CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Cincydawg on November 11, 2021, 04:44:56 PM
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We spent 3 days in Savannah, a city I had visited but never for any amount of time. Was interesting, would do it again. This photo is for badger, I chuckled when I saw it, "Man taming nature" etc.:
(https://i.imgur.com/vacTv49.jpg)
What could go wrong? Savannah is a fair sized port. One can have lunch by the river and look UP and see a very large cargo ship going up the river. It's pretty amazing really.
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(https://i.imgur.com/iJRQXr8.jpg)
I did not know this.
(https://i.imgur.com/Gw1znJq.jpg)
This is how the old part of the city looks pretty much, a lot of live oaks, planned squares surrounded by old houses.
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(https://i.imgur.com/r4V70X1.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VuYQUuQ.jpg)
City hall in background.
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(https://i.imgur.com/OJcCbPi.png)
St. John the Baptist CATHOLIC Church.
(https://i.imgur.com/uiZ0pVb.jpg)
Lunch one day, was good.
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(https://i.imgur.com/fQ5NsCi.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/AlDCGDH.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/t8Fstnr.jpg)
Factor's Walk, factors was the term for cotton merchants.
(https://i.imgur.com/nLbRDyl.jpg)
River Walk, looking upstream towards the port. They have a newly opened development up that way that is impressive. Open 9 months back at a cost of $375 million, I was told. It's an old Georgia Power plant redone extensively as a hotel and restaurants and bars. They have a dinosaur thingee inside.
Home - Plant Riverside Savannah's Entertainment District (https://www.plantriverside.com/)
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Lunch one day, was good.
my kind of lunch
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As i recall, OAM once noted and I agree, a lot of interesting pirate history in Savannah. Not nearly as glamorous or monied as Charleston, but a very interesting city nonetheless.
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It gets a bit lost as a place to visit nationally, I think, and I find it overall worth visiting. Food, entertainment, history, weather (this time of year anyway), walkability ...
Our hotel had a rooftop bar that was pretty neat, overlooking the river and downtown.
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Sherman raved about the place
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Sherman raved about the place
We were there a few years back and took a couple of the bus tours. The tour guides on both buses, brought up Sherman a lot. The one lady would mention his name and then spit into a trash can. It was hilarious.
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Sherman of course spared the place, as it surrended to him without a fight. It had minimal value to the southern war effort at that time, Fort Pulaski had been in Federal hands for some time by then. Sherman's march to the sea was a very creative IMHO strategem. Hood took the remainder of his army in the opposite direction.
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What Hood/Bragg allowed to happen in Tenessee was criminal - should have either surrendered or put Forrest in charge.
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Sherman of course spared the place, as it surrended to him without a fight. It had minimal value to the southern war effort at that time, Fort Pulaski had been in Federal hands for some time by then. Sherman's march to the sea was a very creative IMHO strategem. Hood took the remainder of his army in the opposite direction.
Correct, and I reminded the lady that spit into the bucket of the fact that Sherman spared the city.
I did take some time to mess with her though. About halfway through the tour, the bus stopped at a spot were we could get off, use the facilities and pick up some snacks and drinks. I was the last one off the bus and so I stopped to talk with the tour guide. I told her that I was a descendent of Sherman and her jaw about hit the floor. She began to apologize and say that it was just part of her schtick. I finally told her that I was just messing with her and we both had a laugh about it. She was a very good sport and made the tour a lot of fun.
At the end of the tour, the bus made a stop at the south end of town to drop off people that had gotten on there. From there we headed across town to drop the rest of us off. On that final leg, the tour guide turned on some music for the drive. Being as the rest of us were a group from Ohio, we requested Hang On Sloopy to be played. She didn't have that song, but I did on my phone. So we connected my phone to the bus sound system and were driving through the heart of Savannah playing it over the loud speakers. It was fun to watch many of the people walking near us join in with O-H-I-O chant. The bus driver was amazed and asked what that was about and said that she would add the song to her list of songs to play whenever there were groups from Ohio.
At the end of the tour, she received some pretty good tips.
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Yeah, I saw a few folks in OSU gear and have them the "O-H" talk, it caught them off guard.
I was wearing a blue pullover with a Braves A on it and got several "roll tide" comments from folks. Duh, it's blue.
There was gear from all over, it was fun. Place was pretty crowded, beautiful weather.
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Our hotel had a rooftop bar that was pretty neat, overlooking the river and downtown.
one of my friend's fathers would often tell us, we didn't have to go that far just to drink beer
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one of my friend's fathers would often tell us, we didn't have to go that far just to drink beer
I enjoy Nashville for a lot of reasons. I don't get the appeal of Braodway. As you said, why am I paying all of this money to travel to a crowded spot to drink.
Speaking of, it has to be ok to start tailgating now for a big Friday night hoops game against WMU, right? :72:
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Greetings from Lisbon.
Awesome hotel on the river. Just saw the Queen Liz leave port.
Speaking of port... Holy shit is the port good here.
And the Portuguese women... holy sheep shit. I get why MDot likes the Brazilians. These girls here will knock your socks off. Even Mrs. 847 said so. And I asked... NO!!!
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We met some nice folks on the rooftop bar, two were there to get certified in a corporate jet, the GS 650.
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(https://i.imgur.com/gYhbYz3.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/bztVDne.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/nk08gOs.jpg)
This is inside the old power plant, now a hotel with fancy bar and geodes.
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(https://i.imgur.com/3ViEuL5.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/tUvEuEo.jpg)
I was told they spent $375 million on this and it opened 9 months ago, it was pretty swank. The shops were filled with pricey things.
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New Port of Savannah ‘mega railyard’ aims to ease supply backlog – WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta (wsbtv.com) (https://www.wsbtv.com/news/politics/new-port-savannah-mega-railyard-aims-ease-supply-backlog/PBVCSITLRJA6TEAWD5ENHGKAFE/?fbclid=IwAR3x6_Oxp4x3gusHVrQmCBSytWL9tFgq6sI0d8i2uewzQrRxKfJuffJcRqc)
I had not known this was the third largest port in NA. I'm a trifle dubious now.
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Savannah was where my ex boss used to have his german cars shipped to. His body shop guy would drive the truck to Savannah and load them up.
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(https://i.imgur.com/twfaMlr.jpg)
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Time to plan an epic cross-country rail journey.
If you’re ready to plan an epic cross-country train trip, Amtrak has got you covered. The country’s main rail operator is offering its 30-day USA Rail Pass at a cost of $399, or $100 off the regular $499 price.
The deal lasts until March 29 and allows passengers to take up to 10 rides in a 30-day period. The first segment of trip can be booked up to 120 days after the pass is purchased and the 30-day period begins with the first leg of the trip.
Customers can purchase the pass on Amtrak.com, where they can also book and modify each segment of their rail journey. Pass holders will receive an electronic ticket for each train trip booked, which they will then present to the conductor when boarding.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/tour-the-country-by-train-for-399-with-amtrak-s-usa-rail-pass/ar-AAVnhxS?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=7685587368ea4b36ca1f29fa315bdcf4 (https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/tour-the-country-by-train-for-399-with-amtrak-s-usa-rail-pass/ar-AAVnhxS?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=7685587368ea4b36ca1f29fa315bdcf4)
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We have been taking short driving trips around the state. We recently visited Madisonville, which is a nice town of some interest, it survived Sherman.
(https://i.imgur.com/mWVUaDL.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/FGRPSSQ.png)
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We also visited this place which was quite nice, took a long walk, larger and more modern than I had expected, just south of Athens:
(https://i.imgur.com/YINT9KZ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/XEKFbus.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/EPtam4n.jpg)
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I spent much of this week in Portland Maine for the first time since the 90s. Aside from the planes, trains and automobiles trip home, great time. Very great scene of food and drink. City has changed quite a bit.
Not a good week for flights in the eastern third of the US.
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Maine is a really beautiful state. Portland there is WAY better then Portland West too.
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I love Portland, Maine. I spent a couple months of the summer there once upon a time. Came back to Austin one late August day when the high temp in Portland was about 65, and arrived to the late afternoon high temp in Austin of 103.
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Maine is a really beautiful state. Portland there is WAY better then Portland West too.
about the same latitude as N.Ontario & Quebec where we used to fish/convalescence
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Just back from Cincy, 472 miles, not bad traffic. Gas ranged from $3.45 t0 $3.99 on the signs aside from Costco. We stayed going up at the Boone Tavern in Berea, KY, kind of nice. Had a great meal at Jean Robert's restaurant Bar a Bouef, really fantastic. He came to a private dinner last night with friends, and we had one other dinner with other friends that was nice. It snowed a bit on us and was cold. Jean Robert unfortunately is not doing well at all but he seemed to have a good time at the dinner. Cincy has named a street after him downtown. I was able to have a nice chat with him about his youth and what it was like growing up in France. We went to the Friday wine tasting as had been my habit back in the day, a lot of friends showed up, that was fun. Drove around the old neighborhood, little has changed in four years in the city.
I'm glad to be here, but some good memories in Cincy for sure, and good friends. But it's cold.
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The US dollar and euro are almost equal: What that means for travelers
https://thepointsguy.com/news/euro-almost-equal-to-us-dollar/ (https://thepointsguy.com/news/euro-almost-equal-to-us-dollar/)
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I just read that Denmark uses the Krone but it's pegged to the Euro, so we should be good. Leaving in ten days now.
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Was in Grand Rapids MI for the first time last weekend. Really enjoyed the town despite the nasty weather. Founders is a huge place to hang out and enjoy food and drink.
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I just read that Denmark uses the Krone but it's pegged to the Euro, so we should be good. Leaving in ten days now.
Never been do Denmark, but have been to Sweden and Norway. Haven't been in awhile, but stay outta Norway lol. They use their own currency, called the Kroner (close enough) and that country is expensive AF.
For whatever reason, the Nordic countries are expensive as hell.
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Big cities in Europe are expensive, maybe there is an exception somewhere. Folks go to France and generally see only Paris, which is understandable, and think it's expensive, and it is. Part of this is the VAT of course, part is whatever exchange rates are. The first time I went to Paris it was $1.65 to the Euro, that was steep. Now it's $1.05. We've stayed in hotels around France that were roughly $100 a night that were clean and decent, the rooms can be very small. One can find food that isn't tres cher.
We're meeting a good friend who is Swedish in Copenhagen, we were going to visit her and spend some time there but travel plans didn't work out. It's fascinating to me how many languages they often speak, especially the Dutch and Danish. But I've found out in the sticks, you won't find much English speaking at all, and the farmer types speak a French I can't make out. They turned me loose in a market once to get veggies and I was pretty lost. I could point, but they'd say something that I finally figured out meant "You have to buy at least 6 of those."
The farmer's markets they have are often awesome. We have one here on Saturday's across the street but it's pretty lame really, especially in early spring.
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The US dollar and euro are almost equal: What that means for travelers
https://thepointsguy.com/news/euro-almost-equal-to-us-dollar/ (https://thepointsguy.com/news/euro-almost-equal-to-us-dollar/)
I hope it stays that way for a while. We have two more trips planned.
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What's the most obscure country that each of you has been to?
Has anyone ever been to Greenland? Cuba?
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I visit the state of confusion quite often
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What's the most obscure country that each of you has been to?
Canada. And also, like why does it even exist?
Would absolutely love to go to Cuba......
(https://img8.hotnessrater.com/5687927/stephanie-acevedo.jpg?w=600&h=900)
(she's a horrible singer from Miami of Cuban descent, whom world famous rap star Lil Wayne signed to his record label, probably just to try and....well, you know)
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Canada can be quite fantastic. You can draw a circle around a large part of western Ontario and i would argue it has the greatest fishing fresh or salt water anywhere on the planet. Such diversity of species, habitat and experience.
I say this as a proud fisherman of many locations in the lower 48, both fresh/salt.
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I have a daughter now living in Vancouver, BC, I hope to visit in August or so. I've been to Havana, Cuba, off a cruise, I was quite surprised how run down it was. I expected poverty generally but thought they would have the harbor spruced up for tourists. Nope. The famed old cars are just polluting junk, really.
I've been to Andorra, somewhat by accident, we got misdirected driving, and Luxembourg. I don't know why Andorra exists, apparently shopping there is good.
I've been to Belize, which seemed pretty neat.
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I have a daughter now living in Vancouver, BC, I hope to visit in August or so. I've been to Havana, Cuba, off a cruise, I was quite surprised how run down it was. I expected poverty generally but thought they would have the harbor spruced up for tourists. Nope. The famed old cars are just polluting junk, really.
I've been to Andorra, somewhat by accident, we got misdirected driving, and Luxembourg. I don't know why Andorra exists, apparently shopping there is good.
I've been to Belize, which seemed pretty neat.
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/0eaf8d011f289090603650a5d659370f/tumblr_mrs16qmSAD1qgl64no1_250.gifv)
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/6b2ea8a1e7b17a0011cade82f8b952be/tumblr_mrs16qmSAD1qgl64no3_250.gifv)
(https://y.yarn.co/2f88dff5-eaf6-420f-b302-c006ca3d6e9f_text.gif)
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I visit the state of confusion quite often
Stole my thunder
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Canada can be quite fantastic. You can draw a circle around a large part of western Ontario and i would argue it has the greatest fishing fresh or salt water anywhere on the planet. Such diversity of species, habitat and experience.
I say this as a proud fisherman of many locations in the lower 48, both fresh/salt.
This,ever go to Lake Nippissing?Sadly the lads have drifted apart,moving,marraige/kids passing on.Had a good 20 yr run,30 if you want to include when dad/mom would go every summer also.
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What's the most obscure country that each of you has been to?
Has anyone ever been to Greenland? Cuba?
California.
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Never been to Nippissing. 'Too far east'.. looks enormous, but I'm sure it is an outstanding fishery.
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We're off to Frankfurt, then Copenhagen, then around including Stockholm. Should be a nice trip, weather looks to be good, mid60s during the day mostly. My wife is packing heavy winter gear. First trip to Europe since Jan 2020, just before ...
One stop is Estonia, Tallin.
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We're off to Frankfurt, then Copenhagen, then around including Stockholm. Should be a nice trip, weather looks to be good, mid60s during the day mostly. My wife is packing heavy winter gear. First trip to Europe since Jan 2020, just before ...
One stop is Estonia, Tallin.
you lucky dawg! be safe and enjoy!
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In hotel in Copenhagen, very tired, duh.
Internet is slow.
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In hotel in Copenhagen, very tired, duh.
Internet is slow.
This site is slow right now. The gremlins are active.
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Something like 80 percent of Canadians live south of International Falls, Minnesota.
You drive south across the bridge or through the tunnel from Detroit into Canada.
Kinda backwards, eh?
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Well, Minnesota is actually Baja Manitoba, so it's not all bad. :)
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Iowa is too far north in my opinion
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Something like 80 percent of Canadians live south of International Falls, Minnesota.
