On their latest journey to Maui, Ray and Traci had no new adventures to report. The Grand Wailea had no new additions, and in fact, gave them the same (or a very similar room) to the 2004 Maui trip. For this blog entry, they report about the food they ate on Maui.
The night after arriving, Ray and Traci ate at a popular Hawaiian chain – Sansei Restaurant. This is a chain of sushi bar/asian food which is found both on Maui as well as Oahu. Traci had the Sansei special roll (sushi) and a bowl of udon while Ray satisfied his post flight appetite with a bowl of rice, and two appetizers (or Hawaiians call them Pupus) – beef teriyaki and shrimp tempura. Sansei is located in Kihei (Next to Foodland) and has special discounts (25% off most days if you order before 6pm, 50% off after 10pm) Check out the website for details: http://www.sanseihawaii.com/
On Sunday, the travelers ate at Matteo’s Pizza located one block up the hill from The Shops at Wailea. If you are looking for a pizzeria with a view to kill for – this is your place. You get in line, order your food and fill your drinks and they deliver pasta and pizza to your table which likely has an incredible sunset view. What is even more shocking is the prices are cheaper than what you would find at chains like Pizza Hut. Traci had a ½ order of the house special pasta and shared Ray’s Italian sausage/ham pizza. Traci actually felt the house pasta was the best meal of the trip! Especially considering the view and the price, Matteo’s is not to be missed! They offer carry out pizza as well for travelers who wish to skip the million dollar views.
On Monday, Ray and Traci ventured into the Grand Wailea’s new Japanese Buffet at Kincha restaurant. Kincha used to operate as a regular Japanese restaurant, but was converted into a daily buffet with two slightly different menus. You will find the typical buffet fare including miso soup, different kinds of tempura, salads, California rolls and other sushi, as well as either Kobe Beef or Rib Eye Steak. On the Monday menu, Kincha also had a stir fried lobster dish which was quite tasty. Overall, Traci thought the food quality was not as good as the other Japanese buffet found in the Maui Prince Hotel (Hakone) but Ray would not pass up all you can eat steak and lobster. The buffet was a little pricey at $54 per person, and Kincha has a sushi bar for those who wish to pass up the buffet (but $54 goes really fast at a Sushi bar in the Grand Wailea).
Tuesday started with a late breakfast at Stella Blues, which is a nice American/Hawaiian café located in Kihei at the intersection of Piikea and South Kihei road. Stella Blues is what Denny’s would be if it was based in Hawaii and had better food. Ray enjoyed a traditional 2 egg/toast/hash brown with a taste of Hawaii – Portuguese sausage, while Traci had passion fruit iced tea, papaya with cottage cheese and whole wheat toast. Stella charges a little more than Denny’s ($20 total) but you’ll enjoy it more! For dinner, Ray and Traci went to Joe’s Restaurant which is located on the top floor of the Wailea Tennis club (a few blocks from Matteo’s Pizza). If you order before 6:30pm, the entrees are 2 for 1, so eat early! Ray had the Prime Rib, which was surprisingly tasty – the dish was prepared well with a lean portion of meat, but the quality of the meat wasn’t up to Seattle’s best. Traci had a rack of Baby Back Ribs, which again were good but not quite the tender, “falling off the bone” meat that mark the best dishes. Considering the whole meal including tip (automatically added to the bill), a salad and a coke was $62 it is hard to complain! Make sure you make reservations, even during the off season, as the place fills up quick!
Wednesday dinner was spent at a South Maui institution, “Da Kitchen.” It is located on South Kihei road, close to Wailea (First Kihei exit off the Piilani highway) in a strip mall. Da Kitchen serves Hawaiian Plate Lunches (generous portioned entrée, rice and salad – macaroni, potato, or green). Traci had the special Pork and Tofu plate while Ray had the Maui favorite Kalbi Ribs. Despite the availability of Kalbi ribs in Seattle at multiple places (including two at Seattle’s Uwajimaya – Shillas and Aloha Plates), Kalbi ribs on Maui are just better. Da Kitchen serves Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and makes their plates for a large appetite – so bring one! $24 bought the two plates and a large drink. After Da Kitchen, Ray and Traci went to “WOW” – Wednesdays at Wailea – On Wednesday at the Shops at Wailea Mall, live music is performed and many of the art galleries open up and invite patrons to gaze upon their works. The invited band was quite good – played adult/contemporary music including hits from Stevie Wonder, Michael Buble and Kermit the Frog (Rainbow Connection). Among the many galleries showing Hawaiian themed art, included was one called “Celebrity Fine Art Gallery” which has several notable artists and their works along with lots of rock n’ roll memorabilia. To complete the night, enjoy ice cream at Lappert’s – Haagan Dazs meets Hawaii. Many tropical flavors can be found here in very heavy, rich and expensive ice cream - $4 per cone.
On Thursday, Traci started the day in the Grand Wailea Spa. One tip for spa goers – Costco periodically sells SpaFinder gift certificates ($79.99 for $100 certificates) which are accepted at the Grand Wailea giving you an effective 20% off! After a rigorous morning at the Spa, Traci rejoined Ray for a lunch at a restaurant at the Shops at Wailea called Cheeseburgers in Paradise. This burger palace is a tropical themed Red Robin in an open air setting. Ray had a so-so bacon cheeseburger while Traci had a Chinese Chicken Salad. A $24 tab for lunch was reasonable by Wailea standards but the food was unremarkable. Later on in the evening, dinner was found at a hangout for the locals – Hanafuda Saimin. This noodle and plate lunch place is found next to Stella Blues on Piikea road in Kihei. Ray and Traci had a light $15.65 saimin dinner (ramen type noodles) – Traci added a California Roll and Ray had two pieces of shrimp tempera.
Ray and Traci spent Friday sampling the cuisine at the Grand Wailea, starting with the morning “Grand Buffet.” Traci had the continental buffet (without meat) while Ray enjoyed the whole spread. The buffet has the usual mix expected food including fruit, cereal, various breads, waffles and orange/guava juice. Ray went to the omelet bar for a boring ham and cheese and also had the chef make some fried rice using bacon and mushrooms. The Grand Wailea buffet has good quality food but it is expensive ($28 per person) and had a pretty unremarkable selection. On Sunday, the hotel has a more substantial meal at a higher price ($48) which we did not sample. For dinner, Ray and Traci ate at the poolside restaurant, Bistro Molokini. Patrons get to enjoy a good meal while watching a tropical sunset. Traci enjoyed her penne pasta dish while Ray, still stuffed from the morning buffet, had a good (but unremarkable) chicken Caesar salad.
Before leaving Maui on Saturday, Ray and Traci enjoyed one last meal at Stella Blues (the only repeat visit during this trip). Stella’s had a wonderful country fried steak special which Ray highly recommends. Traci’s last meal was the egg and ham late breakfast special. After a week filled with great weather and excellent food, the trip concluded with a flight back to a much colder (and wetter) Seattle.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Ray and Traci’s Mostly Excellent California Adventure
Before the long awaited summer season arrived, Ray and Traci decided to escape the gloomy drizzle of Seattle and travel to the area both previously called home – Los Angeles. Traci has a brother and sister in LA and hoped to combine a family visit with some sunshine. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.
The nonstop flight to John Wayne Airport from Seattle on Alaska Airlines was on time and pleasant despite being filled to capacity – the airline even substituted a good warm cookie for the usual bag of pretzels. John Wayne airport has a very slow baggage carousel – the bags come out one every 10 seconds or so one at a time. The rental cars are found within the garage of the airport directly across the street so picking up the car was fast and easy. Armed with Mapquest directions, the car ride to the Grand Californian Hotel at Disneyland took less than half an hour. Disneyland is well labeled on highway signs but finding the Grand Californian is more difficult since signage is poor.
Disney did an excellent job with the Grand Californian – the exterior suggests a mountain ski lodge but the interiors are quite luxurious complete with relatively spacious rooms with refrigerators, plasma TVs and DVD players. Although the ambient noise level is high for a luxury hotel, it is probably unavoidable in a resort that caters to families. The lobby level gives the “lodge” feel with many sofas and chairs, a bar area, a fireplace – many places to lounge around. Disney’s Brother Bear character roams around and scares young children. The hotel is quite long rather than high and finding your room can be a challenge. Located adjacent to the California Adventure Park, the hotel contains a special entrance gate. Other parts of the Disney complex – Disneyland and Downtown Disney are within easy walking distance of the Grand Californian.
On Friday morning, disappointing rain greeted Ray and Traci – they started by having breakfast at a nearby Coco’s restaurant since the character buffet at the hotel had a long line. They met Traci’s sister Kristi and daughter Maya and headed to a rain drenched Disneyland – not always the happiest place on earth. Thanks to Mickey Mouse rain ponchos Traci and Kristi stayed somewhat comfortable. Ray had a complete REI gortex rain suit on so he was fine. Maya refused to wear her poncho and became quite soaked. The journey began at “Small World” followed by “Dumbo”, “King Arthur’s Carrousel” and Peter Pan’s Flight. A much drier and more comfortable Ray left the group to see relatively new attractions – Space Mountain with music by the Hot Chili Peppers, Star Tours and Indiana Jones Adventure. Space Mountain which previously seemed like a rather pedestrian roller coaster indoors, was immensely better when set to better light effects and the Red Hot Chili Peppers Music. This quite dated attraction was so much more enjoyable with the upgrades although it really doesn’t qualify with today’s “thrill” rides. Indiana Jones is an attraction not to be missed – like most good Disney features, the experience begins in line with the décor and atmosphere. Artifacts and signs warning patrons of things not to do (or face a lifetime of blight and desperation) resulted in, of course, people doing the exact opposite. The ride can best be described as a 2007 version (with a much higher thrill factor) of the Haunted Mansion. Patrons ride around in jeep like vehicles thru various Indiana Jones type scenes including one where the huge boulder comes right toward your vehicle. The ride is somewhat rough and quite spooky in places but one not to be missed. The biggest surprise of the day was the (relatively) long lines – For a weekday immediately after Spring Break with the most rain, perhaps for the entire year, the 35-45 minutes at Disney’s most popular features was quite surprising. From their last experience at Orlando, where weekday visits at all of the parks immediately after winter break found virtually no line more than 5 minutes, Ray and Traci were surprised at the wait at Disneyland. Perhaps the 13 million citizens surrounding Disneyland, the fact that only 2 parks are operating and the relatively cheap annual passes available to Southern California residents all contribute to the lines-even on a post spring break rainy weekday. Perhaps the powers at Disney will start throwing in “Fastpasses” with hotel packages as one has to question how much of Disneyland can be enjoyed by a regular tourist visiting during peak traffic days.
Ray met up with Traci, Kristi and Maya at the California adventure park. Maya was now thoroughly soaked so Kristi headed home. The rains that made the morning so miserable largely subsided so Ray and Traci waited in a 35 minute line for the best Disney feature – California Screamin! Like Space Mountain, Screamin was set to music from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The relatively new roller coaster features silky smooth steel construction, a complete 360 loop, and an exhilarating launch up the first hill from an impressive electrical propulsion system. Riders begin at a dead stop followed by an incredible multi-G climb directly up a huge hill. Of the coasters Ray and Traci have ridden, only the Rock n Roll Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith (at Disney-MGM Studios) can compare and that particular indoor experience is less thrilling. If you like coasters you will love Screamin!
Ray and Traci picked up some fastpasses for repeat visits and then went to ride the Sun Wheel – a huge Ferris wheel which is OK for photos of the coaster but otherwise a waste of time and then the Soarin’ Over California Adventure. Soarin’ is the second don’t miss attraction in California Adventure – it combines beautiful Imax photography of California with a Disney ride complete with special wind & scent special effects to give you the sensation of flying over the Golden State. After Soarin, Traci went back to the hotel and Ray decided to partake in a few more adventures. The Tower of Terror (previously ridden at Disney-MGM studios) is the third can’t miss attraction in California Adventure. Great features provide thrill by incredible anxiety provoking visuals like speed, huge drops, upside down loops or by making riders fear the unknown. Tower of Terror takes a relatively common drop ride to a whole new level with the Rod Serling Twilight Zone theme and doing much of it in the dark with unexpected and seemingly unending motion. Ray finished his California adventure by riding the unremarkable water raft ride (in his gortex suit) and then using both fast passes for the Screamin rollercoaster – riding twice in 15 minutes is a good way to lose one’s appetite. Ray returned to the room to get Traci and both headed back to Disneyland to see the amazing “Dreams” Fireworks show. Disney puts on a fireworks extravaganza like none other – great pyrotechnics, wonderful choreography, music, an aerial “Tinkerbell” and laser lights all add up to one amazing show – don’t miss it! Now, completely exhausted, Ray and Traci went to the ESPN zone to find out how much the Seattle Mariners lost by and enjoy two quite surprisingly good salads – a Shrimp Caesar and a Southwest Cajun Chicken Salad.
