Wanderlust
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Shangri-la
I can’t remember the last time I wrote a personal vacation type post....ironically, I’m not actually on vacation, I’ve been in Honolulu for work all week. I had one day to do whatever I want and I chose to head out on tour to Shangri-la, Doris Duke’s estate. The tours are done through the Honolulu Academy of Arts, one of my favorite art museums in the country. The tour was awesome - only 24 people touring the estate with you and you are split into two groups, so it’s intimate. You can only take photos in the outside areas so here are a few of my faves.
Diamondhead - this is the on the opposite site of Honolulu. Not the iconic view you are used to, but gorgeous nonetheless.
I thought that it was odd that she had these very Greek columns on the patio, but it was so beautiful, so whatevs.
This was the guest house, but apparently it was called the “Playhouse”.
The Mughal Gardens from the entrance (door included).
So for the history/art nerd in me, I was in heaven, It was a really nice way to spend a couple of hours in paradise.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Lollapalooza 2010 and more….
I guess I’ve been busy these past few weeks...not a surprise but I kinda wanted to write a bit since I will be home for a couple of weeks and actually would like to catch up on some stuff while I am here. First things first - I am headed to Lollapalooza in August. I’ve spent a bunch of time in Chicago this year and am excited to be able to rock out and also get some good food and culture in while I am at it. I made a custom schedule here but if you have any suggestions on who I should see, let me know. I have a couple of conflicts and am not going to be able to head down to the festival too early on Friday so those are the limitations.
Next month is going to be crazy. After Lolla, I am home for the week to see My Morning Jacket and to check out North Park Music Thing. Yes, yes, I will be writing my preview to the sessions - expect to see that next week. After NPMT, I am headed to Honolulu for a week. I’m actually working for a client Mon-Fri, but I am staying a couple extra nights to get my swerve on. After that, I have trips to Michigan and possibly Ohio before I am home for a few weeks to get ready for SD Beerfest (I am coordinating the food vendors this year) and then my work’s big schmooze conference.
The rest of the year is shaking out to be just as busy with more travel - to Pittsburgh, Houston and San Antonio for work. I am hoping to swing a few days in NOLA in November - Russ is supposed to work a conference there and I may head over for a few days to hang out. Though the two of us in that town might be scary. Slightly. And in December, I am totally checking out of town the week after Christmas and staying in SF for the week. It seems like every time I head up there, it’s just such a limited time and I can’t see everyone (friends + family) so if I don’t catch people that week, it’s not my fault. Hahaha.
All righty....so I think that catches everyone up. Catch you guys again soon.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Louisiana for Days
Oh NOLA. I never want to quit you. Just got back from 4 days in LA and wanted to give a rundown.
I had to be in Biloxi, MS for a conference last week and it was easy enough to fly through MSY and just drive to Biloxi. So on the way back to NOLA, we stopped in Abita Springs. Yes, that Abita. Home of Abita beer. First we went to the Brew Pub, which was the original Abita brewery which they have since outgrown. Had my first muffaletta of the trip and then we headed to the Brewery which is a much larger facility a mile or so down the road. We didn’t have time to hang out but I bought a lot of cool schwag and then we were on our way to drive over the lake.
I have wanted to drive over the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway for a long time. It was the longest bridge in the world until recently. At 24 miles, it is quite a wonder. About halfway on the bridge you can start to see NOLA to the east...it’s like this magical city rising up from the water. Quite an experience.
After driving over the bridge, we headed to the airport where I dropped off my friend who was at the conference with me and waited for my friend arriving from San Diego. Once she arrived, we were off to NOLA proper and the newly renovated Roosevelt Hotel. It wasn’t open the last time I was in NOLA - apparently it had been purchased by the Hilton Hotel chain and restored to be placed under their Waldorf-Astoria brand. This grand old hotel certainly lives up to her sister hotel in NY. I appreciated its Old World charm and impeccable service throughout our stay.
(Roosevelt Lobby)
(I’m going to skip around chronologically in my narrative, just for the purpose of easily grouping what I did while in NOLA.)
My friend was a first timer so I did book some touristy activities - things I had always wanted to do while in NOLA but had never gotten around to them. The first thing was a Plantation Tour. We used a smaller company which I was glad about because getting in a van with 10 other people is a whole different experience then getting on a Hotard with 100 other people. We visited Oak Alley and the Laura plantations. The beauty of Oak Alley is stunning - you are not quite prepared for it no matter how many photos you’ve seen. I was a little disappointed at the house itself - it’s not as luxurious as you would think. Also, the tour of the house was a bit short. The other plantation tour at Laura was a totally different experience. The house wasn’t grand but the tour was a lot better and more detailed, which really gave you the sense of how it was to live on a plantation. Also, the tour went beyond the main house (which was a bit small) and took you out on the grounds where you saw the remaining structures such as the kitchen, slave quarters and another house. We both really enjoyed the tour and I would highly recommend taking the time out of your day (6 hours total) to spend some time at the plantations.
(Oak Alley from the house)
(The house from the Oak Alley)
(Laura Plantation)
We also went on a walking tour of the Garden District. I’ve spent some time there just walking around randomly (mostly during my first visit in 1997 when I was on the quest to find Trent Reznor’s house) but have never taken a formal tour. Again, I chose to use a smaller company - it is known for a more historical bent (as it is run by a retired LSU professor). We hit all of the typical spots in the tour, but I was pretty happy with the architectural details and little bits of local history that our guide gave us.