You drive south across the bridge or through the tunnel from Detroit into Canada.
Kinda backwards, eh?
is this surprising? most of Canada is frozen barren wasteland.
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Iowa is too far north in my opinion
Georgia is too far north in my opinion. I freaking love Atlanta and I'd live there in a second if the weather was nicer year round.
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So would millions of other people like you, which would make it just as expensive as Palm Beach, etc.
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millions of folks already live in Hotlanta
I think I would prefer atlanta to the humidity of Palm Beach
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millions of folks already live in Hotlanta
I think I would prefer atlanta to the humidity of Palm Beach
Atlanta can get pretty humid too now during the summers. The coastal cities of Florida do have the advantage of being near water and getting that sea breeze. And if you get too hot, well you can just go take a dip in the ocean. Don't have that in Atlanta.
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Atlanta doesn't have as many reptiles and insects either
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Atlanta doesn't have as many reptiles and insects either
oh no! tiny little lizards and palmetto bugs!
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Something like 80 percent of Canadians live south of International Falls, Minnesota.
You drive south across the bridge or through the tunnel from Detroit into Canada.
Kinda backwards, eh?
(https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/91-214-x/2015000/c-g/c-g41mc-eng.gif)
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Copenhagen is cloudy.
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(https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/91-214-x/2015000/c-g/c-g41mc-eng.gif)
This map shows why it was so important to the nascent government of independent Canada to pay for the Canadian Pacific Railway, especially the line through the Shield north of Lake Superior and through the muskeg west of what is now Thunder Bay (then Fort William and Port Arthur). That was their ticket out of the St. Lawrence Valley.
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Copenhagen is bike city.
And the wife tested positive, I am negative. Will get retested tomorrow, she has no symptoms.
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Copenhagen is bike city.
And the wife tested positive, I am negative. Will get retested tomorrow, she has no symptoms.
has Europe relaxed all their COVID restrictions? Because I am not going over there until they get rid of all of them.
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has Europe relaxed all their COVID restrictions? Because I am not going over there until they get rid of all of them.
Some, not all.
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has Europe relaxed all their COVID restrictions? Because I am not going over there until they get rid of all of them.
I cancelled 2 trips I had scheduled for this very reason
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Denmark has. Lufthansa was VERY strict about masks on the planes. Airports though not at all. Cruise ship requires neg per test.
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Did she test negative?
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No, I did. She was positive. Test again tomorrow.
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I thought you were testing her again yesterday. My bad.
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We basically are stuck in København which could be worse… no COVID restrictions here at all.
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Both antigen tests negative home tomorrow
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Safe travels.
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We've been gone two weeks, originally for a Baltic Cruise out of Copenhagen, We arrived two days early to adjust for the time change and see a bit of the city. We stayed outside the city in Orestad near the airport, but took the train into the city to poke around. The cruise line requires a negative PCR test and we found a test center. To our dismay, Catherine tested positive, I was negative. She had very mild symptoms, some sneezing and occasional fever, but we walked quite a bit that day before learning she was positive.
The day of the cruise, we took a cab to the cruise port, and had the same driver who gathered us at the airport, named "AJ", a very nice man with a full VW EV. The cruise offered a quick antigen test which my reading suggested was less sensitive than the PCR test. I showed my test result and Catherine went to be tested, and initially they said she was fine, so we celebrated and went to check in, both given bracelets qualifying us to join the cruise.
Then, they called Catherine back, I didn't understand why as I was checking in, and did so. Her test was unclear, they said, so they retested, and she was positive. After some discussions with their doctor, we were told we could not board. We were devastated, and didn't know what to do at all. I had booked our flights through the cruise line because they offered air fare of $1100 for both. no way we could beat that, but our return was two weeks away.
We called AJ back and I made two more days reservations at the same hotel (which was nearly booked) so we could figure what to do. Buying return tickets would be over $2,000, and we'd need a negative test as well. She stayed on the phone to Canada Air and the cruise line most of the afternoon being told to call some other number or they couldn't help at all changing our flight. We were bummed.
Our cab driver said he often drove people to Malmo, Sweden, so we took him up on that, the fare was not cheap, but we stayed two nights in a great historic hotel downtown Malmo, a Scandic Kramer, built in 1868, beautiful property. We had a great time there, many streets are pedestrian only, we dined at a great seafood place and chatted with folks next to us who insisted we try akvavit, which we did, the traditional drink. Johanny P was the name. We visited Malmo Hus, a museum and former fort that was fantastic, and walked all over, we walked at least five miles a day, my feet were sore.
After two nights, we called AJ back and went to a motel in downtown Copenhagen for five nights, an interesting property called CitizenM, which was the opposite kind of place, with a nice lounge on the 8th floor with great views and we spent quite a bit there. We walked all over Copenhagen each day and took a canal cruise on the day with great weather (which tended to be chilly and windy). Rain was forecast but we only had one short spell of rain the entire trip.
I was beginning to think things would be just fine, it's a very nice city to visit, many museums and interesting sites and good food, though of course not cheap. Catherine had no symptoms at all now, nor did I, other than foot soreness. We needed a negative antigen test for the flight home, or she needed a certificate of recovery, we got the name of a doctor quite a way out of town, and took the train to get there, and after being asked two questions and charged $140, Catherine had her letter. We could have waited until Saturday and done the antigen test, but Friday was a holiday and we were told doctors would be closed Saturday, so we did this Thursday. Then on Saturday we both took the antigen test and were both negative. I never got it, both of us are fully vaccinated (4x).
We guess she got it at the symphony and probably was one day before testing negative at the cruise port. So, our disaster turned into a very nice vacation, we were thankful to be "stuck" in such a nice city, a city with many many more bikes than any I've seen before in Europe, very clean, super nice residents who all speak great English and are eager to help strangers. Their local food item is called snoorebord, which is a kind of open faced sandwich of various types. We found a very nice French bistro called Frenchy where we had lunch twice. We met a very nice cab driver and a front desk person at the first hotel who was super nice to us when we returned just crushed from missing the cruise. We walked and walked and walked, learning to look for bikes zooming past us in places in both directions. We visited four museums, including the Danish War Museum, which is impressive. We heard a lot of Danish of course, took a ton of photos, many of which we probably texted your way.
So, the story is one of lemons, and that it really takes a week or more to see a European city of note. We're planning our next trip already, well, it's already done, we're off to California June 3 for a week. And I wanted to rest a bit.
Best wishes on Memorial Day, which is not forgotten,
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(https://i.imgur.com/yJX8v84.jpg)
Our hotel in Malmo, said to be haunted by the lady who had it built in 1868.
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(https://i.imgur.com/UTDTBAu.jpg)
We didn't know this story, these buses were used to evacuated refugees from Germany in 1945 near the end of the war. They got thousands out, the buses were painted white to let the Allies know not to fire on them, but one bus was attacked from the air by a Spitfire, killing the driver.
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(https://i.imgur.com/fMLOIrw.jpg)
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The bar in our hotel in Malmo.
(https://i.imgur.com/gY8qXbz.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Zp3FxQs.jpg)
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They have a certain elegance in Europe we often lack here in our rush to, whatever it is.
(https://i.imgur.com/2dUyqqV.jpg)
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This was Malmo Hus, an old fort, now a museum or considerable note, it cost $4 to enter.
(https://i.imgur.com/6wFsBUR.jpg)
They don't check tickets there, even on the subway very often, it's a honor system, no turnstiles. Malmo had beautiful parks nearby, really nice city to visit, it was cloudy and chilly but never rained there on us.
(https://i.imgur.com/ed7bYRd.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/G7L5ctE.jpg)
The is the classic image of Copenhagen, Nyhaven, which means "new harbor, though it's 300 years old. The buildings were painted different colors because they lacked street numbers. This below is one kind of smorrebrod, shrimp on toast in effect.
(https://i.imgur.com/RyrLkBH.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/neM4ifl.jpg)
A wedding in Malmo.
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(https://i.imgur.com/q9uLUow.jpg)
This was from the lounge atop our hotel downtown Copenhagen showing Radhuspladsen and city hall. The city had a number of "pladsens", open areas like this one, surrounded by shops etc. The hotel was a CitizenM, great location, rather strange hotel otherwise, but it worked. Below is part of the lounge, which was quite nice.
(https://i.imgur.com/Q2OM476.jpg)
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This is Hans Christian Anderson Blvd, at rush hour, not that much vehicle traffic, a lot of bikes.
(https://i.imgur.com/mkCcxHS.jpg)
Another part of the city had some large lakes which used to have a military function near city walls (now gone).
(https://i.imgur.com/rrRiRu2.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/CmtQ90T.jpg)
A photo of the moat around the Chappelet, the existing fort north of the city a bit.
(https://i.imgur.com/lbQHkzP.jpg)
Part of the castle, they have a Queen, we toured the stables and the castle fairly much. They have relatively no "security" visible around their Capitol building, we could walk right up to it and see inside.
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(https://i.imgur.com/mqmNhNc.jpg)
This is their Capitol building, and a few bikes. The stone pavers were tough on my feet. I have another photo near a subway station that probably shows well over a thousand parked bikes. They are mostly "simple" bikes, maybe three speeds, everything is flat. Many have carriers for goods or smaller kids in front.
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I think this is some kind of Irish Pub:
(https://i.imgur.com/lBkbiNh.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/BprIsmJ.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/bFFxAON.jpg)
We went inside Hotel d'Angleterre for a bathroom and I snapped this, really fancy hotels with fares to match.
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This is their Capitol building. Part of it is for the Queen, part for the legislatures.
(https://i.imgur.com/I5E6ToK.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/CPxlElX.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/mRd2uGw.jpg)
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The Danish War Museum was fascinating, for me. My wife abided.
(https://i.imgur.com/K8x3gIX.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1AAbtZ.jpg)
The weather changed from clear like this to cloudy in less than an hour, and often. It was in the 50s most of the days, but the average low T in January is only -1°C, it doesn't get really cold there apparently.
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My wife was fascinated with the cannon they had:
(https://i.imgur.com/DKWZGHJ.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/9YFb0Fk.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/RGoXpPh.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/Kb8bUgd.jpg)
More smorrebrod, with beer. They had good beer. Who knew? And it's not cheap of course, the DKK was 14 cents, which made the math a bit tough, relative to the Swedish Kroner which was a dime.
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View from our hotel towards Tivoli, we didn't go, it seems to be an amusement park with rides in downtown CPH.
(https://i.imgur.com/Bq8mDtS.jpg)
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This was inside the fort, which is still a military installation, I was not that impressed with their precision, and they would smile and laugh quite a bit. Their rifles lacked magazines.
(https://i.imgur.com/tCxWBbA.jpg)
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View from the fort earthen walls of the palace in background in second photo.
(https://i.imgur.com/LNTewY0.jpg)
The moat had pairs of enormous swans and "cygnet".
(https://i.imgur.com/VtrDn8d.jpg)
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The city had a lot of construction going on, especially in Orestad where we stayed six nights out near the airport, there is a lot of open land there and most of the buildings are newish and not that pretty. This is near the city from the canal.
(https://i.imgur.com/QmAdSgW.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/e2QTEgG.jpg)
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I found a wine bar in Malmo, and treated us to this, which my wife liked a lot. The server was a bit shocked I wanted a full bottle, it was 730 Swedish Kroner. Barolo is up there on my like list of wines.
(https://i.imgur.com/WzkfKec.jpg)
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We had lunch early on at this place with very very slow service, but it was a nice day. We had huit huitre.
(https://i.imgur.com/2C8zWN7.jpg)
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Thanks for sharing. Glad you were able to make lemonade from lemons.
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(https://i.imgur.com/Kb8bUgd.jpg)
More smorrebrod, with beer. They had good beer. Who knew? And it's not cheap of course, the DKK was 14 cents, which made the math a bit tough, relative to the Swedish Kroner which was a dime.
my kinda low card breakfast
saving the carbs for beer
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We had lunch early on at this place with very very slow service, but it was a nice day. We had huit huitre.
(https://i.imgur.com/2C8zWN7.jpg)
An even better breakfast.
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breakfast appetizer
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That was lunch, actually, and could be dinner. When we stayed downtown, I was going next door to a Seven Eleven, seriously, they were all over the place, for coffee and croissant while my wife was getting ready. It was included in the fare at Malmo and we got comped at the other hotel which had a very nice breakfast.
We often ate a heavy late lunch and then almost nothing for dinner.
This was our view from the hotel near the airport, you can see the open land all around, some of which is parks. This was also end of the line for the M1 subway system with their service center.
(https://i.imgur.com/ywtJyqQ.jpg)
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This was looking north, you can't really see well the bridge across the straits of Denmark to Malmo, part of which is a tunnel. The bridge is a faint set of towers slightly right of center.
(https://i.imgur.com/0nqz7QH.jpg)
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really cool pics and stories. thanks for those. traveling is my favorite thing to do. super jealous lol.
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San Diego cloudy cool. Traffic unpleasant. Very tired last night
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cloudy and cool here
warm enough for golfing in short britches
no traffic to speak of
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San Diego cloudy cool. Traffic unpleasant. Very tired last night
The marine layer will go away around Noon.
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Not yet
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(https://i.imgur.com/G7L5ctE.jpg)
The is the classic image of Copenhagen, Nyhaven, which means "new harbor, though it's 300 years old. The buildings were painted different colors because they lacked street numbers. This below is one kind of smorrebrod, shrimp on toast in effect.
(https://i.imgur.com/RyrLkBH.jpg)
my son lives in Copenhagen and we have visited once with another trip in the plans. love the Carlsberg brewery and many spots. our next trip will include a sweden excursion
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Sunny now still cool
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At some Mexican place
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West Brew beer
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cloudy and cool here
warm enough for golfing in short britches
no traffic to speak of
As many stops as you make at the beer cart that works out just about right
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had to give the young lady a lecture
nearly died of thirst on the front 9
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Sunny now still cool
That's San Diego in June. You never know what you're gonna get.
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my son lives in Copenhagen and we have visited once with another trip in the plans. love the Carlsberg brewery and many spots. our next trip will include a sweden excursion
Have you been to Amsterdam?
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At some Mexican place
Which one of the million they have?
I've been to a bunch out there. Some good, some bad. One of them was on DDD. I thought it was bad. El Indio.
