For Those About to Rock!

So my wife and I headed out to San Francisco for the Outside Lands Music Festival at Golden Gate Park at the end of August. We have a bunch of great friends who live in SF so it was an easy decision to head out for it. We landed on Friday at about 10:00 AM and got picked up by our friend Maglie. We headed back to her place so we could drop our stuff off, pack up some supplies, meet my buddy Oldie and then head to the show. When I say pack up supplies I mean we had to smuggle in some clear liquor into water bottles and then super glue the tops back on.

We made it through security with no incidents and started down the trail to the Polo grounds where the main stage is. After we got in we met up with my boy Flindle who arrived a few minutes after we did since he had to pass the day teaching SF's finest young academics. Along the way we passed a ton of very good looking food options, a wine tasting tent, a Visa Signature private tent and the beer stand. My only gripe with the refreshments was that there were only three kinds of beer options. Heinekin, Heinekin Light & Newcastle. Upon arriving at the Polo grounds we were immediately faced with a conflict. Should we head over and see Built to Spill on the main stage who I have seen a bunch of times or wander over to the smaller stage for the Los Campesinos show who I've never seen. I went with Built to Spill show with Oldie & Flindle while Maglie and my wife headed over to Los Campesinos show. BTS was very good but they really aren't the best band to play a main stage show at a festival since they spend most of the time shredding their instruments from the standing still position. My wife tells me this fairly often but apparently we look like the kind of guys someone wants to walk up to and offer to sell us some $5 joints, probably laced. This actually happened while we were standing around an empty field by ourselves. Weird. I don't think I look that scruffy I actually just really don't like to spend time or money getting a haircut. I've been like this since I was kid.

After the Main stage we decided to head over to Lindley Meadows for a flurry of acts. We started out with San Francisco's own The Dodo's who put on a good show. Next up was Blind Pilot who also put on a nice set of indie/folk/rock that was quite tasty. The third set was The National right about at dusk. I've listened to all of their albums but never seen them live so I didn't know what to expect. Much to my surprise they came out blasting. Song after song the deep baritone voice of lead singer Matt Berringer thumped out of the perfect acoustics of the Sutro stage. They didn't just bring their A Game they flat out stole the Friday show. Many a body part was rocked off Friday night. If they show up near you GO SEE THEM! We rounded out the night by seeing DC's Thievery Corporation who got the crowd pumping with a furious set of old classics. Oldie waded his way into the mosh that is Pearl Jam but we held strong at Thievery.

Saturday's show was a late start for us because we headed over to Oldie's place in Sausalito via the ferry after we hit the Farmer's Market. We had a quick little barbecue and then headed back to the park after a stop to refill the water bottle/vodka bottles. We walked in Via the Twin Peaks Stage to catch TV on the Radio who were putting on a good show but the sound system seemed a little of from one side. After TV on the radio we loaded up on Heinekin's and Newcastle and strolled over to what would soon become our favorite place, Lindley Meadow and the Sutro stage. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band were playing what ended up being their second to last show. Their last show was later that night in downtown SF which we tried to rally for but missed. Oberst and the band put on an amazing show and since my buddy Happy has a total man crush on him we knew what to expect for this one. They did not disappoint. I don't know if it was the Vodka & Vitamin water which by the way is the new Gin & Juice or the $7 Newcastle's but we were feeling pretty lubricated and this set was blowing us away. After that we headed over to the main stage where Dave Matthews was playing. Not much to report there except I think the Black Eyed Peas came out and danced and Matthews sounded like he had lost his voice. All in all the Main stage shows were a Major disappointment. Exhausted we headed home and while we didn't rally to the Conor Oberst show we did make it down to the bar for one more completely unnecessary drink.
Sunday came a little early and I sprung out of bed because over on the East Coast my fantasy football draft was happening. It's safe to say I like draft day like Seth Rogen likes porn. After knocking out a few rounds of the draft I left it to the capable hands of my not so silent partner. He did a great job for Pittsburgh fan. After the draft we headed back to the park sans vodka bottles. We started out with the John Vanderslice set in Lindley Meadow which was a very good show albeit mellow. After that my wife and I went to the Solar stage for the Matt & Kim gig while the rest of the crew stuck around the meadow to see The Avett Brothers. The Matt & Kim stage and sound sucked but this duo put on a super entertaining show. They talked to the crowd a bit and spoke briefly of a tough decision they had to make this year to either get health insurance or a T-shirt gun. They went with a gun and I think this was the right call. Has there ever been a toy you'd rather blast you friends with more than a t-shirt gun? After this set we headed over to the main stage for Modest Mouse. I've seen the Mouse a few times and they never disappoint. They rocked and they rocked hard. I was afraid they might tone it down a bit to appeal to a wider audience but the brought out the heavy stuff and easily justified having two drummers. Next we headed up to the Ween set at the Twin Peaks stage for an hour. We manged to hear Your Party which was entertaining but I half expected to see David Sanborn himself come out and rock the saxophone but alas he did not. Funny side note there was some huge dude wearing a shirt that said "Fuck You hippies". We left that show early to head back our second home in Lindley Meadow because Band of Horses was up soon. We swung by the porta-potties where some dirty hippie was selling and I quote"$5 fatties" and actually had a line almost as long as the bathrooms. Only in San Francisco does this happen. We carved out a nice little space for Band of Horses and we were pretty psyched we did. They were amazing and completely stole the Sunday show for best band. The cool thing about the digital age is you can immediately tweet and post updates if a band is crushing it and then you see a steady stream of fans leaving one venue and heading the next. Pretty cool phenomenon. The show was so good they were the only non Main Stage bad to get an encore the entire show. Just awesome and don't miss them if they play near you! After that set we strolled back to main stage where Tenacious D was closing out the show. We saw a couple of songs but bailed early. Unfortunately they were the replacement act for the Beastie Boys having to cancel their show. The Beasties would have been an awesome close to an unbelievable weekend of music.