The nonstop flight to John Wayne Airport from Seattle on Alaska Airlines was on time and pleasant despite being filled to capacity – the airline even substituted a good warm cookie for the usual bag of pretzels. John Wayne airport has a very slow baggage carousel – the bags come out one every 10 seconds or so one at a time. The rental cars are found within the garage of the airport directly across the street so picking up the car was fast and easy. Armed with Mapquest directions, the car ride to the Grand Californian Hotel at Disneyland took less than half an hour. Disneyland is well labeled on highway signs but finding the Grand Californian is more difficult since signage is poor.
Disney did an excellent job with the Grand Californian – the exterior suggests a mountain ski lodge but the interiors are quite luxurious complete with relatively spacious rooms with refrigerators, plasma TVs and DVD players. Although the ambient noise level is high for a luxury hotel, it is probably unavoidable in a resort that caters to families. The lobby level gives the “lodge” feel with many sofas and chairs, a bar area, a fireplace – many places to lounge around. Disney’s Brother Bear character roams around and scares young children. The hotel is quite long rather than high and finding your room can be a challenge. Located adjacent to the California Adventure Park, the hotel contains a special entrance gate. Other parts of the Disney complex – Disneyland and Downtown Disney are within easy walking distance of the Grand Californian.
On Friday morning, disappointing rain greeted Ray and Traci – they started by having breakfast at a nearby Coco’s restaurant since the character buffet at the hotel had a long line. They met Traci’s sister Kristi and daughter Maya and headed to a rain drenched Disneyland – not always the happiest place on earth. Thanks to Mickey Mouse rain ponchos Traci and Kristi stayed somewhat comfortable. Ray had a complete REI gortex rain suit on so he was fine. Maya refused to wear her poncho and became quite soaked. The journey began at “Small World” followed by “Dumbo”, “King Arthur’s Carrousel” and Peter Pan’s Flight. A much drier and more comfortable Ray left the group to see relatively new attractions – Space Mountain with music by the Hot Chili Peppers, Star Tours and Indiana Jones Adventure. Space Mountain which previously seemed like a rather pedestrian roller coaster indoors, was immensely better when set to better light effects and the Red Hot Chili Peppers Music. This quite dated attraction was so much more enjoyable with the upgrades although it really doesn’t qualify with today’s “thrill” rides. Indiana Jones is an attraction not to be missed – like most good Disney features, the experience begins in line with the décor and atmosphere. Artifacts and signs warning patrons of things not to do (or face a lifetime of blight and desperation) resulted in, of course, people doing the exact opposite. The ride can best be described as a 2007 version (with a much higher thrill factor) of the Haunted Mansion. Patrons ride around in jeep like vehicles thru various Indiana Jones type scenes including one where the huge boulder comes right toward your vehicle. The ride is somewhat rough and quite spooky in places but one not to be missed. The biggest surprise of the day was the (relatively) long lines – For a weekday immediately after Spring Break with the most rain, perhaps for the entire year, the 35-45 minutes at Disney’s most popular features was quite surprising. From their last experience at Orlando, where weekday visits at all of the parks immediately after winter break found virtually no line more than 5 minutes, Ray and Traci were surprised at the wait at Disneyland. Perhaps the 13 million citizens surrounding Disneyland, the fact that only 2 parks are operating and the relatively cheap annual passes available to Southern California residents all contribute to the lines-even on a post spring break rainy weekday. Perhaps the powers at Disney will start throwing in “Fastpasses” with hotel packages as one has to question how much of Disneyland can be enjoyed by a regular tourist visiting during peak traffic days.Ray met up with Traci, Kristi and Maya at the California adventure park. Maya was now thoroughly soaked so Kristi headed home. The rains that made the morning so miserable largely subsided so Ray and Traci waited in a 35 minute line for the best Disney feature – California Screamin! Like Space Mountain, Screamin was set to music from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The relatively new roller coaster features silky smooth steel construction, a complete 360 loop, and an exhilarating launch up the first hill from an impressive electrical propulsion system. Riders begin at a dead stop followed by an incredible multi-G climb directly up a huge hill. Of the coasters Ray and Traci have ridden, only the Rock n Roll Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith (at Disney-MGM Studios) can compare and that particular indoor experience is less thrilling. If you like coasters you will love Screamin!
Ray and Traci picked up some fastpasses for repeat visits and then went to ride the Sun Wheel – a huge Ferris wheel which is OK for photos of the coaster but otherwise a waste of time and then the Soarin’ Over California Adventure. Soarin’ is the second don’t miss attraction in California Adventure – it combines beautiful Imax photography of California with a Disney ride complete with special wind & scent special effects to give you the sensation of flying over the Golden State. After Soarin, Traci went back to the hotel and Ray decided to partake in a few more adventures. The Tower of Terror (previously ridden at Disney-MGM studios) is the third can’t miss attraction in California Adventure. Great features provide thrill by incredible anxiety provoking visuals like speed, huge drops, upside down loops or by making riders fear the unknown. Tower of Terror takes a relatively common drop ride to a whole new level with the Rod Serling Twilight Zone theme and doing much of it in the dark with unexpected and seemingly unending motion. Ray finished his California adventure by riding the unremarkable water raft ride (in his gortex suit) and then using both fast passes for the Screamin rollercoaster – riding twice in 15 minutes is a good way to lose one’s appetite. Ray returned to the room to get Traci and both headed back to Disneyland to see the amazing “Dreams” Fireworks show. Disney puts on a fireworks extravaganza like none other – great pyrotechnics, wonderful choreography, music, an aerial “Tinkerbell” and laser lights all add up to one amazing show – don’t miss it! Now, completely exhausted, Ray and Traci went to the ESPN zone to find out how much the Seattle Mariners lost by and enjoy two quite surprisingly good salads – a Shrimp Caesar and a Southwest Cajun Chicken Salad.
Saturday was the LA adventure day. It started by Ray and Traci both remembering why they no longer live in Los Angeles – weekend driving took over an hour and a half to go from Anaheim to Santa Monica. Fortunately, the weather was better with more sunshine. They parked (for free!) in the Santa Monica 3rd street garage and wandered down the famous promenade. National chain stores mixed with local restaurants, theatres and street artists (some were quite good). A Frank Sinatra sound a like showed talent but probably would be better advised to move to Las Vegas. Ray and Traci had lunch at the Santa Monica Mall Food Court – California Crisp enjoying salads and sandwiches. They then went down to the Santa Monica Pier to meet the Pacific Ocean, take some pictures and listen to more street artists. An Elvis singer who somehow got on the Jimmy Kimmel show made listeners long for William Hung’s American Idol performances. Two brothers provided much more entertainment with a smashing rendition of “Stand By Me” – perhaps Simon Cowell should visit the pier when looking for the next American Idol.
After leaving the pier, Ray and Traci went to the UCLA campus where Ray negotiated with an “unofficial” merchant to get a deal on a Bruin Sweatshirt. They then walked up campus, saw the new (but not opened) Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and went into the UCLA bookstore for some “official” memorabilia. Traci got some cookies at “Diddy Riese” – unfortunately it was nearing the dinner hour or both would have gotten the $1.25 ice cream sandwiches. If you want a cheap lunch complete with dessert – go no farther than Diddy Riese. After leaving Westwood, Ray and Traci traveled to meet Kristi, her husband Dil and their kids Jay and Maya. The whole party went to the Topanga Mall for dinner at The Farm. Before dinner, Traci marveled at the amazing Nordstrom store. Jay and Maya got to ride the double high merry go round inside the mall before the whole group sat down for dinner. Ray and Traci both enjoyed their chicken dishes (Ray had the fried chicken, Traci had the baked). The night ended with a somewhat less frustrating drive back to Anaheim.
On Sunday, Ray and Traci picked up breakfast from La Brea Bakery Café supplemented with beignets from Jazz Kitchen – both in Downtown Disney adjacent to the Grand Californian. Ray previously purchased tickets for the Seattle Mariners game against the Angels and Traci’s brother Kevin brought Kristi’s son Jay to join Ray and Traci. Obviously pessimistic from a 5 game losing streak, Ray had little patience with the Mariners poor performance, eventually losing 6-1.
Anaheim has a well decorated although somewhat dated stadium complete with something Seattle doesn’t have in their $525 million playpen: a World Series Trophy.
After the 7th inning stretch, the four baseball fans left to go back to Disneyland for some games at the ESPN zone. With some mini-bowling and air hockey entertainment completed, Kevin took Jay back home while Ray and Traci satisfied a Pizza craving at Mama Cozza’s (an Italian restaurant located about 3 miles from Disneyland. The pizza (a “Hawaiian”) was quite good, the menu was complete with many Italian and sandwich dishes, and the prices couldn’t be beaten. Ray and Traci returned to the Grand Californian with appetites cured of pizza cravings.
Monday was getaway day, and we planned on going to the South Coast Mall in the OC (Orange County) before returning home. The weather dramatically improved and California’s famous sunshine appeared. After checking out from the Grand Californian, they headed toward the mall which has a wide range of stores – from Sears Auto Shop to Tiffany’s. Also, an unusually large number of security guards wandered the halls for an obviously sparse Monday morning crowd. Ray and Traci had lunch at Traci’s favorite out of town lunch chain – The Corner Bakery. (Should the Corner Bakery come to downtown Seattle they will have at least one regular client). Traci enjoyed some oatmeal and Ray had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. During the window shopping, Ray found a Haagan Daaz and enjoyed a vanilla chocolate chip ice cream treat. Traci was impressed with the very successful Nordstrom location. A short drive later, the travelers boarded an Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle and completed another adventure.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
On Fire On the Big Island
Ray and Traci decided to spend a weekend on the Big Island of Hawaii during their most recent voyage to the 50th state. After landing at the Kona airport we faced good and bad news - our checked luggage was not to be found, but we got a free upgrade to a Convertible Mustang since Hertz ran out of compact cars. Luggageless, we traveled to our hotel - the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Our visit happened to fall 2 weeks after the 6.7 magnitude earthquake hitting the Big Island. Damage to our hotel included the closing of the entire top floor although most of the facilities were operational - however, many cracks and damaged areas were seen. We chose to stay at the Mauna Kea because it has one of the highest rated beaches in Hawaii. The beach is beautiful with great sand. However, it is bordered by lava on both sides and does not get much of a surf so it is a lousy place to boogie board or body surf.
Fortunately, Hawaiian Airlines found our luggage (it didn't quite make the connection with us at Honolulu), and they delivered the bags to our hotel later in the evening. In general, the Big Island has a few outstanding resorts such as the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel but trails in comparison to the development of Maui. While no area with a Costco could be called primitive, if you are expecting deluxe shopping centers, exciting nightlife and tourist activities galore, Maui or Oahu are probably better options.
One world famous attraction on the big island is the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Kilauea is an active Volcano and you can hike on the lava fields to see real lava flowing. Many of the best views are only accessible by air. Although the helicopter flights are quite expensive, the views are breathtaking. We decided to take the Big Island Spectacular tour operated by Blue Hawaiian Helicopter. By making reservations over the internet in advance you do get a significant discount. Our chopper left the heliport which is located around the Hilton Waikoloa Village, a 10 minute drive down the main highway from our hotel. The helicopter headed out toward Mauna Kea (dormant volcano seen below) and Mauna Loa (largest volcano in the world).
From Mauna Loa, we headed south toward Kilauea - the active volcano currently pouring out lava. Underneath the great fields of lava that make up the volcano park are tubes which carry molten lava away toward the ocean. You can see lava bubbling up from these tubes in places. From the air, our pilot showed us a great pit where a river of lava could be seen flowing from above.:
Kilauea constantly spews out lava which constantly changes the geography. We passed over lava fields which obliterated roads and even surrounded houses. When buying real estate on the big island one needs to study geography (and homeowner's insurance) very carefully.
From the tubes, lava flows into the ocean. When the superhot lava strikes the Pacific Ocean, chunks can fly off 100s of feet. It is quite humbling to watch the earth's newest land be created.
From the lava show, our tour continued with the gorgeous scenery of the Kohala coast. We had a brief stop at the Hilo airport on the east side of the Big Island for fuel.
It would be hard to imagine a place with more breathtaking scenery than the Big Island of Hawaii.
We did not have much time to sample the restaurants or see many of the resorts near Kona. The Mauna Kea is a wonderful resort and has a very friendly staff. We enjoyed the Sunday buffet which had an incredible spread of food. While we weren't able to enjoy it, the nearby Hakone Steakhouse (Prince Hapuna Beach Hotel) has a Japanese Buffet on Friday and Saturday nights - something we look forward to every year at the Maui Hakone Restaurant.
Hawaii's Big Island has got to be one of nature's most spectacular attractions on this planet.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
An October Visit to New York
Ray decided to attend a neonatal conference held at Columbia University each October and Traci tagged along to see what fall is like in New York. Weather conditions were remarkably similar to Seattle’s during the travel week – 50 degrees and cloudy. Baseball conditions were remarkably different though – the Mets were involved in an amazing series (ultimately losing to St. Louis in a 7 game NLCS) while the Mariners were, as in the past 5 seasons, watching baseball on TV.