(Ironwork detail from Colonel Short’s house)
(Gothic Revival)
(Greek Revival - formerly owned by Trent Reznor, now owned by John Goodman)
And of course, we ate. Again, since I had a first timer, I did want to go to one of Emeril’s restaurants and one of John Besh’s restaurants. Also, I figured we would go to brunch at Commander’s Palace. My friend told me that it had been featured in Top Chef - I had always known it as the restaurant Emeril got his start at back in the day. I won’t go into the details here, you can read my Yelp reviews if you want the food pron, but each meal was amazing in its own right and I would definitely recommend any of these restaurants to someone visiting NOLA.
(Commander’s Palace)
Unfortunately there were things we didn’t get to and some things are best left in NOLA so I think that will be the end of this essay. If you want more details, you can read the Yelp reviews here. The rest of the photos are here.
Further reading:
Lake Ponchartrain Causeway (wiki)/official site
Oak Alley Plantation
Laura Plantation
Roosevelt Hotel
Sunday, December 20, 2009
2009 Travel Stats
Just tallying up this year’s travel stats.
27310 miles on American
5726 miles on Hawaiian
3920 miles on Continental
3912 miles on Northwest
4980 miles on United
11 segments on Southwest
75 nights at various Hiltons across the country
2 nights at the Red Lion in Olympia, WA
3 nights at the Radisson in Valley Forge, PA
7 nights in my timeshare in Hawaii
Places I went that I had never been to before:
Valley Forge, PA
Lansing, MI
Olympia, WA
It did slow down for me compared to last year. But no rest for the wicked in 2010, my schedule is madness! I’ve already got trips planned to Chicago and Biloxi for work and then NOLA for fun. And I am getting a 3 week jaunt to Asia together...so exciting!
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2009
I made a stop in Albuquerque on the way back from Dallas to visit Lushy and because it’s Balloon Fiesta weekend. The last time I was here, we didn’t get there before sunrise, but this year, we were certified members of the Dawn Patrol and it was awesome. Here are some of ny favorite photos.
(Proof we were there before dawn)
(my favorite photo of balloons in air)
(a row of balloons getting ready to ascend)
(The bees)
(jack-in-a-box)
(Ding dong the witch is dead)
(Bessie, the Creamland Dairy mascot)
We were in a pretty awesome spot so we had balloons going up all around us. It’s really something cool to experience.
(All photos here.)
Hawaii 2009
So yeah, a couple of weeks ago, I went to Hawaii with my sister, bro-in-law and nephew. We were there for 10 days and split our time between Maui and Honolulu. I wasn’t really feeling like blogging when I was there but now that I’m back, I thought I’d share some photos and thoughts about my trip.
When we were in Maui, we stayed in Kihei, in the same place I’ve stayed 3 times now. It’s right across the street from Kamaole I and sunsets were easy enough to catch there.
(Sunset at Kam I)
My favorite sunset of the trip was at Kihei Wharf, which used to be a commercial port but the wharf is long gone and now it where the Kihei Canoe Club keeps their canoes.
We were at Kihei Wharf a couple of times because the Kihei Farmer’s Market was across the street. The last night we went down there, someone left a sand painting.
I did get to go to some places that I hadn’t been to previously. This was Big Beach at Makena.
While I was in Honolulu, I went down to the Honolulu Academy of Arts. They have a stellar collection, plus the grounds are beautiful. This is the fountain in their Chinese Garden.
This was the sunset view from my lanai in Waikiki.
It was weird not having a view of Diamondhead this time around, I was spoiled by staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village when I was there in December. But you can’t avoid Diamondhead in Waikiki - this was from our last morning there, on the path in front of Fort DeRussey.
If want you to take a look at all the photos, check them here. I also yelped a bunch. Maui List is here. Honolulu list is here.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
PDX and Beyond
Okay, I left off at the Tacoma to PDX adventure so we’ll start from there. I took the train from Tacoma from Portland. It wasn’t that expensive to upgrade to business class so I did. Leather seats, no riff raff. All good until we had to get off the train in Vancouver, WA (just on the other side of the bridge to Portland) and take a bus to Portland proper. Groan. But it all worked out. I called Avis and they came to pick me up at Union Station. Got my rental car (a Ford Escape hybrid) and then drove to Yamhill OR, which is outside of Portland in the Willamette Valley - also known as wine country. One of my good friends has been living out there on a huge farm, so I spent a couple of days away from it all....
This is the house I stayed in. It was huge and very comfy to hang in.
This is the neighbor’s barn - one of the oldest and largest barns in Oregon.
This is June, the goat. She got her head stuck when she was waiting for us to let her and her brother Jack out to roam around.
We drove to the town of McMinnville to check things out and ended up at the Hotel Oregon on the patio bar. This property is a McMenamin bar/hotel - if you’ve ever been to Portland you should know that name - this family has been buying properties in the greater PDX area and converting them into interesting restaurant/bar/music venues.
Today I drove back into PDX proper. Staying at a rad hotel near Chinatown. We went to Powell’s where I proceeded to buy 4 new books (gah!) And then we headed to Chinatown where we had really tasty chow fun, roast duck and bbq pork.
We hit a few bars that were practically across the street from the hotel and then hit my favorite late night eats in Portland - Voodoo Doughnut. Behold the Capt. Crunch and Maple Bacon bar:
More aventures to follow. Tomorrow I am hitting the Portland Art Museum and I hope to go to a few more bars and get some street food before all is said and done and I return to SD on Friday.