All in all this experience was amazing. I won't be craving Heineken any time soon and I'm pretty sure my boy Oldie won't be craving a cheese steak as he pulled of the trifecta of cheese steaks. In hindsight I don't think he ate anything but cheese steak the entire weekend. I'd like to head back next year as long as I can get my hands on some of those baby headphones for the impending little one. If I see another Heinekin I might throw up a bit in my mouth.

Shenandoah Bound

My wife was headed up to the great white north so my buddy Amtrak & decided to hit the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia for a two night camping and hiking trip. Whenever I hear the word Shenandoah I am reminded of an Upright Citizens Brigade skit called John Denver Fan club that my buddy T-Bone turned me on to.

We headed out of DC early on Friday to beat the traffic which in hindsight is pretty much impossible. We hit the road at 4:00 for what should take a little under three hours took us more like four and half hours. This of course meant we arrived at dusk with no fire wood and no camp site set up. We can plan all we want but when it comes to the execution part we can't time anything correctly. We grabbed some wood from the ranger station and proceeded to attempt to start a fire. The problem was the wood from the rangers was wet. We went through an entire Washington Post weekend edition, no small feet but this fire just didn't want to start. At that point we started to panic a bit and started foraging for anything we could burn. I even sucked up my pride and went to a nearby campsite in search of some lighter fluid. I didn't find any lighter fluid but the nice folks next door poured us a tall cup full of Camp Fuel. I've never even heard of camping fuel but they recommended we wad up some paper towels and step back. Even the paper towels soaked in camping fuel weren't working so we decided to give it one final push. We grabbed everything that would light form the car including maps, receipts, beer cases an empty granola bar box, toilet paper and parer towels. We then doused everything in Camping Fuel as well as soaking some of the wet wood in the fuel. Not surprisingly the fire lit this time.

We managed to get the tent set up in the dark. Amtrak was in charge of food and I was in charge of the tent and the beverages. Comparatively speaking my portion was decidedly easier and yet exceptionally unimpressive. Amtrak on the other hand went hog wild with the food. Since it took us about 2 hours to start the fire we were playing catch up on the cooking so we decided to forgo the sausages and just heated up some kind of crazy taco dip Amtrak dreamed up. This was no ordinary 7 layer dip. The dip starts off with a layer of taco meat, salsa verde, a layer of hot jalapenos and then refried beans. This then goes in the freezer to firm up. After that you repeat layer one through four and top it off with a giant dousing of cheese and freeze the whole thing. Once we got this thing heated up we added sour cream and gaucamole and pulled out some tasty tortilla chips which acted as the taco dip vessel. It was heavenly, delicious and scary all at once. I really wish I took a picture of this.