We flew out from Seattle on Delta’s afternoon nonstop to JFK airport, arriving around 9pm. Delta is not our favorite airline but the price was quite a bit less than Alaska Air (which flies to Newark) and Ray wanted to be a good steward of his company’s money. The flight actually was fine, Delta arrived on time and even served a snack pack with crackers and cookies to go along with soda pop. One bonus: Delta had little TV sets in each seat and (for free) we could watch satellite TV CNN, ESPN, Food Channel, MSNBC, etc making the flight go fast. Because of the late hour and uncertainty about traffic, we decided to take a car service for airport transportation. Limos.com allows travelers to find both inexpensive and quality car services, but a Google search found an article in a New York newspaper which recommended First Corporate Sedans (fcsny.com) – they charged $88 from JFK to Times Square and $68 from Times Square to JFK (difference due to parking & waiting fee at JFK). Our ride from JFK to Times Square was fairly uneventful ~ 45 minutes and we arrived at the Sheraton Manhattan. Last December we paid an outrageous rate and stayed in a small closet at the Sheraton New York Towers which was across the street. This time by committing ahead and using 1000 Starwood points (which was less than half the points we earned from the December visit) we got a great room for 50% off. The room was certainly spacious by New York standards, and had a wonderful balcony over 7th Avenue looking at Times Square. I’m not sure why we lucked into such a choice room – only the 5th floor had balconies and ours was the corner room looking down toward Times Square. I guess the Sheraton figured they owed us one.
Excited about the room, we went out looking for dinner. We went 1 ½ blocks to the Park Café where Ray ordered a delicious Steak and Eggs meal with fries and Traci had a great Turkey Club sandwich. After dinner we went back to our spacious room and watched the Mets lose game 7 to St. Louis in the 9th inning.
On Friday, we awoke (late) to find rain in Manhattan. We decided to buy Grey Line bus tickets and ride the only loop (Downtown, Uptown, Brooklyn and Night) that we hadn’t previously ridden – the Brooklyn. The traffic was absolutely awful – despite being on an “express” bus it took 1 hour just to get to the starting point of the Brooklyn tour. We learned some interesting things about Brooklyn – it was until recently the 4th largest US city with 2.4 million people, it has the 1st pizza parlor in the US, it has a great Sushi restaurant that flies in sushi daily from Tokyo and it merged with New York City when they ran out of water. The tour was somewhat interesting but not something I’d suggest to most tourists. After the tour we hopped on the subway and traveled (much quicker) to the Guggenheim Museum near Central Park. The Guggenheim had 2 rooms with a permanent collection of art but most of the space was occupied by a rotating exhibition – currently the artistry and architecture of Zaha Hadid. She had quite a few futuristic designs and colorful works but we (like many observers) had questions about their practicality. After leaving the Guggenheim, we went back to the Sheraton to pick a place to eat. We decided to eat at a well known pizza place – Ray’s Pizza which was very close to the Sheraton. Various pizzas are available by the slice and were quite good – we highly recommend the restaurant.
One of the highlights of the trip was getting to watch the show Avenue Q – by purchasing tickets months early, we got to sit in the center near the front. Ray wasn’t sure what the show was about – just that it had some muppets in it and won many awards. He was wondering why there weren’t any kids standing in line outside the theatre. Well, suffice to say, the show is an R rated show focusing on the transition from college age to young adulthood using both humans and muppets to bring humor and entertainment around a quite serious theme. We both enjoyed the show and highly recommend it. We’ve had the chance to see several “Broadway” shows now – Lion King, Movin Out, Mamma Mia, Producers, Wicked and Avenue Q – and would highly recommend them all.
On Saturday, the weather cleared up for a beautiful fall day. Ray (who was nursing a bad cold) went up to the Columbia University Medical Center for his conference while Traci met up with Ray’s cousin David to explore the neighborhoods of New York City.
Traci and David started the day in the Meatpacking District, an ultra-hip & lively area – at night. Since it was the afternoon, the area was quiet and calm, a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Times Square. They found a Belgian restaurant called “markt” which served breakfast all day so Traci ordered French Toast, which turned out to be the best she’s ever had – thick pieces of crispy grilled bread with fresh fruit and maple syrup. David had a cheeseburger that was also very good. After lunch, they took the subway to Brooklyn and walked back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. This is one of the best free things to do in New York. The views are spectacular and the walk only takes about a half hour.
We flew out from Seattle on Delta’s afternoon nonstop to JFK airport, arriving around 9pm. Delta is not our favorite airline but the price was quite a bit less than Alaska Air (which flies to Newark) and Ray wanted to be a good steward of his company’s money. The flight actually was fine, Delta arrived on time and even served a snack pack with crackers and cookies to go along with soda pop. One bonus: Delta had little TV sets in each seat and (for free) we could watch satellite TV CNN, ESPN, Food Channel, MSNBC, etc making the flight go fast. Because of the late hour and uncertainty about traffic, we decided to take a car service for airport transportation. Limos.com allows travelers to find both inexpensive and quality car services, but a Google search found an article in a New York newspaper which recommended First Corporate Sedans (fcsny.com) – they charged $88 from JFK to Times Square and $68 from Times Square to JFK (difference due to parking & waiting fee at JFK). Our ride from JFK to Times Square was fairly uneventful ~ 45 minutes and we arrived at the Sheraton Manhattan. Last December we paid an outrageous rate and stayed in a small closet at the Sheraton New York Towers which was across the street. This time by committing ahead and using 1000 Starwood points (which was less than half the points we earned from the December visit) we got a great room for 50% off. The room was certainly spacious by New York standards, and had a wonderful balcony over 7th Avenue looking at Times Square. I’m not sure why we lucked into such a choice room – only the 5th floor had balconies and ours was the corner room looking down toward Times Square. I guess the Sheraton figured they owed us one.
Excited about the room, we went out looking for dinner. We went 1 ½ blocks to the Park Café where Ray ordered a delicious Steak and Eggs meal with fries and Traci had a great Turkey Club sandwich. After dinner we went back to our spacious room and watched the Mets lose game 7 to St. Louis in the 9th inning.
On Friday, we awoke (late) to find rain in Manhattan. We decided to buy Grey Line bus tickets and ride the only loop (Downtown, Uptown, Brooklyn and Night) that we hadn’t previously ridden – the Brooklyn. The traffic was absolutely awful – despite being on an “express” bus it took 1 hour just to get to the starting point of the Brooklyn tour. We learned some interesting things about Brooklyn – it was until recently the 4th largest US city with 2.4 million people, it has the 1st pizza parlor in the US, it has a great Sushi restaurant that flies in sushi daily from Tokyo and it merged with New York City when they ran out of water. The tour was somewhat interesting but not something I’d suggest to most tourists. After the tour we hopped on the subway and traveled (much quicker) to the Guggenheim Museum near Central Park. The Guggenheim had 2 rooms with a permanent collection of art but most of the space was occupied by a rotating exhibition – currently the artistry and architecture of Zaha Hadid. She had quite a few futuristic designs and colorful works but we (like many observers) had questions about their practicality. After leaving the Guggenheim, we went back to the Sheraton to pick a place to eat. We decided to eat at a well known pizza place – Ray’s Pizza which was very close to the Sheraton. Various pizzas are available by the slice and were quite good – we highly recommend the restaurant.
One of the highlights of the trip was getting to watch the show Avenue Q – by purchasing tickets months early, we got to sit in the center near the front. Ray wasn’t sure what the show was about – just that it had some muppets in it and won many awards. He was wondering why there weren’t any kids standing in line outside the theatre. Well, suffice to say, the show is an R rated show focusing on the transition from college age to young adulthood using both humans and muppets to bring humor and entertainment around a quite serious theme. We both enjoyed the show and highly recommend it. We’ve had the chance to see several “Broadway” shows now – Lion King, Movin Out, Mamma Mia, Producers, Wicked and Avenue Q – and would highly recommend them all.
On Saturday, the weather cleared up for a beautiful fall day. Ray (who was nursing a bad cold) went up to the Columbia University Medical Center for his conference while Traci met up with Ray’s cousin David to explore the neighborhoods of New York City.
Traci and David started the day in the Meatpacking District, an ultra-hip & lively area – at night. Since it was the afternoon, the area was quiet and calm, a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Times Square. They found a Belgian restaurant called “markt” which served breakfast all day so Traci ordered French Toast, which turned out to be the best she’s ever had – thick pieces of crispy grilled bread with fresh fruit and maple syrup. David had a cheeseburger that was also very good. After lunch, they took the subway to Brooklyn and walked back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. This is one of the best free things to do in New York. The views are spectacular and the walk only takes about a half hour.
After crossing the bridge, Traci and David walked around Greenwich Village, SoHo, NoHo, and Union Square. There are a lot of great shops and restaurants in these areas. SoHo has a Prada store that rivals many museums. A lot of celebrities are spotted eating at the restaurants in these areas. Unfortunately, no celebrities were seen but David did show Traci where Richard Gere lived. After miles of walking, Traci and David were ready for a snack so they went to Pommes Frites, a hole in the wall eatery that serves fries with about 30 different sauces to choose from. The fries are double cooked so they’re really crunchy on the outside. They tried the curry ketchup and parmesan peppercorn sauces which were good but even better mixed together. Pommes Frites is definitely a can’t miss place for fries.
For Dinner, Ray and Traci ate at a Japanese Restaurant called Haru in the heart of Times Square. We both shared some sushi and Ray had Beef Teriyaki and Traci had Chicken Teriyaki – the food was average but the restaurant was nice and very conveniently located. On the way back we stopped in the Times Square Toys R Us to see the famous indoor Ferris wheel. The store was much less crowded than our last December visit, but a line with many childless adults still filled the area in front of the Ferris wheel.
The weather cooperated again on Sunday, but Ray needed to attend his conference in the morning again. Traci walked to Amy’s Bread in the Hell’s Kitchen area. Drooling over all the breads, muffins, scones, cakes, and cookies, Traci decided on an oatmeal banana pecan scone that was delicious and crunchy. She then walked to 5th Avenue to do some shopping and found the sidewalks full of people watching a movie being filmed. Traci decided to watch as well and was thrilled to see Will Smith in the scene. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a camera so didn’t get any pictures of him.
After leaving the conference at lunch time, we got on the subway and headed toward the Manhattan terminal of the Staten Island Ferry. Of all the free tourist attractions, the Staten Island Ferry has to rank up at the top with the Las Vegas Fountains of Bellagio. You hop on a passenger ferry for a 20 minute ride that passes in front of the Statue of Liberty and then ride it back to Manhattan. It is a 20 minute ride (each way) that is worth infinitely more than its price.
After leaving the ferry terminal, we passed by Ground Zero where construction on the new Freedom Tower appears to be stalled. Before reaching New York’s most sacred grounds we paused to take pictures with the “Charging Bull,” a statue inspired by “Black Monday,” the 1987 stock market crash.
We then walked to Chinatown where merchants sold everything from T shirts to replica purses. Next, we walked to Little Italy where we sampled some Strawberry Gelato. It appears that Chinatown is encroaching on Little Italy as Asian shopkeepers surround Italian eateries. If you are looking for cheap New York souvenirs, Chinatown/Little Italy is your place for bargains! Just don’t expect to be buying a real Gucci purse or a real Rolex for $25. After our walk thru southern Manhattan, we hopped on the subway and got off in Times Square where we met Ray’s cousin David at the ESPN Zone restaurant. We arrived in time to watch Seattle’s quarterback Matt Hasselbeck get injured and the Seahawks lose big while eating burgers, wings, salads and sandwiches. Ray tried to raise his spirits by eating a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream but got a stale waffle dish after waiting in a long line.
We had to awaken early for our car service to pick us up and bring us to JFK. Surprisingly there was no congestion either on the roads at 6:30 on Monday morning or even at JFK. Our flight to Seattle again went fast thanks to free TV and we actually arrived home early after another exciting adventure in New York.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Great Adventures in Beantown
Although Traci and I both have visited Boston before (Traci once, Ray twice) neither of us had the pleasure of experiencing Fenway Park, baseball’s oldest cathedral. With that in mind we decided to follow our team into the heart of Red Sox nation.