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The 10 Most Affordable Michelin Three-Star Restaurants (and the 11 Most Expensive)
https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/michelin-three-star-restaurants-most-least-expensive (https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/michelin-three-star-restaurants-most-least-expensive)
10 Most Expensive Michelin Three-Star Restaurants
Guy Savoy // Paris, France
Kitcho Arashiyama // Kyoto, Japan
Arpège // Paris, France
Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen // Paris, France
Frantzén // Stockholm, Sweden
Le 1947 at Cheval Blanc // Courchevel, France
Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare // New York City, United States
Hof van Cleve // Kruishoutem, Belgium
Geranium (tied with Noma) // Copenhagen, Denmark
Noma (tied with Geranium) // Copenhagen, Denmark
11 Least Expensive Michelin Three-Star Restaurants
King's Joy // Beijing, China
Lung King Heen // Hong Kong
Nakashima // Hiroshima, Japan
Restaurant Überfahrt // Rottach-Egern, Germany
Kikunoi Honten // Kyoto, Japan
Dal Pescatore // Canneto sull'Oglio, Italy
Kashiwaya // Osaka, Japan
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (tied with Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester) // London, UK
Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester (tied with Restaurant Gordon Ramsay) // London, UK
Kei (tied with Reale) // Paris, France
Reale (tied with Kei) // Castel di Sangro, Italy
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60s-70s in SoCal on my birthday. Picking up a friend who ran a half marathon now. Brunch downtown then back up to Carlsbad on the beach.
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60s-70s in SoCal on my birthday. Picking up a friend who ran a half marathon now. Brunch downtown then back up to Carlsbad on the beach.
I can't even imagine the infamous LA traffic during "pride month" where every fifth block would be closed for some sort of parade or celebration.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DShx8EbW0AA-flz.jpg:large)
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Mex was ok nothing special… had Korean last night better
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In 1933, upon the death of their father, Ernest and Julio Gallo took over the family vineyards in Modesto, California, and discovered that they had been mortgaged to the hilt. “My father left the small vineyards hopelessly in debt,…and we were on the verge of losing them,” commented Ernest Gallo, in a rare video interview with Marvin Shanken, Editor & Publisher of Wine Spectator. “We thought that by going into the wine business – taking the crop and converting it into wine – we could probably get enough to save the property, and that’s what we did.”
From that humble beginning, Ernest and Julio Gallo grew their company into the world’s largest wine corporation. By 2007, when Ernest passed away at the age of 97, E&J Gallo produced 40 different wine brands, totaling 75 million cases, with annual revenues of $1.5 billion. Today the company has grown to 130 brands, totaling 100 million cases, with $4 billion in revenues in 2020. E&J Gallo, still a privately held family-run company, employs more than 7,000 people and markets their brands in 100 countries.
But the video interview of Ernest Gallo, filmed by Shanken and his team in 1999, almost didn’t happen. “Ernest was very private,” explained Shanken, “and he rarely spoke to anyone. But we became friends in 1975 when he wrote me a thank you note for an article I had written about the Gallo Winery in my Impact newsletter,” (Shanken’s first publication, before Wine Spectator, Cigar Aficionado, etc.)
https://lizthachmw.com/winestars/rare-video-interview-with-ernest-gallo-reveals-rags-to-riches-story-of-the-worlds-largest-wine-corporation/ (https://lizthachmw.com/winestars/rare-video-interview-with-ernest-gallo-reveals-rags-to-riches-story-of-the-worlds-largest-wine-corporation/)
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Gravity Heights beer garden good
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We spent five nights in SD and one at LAX. SD appears to be the nicest larger city in CA, to me. We stayed mostly north of downtown and near the beach. Restaurant costs are about 50% higher than here, which is no shock, and I filled up near LAX at $6.20 per. We saw a few prices under $5 and some others at $6.50 in SD.
We spent a fair bit of time driving kids to school and back in University City (which might not have a U in it). We visited Torrey Pines State Preserve or Park which is interesting. Torrey was a dude.
My wife enjoyed visiting Solana Beach where they have artsy fartsy stores and she talked me into buying a glass thing for the condo. We didn't do anything really notable or exciting, but I got to see more of SD than I had in the past. Oh, we drove one Sunday to Temecula, not my favorite wine region, very very crowded and over over over priced. We did one tasting at $28 per, not worth a quarter of that. Hyper crowded and not fun at all for me.
My step son has a real GF now and my wife is anxious to meet her, they are in SF, so we're probably going there soonish.
I will credit the Delta lounge at LAX as being the nicest I've visited. LAX otherwise is a mess. Not at Toronto mess, but a mess.
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I like SD - I think. Been about 10 years since we've been. I'm amazed at how many great places we went to eat in the Gaslamp have closed. Probably lockdown-related.
Temecula used to be great until it got found out. Tastings were free back in the day.
I will be forced to go to LA next year for a f'ing wedding. I'll be kicking and screaming the entire way there. I hope Mrs. 847 doesn't get too mad at me (wedding is on her side). Maybe I'll take a Xanax. Or three.
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1. SD
2. SF
3. LA
Large gap between all I think. SF has the advantage of being near real wine country. I'm always kind of amazed even still how eastern CA is more like Texas than CA.
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I really like the SF bay area, especially north of the bay
been to San Diego 3 or 4 times
it's nice, great weather
don't care much for LA
Pasadena was decent
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I'm in Clearwater for the first time , choosing to take a weekend here on the gulf coast before sitting thru four days of vball in Orlando. I take it there's never a break here b/t May and September. Brutal. Nice place but there's a reason I've never set foot in Fla. Between April and Nov.
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humidity
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I'm used to it now.
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So, Norwegian has credited me with the cruise cost, less airfare, which is fair, as we did use it. I was unsure they would.
We spent roughly the same amount in Copenhagen as we did for the cruise. And we enjoyed the city, and Malmo for two nights.
(https://i.imgur.com/GYmHZs5.jpg)
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We were in a full plane coming back from LAX and "in the back" but had exit row seats, which work just fine for me. Delta has really increased the upcharge for economy comfort seats now. If I can get exit row, I'm doing just fine in the back of the plane. Fares of course are way up now, I was just looking at flying to SFO and SEA, holy cow.
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SEA? For a day trip?
I don't think I'd stay in the City-proper anymore. Too much crime. I'd consider this place, which was very nice and not in the downtown.
Downtown Seattle Hotel | Luxury Waterfront Hotel Rooms (edgewaterhotel.com) (https://www.edgewaterhotel.com/?msclkid=721f64d227a01cdedc4a06750fee9951&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=LOB LRN)
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Seattle would be just to drive to see my daughter in Canada. My wife however is anxious to go back to SF to see our son who apparently now has a real GF and is willing to inroduce us to her. He once told his mom if he introduces her to a GF, it's a real GF, e.g., going to be permanent etc.
So, I now have marching orders.
My guess is downtown Seattle is reasonably secure, at times the media will hype stories about a city that in fact are highly localized issues, like having feces and needles everywhere in SF. They show the Tenderloin district, which is bad, and imply the entire city is that way.
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Seattle is not good right now. I have friends there and they avoid going downtown at night.
We were last there in 2018, and we did see the drug use and homeless issues at night. Apparently it has gotten a lot worse, and even during the day, as so many people still work from home and not downtown.
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Some observations about the Danes and Copenhagen:
They are very polite to visitors. They speak incredibly good English, all of them it seemed to me. They are very "organized" and rule conscious, I rarely saw anyone jay walk. They ride a LOT of bikes, like I've never seen anywhere else. Copenhagen was very clean, relative to say Paris, and I saw maybe one person begging in nine days. Their food is "interesting", reasonably decent, not what I'd call great, same with local beers, though they have craft beer also. They still have a Queen who is around at times. One can walk right up to their Capitol building without seeing security. For that matter, security was pretty lax everywhere
A lot of streets are ped only (and bike) which works pretty well I thought. Traffic isn't that bad, everyone is on a bike, men in suits on bikes is common. The subway system is pretty comprehensive and is well used (semi-crowded). It takes a few times to really master it, for me anyway. There are no turnstyles. We were checked once for our tickets by some officer dude. The same was true with museums, you bought a ticket but no one checked it, same with a lot of stores, pretty light security. Hermes had a dude letting folks inside, this is common for them. I never had any sense of danger from anyone, it's not like Paris where theives are preying on tourists.
They have a lot of canals of course, some of which were originally defensive moats. The boat tour we took was quite nice and informative.
Denmark once was a power in Europe, but lost lands to Germany and Sweden, and got shellacked by the British Navy a few times, so today they lean pretty hard to staying out of wars. It's of course expensive, $200 a night for a decent hotel room was common, and it of course went up from there, but that isn't much different than here. Currency is "DKK" which is 14 cents per, making math a bit hard. Divide by 7.
Of cities in Europe I've spent some time in, it ranks pretty high. I liked Brussels, Lyon, and Barcelona roughly the same.
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I will add how odd it was to see so many 7/11s in Copenhagen, KFC and Burger King were also very common. At one hotel, I got up each morning to get two croissants and coffee at the nearby 7/11. That hotel didn't have an in room coffee maker. It was am eclectic hotel called CitizenM, great location.
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I think you would really like Amsterdam. Next time you hit Europe, try to make that a stop.
Canal City, and even more bikes than what you saw in Denmark.
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I'm sure I would like it as well, I don't see how a city could accomodate more bikes.
Paris has a lot of scooters that are noisy and pollute like crazy, Copenhagen had very very few, mostly for delivery.
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I'm sure I would like it as well, I don't see how a city could accomodate more bikes.
Paris has a lot of scooters that are noisy and pollute like crazy, Copenhagen had very very few, mostly for delivery.
Like this.
(https://i.imgur.com/YA2oPfF.jpg)
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Amsterdam by far on the bicycle thing. Nearly everyone rides one.
THE WORLD GEOGRAPHY: 10 Countries With Most Bicycles Per Capita (http://www.theworldgeography.com/2011/07/10-countries-with-most-bicycles-per.html)
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Which City Has the Most Cyclists? [STATISTICS] (discerningcyclist.com) (https://discerningcyclist.com/which-city-has-the-most-cyclists-statistics/)
While the Netherlands is the country with the most cyclists per capita, the city with the most cyclists is actually Copenhagen, Denmark. Up to 62% of Copenhagen’s population use a bicycle for their daily commute to work or school, and they cycle an average of 894,000 miles every day.
Copenhagen has built up an extraordinary momentum for cyclists in the city over the past 20 years. In the city, there are currently four bicycle-specific bridges either already built or amidst construction (including the Alfred Nobel’s Bridge), as well as 104 miles of brand-new regional cycling roads and 5.5 metre wide bike lanes on its newer routes. That is equivalent to more than £30 per capita in cycling infrastructures.
However, with Copenhagen ranking at 90.4%, Amsterdam at 89.3%, and Ultrecht at 88.4% in terms of cyclist accessibility in the Copenhagenize Index of 2019, the competition to be the best cycling city is incredibly close.
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Amsterdam has about 100K more people though.
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So the Mrs. and I just returned from 4 days in New York City. Some thoughts:
-If you are flying there in the evening, go to Kennedy. It's a lot easier to get into Manhattan from Kennedy at a late hour than from either LaGuardia or Newark.
-Blocks are really short on Manhattan. 10 blocks seems like an eternity most other places, and in New York it's a quick hop up the road.
-New Yankee Stadium was clearly designed with the mentality of "We're the Yankees. We've won 27 World Series. TWENTY SEVEN! Get rid of the ancillary stuff, you're here for Yankees baseball!" Very similar to Michigan football. The stadium was surprisingly plain. I also didn't think the stadium worked very well inside. Not enough concessions, too many choke points. If the stadium was a hundred years old, fine. For one of the newer places in MLB, it's a poor choice.
-There are a LOT more road bikes in NYC than I thought there were going to be. Also, we found a place that rented road bikes not far from our hotel. A huge plus is that they had a bike in my size (61 cm). Despite it likely dating from the first Bush administration, it worked well enough to go along the Hudson River Greenway up to the GWB and back. This included a stop at the Little Red Lighthouse. Oddly enough, I'd say that Broadway is the most bike-friendly street in the city.
-Shows are still aggressively masked. We saw three on this trip, and at all of them the staff were making sure that everyone was masked the whole time in the theater. We also saw them in what we thought was a very nice order (Come From Away, Moulin Rouge, and The Lion King).
-If you're looking for a great brunch place, go to Maison Pickle on the Upper West Side, near the 86th Street/Broadway station on the #1. Food was great, reasonably priced, and portions were GIGANTIC.
-Have I mentioned yet that the subway makes getting around the City very easy? I know I am an unabashed fan of public transit, but it doesn't change the ease of transport.
-Speaking of the subway, we took it out to Coney Island on Sunday, and partook in the Sunday activity of people watching. Also enjoyed Nathan's World Famous Hot Dogs and Katz's Deli on the Lower East Side.
-Cabbing out to Newark on Sunday night, we saw the horrific lines to get into the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and swore we'd never fly into Newark for the purpose of trying to get into Manhattan.
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I got stuck one night trying to get out of Manhattan, it was awful.
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NYC not in the cards for us.
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We're headed back to SFO in August. But not the city, we're going to Monterey and then back up to Sonoma/Napa with our son and his GF (who the wife is desperate to meet). Then in September it's France. A retiree group over there has an organized trip each summer and we did one that was pretty good for the price. This one is a week in Perigord Noir, a region I don't know, near Bordeaux.
I'm about ready to not travel for a while personally. I like it here just fine. And the cost of airfare of course has shot up over the past few months. I used miles to get to SF, the tickets were $1500 each in EC otherwise.
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What will Atlanta look like when the World Cup arrives in 2026? | Urbanize Atlanta (https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/world-cup-2026-picks-atl-Beltline-downtown-changes)
A neat early morning photo of my 'hood:
(https://i.imgur.com/z4mZdE9.jpg)
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Not doing much long term traveling, but do quite a bit of long weekend trip.
Went to Vegas Memorial weekend.
Just did a long weekend in Sedona.
Going to Cancun for 4 days July 4th weekend.
Making up the long time of no traveling by a bunch of little trips
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I traveled from Sewer City to Ames, IA - with a stop at Lake Panorama National golf course
the quality inn here is better than most quality inns
headed to BWWs to watch CWS and enjoy BOGO traditional wings tonight
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Some NYC travel tips. I like to take the PATH into Jersey (Hoboken/Jersey City stops) and then get out and cab it to Newark airport. Of course, I'm usually already downtown (financial district) so it is a matter of walking two blocks to the PATH and waiting about 2 minutes for a train. Otherwise, spot on GR, those tunnels and Newark can go to hell. LGA meanwhile has made some great progress on their renovations. Its still damn close to a 3rd world airport, but definite improvements, perhaps CV came at a good time for that.
Blocks indeed are 'short' north to south, but not the case E-W. The other tactical problem many will face, if you're on the eastern half of the US you might not have many NS choices to JFK. Of course the opposite is true, if you're on the West Coast, you *won't ever see a flight to LGA (runway length makes it a non-starter for transcontinental flights (larger planes).