The next morning we got up and headed out on a six mile hike. We just about walked into a black bear on the hike which almost made me lose my taco dip. The bear however was more interested in eating berries and didn't pay much attention to us. We also ran into a few dear on the hike. All in all we saw about 30 dear in the park.

After our experience with starting the fire on night one we ended up getting about 5 bundles of wood and purchased some good old fashioned lighter fluid. We promised ourselves we wouldn't go through the same thing twice so this time we started a huge fire which we burned for about six hours. Amtrak pulled out some double cut pork chops rubbed with crushed ground fennel seeds, fresh garlic, salt, pepper and some olive oil. This was anything but typical camping food but it's exactly what we needed after a good hike and it was the best pork chop I've ever had.

Shenandoah in August is awesome! Just remember your Camp Fuel.

Martha's Vineyard

Every year my wife and I head to Martha's Vineyard with a group of some of the best people on Earth. There's a bit of a rotating cast of characters but the core of the group stays the same. We stay at the same house in same town and do basically the same things every year. This might sound boring to some but it's the one trip I look forward to every single year, rain or shine. There's more character and charm on Martha's Vineyard than any town I have ever visited. From the Gingerbread style homes on Oak Bluffs to the beautiful nature reserve of Chappaquiddick and on towards the gorgeous cliffs of Aquinnah this is one amazing Island.

We've been staying in Oak Bluffs in the Nashawena Park area for about 7 years now. We have a great little park in front of the house that has hosted many evenings of cocktail fueled bocce tournaments. This year we introduced the latest addition to our bocce craze which is light up night bocce. I'm not sure it's the neighbors favorite addition but it's a ton of fun for us.

Most days start with the guys heading to some remote fishing spot very early in the morning. To be clear you are supposed to catch fish early in the morning and we always have the best intentions but the reality is we have some stops to make. First we usually need to stop at the bait store to figure out what's been fishing well over the past few days. Then we need to grab some caffeine and breakfast. After that and usually a bathroom stop or two we actually start fishing about two hours after we got up. Several hours later of casting and usually catching nothing we start cracking back the beers until we run out and then call it a day.

We also did some charter fishing this year which proved to be extremely lucrative. We hired Captain Tom who is out of Oak Bluffs although we left out of Edgartown because we had originally booked with a gentleman who goes by the name Captain Porky. I'm convinced we went on name alone. It turns out Captain Porky's boat wasn't up to the task so lucky for us in swooped Captain Tom and his ship mate Garth Garett, Gareth or some other name I continued to butcher while he worked his ass off getting us rigged up and many a "Fish On". There was also Mako the Black Lab who was a wonderful boat dog and handled the rough waters better than the rest of us. The trip started with my buddy landing a whopper of a Striped Bass that fought like Razor Ruddock vs. Mike Tyson and 1991. Side Note: That fight was completely underrated. Anyways he landed a 25 pound striped bass on the first fish on of the day. This was certainly a sign of things to come. After that I hooked into a 20 pound Striper followed by my buddies Amtrak & the Doctor pulling in blue fish by the fistful. The fishing continued to be hot the entire time and my wife pulled in the largest blue fish I've ever seen at about 12 pounds. I can't say enough about how awesome Captain Tom was and for the life of me I can't find his business card. If you want to catch fish head down to the wharf in Oak bluffs and ask around. Tell him I sent you , it's worth your trouble.



We only have one car on the island and about 9 to 11 guests at any given time so when we head out fishing everyone else must fend for themselves which usually leads them walking down to Jelly Rock beach. It's actually called Inkwell beach but due to the often treacherous walk over the rocks to get into the ocean and occasional dodging of a jellyfish we have dubbed this Jelly Rock beach. Once happy hour arrives (anytime from 3:00 to 7:00) we get the blenders and cocktails rolling. We also start the charcoal grill that my Amtrak managed to master this year. Then comes the bocce, food, bocce waltz for the rest of the evening.