April isn’t usually a peak tourist season, but because the Boston Marathon took place during the Mariners visit, we expected some difficulty with planning. We were able to use Alaska Airlines frequent flyer miles (we scheduled the trip 5 months or so in advance) – Alaska Airlines is a great option because they offer the only non-stop flight from Seattle to Boston. Many of the hotels in the heart of Boston were booked far in advance due to the marathon but we found a fairly good discounted rate at the Omni Parker House. We found out later that the Parker House hotel is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the United States – many renovations have taken place since it opened and the accommodations were quite nice! Getting Red Sox tickets is difficult – they have sold out over 230 games in a row! Fenway is one of baseball’s smallest parks (36,000) and winning the World Series in 2005 only makes tickets scarcer. We decided on going to two games, the Friday night immediately after our plane arrived and then Sunday afternoon. Because of the uncertainty with cross country plane travel these days, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on Friday night tickets only to miss the game. Although I got on the Red Sox internet site the day single game tickets went on sale to the public, the best tickets I could “score” were Standing Room only…$25 each! I did find a pair of overpriced tickets behind 3rd base for the Sunday game from a ticket broker (stubhub.com) so we could enjoy at least one game from a good location.
Our Friday morning flight from Seattle to Boston’s Logan airport was uneventful and we landed on time (around 5pm). We concluded, while still in the airport, that Boston is spending all of their money on the “big dig” (20 billion dollar ten lane highway underneath the city that is the target for many jokes and criticisms) as their airport has much to be desired. To go from terminal to terminal you have to get your luggage and hop on busses (they really need an airport subway like Seattle!). The bus eventually takes you to the parking garage as well as the main downtown subway station. The airport subway stations lack escalators and aren’t friendly to the air traveler. Thankfully our subway trip to the Omni was quite short and we lugged our stuff up more stairs to the street.
Our hotel, the venerable Parker House, was 2 blocks from the Government Center subway stop. We checked in without incident and found a small but clean, relatively modern room (effective climate control, good plumbing and free high speed internet.) We dropped our bags off and walked north thru the Boston Commons park (a smaller version of New York’s Central Park) and then down Newbury street (a very fashionable collection of boutiques, restaurants and Starbucks shops) toward Fenway. Two observations about the walk – the crowds were huge and many (perhaps most) were wearing Red Sox jerseys. For all of the criticism of Boston fans for their loud/possibly obnoxious behavior especially when the Yankees are in town, they are definitely loyal and enthusiastic supporters – unlike some other “what have you won lately” cities which will go nameless. Second, Bostonians have no idea what “Don’t Walk” signals mean. It is amazing to see people intentionally walk into traffic and get angry when they almost get hit. Perhaps all Boston’s pedestrians harbor deep seated rebellious feelings toward traffic authorities. Fenway is quite close to the main downtown area and has a subway stop (Kenmore) for those who don’t want to walk. Large crowds milled around the ballpark area. Some parking lots charged $45 for a routine game against the Mariners – Don’t Drive. Many people have pre-game celebrations in the many establishments that ring the park. Since we didn’t have any seats to Friday’s game, we roamed around the various areas of the park. While the park itself was old and had the vintage feel of Wrigley, there were many modern amenities like ballpark restaurant areas, bar areas – concession areas actually had plasma televisions to watch the action. One of the most surprising (but possibly unsettling thing) is the fact that most if not all the concession drinks/food were cheaper than at Safeco. The Red Sox must sell hundreds of standing room only seats – there were fans standing behind the last row of seats virtually everywhere that had an unobstructed view of the field. After wandering around the stadium for 3 innings we found a spot behind the 3rd base line and watched a very good pitchers duel between Curt Schilling and Jamie Moyer. After 6 innings a Red Sox fan who was standing next to us with his friends kindly offered us his seats behind 3rd base – standing room only seating is so accepted in Boston that people actually prefer hanging out with their buddies in back rather then sitting in their seats. Traci and I jumped at the chance and watched the final 3 innings of a great game but disappointing outcome – Red Sox won 2-1. Walking back to downtown with the Red Sox fans was interesting – they were so excited about the win, it was easy to forget they only won a game in the 2nd week of a long season against a team who hasn’t even been .500 since 2003. Once we got back to the downtown convention area it was 10:30 pm and we were hungry. We decided to eat at the Copley Place Legal Seafoods – Copley place is their giant high end indoor mall and Legal Seafoods is a large chain much like Seattle’s Ivars or Anthony’s. Traci had a nice Ravioli dish and Ray enjoyed a shrimp platter (grilled, coconut and shrimp stuffed with crabmeat). With appetites satisfied we returned to the Omni for the night.
Saturday was devoted to tourist activities and we started out by heading toward the Quincy Market area and purchased tickets for the Old Town Trolley – Boston has many different trolley companies – all with different colored trolleys. We picked the Orange Old Town Trolleys because of good experiences with the company in Washington DC. Our driver was named Bud and he had a classic New England accent. He drove us around the city, pointing out the major landmarks and giving funny anecdotes. We passed by many interesting sites although if you really want to see Boston’s historical areas you need to get off the Trolley and walk. There is a “Freedom Trail” marked with red paint and red bricks that is a walking tour of the major historical sites. We just sat on the Trolley from the start at Quincy Market thru Boston and Cambridge before returning back to Quincy Market and had lunch. Inside Quincy Market (www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com), you find a large building filled with all sorts of fast food places serving everything from cream puffs to lobsters. Many restaurants and shops also inhabit the complex. Traci found a good Turkey Wrap and Ray had a Chicken Caesar salad (what did you expect?) in addition to a Beard Papa cream puff (www.muginohousa.com) and some disappointing strawberry gelato. After lunch we got in a taxi to go to the Boston Marathon Expo which was in the Seaport World Trade Center. The expo was huge, much larger than the Seattle Marathon Expo which was the only one either of us had ever seen. There were lots of free samples of power bars and energy drinks and lots of vendors selling everything from T shirts to sunglasses. From the Expo we took the shuttle bus to the subway and the subway to Copley center to wander around the mall.
We wanted to go to the observation deck on the Prudential Tower but it was closed for a private reception. We walked back to the Parker House – on the way Traci had a Starbucks frappuccino and was quite disappointed with the quality, so much so that she went to another Starbucks close to our hotel for a better one. In Boston there are Dunkin Donuts shops everywhere – just like in Seattle where there’s a Starbucks on every corner (sometimes 2!) We’re told many locals prefer coffee at Dunkin Donuts – Traci decided to get a donut to go with her 2nd frappuccino. After a break at the Parker House we crossed the street for a late dinner at the old Boston City Hall – now inhabited by Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Ray had a rib eye steak which was prepared quite masterfully and Traci had blackened salmon – both were quite enjoyable. Ray has noted at both the Boston Ruth’s Chris and the one in Bellevue that they use much less seasoning and probably less butter than the one in Palm Springs – the flavor isn’t as intense but it probably doesn’t reduce your life expectancy as much. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is probably not in the top tier (such as Daniel’s in Seattle, or the Chop House in Chicago) but it was very good and you can’t beat the location across the street from the Omni Parker House. After a great dinner we returned to the Omni for the night.
Sunday was our day to enjoy a serious baseball game – the Mariners, after losing a 2-1 pitching duel on Friday to Curt Schilling, won a brilliant 3-0 victory thanks to Joel Pineiro and JJ Putz on Saturday. What would Sunday bring? Ray started out with an early morning jog – Traci had previously walked the famous Freedom trail – a 3 mile jaunt which included many of Boston’s historic sites – so Ray decided he was going to run it. After leaving the hotel, Ray found himself in the middle of thousands of runners who were in the pre-Boston Marathon 2.8 mile fun run. Since this is about as close as he’s ever going to get to “the Boston” (you have to run a 3:15 – 26.2 mile marathon to even apply to get in the field, Ray’s best half marathon time is 1:45), he decided to join the crowd of runners for a while. After reaching the Boston Commons he found the Freedom trail and started following it. The trail is marked by 2 red bricks in the middle of concrete sidewalks and red painted lines at street crossings. You can download (for free) the audio tour at http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/freedomtrail/podcast . Ray just followed the trail as it wound around the gravesites next to the Parker House, then Quincy Market and to the North Church, taking a few photos along the way. After the North Church (where the famous signal of 2 lanterns to indicate British arriving by sea – according to our trolley driver it was actually 2 lanterns for arrival by the St. Charles River), he crossed the river to the Bunker Hill memorial which looks like a half sized Washington Monument (from Washington DC). The final stop on the Freedom trail is the USS Constitution which is the oldest currently commissioned warship in the US Navy. Ray was a bit disappointed in the freedom trail as the monuments were definitely minor league compared with running the “mall” in Washington DC. With the absolutely gorgeous weather to start the day, the morning run was still thoroughly enjoyable. Ray and Traci met up with Traci’s cousin Denise and her significant other Dow for food and then the game. Denise picked a place called Firefly which was a wonderful café serving scrumptious breakfast – Traci had a waffle/oatmeal combination, Ray had a Belgian waffle topped with whipped cream and fruit. Surprisingly, the restaurant was quite empty considering it was a holiday weekend with the marathon in town. Firefly isn’t located far from the main tourist area (Copley Center) and is a great place to enjoy breakfast or lunch. After the enjoyable meal we headed toward Fenway park for our second game which featured Jarrod Washburn (Mariners) and Josh Beckett (Red Sox). Arriving an hour before game time we took some pictures around the historic stadium before settling into our seats located about 25 rows or so behind the Mariners 3rd base dugout. Fenway divides the “first” level of seats behind the 1st and 3rd base lines with a premium “box” section, a small loge section, and then the “grandstand” section. At Safeco field in Seattle we would call it all the first level (and the Mariners basically charge the same for the 1st row as the 26th row). The Red Sox are much better at price discrimination! We were in the “cheaper” grandstand section which would be about the middle of the 100 level at Safeco behind the Mariner dugout. As on Friday it was a pitchers duel between a sharp Jarrod Washburn against the flame throwing 97 mph fastball of Josh Beckett. As on Friday the Mariners lost, this time the deciding run in the 3-2 game was scored on a contested call at first base that even most Red Sox fans believed was wrong. Our expectations of the Mariners were quite low so it was gratifying to see two excellent games in one of baseball’s most historic parks.
From Fenway we wandered back toward Copley Place and went to the Prudential Center Skywalk (50th floor observation deck). With clear skies we had a gorgeous view of Boston and listened to the audio program providing some of the same stories that our trolley driver Bud gave, along with some new ones. We finished the day by having dinner at a seafood place called Skipjack’s near the Copley Place Westin. Ray tried to sample New England’s famous lobster but the restaurant was out of small ones so he had to settle for some very average baby back ribs. Traci had a much more enjoyable seafood cioppino dish. Late in the day, we walked back in a chilly breeze to the Omni for the night.
Monday was Patriot’s day, a holiday in New England that celebrates “the shot heard round the world” (1775 Colonists against British Soldiers, not the 1951 Bobby Thomson home run). We headed toward Beacon Hill (Boston’s Beacon Hill is quite a bit more upscale then Seattle’s). Famous residents include John Kerry. Residences are all low rise brick structures placed back to back around very narrow streets. Cars are tightly parked on one side of the streets. Mixed in the housing is a conglomeration of little shops and restaurants. We found a cafe called Panificio where Traci found a nice bowl of chicken pasta soup and Ray had a classic BLT. Prices were surprisingly reasonable ($9) for both considering the neighborhood we were exploring – perhaps residents have no money left after paying their mortgages. On our way back from Beacon Hill we purchased obligatory tourist T-shirts at various shops and vendor carts. Next we hopped on the subway to Kenmore (the stop next to Fenway Park) and found a place along the temporary fences to watch the marathon runners go by. It was quite amazing watching the elite runners go by. Two Kenyans, Rita Jeptoo and Robert Cheruiyot eventually prevailed with Robert setting a new course record of 2:07:14! While we were watching the marathon, the Mariners lost another close game 7-6 on a 9th inning walk off home run. It was so sad that the team played so well in Boston yet returned to Seattle winning only 1 of 4. After leaving the marathon we wanted to get some ice cream at the famous Boston shop – Emack & Bolio’s on Newbury Street. Unfortunately the large crowds and street closures made downtown difficult to negotiate so we ended up hopping on the subway to Quincy market and had to settle for unremarkable soft ice cream. Given the inconveniences of accessing the subway from the airport we took a short but expensive ($22) taxi ride from the Omni to Alaska Airlines terminal and had an uneventful and on-time flight back home. As with previous trips, we both enjoyed visiting Boston – the baseball fans are loyal, knowledgeable and respectful and we felt people went out of their way to help clueless tourists. We highly recommend sampling New England hospitality if you have the opportunity.
April isn’t usually a peak tourist season, but because the Boston Marathon took place during the Mariners visit, we expected some difficulty with planning. We were able to use Alaska Airlines frequent flyer miles (we scheduled the trip 5 months or so in advance) – Alaska Airlines is a great option because they offer the only non-stop flight from Seattle to Boston. Many of the hotels in the heart of Boston were booked far in advance due to the marathon but we found a fairly good discounted rate at the Omni Parker House. We found out later that the Parker House hotel is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the United States – many renovations have taken place since it opened and the accommodations were quite nice! Getting Red Sox tickets is difficult – they have sold out over 230 games in a row! Fenway is one of baseball’s smallest parks (36,000) and winning the World Series in 2005 only makes tickets scarcer. We decided on going to two games, the Friday night immediately after our plane arrived and then Sunday afternoon. Because of the uncertainty with cross country plane travel these days, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on Friday night tickets only to miss the game. Although I got on the Red Sox internet site the day single game tickets went on sale to the public, the best tickets I could “score” were Standing Room only…$25 each! I did find a pair of overpriced tickets behind 3rd base for the Sunday game from a ticket broker (stubhub.com) so we could enjoy at least one game from a good location.