I've regrettably flown a bunch here in '22 (worst year in my life for air travel by far), and NYC, with Boston and Minneapolis 2nd/3rd, are just not 'back' to the same buzz and activity that I'm used to seeing. I couldn't believe how completely dead downtown Minneapolis was on multiple beautiful weather afternoons and evenings in early June. North Loop/Warehouse were in good spirits though. SF was surprisingly lively, but I would caution, you get a few blocks west of the financial district (Union Square and west) and it is a disgusting mess of a city. Quite sad. We all (I think) know about the chronic homeless issues in the larger West Coast cities.
the least surprising statement: I was in Clearwater/Tampa/Orlando this past week. I see nothing that tells me there's been a pandemic. our resident FL folks know this of course, but they don't seem to have missed a beat (other than canceling flights :73:, which isn't reserved to FL).
* LGA has a perimeter rule, which prohibits west coast flights (besides Denver which of course is not on the coast, and then some Saturday exceptions, I think Spirit has tried to offer a LGA/LAX Saturday flight)
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Spent the week at the old homestead. Ate too well, saw friend, reminded myself of many of the different kinds of places the area has to offer.
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My favorite cities in Europe, so far:
Barcelona
Copenhagen
Lyon
The latter is I think underappreciated and less well known, and has many many fewer tourists. It is known for tremendous food, and wine mostly from Beaujolais.
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Aside from Paris, which other cities have you been to?
We've not been to Paris and I pretty much doubt that we will ever get there. There are way too many more places that actually want us to visit, versus one that does not or is indifferent.
Copenhagen is now on my radar thanks to this board.
Munich, Milan, Florence and a short stop in Rome are next year. From there we cruise to Fort Lauderdale, with stops in Livorno, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Lisbon and Bermuda.
All of the stops are overnight, except Monte Carlo and Gibraltar.
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Aside from Paris, which other cities have you been to?
Major cities in Europe I've seen for a reasonable number of days:
Paris London Strasbourg Marseille Bordeaux Luxembourg City Brussels (nice place too) Frankfurt (meh) Monaco Rome Naples
We missed some not doing the cruise of course. Our main idea for cruises is to see several cities conveniently and consider which we'd like to see again in more detail. Next year the cruise goes from Abu Dabi to Athens and includes a tour of Petra and Egypt and I think Jerusalem.
Malmo, Sweden was pretty nice also.
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Our main idea for cruises is to see several cities conveniently and consider which we'd like to see again in more detail.
This is along the lines of our thinking too. It helps when, in general, the ship arrives by 8AM on day one and doesn't leave until 8PM on day two. You can see a lot of a city in two days if you so choose.
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Some NYC travel tips. I like to take the PATH into Jersey (Hoboken/Jersey City stops) and then get out and cab it to Newark airport. Of course, I'm usually already downtown (financial district) so it is a matter of walking two blocks to the PATH and waiting about 2 minutes for a train. Otherwise, spot on GR, those tunnels and Newark can go to hell. LGA meanwhile has made some great progress on their renovations. Its still damn close to a 3rd world airport, but definite improvements, perhaps CV came at a good time for that.
Blocks indeed are 'short' north to south, but not the case E-W. The other tactical problem many will face, if you're on the eastern half of the US you might not have many NS choices to JFK. Of course the opposite is true, if you're on the West Coast, you *won't ever see a flight to LGA (runway length makes it a non-starter for transcontinental flights (larger planes).
I've regrettably flown a bunch here in '22 (worst year in my life for air travel by far), and NYC, with Boston and Minneapolis 2nd/3rd, are just not 'back' to the same buzz and activity that I'm used to seeing. I couldn't believe how completely dead downtown Minneapolis was on multiple beautiful weather afternoons and evenings in early June. North Loop/Warehouse were in good spirits though. SF was surprisingly lively, but I would caution, you get a few blocks west of the financial district (Union Square and west) and it is a disgusting mess of a city. Quite sad. We all (I think) know about the chronic homeless issues in the larger West Coast cities.
the least surprising statement: I was in Clearwater/Tampa/Orlando this past week. I see nothing that tells me there's been a pandemic. our resident FL folks know this of course, but they don't seem to have missed a beat (other than canceling flights :73:, which isn't reserved to FL).
* LGA has a perimeter rule, which prohibits west coast flights (besides Denver which of course is not on the coast, and then some Saturday exceptions, I think Spirit has tried to offer a LGA/LAX Saturday flight)
SF was just like that when I was last there in 2014.
Downtown Minneapolis was hit hard by COVID and hasn't recovered. Unsurprisingly, the only parts of downtown that are doing well are also the areas that have substantial build-ups of residential spaces, such as the aforementioned North Loop and Warehouse District. I still think there is a major commercial real estate reckoning coming downtown, but that is pure speculation.
Let me know when you come here next.
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Downtown Atlanta is building up (perhaps just in time for a bust). There are some large projects just starting. Midtown is still going like gangbusters.
Filings: Centennial Yards high-rise hotel, apartments move forward | Urbanize Atlanta (https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/centennial-yards-development-high-rise-hotel-apartments-move-forward)
In the grand scheme, Centennial Yards is expected to create a dozen city blocks, require the better part of a decade to finish, and cost upwards of $5 billion, as backed by a nearly $2 billion tax-incentive package.
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SF was just like that when I was last there in 2014.
Downtown Minneapolis was hit hard by COVID and hasn't recovered. Unsurprisingly, the only parts of downtown that are doing well are also the areas that have substantial build-ups of residential spaces, such as the aforementioned North Loop and Warehouse District. I still think there is a major commercial real estate reckoning coming downtown, but that is pure speculation.
Let me know when you come here next.
It feels like spots that rely on offices/restaurants that cater heavily to office workers/hotels are running into a lot of issues, especially if parking is not convenient and good public transit is lagging
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(https://i.imgur.com/a9TGyqU.jpg)
Aguille du Midi, French Alps, above Chamonix
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(https://i.imgur.com/XLBcX6Z.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/BHCaYmH.jpg)
McDonald's in Paris, across from the Hilton Opera
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(https://i.imgur.com/VWU4pEm.jpg)
Yellowstone Falls, Upper
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(https://i.imgur.com/XLASHOI.jpg)
CFB HoF Display
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(https://i.imgur.com/tWSTqtO.jpg)
Musee des Bindes, Saumur, France, a great museum of armor
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(https://i.imgur.com/Ij7d2bQ.jpg)
A bridge canal built across the Loire River in central France
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(https://i.imgur.com/z5lNApi.jpg)
Painted Rocks, Lake Superior
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(https://i.imgur.com/8VYlhJ1.png)
Bon Aire
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(https://i.imgur.com/EbrLmap.jpg)
Waldorf Astoria, Maui, the fanciest hotel we've ever stayed at.
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(https://i.imgur.com/XxQNFtI.jpg)
Huge ossuary built with American funds, Verdun, France.
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(https://i.imgur.com/qX4n5qk.jpg)
Guardsmens Pass, Utah, beautiful area.
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(https://i.imgur.com/rk1ixrt.jpg)
Impanema Beach, Rio
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(https://i.imgur.com/9bHBhBu.jpg)
Bryce Canyon NP
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CD some of us just arent as worldly as you so in the future could you please tell us what in hell your posted picture is so that we may become smarter
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longhorn, that's a great goal for you.
Lesson 1: no matter where that picture was taken, those rock formations took longer than 6,000 years to form.
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Zion NP
(https://i.imgur.com/I9PMiXT.jpg)
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Utah is a great state to drive in
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(https://i.imgur.com/ateA38g.jpg)
Meeting of various wine confreries near Paris held in Villa Roche. I was one of two invited speakers. The costumes were amazing.
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(https://i.imgur.com/8dSTBuI.png)
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(https://i.imgur.com/3Lu24qX.png)
Chateau de Fontainbleau, was Ike's HQ, and NATO HQ for a spell.
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(https://i.imgur.com/dDNBMBP.jpg)
Some football church in Paris.
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(https://i.imgur.com/ymJLCTf.png)
Chartres, it was so packed we ended up dining at Subway, no lie.
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(https://i.imgur.com/1TF5PMY.png)
Winyer in Bordeaux, we were invited to lunch en famille, Chateau Laffite Laujac, yes, it has two f's.
(https://i.imgur.com/s4vw5io.png)
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(https://i.imgur.com/KSczEM4.png)
Tasting with lunch at Chateau Brocard, which was amazing.
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(https://i.imgur.com/5KpYSAc.png)
Gardens at Chateau Vaux le Vicomte, near Paris, amazing gardens.
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(https://i.imgur.com/qTqpBhM.jpg)
Funicular in Lyon
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(https://i.imgur.com/6mWmS6L.png)
Tombs of the well known UGAs, in Sanford Stadium.
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(https://i.imgur.com/I5r75xH.jpg)
An Irish pub in Copenhagen
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McDonalds has a pub?
Ill take a big pint please
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(https://i.imgur.com/RixdcUE.jpg)
Malmo, Sweden, typical street scene. Average LOW temperature in January is -1°C.
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(https://i.imgur.com/cwnAPjz.jpg)
A bit closer to home, walking distance in fact, Atlanta Botanical Garden.
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what no ducks?
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There are usually a lot of ducks and geese in the lake nearby in the park, but not in the garden itself. The garden is much appreciated by us urbanites.
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McDonalds has a pub?
Ill take a big pint please
that's a McPint to you sir
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McDonalds has a pub?
Ill take a big pint please
Royale with cheese
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(https://i.imgur.com/I5r75xH.jpg)
An Irish pub in Copenhagen
I confess as a 17yo in Paris, I was tired of French Food and I ate at McDonald's
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I have eaten there in London and on the freeway in France, and at Burger King in Copenhagen. I think it's worth doing if you have time. It's a bit different.
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When I used to travel for work, I spent a long time at my destinations. I did 3 months in France, 3 months in Belgium, a couple months in Sicily, a couple months in the Netherlands, a couple months in Germany.
And each time, after about 3-4 weeks of focusing on the local food, invariably I'd find myself hitting McDonald's around once per week. That's when I discovered that in France, in the drive-thru, they'd let me order a Happy Meal and substitute in a beer instead of the soft drink.
"Un Happy Meal avec biere s'il vous plait."
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Yup. I've had Japanese and "Mexican" in France as well.
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Absolute worst "Mexican" food I've ever had, was at a Tex-Mex place in France.
My local coworkers knew I was from Texas and figured I might be missing my local cuisine. They basically forced me to go to this place. The restaurant served me fajitas cooked rare. Oh France, don't ever change.
On the other hand, the Vietnamese food in France is incredible.
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I guess I would tire of bistro food at some point, it might be a while. There was a place in Copenhagen called Frenchy that was excellent.
In the US, French restaurants generally try to be high end something rather than bistro like. We have all sorts of ethnic cuisine near us and not a single bistro type place, not one. Modestly priced Thai, Korean, Mex, Greek, Japanese, Indian, Italian, Vietnamese, South American, Chinese, Persian ... zero French.
And of course there is soul, Southern, BBQ, etc.
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I guess I would tire of bistro food at some point, it might be a while. There was a place in Copenhagen called Frenchy that was excellent.
In the US, French restaurants generally try to be high end something rather than bistro like. We have all sorts of ethnic cuisine near us and not a single bistro type place, not one. Modestly priced Thai, Korean, Mex, Greek, Japanese, Indian, Italian, Vietnamese, South American, Chinese, Persian ... zero French.
And of course there is soul, Southern, BBQ, etc.
I tired of French bistro food at every lunch and dinner for 3 months, for sure. Similarly I am sure that I'd tire of American "cafe'" food every meal for three months here in the US, as well.
But the weekly trips to McDonald's were less about the food itself and more about keeping in touch with something familiar. It was also way faster than eating anywhere in France and although I love the more leisurely pace of dining in Europe, sometimes the American in me just wants to get it done and get on to the next thing.
And also keep in mind, most of these meals, I was eating by myself. A couple of lunches or dinners during the week with local coworkers, but for the most part on the weekends, they were off doing their thing with their families, and I was a lone American in an unfamiliar place.
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Kinda lots to not like about this thing.
Europe adds visitor fee for US travel next year (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/europe-adds-visitor-fee-for-us-travel-next-year/ar-AAZ0rN1?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=47ce2489374f4410ad318bee78a88b23)
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I was checking into going to Japan, and if I read correctly, they require a 14 quarantine after arriving, no matter what.
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Kinda lots to not like about this thing.
Europe adds visitor fee for US travel next year (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/europe-adds-visitor-fee-for-us-travel-next-year/ar-AAZ0rN1?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=47ce2489374f4410ad318bee78a88b23)
We've started preliminary planning for a Europe trip next year. Budapest, Croatia, and Greece are on the itinerary.
But this additional $7 fee might put the kibosh on that!
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Only the Euros would tax Americans for visiting
I think we should reply in turn
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I have looked at our airline tickets, about half the price is fees and taxes. Another 7 euros is obviously a meh. My wife can dodge it anyway.
I used miles to get to SF in August and there are fees on that as well. It was a lot of miles too, 190,000 I think for two in EC. I used to get business class to Europe for 80,000 miles. Your miles don't expire but they erode ...
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We've started preliminary planning for a Europe trip next year. Budapest, Croatia, and Greece are on the itinerary.
But this additional $7 fee might put the kibosh on that!
It's not the $7 that concerns me.
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It's not the $7 that concerns me.
I know, and I hear ya. Just playing around.
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I've known this guy for a long time. Done a lot of work together. He's a good dood.
Skyrocketing Chicago crime has small businesses, corporations pack their bags: 'Enough is enough' (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/skyrocketing-chicago-crime-has-small-businesses-corporations-pack-their-bags-enough-is-enough/ar-AAZ0sAH?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=90ceea608ba24164b34a8770442e2077)
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That sucks. Feel bad for the company, its owner, its employees, and also any decent citizens whose lives will just be harder/more complex/more expensive as a result of business flight from the city.
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Wrong thread - sorry.
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Wrong thread - sorry.
(https://i.imgur.com/xpHXPo4.png)
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Music to my ears. I keep trying and every time I think I'm out they pull me right back in!
(https://i.imgur.com/NiautFr.png)
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OK our trip to New Orleans next week is a go! And I actually saved about $300 on flight and hotels by procrastinating, they started dropping the prices over the past week,
Can't wait, it's been years since we last visited,
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I mentioned before, I think, we had a bad time in NO a while back, bad enough that I don't intend to return. Our "friend" claimed she knew where to go and what to do. She either didn't or it's a terrible place. I think I lost a kidney.
Anyway, I went, I saw, I won't go back.
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I mentioned before, I think, we had a bad time in NO a while back, bad enough that I don't intend to return. Our "friend" claimed she knew where to go and what to do. She either didn't or it's a terrible place. I think I lost a kidney.
Anyway, I went, I saw, I won't go back.
And I mentioned before, that you have the worst friends. At least, the worst guide-friends. Because you also didn't find any food in Austin worth eating.
And if you can't find good food in Austin, and if you have a bad time in New Orleans, it's definitely the guide, not the town.
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Good luck with your flight
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Good luck with your flight
Wait, this sounds sort of mysterious and sinister. Do you know something I don't, about my flight???