If you are headed to Martha's Vineyard there's a few things you need to do. Some of which I didn't even get in this year. Head over to State Road and a few hundred yards before you get to Cronig's Market you should see the pie stand where you can get Eileen Blake's Pies. Unfortunately Eileen passed away in August of 2008 but her pie business is till being run by the family. Don't ask for an address or a website you'll have to trust me. Plus you're on an island and they don't spend a lot of money on flashy web pages using the tubes. You'll also want to head on over to Season's Pub on a night they are doing Karaoke (Tuesday & Thursday). There some abominations and some downright inspiring talent. Drink up and join the party. You should also not miss the lobster rolls and unbelievable tropical cocktails being mixed at Nancy's Restaurant & outside bar. Any bartender that tastes each drink before he serves it to make sure it is absolutely perfect is alright in my book. When you take that kind of pride in your work you know you're at the right place! Have fun and be nice to the locals! They're what makes Martha's Vineyard one of the best places in the world to visit.

Great White North - Curly's Revenge

Over the weekend I went on a camping trip to Errol, NH. For those of you who might not know where that is you can check out the South Eastern side of Canada and head south a bit into NH. Needless to say it's the middle of nowhere. Errol has about four stores and one of them is LL Cote which is where you can get groceries, fishing gear, hardware supplies and just about anything else you could imagine. You might get a kick out of their website. There is also one gas station, one restaurant and a post office. What you lack in creature comforts they certainly more than make up for this in gorgeous wilderness, spectacular wildlife and remarkable people.

I grew up in NH and I camped, hiked and fished all of my life. That is until I moved to Washington, DC 10 years ago. I can't believe how quickly I forgot how to operate in the wilderness. The rest of the group all played the part of Jack Palance while I was billy Crystal (minus his love of the Yankees). Unfortunately for us it rained most of the weekend but that didn't stop us from getting into some serious remote fishing holes. We fished Akers Pond, Round Pond and hiked about a mile and a half into the wilderness with waders, tubes and fishing gear to get to Sweat Pond. The hike was well worth it because the pond was beautiful and luckily filled with trout. Unfortunately for us the weather did not want to hold up for us and after a few peaceful hours of wading in my tube and flailing around with my fly rod the heavens opened up on us and we were forced back to the cabin.

There's really two things that stood out about the cabin. The first is my introduction to game called Baggo. Some of you might know this game as Cornhole. Who knew there was an American Cornhole Association? Not this guy. Anyways it's a fantastic game where you toss bean bags into opposing cut out holes. I can't do the description any justice so check out one of the two links to see what I'm talking about and get yourself a set ordered today. These things even have beer holders built into the targets. One of the best drinking activities ever created. The other thing that really stood out was the introduction of the potato cannon. This thing is made with some PVC piping, a gas grill starter button and some hair spray or in our case some starter spray although I have seen it done with aqua net as well. Basically anything that's really flamable that you can spray into the pvc tube. Here's a video that shows how to create a potato cannon.



By no means do I recommend anyone try this at home but it was a ton of fun and I can't wait until next years fishing trip, but mostly for the potato gun.

I also wanted to give a special Shout Out to Patricia Moynahan at the National Car Rental in Boston. I left my suit coat in my rental and she found it, notified me and shipped it via fedex. Not only do I get to pick any car in the lot using the Emerald Aisle but they also generally care about their customers. Thanks Patricia and thank you National Car Rental!

Here's a Religion I Could Get Behind

Last Sunday night I went to the famed 9:30 club yet again. This is one place in the city where faith and inspiration hit me the most. I guess this would be my church. I suppose every church needs to have a reverend/bishop/priest and right now that person would have to be Craig Finn, lead singer of The Hold Steady. When it comes to on stage antics not too many people put on a better show than front man Finn. I think the closest show man on stage might have to be the microphone twirling, scissor kicking, Budweiser pounding Bob Pollard.

The show had to be the best I have seen in DC and I think I've been to just about every show in the District and a few road trips for others. The set list was brilliant. It was a perfect mix of rockers, classics, shoe gazers and a cover. From starting out with Positive Jam, the inclusion of Hostile, Mass, the acoustic Citrus and the sweet Minutemen cover of History lesson - Part 2 this show was about as perfect as you could get.

Craig Finn is a lover of lyrics and he often weaves a story of sex, drugs, religion and rock and roll with recurring characters appearing across a multitude of songs and albums. He is admittedly heavily influenced by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen and loves rap. He seems to have an obsession with certain topics and cities and none more than the Tampa, FL neighborhood of Ybor City. I've never even been to Ybor city and if it wasn't for Finn I'd probably never want to.

At $6 for a domestic and $7 for an Import/micro brew the shows need to be good. Luckily for all of us suckers willing to pay that price the sound system at the 9:30 club is top notch and the quality of musicians that roll into town is worth the price of admission. I'll leave you with the lyrics to my favorite song of the night.