Our Friday morning flight from Seattle to Boston’s Logan airport was uneventful and we landed on time (around 5pm). We concluded, while still in the airport, that Boston is spending all of their money on the “big dig” (20 billion dollar ten lane highway underneath the city that is the target for many jokes and criticisms) as their airport has much to be desired. To go from terminal to terminal you have to get your luggage and hop on busses (they really need an airport subway like Seattle!). The bus eventually takes you to the parking garage as well as the main downtown subway station. The airport subway stations lack escalators and aren’t friendly to the air traveler. Thankfully our subway trip to the Omni was quite short and we lugged our stuff up more stairs to the street.
Our hotel, the venerable Parker House, was 2 blocks from the Government Center subway stop. We checked in without incident and found a small but clean, relatively modern room (effective climate control, good plumbing and free high speed internet.) We dropped our bags off and walked north thru the Boston Commons park (a smaller version of New York’s Central Park) and then down Newbury street (a very fashionable collection of boutiques, restaurants and Starbucks shops) toward Fenway. Two observations about the walk – the crowds were huge and many (perhaps most) were wearing Red Sox jerseys. For all of the criticism of Boston fans for their loud/possibly obnoxious behavior especially when the Yankees are in town, they are definitely loyal and enthusiastic supporters – unlike some other “what have you won lately” cities which will go nameless. Second, Bostonians have no idea what “Don’t Walk” signals mean. It is amazing to see people intentionally walk into traffic and get angry when they almost get hit. Perhaps all Boston’s pedestrians harbor deep seated rebellious feelings toward traffic authorities. Fenway is quite close to the main downtown area and has a subway stop (Kenmore) for those who don’t want to walk. Large crowds milled around the ballpark area. Some parking lots charged $45 for a routine game against the Mariners – Don’t Drive. Many people have pre-game celebrations in the many establishments that ring the park. Since we didn’t have any seats to Friday’s game, we roamed around the various areas of the park. While the park itself was old and had the vintage feel of Wrigley, there were many modern amenities like ballpark restaurant areas, bar areas – concession areas actually had plasma televisions to watch the action. One of the most surprising (but possibly unsettling thing) is the fact that most if not all the concession drinks/food were cheaper than at Safeco. The Red Sox must sell hundreds of standing room only seats – there were fans standing behind the last row of seats virtually everywhere that had an unobstructed view of the field. After wandering around the stadium for 3 innings we found a spot behind the 3rd base line and watched a very good pitchers duel between Curt Schilling and Jamie Moyer. After 6 innings a Red Sox fan who was standing next to us with his friends kindly offered us his seats behind 3rd base – standing room only seating is so accepted in Boston that people actually prefer hanging out with their buddies in back rather then sitting in their seats. Traci and I jumped at the chance and watched the final 3 innings of a great game but disappointing outcome – Red Sox won 2-1. Walking back to downtown with the Red Sox fans was interesting – they were so excited about the win, it was easy to forget they only won a game in the 2nd week of a long season against a team who hasn’t even been .500 since 2003. Once we got back to the downtown convention area it was 10:30 pm and we were hungry. We decided to eat at the Copley Place Legal Seafoods – Copley place is their giant high end indoor mall and Legal Seafoods is a large chain much like Seattle’s Ivars or Anthony’s. Traci had a nice Ravioli dish and Ray enjoyed a shrimp platter (grilled, coconut and shrimp stuffed with crabmeat). With appetites satisfied we returned to the Omni for the night.
Saturday was devoted to tourist activities and we started out by heading toward the Quincy Market area and purchased tickets for the Old Town Trolley – Boston has many different trolley companies – all with different colored trolleys. We picked the Orange Old Town Trolleys because of good experiences with the company in Washington DC. Our driver was named Bud and he had a classic New England accent. He drove us around the city, pointing out the major landmarks and giving funny anecdotes. We passed by many interesting sites although if you really want to see Boston’s historical areas you need to get off the Trolley and walk. There is a “Freedom Trail” marked with red paint and red bricks that is a walking tour of the major historical sites. We just sat on the Trolley from the start at Quincy Market thru Boston and Cambridge before returning back to Quincy Market and had lunch. Inside Quincy Market (www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com), you find a large building filled with all sorts of fast food places serving everything from cream puffs to lobsters. Many restaurants and shops also inhabit the complex. Traci found a good Turkey Wrap and Ray had a Chicken Caesar salad (what did you expect?) in addition to a Beard Papa cream puff (www.muginohousa.com) and some disappointing strawberry gelato. After lunch we got in a taxi to go to the Boston Marathon Expo which was in the Seaport World Trade Center. The expo was huge, much larger than the Seattle Marathon Expo which was the only one either of us had ever seen. There were lots of free samples of power bars and energy drinks and lots of vendors selling everything from T shirts to sunglasses. From the Expo we took the shuttle bus to the subway and the subway to Copley center to wander around the mall.
We wanted to go to the observation deck on the Prudential Tower but it was closed for a private reception. We walked back to the Parker House – on the way Traci had a Starbucks frappuccino and was quite disappointed with the quality, so much so that she went to another Starbucks close to our hotel for a better one. In Boston there are Dunkin Donuts shops everywhere – just like in Seattle where there’s a Starbucks on every corner (sometimes 2!) We’re told many locals prefer coffee at Dunkin Donuts – Traci decided to get a donut to go with her 2nd frappuccino. After a break at the Parker House we crossed the street for a late dinner at the old Boston City Hall – now inhabited by Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Ray had a rib eye steak which was prepared quite masterfully and Traci had blackened salmon – both were quite enjoyable. Ray has noted at both the Boston Ruth’s Chris and the one in Bellevue that they use much less seasoning and probably less butter than the one in Palm Springs – the flavor isn’t as intense but it probably doesn’t reduce your life expectancy as much. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is probably not in the top tier (such as Daniel’s in Seattle, or the Chop House in Chicago) but it was very good and you can’t beat the location across the street from the Omni Parker House. After a great dinner we returned to the Omni for the night.
Sunday was our day to enjoy a serious baseball game – the Mariners, after losing a 2-1 pitching duel on Friday to Curt Schilling, won a brilliant 3-0 victory thanks to Joel Pineiro and JJ Putz on Saturday. What would Sunday bring? Ray started out with an early morning jog – Traci had previously walked the famous Freedom trail – a 3 mile jaunt which included many of Boston’s historic sites – so Ray decided he was going to run it. After leaving the hotel, Ray found himself in the middle of thousands of runners who were in the pre-Boston Marathon 2.8 mile fun run. Since this is about as close as he’s ever going to get to “the Boston” (you have to run a 3:15 – 26.2 mile marathon to even apply to get in the field, Ray’s best half marathon time is 1:45), he decided to join the crowd of runners for a while. After reaching the Boston Commons he found the Freedom trail and started following it. The trail is marked by 2 red bricks in the middle of concrete sidewalks and red painted lines at street crossings. You can download (for free) the audio tour at http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/freedomtrail/podcast . Ray just followed the trail as it wound around the gravesites next to the Parker House, then Quincy Market and to the North Church, taking a few photos along the way. After the North Church (where the famous signal of 2 lanterns to indicate British arriving by sea – according to our trolley driver it was actually 2 lanterns for arrival by the St. Charles River), he crossed the river to the Bunker Hill memorial which looks like a half sized Washington Monument (from Washington DC). The final stop on the Freedom trail is the USS Constitution which is the oldest currently commissioned warship in the US Navy. Ray was a bit disappointed in the freedom trail as the monuments were definitely minor league compared with running the “mall” in Washington DC. With the absolutely gorgeous weather to start the day, the morning run was still thoroughly enjoyable. Ray and Traci met up with Traci’s cousin Denise and her significant other Dow for food and then the game. Denise picked a place called Firefly which was a wonderful café serving scrumptious breakfast – Traci had a waffle/oatmeal combination, Ray had a Belgian waffle topped with whipped cream and fruit. Surprisingly, the restaurant was quite empty considering it was a holiday weekend with the marathon in town. Firefly isn’t located far from the main tourist area (Copley Center) and is a great place to enjoy breakfast or lunch. After the enjoyable meal we headed toward Fenway park for our second game which featured Jarrod Washburn (Mariners) and Josh Beckett (Red Sox). Arriving an hour before game time we took some pictures around the historic stadium before settling into our seats located about 25 rows or so behind the Mariners 3rd base dugout. Fenway divides the “first” level of seats behind the 1st and 3rd base lines with a premium “box” section, a small loge section, and then the “grandstand” section. At Safeco field in Seattle we would call it all the first level (and the Mariners basically charge the same for the 1st row as the 26th row). The Red Sox are much better at price discrimination! We were in the “cheaper” grandstand section which would be about the middle of the 100 level at Safeco behind the Mariner dugout. As on Friday it was a pitchers duel between a sharp Jarrod Washburn against the flame throwing 97 mph fastball of Josh Beckett. As on Friday the Mariners lost, this time the deciding run in the 3-2 game was scored on a contested call at first base that even most Red Sox fans believed was wrong. Our expectations of the Mariners were quite low so it was gratifying to see two excellent games in one of baseball’s most historic parks.
From Fenway we wandered back toward Copley Place and went to the Prudential Center Skywalk (50th floor observation deck). With clear skies we had a gorgeous view of Boston and listened to the audio program providing some of the same stories that our trolley driver Bud gave, along with some new ones. We finished the day by having dinner at a seafood place called Skipjack’s near the Copley Place Westin. Ray tried to sample New England’s famous lobster but the restaurant was out of small ones so he had to settle for some very average baby back ribs. Traci had a much more enjoyable seafood cioppino dish. Late in the day, we walked back in a chilly breeze to the Omni for the night.
Monday was Patriot’s day, a holiday in New England that celebrates “the shot heard round the world” (1775 Colonists against British Soldiers, not the 1951 Bobby Thomson home run). We headed toward Beacon Hill (Boston’s Beacon Hill is quite a bit more upscale then Seattle’s). Famous residents include John Kerry. Residences are all low rise brick structures placed back to back around very narrow streets. Cars are tightly parked on one side of the streets. Mixed in the housing is a conglomeration of little shops and restaurants. We found a cafe called Panificio where Traci found a nice bowl of chicken pasta soup and Ray had a classic BLT. Prices were surprisingly reasonable ($9) for both considering the neighborhood we were exploring – perhaps residents have no money left after paying their mortgages. On our way back from Beacon Hill we purchased obligatory tourist T-shirts at various shops and vendor carts. Next we hopped on the subway to Kenmore (the stop next to Fenway Park) and found a place along the temporary fences to watch the marathon runners go by. It was quite amazing watching the elite runners go by. Two Kenyans, Rita Jeptoo and Robert Cheruiyot eventually prevailed with Robert setting a new course record of 2:07:14! While we were watching the marathon, the Mariners lost another close game 7-6 on a 9th inning walk off home run. It was so sad that the team played so well in Boston yet returned to Seattle winning only 1 of 4. After leaving the marathon we wanted to get some ice cream at the famous Boston shop – Emack & Bolio’s on Newbury Street. Unfortunately the large crowds and street closures made downtown difficult to negotiate so we ended up hopping on the subway to Quincy market and had to settle for unremarkable soft ice cream. Given the inconveniences of accessing the subway from the airport we took a short but expensive ($22) taxi ride from the Omni to Alaska Airlines terminal and had an uneventful and on-time flight back home. As with previous trips, we both enjoyed visiting Boston – the baseball fans are loyal, knowledgeable and respectful and we felt people went out of their way to help clueless tourists. We highly recommend sampling New England hospitality if you have the opportunity.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Pictures from Boston
Eventual Boston Marathon winner Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya passes the 25 mile mark.
What could be more patriotic than an afternoon at Fenway?
What could be more patriotic than an afternoon at Fenway?
One if by Land, Two if by sea (or more precisely, the St. Charles River) - Old North Church
Patriots on Patriot Day (or insurgents for those from England)...
USS Constitution - America's Oldest Commissioned Warship
Bunker Hill Monument
Ducklings in The Public Garden dressed in their Easter Best
Friday, December 30, 2005
Ray and Traci's Guide to Maui
We would like to present our list of favorites from one of the world’s most beautiful places. Every visit brings new places to see and new adventures to enjoy.
When to visit: The best time to visit Hawaii is when the crowds are small, prices are (relatively) low and the weather is good. The period between early October and mid-November bring the best deals – obviously you will save money on airline tickets and hotel bills but other bonuses like free room upgrades, easy access to popular restaurants and especially deep discounts for tourist activities will be enjoyed. Weather isn’t a problem although it can be a bit toasty early in October.