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well, he is a Husker
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I also will not return to NO w/o a dern good reason
went once, wasn't impressed
wasn't horrible, didn't lose a kidney
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You gotta try real hard not to enjoy New Orleans.
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I had more than a few drinks, but I enjoy that everywhere I go
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Flying in 2022 is the worst experience as a traveler in my lifetime. My sample size is about 24 legs. The cancel rate and interminable delays, gate routing, diversions, runway closures, and overall dysfunction is really amazing.
The model is unchanged since '19 with significantly less headcount for the same volume of flights. We're now at and past 2019 passenger rates Some combination of route cuts, new hiring and fare increases are the only path to improvement.
This exacerbated by pilot shortage already pre CV. I feel bad for the staff working arse off now. I've observed some amazing work by gate agents and flight attendants. One confided that b/t Vax mandates and early retirements, they are in a big hole on coverage. Many of these flights are canceled purely because crews are timed out. Not really a secret.
I don't know anything about your flight Utee, but I know this isn't a Holiday week where I'm not getting on a plane.
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I liked my trip to NOLA and that includes experiencing some less than savory moments. There's plenty of total no-gos but easy to avoid.
Its no different than if some dipshit sends you to Times Square, then 50 Rock to hold up signs for the Today Show and then has you stand on line for Cronuts or some trendy food item for your NYC trip. Sorry.
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Flying in 2022 is the worst experience as a traveler in my lifetime. My sample size is about 24 legs. The cancel rate and interminable delays, gate routing, diversions, runway closures, and overall dysfunction is really amazing.
The model is unchanged since '19 with significantly less headcount for the same volume of flights. We're now at and past 2019 passenger rates Some combination of route cuts, new hiring and fare increases are the only path to improvement.
This exacerbated by pilot shortage already pre CV. I feel bad for the staff working arse off now. I've observed some amazing work by gate agents and flight attendants. One confided that b/t Vax mandates and early retirements, they are in a big hole on coverage. Many of these flights are canceled purely because crews are timed out. Not really a secret.
I don't know anything about your flight Utee, but I know this isn't a Holiday week where I'm not getting on a plane.
Shortly after masks were eliminated on British flights which was before U.S. flights eliminated masks, I recall reading that COVID-19 spiked there. To what extent is this responsible for increasing flight cancelations in the U.S.? I am an infrequent flier but did fly within one-week after the mask requirement was eliminated, and almost no flight attendant, and only 10% of passengers, wore masks.
I have to think that increased spread of COVID-19 amongst airline employees is contributing. But, I don't see any analysis of this, in any news articles.
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interesting observation. I don't know how the specifically is playing into it. Overall headcount is the bigger issue. It's like the restaurant that has sections blocked off due to no staff, except the airlines still have the flights scheduled. They can't serve the passengers, there aren't enough bodies on the tarmac, maintenance, crews to handle the flight load. Put that mix in motion, and at some point Plane #1 which flies A to B, B to C, C to D, somewhere in b/t there's a delay somewhere, and crew on #1 can't get to C to get to Plane #2 to take it C-E. because Plane #2 needs crew from Plane #1. Plane #2 C-E gets canceled. crews timed out, or otherwise unavailable. nothing wrong with the plane, there's no weather issues....And if there are those issues. big problems.
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Flying to Chicago today. Plane is full - we've been offered to bump. This flight will not be cancelled so we turned down the bump.
AA is only doing 1 non-stop per day to ORD from here now.
They used to have 4.
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My wife and I flew to Savanna Ga a couple of weeks ago. Upon our arrivale, we waited for 2 hours for our checked luggage. As we had a friend come to the airport to pick us up, it not only inconvienced us, but our friend spend 2 hours in the cell phone lot waiting for us. I should have driven to Savanna, it would not have taken any longer.
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Savannah airport is usually pretty good, or was years ago, small enough and modern enough etc.
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Flying to Chicago today. Plane is full - we've been offered to bump. This flight will not be cancelled so we turned down the bump.
AA is only doing 1 non-stop per day to ORD from here now.
They used to have 4.
Where do you fly out of? I don't recall exactly where in Florida you are...
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RSW - Fort Myers.
Sometimes we use Allegiant out of PGD, which is 15 minutes away. They go to MDW and RFD, but they have been a little sketchy lately. Pilots....
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Well this will be my first flight since 2019, so I guess I'll just cross my fingers. It's a direct non-stop so at least I won't have to deal with any problems at an intermediate airport.
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Heading to Cancun tomorrow morning. Going to sit at the beach and at the pool, drink and do nothing else.
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Heading to Cancun tomorrow morning. Going to sit at the beach and at the pool, drink and do nothing else.
Amen brutha.
We're supposed to be headed to Playa del Carmen at the end of the month, although that trip might be getting pushed out for some family reasons.
I hear the red sargassum is a major problem this year, hopefully the beach will be clear for you.
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Amen brutha.
We're supposed to be headed to Playa del Carmen at the end of the month, although that trip might be getting pushed out for some family reasons.
I hear the red sargassum is a major problem this year, hopefully the beach will be clear for you.
Yeah that is where are heading. An all inclusive adult place. So thankfully no kids runnng wild
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Yeah that is where are heading. An all inclusive adult place. So thankfully no kids runnng wild
Sounds great, no doubt you'll have a good time. I love that area.
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I looked briefly at a couple all inclusive places, they seemed like cruises except you stay in one place.
My wife did one a while back with her kids and liked it.
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Fort Myers was not crowded, which is not surprising. Not many people visit Florida this time of year.
Plane was packed and O'Hare was back to normal - except that we got our bags in record time - by the time we made it down there, our bags were there. That has never happened.
The trams are back working there too, after 5 years of work for a 1 year project. But that's another story.
We landed and were in our rental car in 30 minutes. Kudos to ORD.
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I looked briefly at a couple all inclusive places, they seemed like cruises except you stay in one place.
My wife did one a while back with her kids and liked it.
The All Inclusive places are great if you just want to relax and not think about anything. As long as the food and drinks are good, it makes things quite easy. And I've been to several that had excellent food.
Then sometimes you want your vacation to be an adventure, and/or experience local culture. In those cases, the All Inclusive tends to limit you.
It's really two entirely different types of vacation, and I'm partial to both, depending on my objectives.
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Then sometimes you want your vacation to be an adventure, and/or experience local culture. In those cases, the All Inclusive tends to limit you.
This has always been my preference
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Yeah, I get it, I have a hard time just sitting and doing nothing for days. I want to see things. I'm pretty relaxed at home. I can do nothing here if I choose, though usually we do things daily, nothing exciting of course, but things.
We went to the library yesterday for example.
I'd rather do a cruise for about the same money, but a cruise in Europe or Asia, maybe Canada.
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Then sometimes you want your vacation to be an adventure, and/or experience local culture. In those cases, the All Inclusive tends to limit you.
This has always been my preference
I do both. But AI resorts in the Caribbean are pretty great for total relaxation, and there are times when that's exactly what I want, and all that I want. My job at the very large computer manufacturing company is highly stressful. Sometimes ridiculously so. And I'm up all hours working with partners in China, Singapore, Malaysia.
Sometimes the thought of going to a location, and having to think about/book every meal, plus outings, plus whatever else-- is just completely exhausting. It's the absolute LAST thing I want to do on my time off from work.
The one thing we DO do, though, whilst at resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, is go diving. That's an excursion I never tire of. But we have local dive shops that we know well and have used for years, and there's no hassle or worry for those plans, either.
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So, with the building AC off here, my wife and I went to Asheville for two nights. We've been there twice before together, but stayed near downtown and went to dinner there. Call me unimpressed, probably won't go back. I've never seen so many homeless wondering about begging. (I've seen more out west of course, but in tent cities etc., not really begging.) We had dinner at a place called Tupelo Honey which had good "ratings", to me it's a tourist trap with so so food. My wife said she liked it. She also told me she was uncomfortable several time with where we parked and walked about. Bear in mind we walk about midtown ATL daily. It was pretty bad, in my opinion. But we had AC and stayed in a new Cambridge suites which was still a nice motel. (They tend to Walmart in a few years.)
The AC here was not fixed so I made a reservation in Helen, GA mostly so we could drive about in the mountains some. Helen is not our cup of tea, but when you know it's going to be hypertouristy it's not so bad. Stayed in a HI Express which was quite nice also, had a deck and jacuzzi. The area around Helen is nice enough. The day was pretty cloudy, foggy at higher elevations, we drove around and stopped in Dahlonega which is still fairly nice. She loves antique shops. I ended up buying books at one of them. She laughed. We had a decent lunch there. The gold museum is pretty neat but we'd done that before. Drove back yesterday, pretty heavy traffic on GA 400, a major interchange rebuild is underway at I-285.
Regular gas in GA is around $4.20, I saw $3.83 at Costco heading out. Gas tax holiday helps. Car was getting 36-7 mpg on the trip which I count as a win, a lot of mountain driving in there. Went up Mount Mitchell which I had not done in ages, she had never been there.
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(https://i.imgur.com/5fXaaOG.jpg)
Anna Ruby Falls near Helen, GA.
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(https://i.imgur.com/YdZb3vz.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/MmOa05x.jpg)
View from top of Mt. Mitchell, Elias Mitchell is buried at the summit.
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(https://i.imgur.com/BF16tWZ.jpg)
Chattahoochee River in Helen, tubing is the thing there.
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(https://i.imgur.com/1qz4NbR.jpg)
Mountain creek below the falls near Helen. Helen in an interesting story, was dying as a town, the local lumber mill had closed. They dressed up a few stores as looking quasi-Swiss and it took off, now the theme is Swiss, sort of, and the town has massively expanded for the tourists. It's a bit like a smaller Gatlinburg, closeness to ATL no doubt helped a lot. The area around it is pretty nice, as noted, it's at the base of some mountains, including Brasstown Bald.
(https://i.imgur.com/808sTRA.jpg)
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Not liking this place in Kenosha one bit. It's far smaller than it looked on the pictures. The bed sucks so we got a topper. The shower gives you 5 minutes of hot water, and the bathroom sink is IN the shower, which is a phone booth.
I'm actually thinking about getting the hell out of here and going home.
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Are you at an AirB&B thing? Or on a boat?
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Air BnB.
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The All Inclusive places are great if you just want to relax and not think about anything. As long as the food and drinks are good, it makes things quite easy. And I've been to several that had excellent food.
Then sometimes you want your vacation to be an adventure, and/or experience local culture. In those cases, the All Inclusive tends to limit you.
It's really two entirely different types of vacation, and I'm partial to both, depending on my objectives.
That was our objective on this vacation. Did nothing but sit on our balcony right on the ocean. go down to the pool, drink and chat with people. Grab food for lunch at the pool. Go to one of the 12 restaurants for dinner. Then relax in the lobby area with entertainment or go back to the room and sit on the balcony and watch the ocean.
Hate to say it but I couldn't care less about experiencing the Mexican culture. Now if we were at other places that would be a different story.
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Yeah, I get it, I have a hard time just sitting and doing nothing for days. I want to see things. I'm pretty relaxed at home. I can do nothing here if I choose, though usually we do things daily, nothing exciting of course, but things.
We went to the library yesterday for example.
I'd rather do a cruise for about the same money, but a cruise in Europe or Asia, maybe Canada.
I wouldn't do that type of vacation for very long. We flew in on Friday evening, stayed Saturday and Sunday and left Monday afternoon. More days than that would be pushing it.
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As a fully retired person, I think I'd rather stay home than do some all incl.
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Ed Zachery
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Just got back from a long weekend in New Orleans. I probably ate my weight in oysters.
Can't wait to get back.
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I really missed something in NO somehow, I didn't like it at all, nor did my wife (who had been once before). Part of this was being led about by our French artist friend who claimed to know where to go and what to do.
I've liked most larger US cities I've visited, even NYC and SF.
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I didn't have the best experience in NO either
part of that was the person I was with
part of it was just a dirty, smelly, seedy area of the city
didn't spend much time on bourbon street
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Bourbon Street sucks. If you spend more than 3 minutes on Bourbon street and you're over the age of maybe 24, you've made a terrible mistake.
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yup, we walked the length of it and that was it
I was easily over 24
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As I've said before, you have to actively try, not to find great food and a good time in New Orleans. Your guides/companions must have really sucked.
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perhaps I'll give it another try sometime
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Our dining was mundane in crowded places
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Tons of good restaurants take reservations. Not sure why you'd ever need to eat at a crowded place.
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Our friend made reservations at theses places which were packed and so so
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I've said it before and I'll say it again-- your friends suck at being guides.
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So... where did you eat in NO? I will make notes.
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The best fancy meal was at La Petit Grocery
https://www.lapetitegrocery.com/
Best deal on raw oysters was $1 per ($12/dozen) during happy hour at Superior Seafood & Oyster Bar
https://www.superiorseafoodnola.com/
Fantastic general Cajun/Creole/Southern fare at one of our usual stops, Mother's:
https://www.mothersrestaurant.net/
More general Cajun/Creole/seafood fare at Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar and Fish House in the Quarter:
https://mredsrestaurants.com/oyster-bar/new-orleans-menu
And some more tasty general Cajun/Creole/seafood in a dive-bar atmosphere in the quarter at Coop's Place:
https://www.coopsplace.net/
We also usually hit up Acme Oyster Bar and/or Felix's but didn't get by either, this trip.
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I saw a place on DDD (??) that did grilled oysters with butter and garlic. Do you know that one?
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I saw a place on DDD (??) that did grilled oysters with butter and garlic. Do you know that one?
Not sure which place DDD might have featured, but almost every place in New Orleans does grilled oysters that way, these days. They're delicious.
The first restaurant I recall doing them, was Felix's.
We had some at Superior Seafood, and also at another place we dropped by just for a late afternoon snack called "Royal House Seafood and Oyster Bar" on Royal Street in the Quarter. They offered those grilled oysters with butter and garlic, but also an option of adding chopped bacon and crab meat on top. Those were great, too, but so rich-- a little goes a long way.
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This one was not in the FQ.
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This one was not in the FQ.
Superior isn't in the quarter. And Felix's has several locations in and just outside of New Orleans.
But so many restaurants do them, I'm not sure who it might have been on DDD.
You'd most likely enjoy them at any of the places that make them.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again-- your friends suck at being guides.
Yeah, they do, the lady in Austin was the same (different lady). I've had much better luck out on my own semi-guessing at places. We had a lunch in NO without our friend at a place I picked that was pretty good but not anything special. My wife is convinced I have a sixth sense at picking places to dine, but much of this is from being in France.
I really have had excellent luck in France, go figure. That could have set my bar too high.
One thing that really turns me off when dining is high noise levels. It gets me to disliking a place right off. We tried a highly regarded sushi place here called Eight Sushi and the noise level was ridiculous. We had great difficult even ordering anything. The waiter was Japanese and wearing a mask, I could not understand a thing he said.
