few folks where we should go and what we should do; but, at the end of the first day we were feeling a bit down.

Partly, it was because of the weather (after a sunny start, it rained almost non-stop). Partly, it was because we were struggling with the controls on an old version of FIFA, back at our Airbnb. But, mainly, it was because we hadn’t seen much of the city that really captivated us. Don’t get me wrong, we’d been to a couple of good shops and bars; we just hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary or anything particularly noteworthy.

Realm & Empire – a British brand, with roots in the Midlands, that we’ve known and loved for a long while now – had read through our other city guides and thought we could do something similar in Nottingham. This was a project for our friends and we really didn’t want to let them down!

Thankfully, on that first day, we also spoke to the right people. The guys at Waste Studio, a creative agency with one epic toy collection, and the folks at Ideas on Paper, a really cool magazine shop, stuffed full of every magazine you’ll ever want to read, pointed us in the right direction.

It turns out, Nottingham is a pretty cool place and, not only that, it’s small enough to visit more-or-less everything on foot. Win-win!

Getting To Know Us A Little Better | Russ Erwin, with GANT

Russ Wears - Oxford Shirt + Selvedge Jeans c/o GANT | Realm & Empire Jacket | Desert Boots | Victorninox Watch

Over the next few months we aim to bring a more personal series to the blog. We share the things we love, and have always prided Buckets & Spades on having both a personal and relatable feel. But we also try to think bigger and share subjects which may reach a wider audience. But how well do you really know the people behind the blog?

Currently there's myself (click here to get to know me better), Nik, Hollie, Yasumi + Russ, all doing our bit to make this thing run smoothly. In partnership with GANT, and their new Never Stop Learning campaign, I followed my mate Russ Erwin (who you may remember from shoots with New Look Men + Kickers) around for a day; exploring his daily routine as a musician, his influences, and love of fitness and style.

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Buckets & Spades - When did you start playing the guitar, and did song writing come naturally to you?

Russ Erwin - I first picked up the guitar when I was about 15/16 years old, and I started off by just covering songs I enjoyed at the time. I never really thought too much about writing until I started piecing together my own chord progressions - writing seemed to come out of nowhere really. I suppose you could say it came naturally, yeah.

Tell us a little bit about a normal day for you; where are some of your favourite spots to visit, and cool places to eat, grab coffee etc...

I try to be up for 6:30-7am, jump in the shower, and put the clothes on that I've usually picked out the night before. Now breakfast. If I'm pushed for time then a protein shake does the trick, ideally I have natural yogurt + muesli, accompanied by a cup of tea.

I like to head up to Lytham or Preston for lunch. There's a few great places; Zest do a great chicken, bacon, egg + avocado sandwich, or if I'm in Preston Cocos Soul Food hits the spot with a burrito. Coffee is next on the list, before having a general mooch around. A double macchiato is my usual order. Preston has the upper-hand with coffee though, there's a lovely independent place called Cedarwood. From there I usually grab a flat white, a peanut butter flapjack.

 

Store Visit | Realm & Empire x IWM, Seven Dials

Realm & Empire x IWM Pop-Up Store, Seven Dials, London.

In collaboration with the Impertial War Museum, Realm & Empire has set up their first official retail space. I took the opportunity to stop by while I was doing the rounds in London last week, by all accounts it's been a long time in the works. As soon as you step into the store – which can be found just five minutes from Covent Garden – you instantly realise that a lot has gone into making this store happen.

Seven Dials has become known for its good lashing of men's style (see our Farah Vintage visit), design stores, and independent shops, and the R/E store fits in perfectly; sitting between outdoor retail Finisterre, and the Carhartt WIP flagship, on Earlham Street. 

The store itself has been designed inkeeping with the brand's strong links to the military and war history – Realm & Empire is the only clothing brand with access to the Imperial War Museum's vast archive – with exposed brickwork, wooden floors and utilitarian furniture. The gear matches the interior too; their take on practical outerwear, utility shirts, heavy jersey, British-made knitwear, and gifts can all be found within.

Realm & Empire x IWM Pop-Up (open until 31st December), 5 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London, WC2H 9LL.  See more of our Store Visits here.

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Realm & Empire Summer Giveaway

This month we've partnered up with long terms friend of the site, Realm & Empire, to bring you this months giveaway. Realm & Empire's unique take on military-inspired garments doesn't just stem from a place of passion, they're one of the only brands to have full access to the Imperial War Museum's archive. This gives them exclusive rights to years of historically accurate information on soldier's profiles, battle details and travel documents, as well as and uniform design + living habits etc. Read more about their story here.

We're giving a Buckets & Spades reader the chance to win a Realm & Empire Artisan Jacket worth £120 + a copy of the excellent "CC41 Utility Clothing" publication by Mike Brown. To enter use the Rafflecopter form below to sign up to the Buckets & Spades Newsletter. Best of luck my friends! Giveaway open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Healthy Lifestyle Calendar by Raquel Catalan + Weekend Links

The Life Calendar helps you divide your day into four parts: water, diet, sleep + sport. It's a practical way of tracking of your daily routine, and keeping an eye on your goals and progress. When complete the calender turns into a print, all ready to be frame. Available at Wap-Oh!

Sorry for the silence this week, I'm on family duties up in Scotland for a few days. Enjoy your weekend + extra Bank Holiday day off!

Weekend Bucket List

Why + how do our bags get lost at airports

This watercolour Clownfish is tip top

A handy guide on how to use Pinterest effectively

We welcome Realm + Empire as our latest blog sponsor

Love this limited edition range of beer bottles by Widmer Brothers

Amazed at the freestyle skills of skateboarder Kilian Martin

In case you missed it - We've been enjoying loose leaf tea over regular tea bags

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