How to make a reservation: Hawaii is one of the most popular destinations for the tourism packaging industry. Virtually every airline that flies to Hawaii sells packages including airfares, hotel and rentals. You can also book flights, hotels and cars separately on individual company websites. Some hotels have lodging packages that include car rentals. I’ve found the internet tourism companies (pleasantholidays.com, expedia.com, etc…) have the best rates – We have booked our recent trips to Maui with pleasantholidays.com. You don’t get frequent flyer miles or frequent hotel stay miles with many of the discount packages – it pays to check to see if there is a significant price difference between booking a flight on the airline website and booking the car/hotel package with pleasantholidays.com separately (we have done that before) so you can pick out your seats and get frequent flyer miles. Also be aware that many hotels don’t add taxes to their quoted prices but many travel packagers give you a total price including tax. Costco’s travel service also has some good deals, especially for certain condo rentals – but you may have to wait for a long time (30-60 minutes) on the phone to get to an agent. Basically, you could go crazy checking all the permutations of discount travel reservations but at least take a look at the pleasantholidays.com website as in our experience have been the cheapest with the widest range of hotel options (total dive to five star resorts) to fit all tastes and budgets.
Where to Stay: There are two major tourist areas on Maui – Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina/Kapalua (West side of Maui) and Wailea/Makena which are toward the southern tip of the island. In addition, the Travel Channel has named Kihei which is a town on the way from the airport to Wailea as the place to find the best condo rental deals in Hawaii. We always stay in the Wailea area because it tends to be less windy, has great beaches, and is less congested. Advantages of the Kaanapali/Kapalua area include more tourist activities, more shopping and more restaurants. Halloween is a big deal in Lahaina and be prepared for gridlock if you want to drive around on that day. If you want to play golf, the 3 courses at Wailea and 2 courses at Makena are hard to beat. If you want to do a lot of activities/shopping it makes a lot of sense to stay in the Lahaina area to reduce driving.
A word about accommodations – There are a huge number of places to stay on Maui and one can find great deals if you do a little research. For adults guests where price is no object, Kapalua has the Ritz-Carlton and Wailea has the Four Seasons Maui. Whether staying or just strolling through the grounds, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort on Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina is one of the most beautiful resorts anywhere and boasts a rich variety of animals in an artificial tropical zoo. We like staying at the Grand Wailea Resort with its water park including a collection of interconnected pools and water slides. Families may want to stay at the classic Wailea Ekahi Village, a collection of comfortable condos next to the beautiful Wailea Beach. It pays to figure out what activities you want to do before deciding on a hotel – it makes no sense to spend lots of money on the Grand Wailea if you want to spend most of your time windsurfing on the other side of the island. For the most part, all the beaches on Maui are great for most vacationers who want to lie on the sand and play in the surf. Specific activities like surfing and windsurfing require going to beaches away from the tourist areas for the best conditions and teaching. Also keep in mind people who stay in the hotels of a resort area tend to get better tee times and preferential greens fees. When looking for a place to stay on Maui its helpful to start at a travel website like pleasantholidays.com, expedia.com or hotels.com to get lists of hotels, price ranges and amenities available. From a list of potentials you can look at various internet sites like yahoo travel and the travel channel to look at specific comments by past patrons.
Ray and Traci’s Favorite Places to Eat
When to visit: The best time to visit Hawaii is when the crowds are small, prices are (relatively) low and the weather is good. The period between early October and mid-November bring the best deals – obviously you will save money on airline tickets and hotel bills but other bonuses like free room upgrades, easy access to popular restaurants and especially deep discounts for tourist activities will be enjoyed. Weather isn’t a problem although it can be a bit toasty early in October.
How to make a reservation: Hawaii is one of the most popular destinations for the tourism packaging industry. Virtually every airline that flies to Hawaii sells packages including airfares, hotel and rentals. You can also book flights, hotels and cars separately on individual company websites. Some hotels have lodging packages that include car rentals. I’ve found the internet tourism companies (pleasantholidays.com, expedia.com, etc…) have the best rates – We have booked our recent trips to Maui with pleasantholidays.com. You don’t get frequent flyer miles or frequent hotel stay miles with many of the discount packages – it pays to check to see if there is a significant price difference between booking a flight on the airline website and booking the car/hotel package with pleasantholidays.com separately (we have done that before) so you can pick out your seats and get frequent flyer miles. Also be aware that many hotels don’t add taxes to their quoted prices but many travel packagers give you a total price including tax. Costco’s travel service also has some good deals, especially for certain condo rentals – but you may have to wait for a long time (30-60 minutes) on the phone to get to an agent. Basically, you could go crazy checking all the permutations of discount travel reservations but at least take a look at the pleasantholidays.com website as in our experience have been the cheapest with the widest range of hotel options (total dive to five star resorts) to fit all tastes and budgets.
Where to Stay: There are two major tourist areas on Maui – Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina/Kapalua (West side of Maui) and Wailea/Makena which are toward the southern tip of the island. In addition, the Travel Channel has named Kihei which is a town on the way from the airport to Wailea as the place to find the best condo rental deals in Hawaii. We always stay in the Wailea area because it tends to be less windy, has great beaches, and is less congested. Advantages of the Kaanapali/Kapalua area include more tourist activities, more shopping and more restaurants. Halloween is a big deal in Lahaina and be prepared for gridlock if you want to drive around on that day. If you want to play golf, the 3 courses at Wailea and 2 courses at Makena are hard to beat. If you want to do a lot of activities/shopping it makes a lot of sense to stay in the Lahaina area to reduce driving.
A word about accommodations – There are a huge number of places to stay on Maui and one can find great deals if you do a little research. For adults guests where price is no object, Kapalua has the Ritz-Carlton and Wailea has the Four Seasons Maui. Whether staying or just strolling through the grounds, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort on Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina is one of the most beautiful resorts anywhere and boasts a rich variety of animals in an artificial tropical zoo. We like staying at the Grand Wailea Resort with its water park including a collection of interconnected pools and water slides. Families may want to stay at the classic Wailea Ekahi Village, a collection of comfortable condos next to the beautiful Wailea Beach. It pays to figure out what activities you want to do before deciding on a hotel – it makes no sense to spend lots of money on the Grand Wailea if you want to spend most of your time windsurfing on the other side of the island. For the most part, all the beaches on Maui are great for most vacationers who want to lie on the sand and play in the surf. Specific activities like surfing and windsurfing require going to beaches away from the tourist areas for the best conditions and teaching. Also keep in mind people who stay in the hotels of a resort area tend to get better tee times and preferential greens fees. When looking for a place to stay on Maui its helpful to start at a travel website like pleasantholidays.com, expedia.com or hotels.com to get lists of hotels, price ranges and amenities available. From a list of potentials you can look at various internet sites like yahoo travel and the travel channel to look at specific comments by past patrons.
Ray and Traci’s Favorite Places to Eat
- Azeka’s Ribs & Snack Shop – Many places sell marinated beef ribs – “Kal-bi Ribs”, “Korean Ribs,” but Azeka’s Ribs are world famous since 1976 and are found in Azeka’s snack shop in Kihei. You can buy complete prepared meals with ribs or better yet, buy 1 pound of marinated uncooked ribs per person and have your own barbecue! If you eat at one place during your visit to Maui, make it Azeka’s Ribs!
- Sansei Restaurant & Sushi Bar – Two locations are found on Maui, one in Kihei and one in Kapalua and this restaurant was featured on Rachael Ray’s $40 show on Maui. Food is half price as a late night special!
- Stella Blues – Looking for a “regular” restaurant to take a break from plate lunches and delicious ribs? Try Stella Blues in Kihei which has a nice selection of breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Seafood, vegetarian dishes, pancakes and desserts – they are all available.
- Hakone Restaurant at the Maui Prince Hotel (Makena) – On Saturday nights (we found that the date changed from Monday to Saturday nights on our last visit), Hakone has an all you can eat Japanese buffet including sushi and all sorts of Japanese foods. The buffet is pricy ~ $50, but the amazing spread of all you can eat delicious foods can’t be beat.
- Humuhumunukunukuapua’a – Named after Hawaii’s state fish, Humu’s is a floating restaurant at the Grand Wailea Hotel. Below the restaurant swims a variety of hungry fish that love to munch on pieces of bread diners throw into the water. Besides the fish show, you can find a delicious $50 steak and lobster entrée found among choices of fish and meat entrees with Hawaiian influences. To keep the meal somewhat economical, stay away from the drinks!
- Aloha Mixed Plate – The plate lunch is a Hawaiian institution: it includes a main fish or meat entrée, rice, and macaroni salad. Aloha Mixed Plate has been a favorite on the and is located in Lahaina behind the Cannery Mall.
- Da Kitchen – Looking for a cheap and filling meal in Kihei? Look no farther than Da Kitchen! (A location in Kahului also exists). Salads, Burgers, Steaks, Ribs – its all here and cheap, cheap, cheap! Warning – do not have lunch here before a big dinner – the huge meals will ruin your appetite.
- Longhi’s (Locations in the Shops at Wailea mall and the original location in Lahaina) – Looking for a place for a great breakfast? Longhi’s fits the bill – fresh fruit, French Toast, Pancakes, etc…Good food!
Fun on Maui
Maui is full of tourist activities, many of which we recommend. Popular attractions are often offered by multiple businesses with wide ranges of prices. Taking the absolute cheapest tour on a mountain bike down Haleakula is probably not the way to go. On the other hand it is easy to overpay for many activities. There are many tourist activity shops that offer “discounted” rates for many businesses (and they also want to try and sell you time shares at the same time). Many businesses have websites that offer web discounts for reservations, something to think about especially for expensive tours like helicopter rides. Finally, travel packagers like Expedia and pleasantholidays.com have activities as options to their Hawaii packages at significant discounts. Buying in advance often saves money but limits your choices of which company to patronize.
- Snorkeling at Molokini – Want to see schools and schools of colorful fish? Several different companies offer the Snorkeling at Molokini tour. We signed up for the Prince Kuhio boat – A tour typically includes an early morning boat ride to the Molokini Marine Reserve (about 1 hour off Maui), snorkel equipment, a barbecue lunch and a return trip which passes by some giant turtle areas. Once you reach the reef, an amazing number of colorful fish inhabit the area. Some tours offer a Snuba option which is basically scuba diving with the air supply based on the ship, but you are probably better off swimming around with snorkel equipment to see the various fish. Flotation devices provided by the tour company make the snorkeling relatively easy and you can spend as little or as much time in the water.
- Mountain Biking down Haleakala – Like the Molokini snorkel tours, several companies offer a bike excursion down the Maui volcano. We took the Cruiser Bob tour which emphasizes the safety of the bikes. If you want to bike down Haleakala, be careful to pick a tour with safe bicycles and one where the tour van follows the biking party down. You do not want to take a tour that just dumps you off the top of the volcano and leaves you on your own to make your way down. This tour is more physically demanding than any other – people have died on the mountain, mostly by colliding into an oncoming bus. It is also easy to fall off the road and fall down the mountain. The scenery is spectacular and the downhill bike ride is quite fun but be aware of the dangers.
- Jet Skiing at Lahaina – Unlike the mountain bike tours, the jet skiing offered in Lahaina is much safer than jet skiing almost anywhere else. You take the tour from Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina, in front of the Hyatt Regency Maui – a rubber raft takes you to a platform just offshore where you ride a jet ski in a specially marked area. The ocean surf provides waves for jumping on and you don’t need to worry about running into boats. If you enjoy jet skiing or want it try it for the first time, this is the place to go.
- Helicopter tour of Maui – We took the Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour of Maui and enjoyed it. Much of the island is only accessible from the air and the beauty of Maui is magnified by a helicopter tour. You will see the road to Hana and see first hand why you don’t want to drive it – going to Hana in the air is so much more enjoyable. Gorgeous waterfalls inaccessible by ground are seen although we took the ride after an unusual dry period and many of the water features were dry. Since everything in Maui is expensive (especially gasoline) the Maui tours are not cheap but for those looking to see all of the beautiful island might consider splurging on a flight.
- Scuba Diving – Several companies offer scuba diving tours and classes. One can take a 1-2 hour introduction class/tour or enroll in a several day long class leading to full certification. I took an introductory class at the Grand Wailea which takes place in a special 12 foot deep scuba pool. After completing the swimming pool class he took a 1 hour dive off the beach around a reef. The reef tour included an introduction to a small octopus as well as a drive by of a giant sea turtle. Scuba diving is interesting but getting used to the dry compressed air as well as the uneasy sensation of breathing under the surface is difficult. In general, scuba is somewhat more difficult than it appears leading to my conclusion that snorkeling off Molikini is the best way to see pretty fish.