Citrus - The Hold Steady

hey citrus hey liquor I love it when when you touch each other hey whiskey hey ginger I come to you with rigid fingers.

i see judas in the hard eyes of the boys working the corners. i feel jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers.

hey barroom hey tavern I find hope in all the souls you gather. hey citrus hey liquor I love it when we come together.

I feel jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers. I feel judas in the long odds of the rackets on the corners. I feel jesus in the tenderness of honest nervous lovers. I feel judas in the pistols and the pagers that come with all the powders.

lost in fog and love and faithless fear. I've had kisses that make Judas seem sincere.

Outer Banks - OBX

This week I headed to the outer banks for a memorial day vacation. Any time I head down to the Outer Banks it's a complete crap shoot for how long it's going to take. Traffic around DC is brutal. There's no other way to put it. Since I didn't feel like sitting in stop and go the whole way I took the back way which is taking route 301 to route 17 to I64. We sat in traffic getting out of DC and throughout Maryland but as soon as we crossed into the VA border it was smooth sailing. I’m going to need an entire blog post to explain Maryland drivers suck and their insistence on staying in the passing lane while a parade of traffic is lined up behind them losing their minds.

We stopped for lunch/Dinner in Tappahannock, VA on a hunch at the Riverbank Cafe & Seafood. Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! What a score this place was. Fresh seafood and amazing sides and what looked to be some of the finest pies and cakes ever made. We were told everything is made from scratch by the owner. I wish I could link to this place but it's a hole in the wall so all we have is this picture. That being said if you are in the area here's a review from tripadvisor and the address. I got the fried flounder dinner with two sides and hush puppies. The hush puppies were the size of racket balls and they were perfectly crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The also had these things called apple sticks which were basically deep fried hush puppies stuffed with apple goodness and what must be crack. The rest of my posse ordered the catfish, crab cakes and shrimp. Everyone loved their food and it's a must stop if you for some strange reason you find yourself cruising through Tappahannock, VA. Here is a picture of the crab cake & shrimp dinner. The Cucumber salad was also pretty awesome.

This particular trip took us about 6 1/2 hours. The trip is anywhere from 4 ½ to 7 depending on traffic. Once we arrived we were greeted by the rest of the Memorial Day posse with ice cold Miller Chills, I giant tub of cheese balls, a private heated pool and two hot tubs. The house was about 2/10ths of a mile form the ocean. Fifteen minutes after arriving we headed down to the beach to scout out the scene. The water felt freezing that night but gradually got warmer as the week went on. May is a great time to be on the Outer Banks but my favorite time is still September when the ocean water sits around 70-75 degrees. One thing you forget about when you live in the city is how beautiful the sky is when you can actually see stars. The sky was amazing but try as I might I could only point out the little dipper. I have vowed to improve upon this and purchased an astronomy book to rid myself of the celestial ignorance.

We found a great new BBQ place called Fat Crabs that had awesome traditional Carolina BBQ and great steamed shellfish. We also went out and played some putt-putt on a 20 hole (weird I know) all grass course. The course was really challenging and while I enjoyed myself I'd still rather putt one into the clown's nose any day of the week. Can anyone explain the difference between mini golf and putt-putt? I always thought this was a regional thing like coke, pop, soda, tonic...Who knows?

My better half and I stopped in Wilmington, VA on the way home. I was making an attempt to prolong my denial about being on vacation by hitting the waterslides and lazy river at water country USA. We were deterred when they didn't have a half day rate and continued home. Places like this should take a page out of how golf courses do things and run a twilight special because we were ready to shell out some cash but couldn’t see dropping a full day rate for two hours. Come on Water Country get your head in the game! The trip home took only 4 1/2 hours.

The Outer Banks is a place we go to a lot and they have some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. The Sand in Corolla is soft and fluffy and when the tide is out the beach is gigantic. I often wonder if people on the other coasts would have a reason to come to the outer banks or if it's just an east coast thing. If you’ve never been it's well worth the visit and easily one of my top 5 beaches in the U.S. So as I continue to dwell on my vacation being over and already missing the beach I'd like to hear from my handful of readers what your top 5 beaches in the U.S. are so I know where to head next year. Mine have an East Coast bias.