Not going back.
One other thing with me is food often is really "OK", it's edible, maybe even flavorful, but not memorable or elevating. It's Crackerbarrel to me, or bar food, or Olive Gaarden, or Chipotle (which my wife likes). I much prefer the place near us called Willy's for "Mexican". It's consistent and fun. Anyway, I guess I'm a tough out.
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I saw a place on DDD (??) that did grilled oysters with butter and garlic. Do you know that one?
Casamento's Restaurant
4330 Magazine St., New Orleans
http://casamentosrestaurant.com
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I wanted to try a few DDD joints while in NO, but most are not walking distance from the tourist area I was staying
I tried the old coffeepot, it was next to Pat O'Brien's just off Bourbon St. Walking distance and pretty good. I had the blackened Redfish - Can't get that in Iowa
Also slid next door foe the infamous Hurricane - not impressive
(https://i.imgur.com/2i65RJM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/khAa0hf.jpg)
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Pat O's is a Bourbon Street tourist trap and Hurricanes are good if made form fresh fruit but usually they're made from pre-mixed "juice" which is a bunch of HFCS and it sucks.
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well, the original that I had was Meh
might not have included Tito's
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Yeah, it likely didn't include Titos's, since the liquor in a hurricane, is rum. ;)
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no wonder
I didn't notice Captain Jack Sparrow in the bar
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hey, just had a GREAT idea
Tito should distill Rum
I had an EVEN better idea a couple daze ago while drinkin, but can't remember it
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I go back to my case that all white liquor is vodka. Anything aged is whiskey.
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All soda is a Coke.
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Well, you have brown soda which is Coke and clear soda which is Sprite.
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There is a cruise out of London that goes around the island and stops in Ireland as well that my wife wants to do.
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We are skipping Europe this year. Russia and all that.
12 night Caribbean is in the cards.
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I like cruises, I know badgerfan does too though many people do not.
Still, for me, 12 nights is probably a little long. 7 nights has been about right for me in the past.
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We do cruises if the ports of call are of interest. I thought the original Baltic cruise itinerary looked great, then it fell to "OK" (and then it fell to zip).
I've been looking at one in SE Asia as well.
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European cruises in the Med or river cruises definitely interest me. I've never done one. But I think I'd feel a little cooped up and restless, doing 12 nights on the same ship. Even with excellent ports of call.
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We're doing a long one in February, 18 days, Abu Dhabi to Athens, Greece.
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European cruises in the Med or river cruises definitely interest me. I've never done one. But I think I'd feel a little cooped up and restless, doing 12 nights on the same ship. Even with excellent ports of call.
I hate cruises, only been on a couple, and they're always Caribbean. A European cruise on the Mediterranean interests the f$#k out of me though lol. Never done that- but I sure would like to soon.
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All soda is a Coke.
so are all drugs
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All soda is a Coke.
14-year-old me: I'm going over to 7-11 to get some cokes, anybody want anything?
Friend1: Sure, I'll take a Dr. Pepper
Friend2: Please grab a Sprite for me.
Friend3: A Coke sounds good to me, thanks.
This is the way.
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:57:ignorance is bliss
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I hate cruises, only been on a couple, and they're always Caribbean. A European cruise on the Mediterranean interests the f$#k out of me though lol. Never done that- but I sure would like to soon.
It's how we got into Europe. Now we know where to go and where to not go.
You would love it.
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We see folks on cruises who sit at the bar for hours drinking. I think for some the idea of a cruise is the same as an all inclusive resort, you get hammered and eat all you can. That isn't our approach. We've done Carribean and Alaska and I didn't care much for either. The western Med cruise was superb, same cruise line. The original Baltic cruise would have been great I think. We're more interested in exploring places while being able to unpack once.
We did one river cruise in Europe that was OK. It wasn't a main cruise line like Viking, when they showed no excursions that included pillaging a village I lost interest ...
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The 100 Best Hotels in the World
The best hotels in the world span every continent except Antarctica, though Travel + Leisure readers show an affinity for properties in Europe and their own backyard: the United States.
1. Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco, Montalcino, Italy
2. Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection, Santorini, Greece
3. Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, South Malé Atoll, Maldives
4. Pickering House Inn, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
5. (tie) One&Only Reethi Rah, North Malé Atoll, Maldives
5. (tie) Royal Mansour Marrakech, Morocco
7. Capella Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
8. The Lowell, New York City
9. Hôtel Madame Rêve, Paris
10. (tie) Rosewood Villa Magna, Madrid
10. (tie) The Oberoi, New Delhi
19. White Elephant Palm Beach, Florida
20. The Loutrel, Charleston, South Carolina
25. (tie) Pendry Chicago
30. Under Canvas Mount Rushmore, Keystone, South Dakota - might try this one - it's in my sales territory
63. (tie) San Ysidro Ranch, Santa Barbara, California
71. (tie) Morrison House Old Town Alexandria, Autograph Collection, Alexandria, Virginia
71. (tie) The Lytle Park Hotel, Autograph Collection, Cincinnati - we shall see if Cincy agrees with this one
74. Deer Path Inn, Lake Forest, Illinois
81. Nobu Hotel Miami Beach - Mdot???
86. Rosewood Miramar Beach, Montecito, California
93. The Lodge at Blue Sky, Auberge Resorts Collection, Park City, Utah - Brutus???
94. Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, Little Torch Key, Florida
99. Wentworth Mansion, Charleston, South Carolina
https://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best/best-hotels-in-the-world-2022 (https://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best/best-hotels-in-the-world-2022)
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We've stayed at the Waldorf in Maui and in Versailles, they are excellent hotels. But mainly I want a clean room, decent bed, and warm place to S.
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yup, I appreciate a decent shower
I spend 2 or 3 nights a week in hotels
I try to keep it under $100 for the company
in larger cities it's more than $100, but in smaller cities in rural south dakota, nebraska, and Iowa it can be done
don't need anything fancy
they all seem to have decent wifi access
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I like the Deer Path Inn, hard to believe it's in a T100 of the world,let alone U.S. what it says to me is hotels are pretty damn fungible.
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I imagine we all have the same basic requirements. If a Motel 6 meets those, it's OK. Anything above that is 'excess', which can be nice to have at times.
My wife is picky about cleanliness, which is fine, so I avoid anything below a Holiday Inn Express type place.
Incidentally, if you get an IHG (Holiday Inn) Master Card, it costs $40 a year I think, but you get a free night each year also (plus points). I have a Hilton Amex but it just gets points.
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I have enough credit cards, 3 personal cards and a company card.
I don't do much personal traveling, but that seems like a bargain. I'm an IHG member and like Holiday Inn.
Gotta be a minimum or something?
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I don't know of any requirements other than the annual fee. I've had it for years and at times don't use it at all. We usually stay in a Hilton property where I have diamond status. There are more HI (IHG) properties in Europe than Hilton has. We stayed six nights at a Crowne Plaza in Copenhagen. It was nice, not superb but nice, and they treated us very well.
There are some blackouts on the nightly stay though. I used one night in Helen at the HI Express that would have been $140 had I paid for it.
And we got upgraded, it gives you some status in the IHG chain as well, I forget what.
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I like the Deer Path Inn, hard to believe it's in a T100 of the world,let alone U.S. what it says to me is hotels are pretty damn fungible.
They have a good brunch, I guess.
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The Sazerac Company — best known as the parent of Buffalo Trace — has immense spirits holdings globally. Among them is a namesake Cognac, Sazerac de Forge. This is a relaunch of an old brand, and there’s some history to wade through, should you be so inclined. So here goes:
Previously available exclusively at Sazerac House in New Orleans, Sazerac reintroduces this cognac steeped in history, which gave its name to the official cocktail of New Orleans, and ultimately the Sazerac Company itself. The Sazerac Company, with roots in New Orleans dating back to the 1800s, has worked with a number of archivists to thoroughly research its connection to France and the Sazerac family, which dates back to the 1630s. Almost 400 years ago, the Sazerac family had established vineyards and a distillery in the Cognac region. In 1782, Bernard Sazerac de Forge then founded the Cognac House that bears his name, bringing together under a single commercial banner his family’s long-standing but disparate vineyard holdings and distilleries. After relaunching Sazerac de Forge & Fils “Finest Original” Cognac exclusively at the Sazerac House in New Orleans in October 2019, the Sazerac Company is thrilled to announce that this historical creation is now available in new markets including New York, California and Illinois. It will continue its expansion to additional markets throughout 2022.
The Sazerac de Forge & Fils “Finest Original” Cognac blend includes cognacs made from a number of old and rare native grape varieties, providing the unique opportunity to enjoy cognac as it was 150 years ago, prior to the Phylloxera epidemic that forever changed the cognac making process. Befitting its 19th century character and blend of grapes, it stands apart from most of today’s cognac offerings. Rich and floral, it is distinctly creamy in texture, showing hints of exotic spice on the palate, with a long, soft finish and a hint of natural sweetness. Non chill-filtered to preserve the mouth-feel and full depth of flavor, Finest Original is presented at 94 proof to reveal its aromatic characteristics at its best.
Sazerac de Forge & Fils Cognac was created through a collaboration of Sazerac’s best blenders and distillers including Clive Carpenter, an industry veteran who spent his entire career working with cognac; Sazerac Master Blender Drew Mayville, who was the last master blender under the Seagram dynasty; and A.S. Bowman Master Distiller Brian Prewitt, who brings his years of experience working with brandy in California before coming to Sazerac.
“Throughout the process of blending the new Sazerac de Forge & Fils ‘Finest Original’ Cognac, we looked to the original Sazerac de Forge & Fils Cognac for inspiration. The original cognacs were mostly blended using native grape varieties, including Folle Blanche and Colombard. But afterwards, and still to this day, the vast majority of cognacs are made from a single grape variety – Ugni Blanc – the grape that recovered from the late-1800s Phylloxera epidemic most readily,” said Clive Carpenter, general manager of Domaine Sazerac de Segonzac. “Our blend returns as closely as possible to the original methods of making cognac and contains cognacs from as young as seven years old, bringing freshness and delicacy, to some which date from the 1960s, adding their powerful, rich aromas. It possesses a character and complexity that is almost impossible to achieve using a single variety of grape.”
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I drank a few sazerac whilst in New Orleans.
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I'd like to try some Louis Tres some day, maybe.
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I'd like to try some Louis Tres some day, maybe.
tried a shot of that at my uncle's house couple years back. he has a bottle in his bar at home. honestly....tastes like absolute shit if you ask me.
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I like cognac generally. I have some Hennessey XO here I sip on rare occasions, and it's only about $200 per. The liquor shop near us has L 3 behind glass with some others I don't recognize but all of them are well over a grand per.
They have another room behind glass for their high end wines. I oogle it at times. They ask if I want to check it out. I haven't. They have wines on the floor over $100.
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I have a beer budget, but that's ok cause I don't much care for champagne
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I'm not a big sparkling wine fan either, but my wife is. The funny thing, to me, is that sparkling wine is often a good food pairer, fried foods in particular, and Thai food, I think, goes well with it.
I prefer still wines.
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I'd like to try some Louis Tres some day, maybe.
I had a glass of it once in California, when my team closed a $40M deal with Intel. The sales VP took us all out to a really nice steakhouse in Newport Beach and there were pretty much no limits to what we could order.
It was really, really great
But my Hennessey XO is also pretty tasty and much better fit for my budget.
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California - 2022
My wife wanted to fly out to SF to see our son and his GF. This is a deal because he told her once if he ever introduced her to a girl, she was the one, and he's 42 now. We arrive fairly late in SFO and stay in San Mateo because it's close, get up next day and drive to Half Moon Bay which is much as I remember it, pretty cool overall. Then we drive south along the coast to Monterey, which turned out not to be as I recalled it. It's been "Gatlinburged". We walked around a bit and decided it's now chain restaurants and souvenier junk shops for the most part. And crowded. Change of plans, next day we drive down the coast to Big Sur which is still interesting. I got some photos of the Bixby Creek Bridge.
After two nights at an Embassy Suites (which was hosting a large wedding party for three days of Palestinians) we drove to Fairfield, CA for two nights. It's a much cheaper place to stay than over in Napa, and rather close by. We meet son and GF, who seems nice, she is originally from Hong Kong, then spend two days touring and tasting Sonoma and Napa, both of which are of course changing rather radically also. We had an appt at Passalaqua which was very nice, recommended, good wines, and then another place I thought was disappointing.
On Sunday we all drive in separate cars to a Doubtree Tree Inn in Rohnert Park (Sonoma) which is akin to a resort in some ways, nice gardens etc. The "kids" have to drive back to SF after we basically chill out and have lunch at a decent brewery. Monday we drive south and detour to see Muir Woods to find we need an appointment, bosh, I drive further on on very crooked roads and discover Muir Beach Lookout, which is pretty nice.
Then we drive through SF to see his new apartment, which is a tiny one bdr in a pretty nice area. We walked around quite a bit, I got photos of Giants Stadium nearby, have dinner, and then head to the airport for the redeye. We discover the Delta lounge there has showers so we avail ourselves, and we were upgraded for first which helped o the four hour plus a bit flight.
I'm not sure my wife is sold on the GF. Anyway, next slated trip is to France next month for two weeks.
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(https://i.imgur.com/KO5N3BM.jpg)
Bixby Creek Bridge, built in 1932. They hauled the concrete in in individual bags.
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(https://i.imgur.com/xy48f2g.jpg)
Red woods in Big Sur.
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(https://i.imgur.com/P323Xhy.jpg)
View from our deck at the Doubletree Inn, Sonoma.
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(https://i.imgur.com/xcmrD1K.jpg)
Brewery in Sausalito where we had lunch.
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(https://i.imgur.com/yKQdkdE.jpg)
Oracle Park
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(https://i.imgur.com/UtF564v.jpg)
Muir Beach Overlook area.
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(https://i.imgur.com/utJ5xjH.jpg)
Some bridge north of SF.
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I'm not great at driving over tall bridges anymore. Probably because I know they are all designed to fail at some point.
Everything is designed to fail, of course, but replacing a bridge is not like replacing a toaster.
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(https://i.imgur.com/BzQ5FvN.png)
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I drove over this one about 7 weeks ago.
(https://i.imgur.com/Wb9GpCh.jpg)
Constructed in the 1980's, after the original one (below) was hit by a tanker and fell down.
(https://i.imgur.com/TfGTsxA.png)
I would not like being in this car. At all.
(https://i.imgur.com/6CFYu7j.png)
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Would not have wanted to drive over this one, either:
(https://i.imgur.com/rwIDWAo.png)
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(https://i.imgur.com/utJ5xjH.jpg)
Some bridge north of SF.
Overrated bridge.
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Austin is regionally known for this one, called the Pennybacker Bridge.