- Shopping - The main airport is in Kahului and a Costco can be found just outside the airport. Kahului also has the stores like Home Depot and Wal-Mart. The main shopping center for Maui residents is Ka'ahumanu Center. Inside this large shopping center are most of the chain stores you’d find at home including a Sears store. Maui has four main shopping areas that cater to the tourists. The Shops at Wailea is a collection of upscale shops and boutiques. In Lahaina, two main areas of shopping attract tourists. The Cannery Mall which is on the main highway thru the town has a food court, a Safeway, a Starbucks and various T-shirt and souvenir shops in a fully enclosed shopping area. Lahaina’s Front Street is the main tourist trap with a strip mall, collection of shops selling souvenirs of every kind, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant, and the Wharf Cinema Center with more shops and restaurants. The fourth and largest tourist shopping area is Whaler’s Village in Kaanapali with restaurants, shops and boutiques.
- Luaus – A visit to Maui isn’t complete without attending one of the luaus available both in the Wailea and Lahaina areas. Luaus are all you can eat extravaganzas including a whole pig which is cooked underground in a pit. Beef, Chicken and fish entrees are also available. Luaus also include beverages like Mai Tais and entertainment including hula dancing, music, drums and fire dancers twirling torches to the amazement of stuffed patrons.
- Parasailing was available at the Lahaina harbor and we decided to try it out. While flying along the Maui Beach at 800 feet was quite exciting, the parasailing experience is probably not much different (and probably less interesting) than doing the same thing along the Seattle waterfront in the middle of summer.
Pictures from Maui
A beautiful Maui sunset
Colorful fish of Molokini
Mountain bike down this volcano
Scuba diving in an Octopus' Garden
Here is the end of the road to Hana
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Pictures from Holidays in New York
View of Wall Street from the Empire State Building
Radio City Music Hall's Holiday Show
Stars and Music on Fifth Avenue by Saks
Holiday Skating at the Rock
Empire State Building's Christmas Lights
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Holidays in the Big Apple
Inspired by scenes in movies such as Home Alone and Miracle on 34th Street, Ray and Traci decided to brave the cold temperatures and visit New York City during the December holiday season. Every December, an international medical conference is held in Washington DC and on this occasion a three day post conference was planned for our second visit to the Big Apple.
Before traveling to NYC in December, it is important to remember two things – it is cold and very expensive. Ray typically spends a lot of time studying travel sites looking for good deals at higher end hotels. On this occasion, the strategy backfired as prices did not appreciably fall despite planning 6 months prior to the trip so were forced to pay - uggh -the dreaded rack rate for the first time ever. Interesting enough, the USA Today ran an article about the high prices of hotels in NYC this December – even bare bones discount chains were getting $370 for Times Square area rooms.
In December, New York has beautiful holiday decorations but also cold weather. The 27 degree temperature made packing lots of winter clothing mandatory and discouraged some traditional tourist activities like the ferry to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty.
We decided to travel from Washington DC to NYC’s Penn Station on the heavily taxpayer subsidized Amtrak (and given the number of empty seats on our train we can see why it is not profitable). Train travel, while not nearly as exciting as riding the Japanese bullet trains, was a nice change – viewing rural areas along with big cities was both interesting and humbling. Our train ride took 3 hours and 20 minutes – note the Acela trains are 20 minutes faster and make the same stops (so the extra 50% fare isn’t worth it).
After arriving at Penn Station we tried to get a cab to take us to the Sheraton at Times Square. Lesson #1: It is hard to get a cab in NYC when you need one! Study the subway maps ahead of time and plan ahead. After waiting in 30 degree weather at the Penn Station cab stand we decided to lug our bags back down into the subway and rode past 4 stops to get to Times Square and the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers. Fortunately our rack rate room was ready when we arrived shortly after 12pm. Lesson #2: New York has its own standards for hotel rooms. Stories about tiny rooms abound – beds placed at angles so the door can open, poor heating, inconsistent water temperature, complete ignorance of the word “complimentary” – Our room was small but navigable, cold but not frigid, and clean so I guess we should feel fortunate even though we had to pay the “rack rate.”
From the Sheraton which is located on the north part of Times Square we sauntered down to the famous “TKTS” office where ½ price show tickets are sold the day of performances. Given our on time arrival in NYC we tried to see a Wednesday matinee show of “Mamma Mia” but they only had obstructed seating so we chose to get tickets to see the Holiday Spectacular by the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Having a few hours before the show, we decided to eat at Maxie’s Delicatessen in Times Square. Traci had a bowl of soup but Ray was quite hungry and had a tasty $15.95 steak. We found that reasonably priced food is quite available even in the Times Square area and suggest looking at menus (most are available on the internet) for good food values. From Maxie’s we wandered up legendary 5th Avenue. Christmas decorations abound in New York’s shopping district as stores try to out decorate each other. Ray stopped in the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral – quite an amazing architectural sight (both inside and out). Next, we went inside New York’s monument to egomania – Trump Tower. Within the halls of fired apprentices reside establishments devoted to the Donald, all boasting the world’s best something or another. Interestingly enough no high end jeweler has opened shop in Trump Tower – instead is a rather conspicuous costume jewelry store. Ray did sample some strawberry ice cream at Trump’s shop and found it good but hardly the world’s best. Next we saw the Christmas Spectacular. As expected the show consisted of musical numbers, dancing, and several Santa Clauses. After 1 hour 10 minutes, the Rockettes and Santa left the stage and on came a rather mundane performance of the traditional nativity scenes. The holiday show is a New York institution but think about getting ½ price tickets and skipping the nativity scene.After leaving Radio City Musical Hall we wandered around the Rockefeller Center and found a nice Soup/Salad/Sandwich place called Bocca where Traci had more soup and Ray had a custom tossed Caesar Salad. Time seems to pass especially fast in New York and we returned to the Sheraton to rest up for a very busy day.
We started Thursday by purchasing tickets for the Grey Line Tour Bus (basically you buy a ticket that gives you 48 hours to travel any of their 4 major NYC tours and the ability to hop on and off at various stops). We started by taking the tour bus to Macy’s (claims to be the largest store in the world). It didn’t look much different than the Seattle Macy’s but it has several eateries and a really cool gingerbread replica of the store. A block from Macy’s is the famous Empire State Building and we ascended to the 86th floor observation deck to view New York on a cold but clear day. The view was quite amazing – Statue of Liberty, Central Park, New Jersey – all from a 360 degree outdoor viewing platform. From the Empire State Building we took the subway to Chelsea where Traci’s favorite TV channel (The Food Network) originates from. We found the Chelsea Market in a rather non-descript building – many different eateries and a high end grocery store occupy the first floor. Chelsea Market is certainly no Pike Place market but Ray found a good slice of NY pizza (in New York carnivore pizza is similar to meat lovers) as well as good gelato. Unfortunately the Food Channel studios were on upper floors and Traci wasn’t able to score tickets to an Emeril taping. We hopped back on the subway and decided to get on an uptown tour bus which headed to Harlem. Other than the Harlem Globetrotters neither of us have heard too many positive things about the neighborhood so it was quite illuminating to see how much change has occurred – lots of new development (even President Clinton has his office in Harlem), renovated brownstones and lots of stores mix in with historic landmarks such as the Apollo theatre. On the way to Harlem we passed by the Dakota apartments where John Lennon was being remembered on the 25th anniversary of his tragic death. On the return loop we passed by the Upper East side where we learned that 90201 is not the wealthiest zip code in the world – New York holds the title. Large apartment buildings line the eastern border of Central Park most of which have 7 or 8 figure values. After a brief stop at the Sheraton, we walked to the St. James theatre for one of the highlights of the trip – seeing The Producers. Thanks to purchasing tickets 6 months in advance we sat in the second row center stage and both found the show extremely enjoyable. Sitting so close to the actors really added an exclamation point to live theatre. From the Producers we went to a restaurant very near the Sheraton called the Eatery. Ray enjoyed a Macaroni and Cheese dish while Traci had a delicious udon noodle salad. The Eatery had a nice après broadway show atmosphere. After dinner (now close to 1AM) we returned to the Sheraton and collapsed.
A snowstorm hit NYC early Friday morning and we got a somewhat late start on our day. While 4 or so inches covered the city, NYC continued to move along – even the double decker tour buses kept operating although there weren’t many takers for the outdoor roof seats. We spent the snowy morning in the Museum of Natural History in Central Park. Our previous tour guide recommended the butterfly aviary and the dinosaur areas so we started there. The butterfly aviary is a greenhouse like area where butterflies fly around and on you. The dinosaur areas have both reconstructed skeletons and reproductions of prehistoric creatures in various activities of daily living. Besides those exhibits the massive museum has areas devoted to exhibits about the universe, minerals, and a huge collection of stuffed animals – from the mundane pigeons of Central Park to exotic and extinct animals. After the museum we went to the gorgeous brand new Time Warner Building in Columbus Circle. This new building contains an exclusive shopping area, a Whole Foods Market, an exhibition with Samsung’s latest and greatest electronics as well as the New York studios for CNN. In contrast to the NBC tour which we took on a previous trip to NYC, this experience brought to light the many people who report on the 24 hour news behind people like Anderson Cooper and Lou Dobbs. From CNN we met up with Ray’s cousin David at the Sheraton and took the subway to Chinatown where a scrumptious dinner at Joe’s Shanghai was enjoyed by all. Joe’s Shanghai has a location north of Times Square but we wanted to see Chinatown and made the journey on the subway. Little Italy is adjacent to Chinatown and was well decorated for the holiday season. We completed the evening by returning to Fifth Avenue and enjoying the holiday lights of this exclusive shopping district. Highlights included Rockefeller Center with its Christmas tree and skating rink and Saks Fifth Avenue with large lighted snowflakes which sparkled with choreographed holiday music. We also traveled to the “Top of the Rock” where a multilevel observation deck allowed stunning night views of New York including the holiday illumination of the Empire State Building. After another exhausting day we returned to the Sheraton.
Our final day in NYC started at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). MoMA is quite a place – the top floor has traveling exhibits; during our visit we saw lots of devices created to make people feel better. We saw tents designed to house homeless people over New York building vents, miniature helicopters for spying, even a riot suit to protect demonstrators confronting police. As you descend downward you go from exhibits of Van Gogh and Picasso to some really weird stuff – even exhibits where nothing is there (dark rooms, blank pieces of paper). MoMA definitely has art for every taste. From the museum we made a final trip thru Times Square and stopped at the most jammed packed Toys R Us you can imagine – complete with an indoor Ferris wheel that families stood in line to ride. After a few minutes in this toy store you become quite thankful for internet shopping. After our sojourn into Times Square we met our car service driver at the Sheraton (Lesson #3: arrange your airport transportation on the internet ahead of time – whole sites are set up just to compare car services and ratings). Our driver parked in front of the wrong Sheraton - The Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers is across the street from the Manhattan Sheraton so it probably happens a lot. As we departed NYC thru the Holland tunnel we got a quick view of the Garden State – New Jersey. After listening to our driver, I strongly urge everyone to never rent a car and drive in New Jersey. Poor roads, poor drivers, and widespread insurance fraud plague New Jersey drivers. Fortunately we only had one major near collision and reached Newark for an uneventful flight back to Seattle.
Before traveling to NYC in December, it is important to remember two things – it is cold and very expensive. Ray typically spends a lot of time studying travel sites looking for good deals at higher end hotels. On this occasion, the strategy backfired as prices did not appreciably fall despite planning 6 months prior to the trip so were forced to pay - uggh -the dreaded rack rate for the first time ever. Interesting enough, the USA Today ran an article about the high prices of hotels in NYC this December – even bare bones discount chains were getting $370 for Times Square area rooms.
In December, New York has beautiful holiday decorations but also cold weather. The 27 degree temperature made packing lots of winter clothing mandatory and discouraged some traditional tourist activities like the ferry to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty.
We decided to travel from Washington DC to NYC’s Penn Station on the heavily taxpayer subsidized Amtrak (and given the number of empty seats on our train we can see why it is not profitable). Train travel, while not nearly as exciting as riding the Japanese bullet trains, was a nice change – viewing rural areas along with big cities was both interesting and humbling. Our train ride took 3 hours and 20 minutes – note the Acela trains are 20 minutes faster and make the same stops (so the extra 50% fare isn’t worth it).
After arriving at Penn Station we tried to get a cab to take us to the Sheraton at Times Square. Lesson #1: It is hard to get a cab in NYC when you need one! Study the subway maps ahead of time and plan ahead. After waiting in 30 degree weather at the Penn Station cab stand we decided to lug our bags back down into the subway and rode past 4 stops to get to Times Square and the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers. Fortunately our rack rate room was ready when we arrived shortly after 12pm. Lesson #2: New York has its own standards for hotel rooms. Stories about tiny rooms abound – beds placed at angles so the door can open, poor heating, inconsistent water temperature, complete ignorance of the word “complimentary” – Our room was small but navigable, cold but not frigid, and clean so I guess we should feel fortunate even though we had to pay the “rack rate.”
