Tag Archives: USA

Chicago 2012 Retro Review

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Chicago is a great location for a quick weekend trip.  It is very easy to get to from MSY (3 different carriers fly non-stop).  Plus, the flight is under two hours.  We left on the first flight Friday morning (flying United – we ended up getting upgraded to exit row seats for free which was nice) and were at our hotel by 9:00 a.m.

We just took a cab from the airport, which cost around $40-$50…Taking public transportation from O’Hare is supposed to be not too difficult and only $2.50 a person, so that is a definitely cheaper alternative.  Another positive with having a quick non-stop flight, you can leave your destination in the afternoon and still get back to town at a reasonable hour.

There is plenty to do in Chicago to keep you entertained for a long weekend.  There are many restaurants, ranging from the ultra high end to casual joints.  For entertainment, there are plenty of options…Museums, zoos, an aquarium, sporting events, shows, etc.  Chicago also has several Blues Clubs and Piano Bars for night activity.  We were pretty busy while we were there and still did not get to do a lot of stuff I would have liked to have done.

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New York 2010 Retro Review

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As with all the retro review, I typed it up several years ago.  I’m finally getting around to posting it along with some other new stuff on trip planning.

 

We left on a Thursday morning and flew Jet Blue non-stop to NYC.  Alyce and I both really liked flying Jet Blue; you get to check one bag free, each person gets their own Direct TV free of charge, and you get unlimited free drinks and snacks.  Also, this was the first time I had flown anywhere non-stop in a long time, and it was very nice – especially on the way home.  I think from here on out, I’ll search for direct flights and pay the difference as long as it is not too much more expensive than the cheapest option.

We flew into JFK and had no trouble catching a cab to the city (which cost about $50 and took about 45 minutes).  We stayed at the Hampton Inn – Times Square North.  The hotel itself was nice enough and reasonably priced for its location.  If you’re looking for over the top luxury, look elsewhere; but the location could not be beat for what we did on the trip.  Almost everything we did was within close walking distance.

We got around in the city mostly by walking and subways with the occasional cab ride mixed in.  Finding your way is pretty easy as the streets are numbered from South to North and the avenues from East to West, so you can always get your bearings straight by walking a block if you get mixed up.  The subways were not confusing either – as long as you have your route planned out.  Also, neither of us felt unsafe at any point of the trip (riding the subways or walking around at night)…though we did stay in the more populated areas of Manhattan.

On the timing…We went a week before Christmas, and I think it is a cool time to visit NYC.  There were Christmas decorations everywhere, and we saw the big Christmas tree and skating rink outside Rockefeller Center (we went on our first day, Thursday, and it was infinitely less crowded than it was on the weekend).  NYC at Christmas is definitely something to see, especially if you are big into Christmas (which Alyce is).  Having said that, next time we go back it will probably be in the Spring/Early Summer.  It was very cold (20’s and windy), and we luckily missed out on the massive snowstorm that hit NYC a week later and screwed up flights/local transportation/seemingly everything in that area.  So that is obviously a risk you take going to the Northeast in the winter.

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Seattle August 2013

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Seattle 2013.  My first extended trip without my better half.  What happened?  We were in a huge fight and…Not really.  I had a work conference.  I’ve been travelling more for work related reasons lately and that trend looks to continue increasing.

The COPRI Ports 2013 Conference was located in Seattle this year.  It only happens once every three years, and the next one will be located in New Orleans.  So no fun work related travel courtesy of the Ports Conference until 2019.  But work agreed to send me and my coworker/supervisor to this conference, and I was in.

The conference itself was fine.  It was kind of surprising in that some of the things I thought would be interesting were not…and some of the things I was least interested in ended up being the best topics.

Other than the conference, I tried to experience as much of Seattle as possible, but it was still very different than my ordinary vacation.  There were conference things during most days and semi-work related stuff at night.  Still here is my initial take on Seattle:

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Napa – October 2013

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Back to Napa for trip #3…Our first trip since returning home from our big trip.

This was – as is the usual for our domestic trips – a quick long weekend vacation.  We left on Thursday—at 5:00 a.m.  I was not even aware that flights left New Orleans that early, but they do.  The good thing about heading out that early is that we got nearly a full day in on that day, as opposed to losing a day to travel.

We flew United with a stop in Houston on the way over, and it was pretty uneventful.  One thing of note is that flight was the last one we’ll take that we had to power down our phones/ipads…at least domestically.

And because there is no other better place to mention it, I’ll do so now.  We detoured to Muir Woods before making our way to Napa.  This is a redwood forest with some walking paths and trails.  Having never been to such a place, we enjoyed the stop and considered it well worth the 45-60 additional minutes of driving.

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Napa 2012 Retro Review

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General Thoughts

This was our second trip to the wine country.  This time we decided to spend the whole trip in Napa.  We were there for 4 nights/5 days in early August.  The weather was pretty similar to what I remember it being in May – cool mornings, warm to hot afternoons.  It may be a little warmer in the afternoons than May…Still very comfortable compared to Southern Louisiana.  The grapes were pretty well grown at this time, but it was still too early to try to taste any.

Our first trip we really planned around food/dining – wineries were secondary.  This time it was the opposite, wine was the primary focus and the dining was much more quick and casual.  Also, we concentrated on some of the more off the beaten path wineries/areas this time.

I planned to bring back much more wine than the first trip…but we still came back with (or are getting shipped) more wine than I anticipated.  I still believe that the best and most economical way to come back with wine is to buy a shipping box and check it on the plane.

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Napa 2010 Retro Review

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I typed this up a couple years ago after we got back from Napa.  It’s long, but I had some friends that would be travelling there soon.  Plus, I like having the reports (same as now with the wrap ups).  We have since been back to Napa, so it is fun to go back and read the report.

We should be back to current stuff tomorrow.  Here is Napa 2010 with some pictures from Alyce’s facebook account:

 Napa – May 2010

I enjoyed this trip more than I was expecting too.  Going into it I was excited about all of the eating out plans and thought touring/tasting the wineries would just be a filler during the day to get to the meals…I was wrong.

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