Top 5 U.S. Beaches

1. Whale head Beach; Corolla, NC

2. Gay Head Public Beach (Moshup Beach); Aquinnah, MA

3. Captiva Island; Captiva, FL

4. Ogunquit Beach; Ogunquit, ME

5. South Beach Miami; FL

Sunshine Daydream

Miami: Bring on your finest bedazzled shirts.



Most people know you need a little thing called a VALID passport to leave the country. I forgot to renew mine ahead of time so it expired. This meant when planning a quick four day weekend getaway Bandway style (check out 4 Day Weekend but throw on your headphones or wait until you get home because it’s definitely NSFW) I had to keep it close. Since I had to stay on U.S. soil and this was going to be short one I wanted to make it easy. A two and half hour non stop flight from DCA (Reagan National) to MIA (Miami International) sounded perfect.

If you’re flying on American Air from DCA it’s much easier to check in curbside if you need to check luggage. I find the folks at the curbside check-in are entertaining and knowledgeable plus the lines to check-in at DCA on the weekend can be really long. Tip the baggage handlers a couple of bucks and rest easily knowing your bags will show up at your destination.

After my wife and I landed at MIA we hopped in a cab ($37 flat rate) and headed to a great new hotel on Ocean Drive in South Beach now called The Betsy. This was originally called the Betsy Ross but hotels on Ocean Drive have to keep the original name. This hotel is absolutely first rate and 5 stars easily. Everyone on staff was extremely helpful and the room albeit smallish was beautiful in décor. It’s also a very green hotel and they’ve made lots of changes to be more eco friendly. They had a nice little book collection on the bookshelf in every room. They also had bookmarks you were encouraged to take home with you that contained wildflower seeds that could be planted, bookmark and all. In the category of way too much information I got to watch the Red Sox close out the Yankees completely naked and in the shower since low and behold they have embedded a TV into the bathroom mirror. To be honest I only turned the bathroom tube on once but I enjoyed knowing it was available. Next to the shower beer this might be my new favorite shower activity.

Most days we would have a brunch in the late morning then hit a snack in the afternoon and a nice dinner at night. I went to the News Café for brunch one morning and the atmosphere was fantastic. It’s right on Ocean Dr and has a ton of outdoor seating. Pretty average bar type food but it did the trick and it's open 24 hours a day. We also tried the 11^th street diner to grab a bacon blue burger. Ask them to make a frozen lemonade/iced tea combo. It’s not on the menu but I asked and they obliged. We also stopped at a little Cuban restaurant called Puerto Sagua. It’s great for a quick lunch and they had some great authentic Cuban meals on the menu.

There was one thing in particular that drove me nuts about walking down Ocean Drive and that is the amount of restaurants that have people outside soliciting everyone walking by to dine at their establishment. Chances are if they are trying that hard it’s because it’s not very good. Seriously, I got hassled less walking down 5^th Ave in Playa Del Carmen. All restaurant owners on South Beach should take notice that this tactic does not work and generally does exactly the opposite of what you are trying to do. Always ask the locals where to eat or do some research on the web don’t get bullied by the help outside of a dining establishment.

Our best meal of the trip happened when we stumbled upon a quaint little Italian restaurant called Spiga. We generally wander around looking at about a dozen different menus before we make a decision. Nine times out of ten we botch this decision using this method. Amazingly we nailed this one. Great outdoor space on Collins Ave. We started with some delicious house bread with olive oil. Then we had some beautiful melon and prosciutto. We ordered the gnocchi and an order of the pasta carbonara. The gnocchi was some of the best either one of us has ever had light and fluffy and melted in your mouth. The carbonara was also amazing. This place is definitely worth a visit!

My worst meal of trip was inside of The Betsy at the BLT restaurant. Chef Laurent Tourondel of BLT Steak ousted out Peter Luger’s in this year as the best steak house in NYC. Having been to Peter Luger’s before I was hell bent on trying BLT. Luger’s is awesome and any place that has a bacon appetizer is all right in my book. Now in all fairness the BLT inside of The Betsy has only been open for about 5 weeks but with that kind of praise my expectations were high. The wait staff tried hard but the food came up short. The sides were average and my rib eye was chewy and fatty to the point where no human molars could grind it into edible bites. The dessert of blueberry lemon meringue pie was the only highlight. Overall based on our dining experience BLT was pretty average and I would take Luger’s any day of the week. We now have a BLT in DC and I’m not rushing out to try it again.