(https://i.imgur.com/TV9g4W0.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/CiJZoON.png)
Called informally the McDonald's Bridge in Cincy.
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(https://i.imgur.com/EBnQZsq.png)
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(https://i.imgur.com/4FCemgz.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/MissQ4t.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/BBD6VaB.png)
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I drove over this one about 7 weeks ago.
[img width=273.429 height=298]https://i.imgur.com/Wb9GpCh.jpg[/img]
Constructed in the 1980's, after the original one (below) was hit by a tanker and fell down.
[img width=273.429 height=500]https://i.imgur.com/TfGTsxA.png[/img]
I would not like being in this car. At all.
[img width=273.429 height=296]https://i.imgur.com/6CFYu7j.png[/img]
When I was a kid my maternal grandparents had a winter home (trailer in the Midwest, Mobile Home in FL) in Sarasota and my paternal-maternal great-grandmother was living in a nursing home in Saint Petersburg so we drove the Sunshine Skyway a few times. First we drove the original, then after the collapse we drove the way-too-small one half of the original.
My dad HATED that bridge and complained every time we had to take it but it saved something like 50 miles and one hour each way so we did. When it fell he pointed out that he never liked that "Rickety old bridge".
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Yeah, I was on that one in the 1970's on vacations with my parents.
Back then, I wanted to drive over every bridge in the world.
Then I became a civil engineer.
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A lot of people I know got the heebee-jeebies driving over the old 35W bridge. There was construction on the bridge at the time, and one of the primary tasks was to jack the whole bridge up and un-seize the pier bearing where the failed gusset plate was.
Messed up situation all around.
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Yeah, I was on that one in the 1970's on vacations with my parents.
Back then, I wanted to drive over every bridge in the world.
Then I became a civil engineer.
Same...at least for the first part. Mackinac Island sucks. But it's fun to drive across the bridge to the UP
My wife HATES bridges. She closes her eyes when we cross them. Her living her whole life in Pittsburgh with a fear of bridges is like Brody taking the Amity police chief job
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Same...at least for the first part. Mackinac Island sucks. But it's fun to drive across the bridge to the UP
My wife HATES bridges. She closes her eyes when we cross them. Her living her whole life in Pittsburgh with a fear of bridges is like Brody taking the Amity police chief job
We're going up to Mackinac Island in the fall, and one of the things I want to do is go across the bridge.
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Never again will I drive that bridge.
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Never again will I drive that bridge.
Why is it high or long?
Her living her whole life in Pittsburgh with a fear of bridges is like Brody taking the Amity police chief job
What was it with Brody?Fear of sharks or water?
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Plenty of Covered Bridges here in Indiana.
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What was it with Brody?Fear of sharks or water?
Water
And to bring this thread full circle
https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2022/08/15/one-man-missing-one-dead-jaws-bridge-jump-marthas-vineyard/10327548002/
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Incidentally, we see a lot of bad/terrible news about SF on TV at times. I walked around over three miles with my wife and stepson yesterday down near the baseball stadium where he lives. The area is booming, many new buildings going up, new parks and an area with food trucks and games, it looks very nice. The sidewalks are clean and new, I saw one homeless tent over near the bay and a couple homeless folks on the walk. We ate dinner outside at a dumpling place (it was pretty good), weather was great.
Now, I now uptown in the Tenderloin district it's entirely a different story, but if the cameras only film there (which they do), one can get a very misguided notion about the entire city.
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SF homeless map
https://courtlew.carto.com/builder/d3aa0b4c-c234-11e6-b0f2-0ecd1babdde5/embed
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He lives in South Park, we walked south all around Mission Bay down past UCSF. The area is quite nice.
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We're going up to Mackinac Island in the fall, and one of the things I want to do is go across the bridge.
It is worth traveling over it. It is scary, tall. There is a wind warning sign. But not as scary as the old Dubuque-Wisconsin bridge with steel grate. Tall and scarier. It is gone, now.
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It is worth traveling over it. It is scary, tall. There is a wind warning sign. But not as scary as the old Dubuque-Wisconsin bridge with steel grate. Tall and scarier. It is gone, now.
Rent the movie, "Somewhere in Time" before you go.
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I like bridges a lot. I wanted to be a civil engineer when I was younger. I ended up being uncivil and not and engineer.
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We're going up to Mackinac Island in the fall, and one of the things I want to do is go across the bridge.
We're heading up a week from tomorrow for a long weekend. Looking forward to it.
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Funny note on the subject of Mackinac. My most recent visit was in late October, 2010. My dad, brother, and I were on the way to (then) TCF Bank Stadium for the tOSU/Minnesota game on October 30.
We left home about 6am so we got to Mackinac around lunchtime. My brother found a slew of restaurants in Mackinac on the GPS so we stopped.
Problem: Mackinac is very much a summer resort town and if you go in late October it is a ghost town. We ate at the only open restaurant.
It is a beautiful area.
Side note:
Yes, I realize that the normal route from Ohio to Minneapolis is through Chicago around the South end of Lake Michigan not through Mackinac around the North end of Lake Michigan. We chose the Northern route because my dad wanted to avoid Chicago and because he wanted to make a USMC pilgrimage to Antigo, Wisconsin where one of the Mt Suribachi flag raisers had lived.
I'll also add that the drive along the North shore of Lake Michigan from Mackinac/St Ignace to Marinette WI/MI was absolutely beautiful.
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I'll also add that the drive along the North shore of Lake Michigan from Mackinac/St Ignace to Marinette WI/MI was absolutely beautiful.
It is. I took my wife up through there, we stayed three nights in Marquette. She didn't care for Mackinac Island at all curiously.
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(https://i.imgur.com/ATXUJ5S.jpg)
CA coast line looking north.
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(https://i.imgur.com/lxoVI2F.jpg)
Muir Beach Overlook just north of SF.
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(https://i.imgur.com/Oqeu1FZ.jpg)
Sausalito, CA
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(https://i.imgur.com/NJTogSd.jpg)
Monterey Bay
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(https://i.imgur.com/L3kirF7.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/ku40M6p.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/h0KDXaC.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/ktAFq5Q.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/wyhZUIx.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/FbeOGgA.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/XIRPQOS.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/ENRDZm5.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/GHoHaov.jpg)
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The euro has fallen below parity with the dollar, diving to its lowest level in 20 years and ending a one-to-one exchange rate with the U.S. currency.
WHO WINS?
American tourists in Europe will find cheaper hotel and restaurant bills and admission tickets. The weaker euro could make European export goods more competitive on price in the United States. The U.S. and the EU are major trade partners, so the exchange rate shift will get noticed.
In the U.S., a stronger dollar means lower prices on imported goods — from cars and computers to toys and medical equipment — which could help moderate inflation.
WHO LOSES?
American companies that do a lot of business in Europe will see the revenue from those businesses shrink when and if they bring those earnings back to the U.S. If euro earnings remain in Europe to cover costs there, the exchange rate becomes less of an issue.
A key worry for the U.S. is that a stronger dollar makes U.S.-made products more expensive in overseas markets, widening the trade deficit and reducing economic output, while giving foreign products a price edge in the United States.
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Over the past few months, it dropped from about $1.06 to $0.99, which really isn't that much of consequence.
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So, we've never been to Maine (OK, I crossed over one time when we were in NH - doesn't count).
When to go, where to stay, what to do?
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(https://i.imgur.com/vdmhBiB.png)
HOW TO DRIVE IN ATLANTA:
1. You must first learn to pronounce the city name, Atlana. Old-timers are still allowed to call it Alana.
2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 am to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 7:00 pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.
3. The minimum acceptable speed on I-285 is 80 mph. On I-75 and I-85, your speed is expected to at least match the highway number. Anything less is considered 'Wussy'.
4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Atlanta has its own version of traffic rules. For example, Ferraris and Lamborghinis owned by sports stars go first at a four-way stop. Cars/trucks with the loudest muffler go second. The trucks with the biggest tires go third. The HOV lanes are really designed just for the slow Floridians passing through who are used to hogging the left lane everywhere.
5. If you actually stop at a yellow light or stop sign, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot. Unless there is a police car nearby.
6. Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously. It's another offense that can get you shot.
7. Road construction is permanent and continuous. Detour barrels are moved around for your entertainment pleasure during the middle of the night to make the next day's driving a bit more exciting. Generally, city roads other than the main streets have more potholes and bumps (usually speed bumps) than most dirt roads in the countryside.
8. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, ladders, possums, skunks, dogs, barrels, cones, furniture, cats, mattresses, shredded tires, squirrels, rabbits, and crows.
9. Be aware that spelling of street names may change from block to block, e.g., Clairmont, Claremont, Clairmonte.
10. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been “accidentally activated”.
11. If you are in the left lane and only driving 75 in a 55-65 mph zone, k, e.g., you are considered a road hazard and will be “flipped off” accordingly. If you return the flip, you'll be shot.
MOST IMPORTANT: If you get LOST, Look for a road named PEACHTREE... Then you are somewhere in Atlanta.
Source by Brittany Egly
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I love Maine!
I don't know the "best" time but I was in Portland, Maine for the whole month of August once and it was pretty great. Average high 78, average low 58. That year it was a little cooler, daytime highs were probably closer to 75 and lows were in the lower 50s.
They have some good breweries, lots of great lobster, typical coastal sight-seeing like lighthouses and stuff. Portland is close to Kennebunkport which is where lots of richies have their summer homes, including the Bush family.
(https://i.imgur.com/EoaZksL.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ScuKQ7m.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/PLKhnCk.jpg)
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Did you do any fishing?
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I didn't. I'm not much of a fisherman. But Maine supposedly has some very good fishing. There are inland lakes and streams, and of course the ocean, so there's opportunity for fly fishing, shore casting, and sea charters.
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So, we've never been to Maine (OK, I crossed over one time when we were in NH - doesn't count).
When to go, where to stay, what to do?
Go to the beach. Go to the shipyard brewry their pumpkinhead beer is out now. Just relax. take a boat out onto the ocean.
The wife and I are considerng buying a condo in the Old Orchard, Scarbough area maybe Kennebunk for a summer/Fall home. Heading up that way in a couple of weeks to just check a few places out, well also visiting family.
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Oh, we're not going now. Didn't mean to imply that.
I'm looking at maybe early or late summer next year. Probably late.
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A lot of my 'directs' are in Portland. Great city. August is peak, then July, early September. You would be advised to plan ahead for lodging if you're aiming for those months, anywhere in Maine.
We had a great time going in June when I was a teen, it's a bit early thus not super busy as New England area largely still in school and weather is sublime. Acadia NP gets busy. Upstate/inland Is a much different experience. I'd probably plan ahead on either salt water or fresh water.
Maine has a fairly regimented licensed guide regulations. My Dad and brother had a great sea duck hunting experience up the coast a bit.
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bump for Cincy...
Roquefort Cheese
One of the best-known of all French cheeses, Roquefort comes from ewe's milk aged in the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the south of France. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, European law dictates that only those cheeses aged in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon's caves may bear the name "Roquefort." Distinctive veins of blue mold, found in the caves' soil, give the cheese its characteristic odor and strong taste of butyric acid.
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So butyric acid and Rice Beers are your thing?
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they obviously pair well
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Butanoic acid
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Yup proper term
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Lunch was okay today
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I love blue cheese, and Roquefort is my absolute favorite.
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I like gorgonzola.
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Me too. And Stilton.
But I like Roquefort the best, it's a little creamier and has a little more WHANG to it. It's a result of using ewe's milk instead of cow's milk.
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Yep, I love pretty much all blue cheese varietals. One of the best ways to eat it (other than by itself) is to top a filet mignon, on top of a perfectly cooked beet.
I make a sauce with the cheese, cream, cracked pepper and finely grated garlic and shallots.
Plate the beet, top it with the meat, and then the sauce.
This might happen tomorrow. No. It WILL happen tomorrow.
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Sounds awesome, I'm on my way!
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Quick trip to Mass to visit family and friends. Nothing exciting.
I had to get back for a football game, the wife is staying through the weekend. I figure I will probably own a house in Maine when she gets back
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Spent most of week in Ponte Vedra (Jax) for business. Lovely resort and club. Service as good as any place I've stayed. One of those places where's there's no trash can and everything magically vanishes in moments.
Still not a FL person.
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Spent most of week in Ponte Vedra (Jax) for business. Lovely resort and club. Service as good as any place I've stayed. One of those places where's there's no trash can and everything magically vanishes in moments.
Still not a FL person.
We stayed at Sawgrass Marriott on a spontaneous weekend trip and liked the area.
The drive from there to St Augustine through Guana River Wildlife Management Area and the Matanzas National Research Reserve is absolutely beautiful. One of the best kept secrets in Florida, and the entire east coast.
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I figure I will probably own a house in Maine when she gets back
Well it's nice to have that option
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My wife booked a tiny room in St. Germain at $700 per night… three nights. Had mediocre meal with truly horrible service $153. Not really happy. Dawgs won …
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It was only 400 euros when she booked it
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(https://i.imgur.com/S51wAua.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/HJpelNP.jpg)
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Well it's nice to have that option
Yes, it is. And I don't own anything, she didn't find anything she liked.
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Had nice dinner at the hotel
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(https://i.imgur.com/J4b2eLA.jpg)
Big radio tower in middle of town
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I thought Team America knocked that thing down.
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(https://i.imgur.com/fvcMS0t.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/Dm606Nn.jpg)
Some hotel
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(https://i.imgur.com/XkChEhq.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/q76vtx6.jpg)
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A caption with the name of the places would be good.
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A caption with the name of the places would be good.
1) The River Seine
2) Louvre
3) Somewhere in Paris Centre looking toward the Eiffel Tower
4) Notre Dame (if CD has any other pics around all sides of the cathedral I'd love to see how the restoration is going)
5) Napoleon's Tomb at the military museum (I think)
6) More military museum
7) (I had to look this one up) St. Louis des Invalides Cathedral, on the grounds where many soldiers' remains are interred
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(https://i.imgur.com/91CDXLU.jpg)
A lot left to do
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Didn't they say it was at least a 5 year re-build?
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(https://i.imgur.com/WjPFyF2.jpg)
Petite Palais
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(https://i.imgur.com/lUaRYEi.jpg)
Jardin de Luxembourg
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(https://i.imgur.com/xKgoKph.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/LJoADbT.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/IMSzSk4.jpg)
Hotel patio
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(https://i.imgur.com/CCXjCNK.jpg)
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(CNN) - American Airlines is giving its long-haul fleet a makeover.
The airline is adding new premium suites with privacy doors on all of its Airbus long-range aircraft and Boeing Dreamliners.
American says the new suites will have more personal space, direct aisle access, seats that can lie flat, and will include a chaise lounge option.
The airline also plans to add more premium economy seating to its long-haul planes.
Premium economy allows for double the amount of in-seat storage space and has larger in-seat screens as well as head-rest wings for more privacy.