The beach in Miami was actually a big surprise to me. I’ve been to South Beach before but it was more of an overnight in a trendy little boutique hotel. We never even got to the beach. South Beach is HUGE. I had no idea. It’s also very topless friendly so if you find that offensive you should maybe head somewhere else and leave it for the rest of us heathens. The water was a brilliant turquoise blue and I’ve been to a dozen islands in the Caribbean and haven’t seen much better. There were some decent rollers and in the afternoon when the tide was heading out a river/sand bar gets created. It can make for some pretty brutal rip tides but since we frequent the Outer Banks of NC we were pretty familiar with them. If you ever get caught in a rip tide you should always swim parallel to the shore or optionally float with the current. Swimming parallel to the shore you won’t have to swim as far to get back to the shore. They’re not usually larger than a hundred feet. You can learn more about them from this wiki. The water was a little chilly at first but after a couple of minutes got really comfortable. You could easily porpoise in it for hours.

MIA Tip: When we were flying back to DC the MIA American curbside check-in guy gave me some good advice for the MIA terminal. If you are flying out of C or D terminals go all the way to the right until you can’t go any further and then follow the path to the security line. Once I weaved through a quick hallway I came upon a welcome site. No long security line. In fact there was no line at all.

There are some unbelievable travel deals right now. I came across this video containing the Conde Nast Hot List which had a bunch of hotels for under $200 per night. I highly recommend the South Beach area for a quick and easy weekend getaway. The Betsy was amazing and the beach is breathtaking. Pack your sunscreen.

All Aboard!

I've been contemplating starting a blog for what seems like years. I've been doing the research including this helpful little list of 29 tips to starting a blog. I realize there's a decent amount of work to keeping blogs updated so I needed to choose a topic I was not only familiar with but passionate about. I know this might sound strange but I love my job and could easily post about the exciting work we do but who wants to read about someone's job? I'm also interested in education and learning new things but I'll leave that up the folks that know a lot more about this than me, mainly teachers and educators. I was going to do a music blog but I figured I can mix this into my other favorite hobby/activity which is why I chose to write about travel.

Now I can't say I am a travel expert but that's mostly because I'm not sure where the certification for this could be acquired and who would administer that? Maybe LearningZen.com? I can tell you that I have been lucky enough to travel/vacation all of my life and for the last ten years I've been traveling a ton for my work. I try to remind myself that traveling for work and traveling for vacation are two very different animals. My business needs are at the forefront when I travel for work and I care more about whether there is wireless and how far my hotel is from the client's site. When I'm on vacation I want to be able to walk to the beach or the city and need to have access to some good eats.

I figured this blog would give me the chance to share my experiences and be honest and open about the best airlines, hotels, restaurants and bars everywhere I go. I'll talk about the coolest cities and hot spots to visit. I'll do my best to post a bunch of pictures and let you know what was good and what sucked. No hard feelings if I bash your city because there's nothing to do, no good food or no nightlife. I live in a city that's very well known for it's culinary delicacies but I challenge you to try and get a decent sub or slice of pizza in this town. Impossible.

As a frequent traveler I still struggle with which hotel to choose and where to get a bite to eat. This usually leads me to Trip Advisor and Orbitz. For dining rather than go with a fairly reliable site like Zagat's I tend to ask the locals where to go and often check the Food Nework sites for help. I'll make an effort to always let you know where I stayed, what airline I flew on and where I happened to dine. If I happen to hit the bar scene and tie one on I'll be sure to include all of the details. When I go to a club I'll tell you about the drink specials, the sound system and what the vibe of the crowd is like for each club.

The travel industry has changed a lot over the last ten years and so have I. I used to like flying but now I need to take Xanax just to get on a plane. It's a long story but one flight to Australia changed me forever. I am also bummed I can't show up to the airport 30 minutes before my flight like I used to. Most other countries rely heavily on train travel but not here. Why is that? It's kind of like soccer. I used to be happy staying at any hotel with a bed. Some of those two stars came with free entertainment courtesy of the crazy guests and paper thin walls. Now I seem to need at least three star hotels to even get comfortable. The one thing that hasn't changed is my love for delicious affordable food and beer.

Whether it's Dylan or The Hold Steady Can You Please Come Crawl Out Your window?

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