American Airlines says it hopes to make the upgrades available to customers starting in late 2024.
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In CDG, not awful today
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Thanks for the pics, so jealous, wish I were there. :)
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Home, tired, duh, these long rides in a plane get tougher with age. I finally had some great food in Paris, and some very good as well, more to my liking. We signed up for a one week bus tour with a group of retirees and they are looking for a good deal, and generally get one. We stayed in the same motel every night and saw two things a day from the bus. The bus trip from near Paris was 8 hours including a break every two hours demanded by labor law for the driver (who was a fine fellow and excellent driver with 5 seat bus on tiny roads). The trip was south to Perigord Noir, the Dordogne Valley, a pretty bueatiful part of France (ha). I have some great pics on my camera, I think, will post some later, everything shown to date is from my phone.
Some of the side trips were a bust, a couple were fantastic. Some of the food neither I nor my wife ate more than two bites, most was adequate, none was great. My wife is a bit sick, she's afraid she has the Dreaded Lurgy again, there were folks around us who were diagnosed with it. I'm OK, just tired, but I slept pretty well and got up before 7 AM so my clock may be semiOK.
We spent two nights in Fontainbleau and one with friends near Melun and four more in Paris at the tres cher hotel (which had an excellent bar/dining area). Their sign posted claimed it was $700 a night for a basic room, but my wife said she got it for "only" $392. We stayed the last night as usual at CDG.
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I have a kind of "love-hate" view of Paris for some reason, this trip tilted me more to the L side. One day my wife and her daughter were "on their own" leaving me a day to my own devices. I wanted to see how Notre Dame was coming along, we drove by it on way to hotel. So, off I went, found it with no problem about two miles walking, took some photos. It was a perfect weather kind of day. I headed back in the direction of the hotel (in St. German). And got well and truly lost.
The main problem was every block looks the same. I thought I found a cathedral near us (St. Sulpice) and it was St. Clothilde. My phone wasn't working with the map well at all and finally was down to 3% anyway. I used to take a paper map with me but didn't this time, big mistake. Finally I looked up and saw the dome of Les Invalides and I knew I was gone way too far, but I wanted to see parts of it and did anyway. I had lunch at a bistro (a cassoulet which had enough pork in it for Nebraskans). And then started back, and stayed lost. I checked the maps near bus stops and subways, and couldn't find anything close to our hotel.
Finally, it was nearing the time I was to be back and I stopped at some 4 star hotel and the desk lady printed out a map for me, an 11 minute walk it said, OK I can do that. But you encounter these large intersections of 6 streets in places and it's not clear which angle you should take in what direction from the map and I got lost again. By now I'm figuring on being a news item (American tourist wonders Paris for days completely lost ...). I stop at another hotel and get another map, AND a regular paper map, yay. The printed maps were garbage basically, and now was 8 minutes from hotel and did finally find it. My phone said I walked 12.8 miles that day.
I nicest part of this fancy hotel was not the room by far but the lounge/bar/patio area and I treated myself (after a shower) and a bottle of Chablis. The server set out two glasses and I didn't correct him. My wife did show up after a bit anyway. We dinner there later and I ordered a smoked salmon (saumon fume) salad that was excellent.
The reason we stayed at such a fancy hotel was that my wife's friend from Brazil picked it and she flew from Brazil to be with my wife. "C" said I'd get better salmon at Petrossian and said she'd treat us to lunch there. I agreed, and the next day off we went, and my wife and "C" both got us lost again, I was laughing, I had the paper map but they were unsure where Petrossian was, we finally found it, and the lunch ranks "up there" in both quality, taste, service, and of course $$$. They had caviar, I had a smoked salmon plate with smoked eel and another fish (the eel wasn't so great).
Caviar and Smoked Salmon - Excellence since 1920| Petrossian.fr | Petrossian.fr (https://www.petrossian.fr/fr_fr/)
The salmon was sliced so thinly one could see through it. For the money, I preferred the hotel version which was only $25.
(https://i.imgur.com/w52Do1k.jpg)
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The place was a "boutique" (fancy French name for "store"), with four tables. I looked at buying a small tin of fishy eggs for my wife and decided not to.
(https://i.imgur.com/42Ju0N2.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/JshXpaQ.jpg)
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On the way back, we stopped at the Petite Palais, which somehow I had missed previously. It's probably my second favorite place in Paris.
(https://i.imgur.com/afQU6R9.jpg)
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And they have this dude outside, who paraphrased the French expression:
(https://i.imgur.com/BZMjecU.jpg)
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My favorite bridge across the Seine:
(https://i.imgur.com/zVOabkI.jpg)
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Getting lost in Paris is both time-honored and delightful. I'm looking forward to a day when I can do it again!
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Our travel went without a hitch, FWIW. Flights were on time, both were packed full, baggage was recovered, the flight attendants were efficient. CDG was not very crowded fortunately, it can be a mess, ATL was pretty crowded, and we gated in E terminal which meant we had to walk a couple miles to the international terminal. They have moving sidewalks, but it's a fair distance. I gather the International terminal was booked.
CDG has moved security checkpoints further out, so you go through passport control first, then to your terminal building (by train) and then through security. This may have helped some.
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A thing I've always wanted to see is the Lascaux Caves, and we did, it was a great disappointment. However, we also toured some other cave called Rouffignac which was incredible. The cave drawings were drawn in black (with manganese oxide) but with incredible detail and lifelike qualities.
Cave of Rouffignac (grottederouffignac.fr) (http://www.grottederouffignac.fr/index.php/fr/)
(https://i.imgur.com/lL5SNmt.jpg)
(http://www.grottederouffignac.fr/index.php/fr/)
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Another spot I enjoyed was Eyrinac Gardens.
(https://i.imgur.com/87WrRaL.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/4JjGs1w.jpg)
Eyrignac Jardin
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(https://i.imgur.com/tRzUigK.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/NMMUtX4.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/lCLQgkC.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/Z2WQlOw.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/KeDO3YQ.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/mKG9Byp.jpg)
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All About Lighthouses
This site includes photographs, directions, histories, and GPS coordinates garnered while personally visiting every lighthouse in the United States and nearly every lighthouse in Canada.
https://lighthousefriends.com/ (https://lighthousefriends.com/)
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(https://i.imgur.com/0bNh121.png)
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We have been hosting a French couple the past week (they fly out tomorrow early AM). They said they wanted to see some of the region and fall leaves, so we went for two nights in north Georgia and North Carolina. The leaves in the mountains were near full color.
We toured Gibb's Gardens in Ball Ground, Georgia (yes, that is a town) which were impressive indeed. The weather was a bit gloomy. This was a minor part of it. If you like gardens, this is a place to see.
(https://i.imgur.com/ixIlETA.jpg)
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We then stopped by Amicaloa Falls SP and the weather had really closed in but we did get a view of the middle of the falls a bit.
(https://i.imgur.com/Gc5Y0J3.jpg)
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We stayed ON in Dahlonega, GA, "famous" for the first gold rush in the US, and now a tourist town an hour plus north of ATL. I then drove through the village of Suches and then near Blairsville and over the Russell Scenic Highway (which was occluded with fog) to the hyper-touristy town of Helen, which for some reason they liked a lot. Helen was a dying/dead lumber mill town remade to sort of resemble Bavaria.
(https://i.imgur.com/wJdgm7L.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/Tq5x2ey.jpg)
Took ths is north Georgia.
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Stayed ON in Franklin, NC and found an excellent place to eat called the Glorious Plate.
Not much else in that town really, but it's a cheaper place to lodge.
Drove the next morning to Highlands, NC, which my wife adores and had a freezing lunch outside. Stopped en route at Dry Falls which was in Last of the Mohicans.
(https://i.imgur.com/lHG05b8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Wl21qyX.jpg)
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Headed home and stopped at Tallulah Gorge in GA, don't have any photos from my phone. Part of Deliverance was filled there.
Then they wanted to see the World of Coke here and then the Georgia Aquarium.
(https://i.imgur.com/RvVoXk6.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/DmJqrZf.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/tUc2F0l.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/G2sXO2j.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/QB6zs6V.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/gWExrQu.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/yGG0t7a.jpg)
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Vancouver is mostly nice, expensive of course. We took a seaplane tour which was rather droll really for the money, and a bus tour which was quite good, my daughter learned some things. Dining was not that expensive, the CA $ is worth $0.74. Gas was $2.09 CA per Litre. A lot of Asians about town, Canadianized mostly. We had a great lunch in Chinatown. Another seafood place was also terrific. They have a very large port there, I noticed a mountain of sulfur near the docks for example.
A very walkable city, and we did. My daughter has an apt in Yaletown near BC Stadium. We walked 6-7-8 miles per day. We traversed an area akin to the Tenderloin district in SF on the bus tour and we passed a group in an alcove that appeared to be shooting up something in Chinatown. They asked me something, we kept walking.
We flew into Seattle to "save" a few bucks, not a great idea, rental car and gas (>$5 in Seattle) soaked up most of the savings, and it took over an hour to reenter the US by car. Live and learn.
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(https://i.imgur.com/KmyFUFG.jpg)
Gibb's Gardens
(https://i.imgur.com/BDTFPON.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/UYK7xj8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Pkc4Whz.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/tizuZEW.jpg)
Tallulah Gorge, not far from my place of birth.
(https://i.imgur.com/2ybmouN.jpg)
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San Diego for a week visiting family. Seems like a nice town overall. We did a trolley tour. LaJolla is ritzy.
Weather is cool in evening and very nice during the day.
Watched some CFB yesterday, some good games like USCe vs Clemson.
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San Diego for a week visiting family. Seems like a nice town overall. We did a trolley tour. LaJolla is ritzy.
Weather is cool in evening and very nice during the day.
and no mosquitos
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Well hit Columbus yesterday for the game. Not so good. Now in Cleveland for the browns game. Cold windy and raining. Not a great trip so far.
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Back from a week in SD. Our 2:40 PM flight home was delayed ... and delayed ... and delayed, the crew was stuck in Seattle. We had a roaring time in the Delta lounge with other waiting travelers. They opened the bar up later and I got some Woodford. We landed at 3:20 AM through a pretty bad thunderstorm. Found a cab and got home quickly at least.
San Diego is apparently what folks might think California is like, relatively clean, few homeless, no tents that I saw, cooler at night than I expected, below 50°F and I took no coat. We did a bus tour that was nicely done. Had lunch in Little Italy. Stayed the last night at the airport Hampton which is new and super clean. Traffic generally was not bad, I drove quite a bit (in the rented Maxima, which wasn't fun to drive at all).
I bought the wife a new jewelry box from a vendor on Lajolla Beach, he spoke fluent French which meant a large discount, beautiful inlay work. The whole family was there except my kid in Austin. Did not have any amazing food anywhere, some decent tacoes a couple times. At one place the tacoes were rolled up into cylinders which was a bit odd to me.
Nice weather in the day of course, sunny mostly, blue skies. Glad to be home again, slept well, but not long enough.
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a new jewelry box from a vendor on Lajolla Beach
yikes
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I'll get a photo of it, it really is a work of art, she won't use it for jewelry (much).
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Lajolla is an artsy place
the artist must be talented to be able to live there
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This is the jewelry box. The darker wood is cedar and the lighter is lemon:
(https://i.imgur.com/4tclCCY.jpg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/zDnloVC.jpg)
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This is from a couple years back from Volcano NP looking north. The mountain is Mauna Kea, you can see how desolate the area is.
(https://i.imgur.com/1DqebLM.jpg)
And this is the Kilaeua caldera:
(https://i.imgur.com/3PhHpMA.jpg)
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cool wooden box
looks expensive
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This road is in the NP, that is Mauna Kea in the background, slowly rising up, you can't see it all:
(https://i.imgur.com/jfDLTTl.jpg)
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cool wooden box
looks expensive
The guy gave a special price for friend of Rick.
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(https://i.imgur.com/Pg3iMdl.png)
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The Big Island is roughly 100 miles across in both directions. The "Saddle Road" connects the sunniers western side with Hilo in the east (which looks more like what you think of as Hawaii). It passes between the two tall volcanoes and on a clear day gives spectacular views. It reaches an elevation over 6,600 feet. It was fairly recently improved from more of a cart path to a nice two lane highway.
It appears highly likely it's going to be cut in a few days. It traverses an area of "fresh" lava flows from the last eruption of Mauna Loa (some 38 years past). The area is amazingly desolate.
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Back from a long football weekend. Friday in Cincinnati to visit with some of the kids, Saturday in Columbus for The Game, Sunday in Cleveland for Browns Game. Monday at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Very glad to be out of the cold. Heading out Saturday to New Orleans for a Western Caribbean Cruise. Wife's job gives her a 4 week sabbatical every 5 years and so she is off all month and I will be taking some time off with her to do some other short trips throughout December.
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(https://i.imgur.com/L6p71SR.png)
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We have planned to visit with most of the family next December. This would be something to see I think. The Saddle Road is going to be hit, maybe they are able to build a quick bypass?
(https://i.imgur.com/4Ykfy5C.png)
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just a large bump in the road. run a strip of asphalt over it
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If the lava flow stops coming, they can sort of do that. The lava often solidifies with large gaps and holes in it. But it can be pulverized fairly easily to generate a straight path. The Chain of Craters road was never repaired. There the lava flow was too broad and continuing.
Drive Chain of Craters Road - Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) (https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/ccr_tour.htm)
During the eruption of Puʻuʻōʻō, lava flowed repeatedly over Chain of Craters Road/Highway 130. The park's acreage was been increased by hundreds of acres and nearly 9 miles (14.5 km) of road were inundated by the flows. In June 1989, Waha‘ula Visitor Center and associated buildings were burnt and covered by lava. The Waha‘ula Heiau was surrounded by lava more than once and finally buried entirely in August 1997. The Kamoamoa village site, heiau, campground, picnic area, and black sand beach were covered by lava in November 1992.
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The Big Island is roughly 100 miles across in both directions. The "Saddle Road" connects the sunniers western side with Hilo in the east (which looks more like what you think of as Hawaii). It passes between the two tall volcanoes and on a clear day gives spectacular views. It reaches an elevation over 6,600 feet. It was fairly recently improved from more of a cart path to a nice two lane highway.
It appears highly likely it's going to be cut in a few days. It traverses an area of "fresh" lava flows from the last eruption of Mauna Loa (some 38 years past). The area is amazingly desolate.
You ever drive the South Road to Hana on Maui?
It was a cart path, and extremely scary.
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Nope, I've driven the old highway in sections on the east coast of Hawaii and it's bad. The old Saddle Road wasn't scary at all, just really bad, narrow and potholed to pieces. It didn't have any steep drop offs anywhere, it's in the middle of the island.
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You ever drive the South Road to Hana on Maui?
It was a cart path, and extremely scary.
yes, with my daughters in the back seat
it was a little scary but not bad.
but, I'm FearlessF