From the Sheraton which is located on the north part of Times Square we sauntered down to the famous “TKTS” office where ½ price show tickets are sold the day of performances. Given our on time arrival in NYC we tried to see a Wednesday matinee show of “Mamma Mia” but they only had obstructed seating so we chose to get tickets to see the Holiday Spectacular by the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Having a few hours before the show, we decided to eat at Maxie’s Delicatessen in Times Square. Traci had a bowl of soup but Ray was quite hungry and had a tasty $15.95 steak. We found that reasonably priced food is quite available even in the Times Square area and suggest looking at menus (most are available on the internet) for good food values. From Maxie’s we wandered up legendary 5th Avenue. Christmas decorations abound in New York’s shopping district as stores try to out decorate each other. Ray stopped in the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral – quite an amazing architectural sight (both inside and out). Next, we went inside New York’s monument to egomania – Trump Tower. Within the halls of fired apprentices reside establishments devoted to the Donald, all boasting the world’s best something or another. Interestingly enough no high end jeweler has opened shop in Trump Tower – instead is a rather conspicuous costume jewelry store. Ray did sample some strawberry ice cream at Trump’s shop and found it good but hardly the world’s best. Next we saw the Christmas Spectacular. As expected the show consisted of musical numbers, dancing, and several Santa Clauses. After 1 hour 10 minutes, the Rockettes and Santa left the stage and on came a rather mundane performance of the traditional nativity scenes. The holiday show is a New York institution but think about getting ½ price tickets and skipping the nativity scene.After leaving Radio City Musical Hall we wandered around the Rockefeller Center and found a nice Soup/Salad/Sandwich place called Bocca where Traci had more soup and Ray had a custom tossed Caesar Salad. Time seems to pass especially fast in New York and we returned to the Sheraton to rest up for a very busy day.
We started Thursday by purchasing tickets for the Grey Line Tour Bus (basically you buy a ticket that gives you 48 hours to travel any of their 4 major NYC tours and the ability to hop on and off at various stops). We started by taking the tour bus to Macy’s (claims to be the largest store in the world). It didn’t look much different than the Seattle Macy’s but it has several eateries and a really cool gingerbread replica of the store. A block from Macy’s is the famous Empire State Building and we ascended to the 86th floor observation deck to view New York on a cold but clear day. The view was quite amazing – Statue of Liberty, Central Park, New Jersey – all from a 360 degree outdoor viewing platform. From the Empire State Building we took the subway to Chelsea where Traci’s favorite TV channel (The Food Network) originates from. We found the Chelsea Market in a rather non-descript building – many different eateries and a high end grocery store occupy the first floor. Chelsea Market is certainly no Pike Place market but Ray found a good slice of NY pizza (in New York carnivore pizza is similar to meat lovers) as well as good gelato. Unfortunately the Food Channel studios were on upper floors and Traci wasn’t able to score tickets to an Emeril taping. We hopped back on the subway and decided to get on an uptown tour bus which headed to Harlem. Other than the Harlem Globetrotters neither of us have heard too many positive things about the neighborhood so it was quite illuminating to see how much change has occurred – lots of new development (even President Clinton has his office in Harlem), renovated brownstones and lots of stores mix in with historic landmarks such as the Apollo theatre. On the way to Harlem we passed by the Dakota apartments where John Lennon was being remembered on the 25th anniversary of his tragic death. On the return loop we passed by the Upper East side where we learned that 90201 is not the wealthiest zip code in the world – New York holds the title. Large apartment buildings line the eastern border of Central Park most of which have 7 or 8 figure values. After a brief stop at the Sheraton, we walked to the St. James theatre for one of the highlights of the trip – seeing The Producers. Thanks to purchasing tickets 6 months in advance we sat in the second row center stage and both found the show extremely enjoyable. Sitting so close to the actors really added an exclamation point to live theatre. From the Producers we went to a restaurant very near the Sheraton called the Eatery. Ray enjoyed a Macaroni and Cheese dish while Traci had a delicious udon noodle salad. The Eatery had a nice après broadway show atmosphere. After dinner (now close to 1AM) we returned to the Sheraton and collapsed.
A snowstorm hit NYC early Friday morning and we got a somewhat late start on our day. While 4 or so inches covered the city, NYC continued to move along – even the double decker tour buses kept operating although there weren’t many takers for the outdoor roof seats. We spent the snowy morning in the Museum of Natural History in Central Park. Our previous tour guide recommended the butterfly aviary and the dinosaur areas so we started there. The butterfly aviary is a greenhouse like area where butterflies fly around and on you. The dinosaur areas have both reconstructed skeletons and reproductions of prehistoric creatures in various activities of daily living. Besides those exhibits the massive museum has areas devoted to exhibits about the universe, minerals, and a huge collection of stuffed animals – from the mundane pigeons of Central Park to exotic and extinct animals. After the museum we went to the gorgeous brand new Time Warner Building in Columbus Circle. This new building contains an exclusive shopping area, a Whole Foods Market, an exhibition with Samsung’s latest and greatest electronics as well as the New York studios for CNN. In contrast to the NBC tour which we took on a previous trip to NYC, this experience brought to light the many people who report on the 24 hour news behind people like Anderson Cooper and Lou Dobbs. From CNN we met up with Ray’s cousin David at the Sheraton and took the subway to Chinatown where a scrumptious dinner at Joe’s Shanghai was enjoyed by all. Joe’s Shanghai has a location north of Times Square but we wanted to see Chinatown and made the journey on the subway. Little Italy is adjacent to Chinatown and was well decorated for the holiday season. We completed the evening by returning to Fifth Avenue and enjoying the holiday lights of this exclusive shopping district. Highlights included Rockefeller Center with its Christmas tree and skating rink and Saks Fifth Avenue with large lighted snowflakes which sparkled with choreographed holiday music. We also traveled to the “Top of the Rock” where a multilevel observation deck allowed stunning night views of New York including the holiday illumination of the Empire State Building. After another exhausting day we returned to the Sheraton.
Our final day in NYC started at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). MoMA is quite a place – the top floor has traveling exhibits; during our visit we saw lots of devices created to make people feel better. We saw tents designed to house homeless people over New York building vents, miniature helicopters for spying, even a riot suit to protect demonstrators confronting police. As you descend downward you go from exhibits of Van Gogh and Picasso to some really weird stuff – even exhibits where nothing is there (dark rooms, blank pieces of paper). MoMA definitely has art for every taste. From the museum we made a final trip thru Times Square and stopped at the most jammed packed Toys R Us you can imagine – complete with an indoor Ferris wheel that families stood in line to ride. After a few minutes in this toy store you become quite thankful for internet shopping. After our sojourn into Times Square we met our car service driver at the Sheraton (Lesson #3: arrange your airport transportation on the internet ahead of time – whole sites are set up just to compare car services and ratings). Our driver parked in front of the wrong Sheraton - The Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers is across the street from the Manhattan Sheraton so it probably happens a lot. As we departed NYC thru the Holland tunnel we got a quick view of the Garden State – New Jersey. After listening to our driver, I strongly urge everyone to never rent a car and drive in New Jersey. Poor roads, poor drivers, and widespread insurance fraud plague New Jersey drivers. Fortunately we only had one major near collision and reached Newark for an uneventful flight back to Seattle.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Ray and Traci's Favorite Places in Las Vegas
Unlike previous blog entries, this one represents opinions collected over many years of visiting. Many web sites have a great deal of information on sin city, this blog focuses on the favorite places of the authors.
Where to Stay:
With each hotel holding thousands of rooms, each one is almost a city in itself. Factors such as price and location influence where one stays. Generally, the use of vacation packages often brings significant discounts – by purchasing Vegas packages from Expedia.com, Travelocity.com or airlines such as Alaska you can get reasonable deal at many high quality resorts. For those that partake in significant gaming, special rates (and even free room/food/beverage) are available – but generally big players already know where they are going to stay, where they get freebies. The major casinos have websites often advertising “the best rates” but prices may not include tax which is considerable in Vegas – so buyer beware. For tourists that pre-pay for a package you can’t take advantage of “comps” earned from playing – so if you plan to gamble a lot, it probably is a good idea of booking a reservation directly from the hotel. In general the good luxury hotels on the strip require you to play several (4) hours a day with a minimum $25 bet at each table game to qualify for gambler’s rate (~$60/night) and minimum $100 bet for free room/food/beverages.
Having stayed at most of the luxury hotels on the strip over the years (with the exception of the Wynn), the most luxurious “basic” rooms we’ve seen are at “The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.” Our most recent excursion to Vegas included a stay at this brand new all suite hotel built at the site of Mandalay Bay in the South Strip (booked in a discount package thru Expedia.com) – The suites included a nice sitting room with 42” plasma TV, wet bar, and an additional bathroom. Bedrooms were large, elegantly decorated and included a large flat screen TV. Master bath with its own LCD TV was also tastefully assembled. In general, once you leave the Mandalay Bay hotel and enter the connected lobby of the “The Hotel” it is like entering a different world – none of the noise and bustle of Vegas casinos. If you want a luxurious oasis to take a vacation from Vegas but remain on the strip, consider “The Hotel.”
The next best hotel on our list is the Venetian – Venice in Las Vegas complete with indoor canals and gondolas, and elegant artwork. The Venetian is another all suites hotel – although the suites are somewhat less elegant than “The Hotel” – they have a bedroom area, luxurious bathroom and a sitting area with its own TV. The Venetian also has a location on the North side of the strip which may be more convenient for many people rather than The Hotel’s extreme southern location.
Best of the rest – In general, the major hotels all provide a clean, smartly furnished room and comfortable bed. For many, it is a waste to have an overly luxurious hotel room when you’ll be spending as much time as possible away from it. If you are visiting Vegas during the warm season (Mid spring to October) you may want to stay at either Mandalay Bay or MGM due to the great water park/pool facilities. Mandalay Bay has an artificial beach complete with wave making machine allowing body surfing. Both the MGM and Mandalay have great pools and artificial rivers allowing lazy people the chance to “swim” – sitting on an inner tube enjoying a beverage. Beware that even during off peak times, people wake up to place “dibs” on the limited deck and beach chairs so if you snooze much past pool opening time you really lose. Note that Caesar’s Palace has great pools as a recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue showed.
A completely unscientific and arbitrary rating of the strip hotels we have stayed at (not including the Wynn) would put The Hotel on Top, followed by Venetian, Mandalay Bay (when the beach is open), Bellagio, MGM (with the water park open), Mirage, New York New York, Caesar’s Palace, Mandalay Bay (when the beach is closed), Treasure Island, MGM (when the water park is closed), Luxor and Excaliber. Remember that it is a long way from Mandalay Bay to Stratosphere and even with the new monorail for transportation it may be important to stay near the attractions you will want to see the most.
Which Shows to See:
Las Vegas is famous for shows you can’t see anywhere else in the world. The most widely recognized show (after the unfortunate demise of Siegfried & Roy’s show) is the Bellagio’s O – one of the many cirque du solei shows now found on the strip. A combination of incredible human stunts, music, artistry and a high tech pool/stage which showcases the performer talents made critics call a ticket to see O worth a trip to Vegas by itself. Ray’s personal favorite cirque du solei show is Mystere (at Treasure Island). It was the first Cirque du Solei show on the strip and remains a special treat – the incredible human stunts provide a glaring contrast to today’s special effects enhanced entertainment. The music and costumes also enhance the artistry of the show. Another highly rated cirque du solei show is Ka – now at the MGM. The LA times called Ka “the most lavish production in the history of western theatre.” It doesn’t showcase human stunts like the other two shows, but nearly overwhelms all of the audience’s senses.
Other great shows we recommend include Danny Gans (at the Mirage) – just outstanding musical and comedy entertainment. Danny combines surprisingly clean and non-offensive (unless you’re Michael Jackson, Dean Martin, or William Hung of American Idol) humor with fine imitation of famous musical artists from Tom Jones to Elvis to Five for Fighting. Celine Dion has a great show at Caesar’s Palace showcasing her unique musical abilities in a Vegas musical extravaganza.
Shows that didn’t make our recommended list include Blue Man Group (although they must be doing something right being “promoted” from Luxor to Venetian) and Zumanity (at New York New York) which seemed like a PG-13 cirque du solei show without the color, pageantry or special effects of the other shows. Note we haven’t seen “La Reve,” another cirque du solei show at the Wynn.
Where to eat:
Detailed reviews and menus of individual restaurants are available at multiple websites such as Zagat.com so this blog won’t focus on food. Even the buffets are hard to rate because the “best” ones may have a bunch of food you don’t want to eat. The Carnival World Buffet at the Rio is often mentioned as a top buffet because of the wide variety of food available. The separate Rio Seafood Buffet is also a local favorite. On our most recent trip we ate at Cravings (the Mirage Buffet) and found it to be extremely good with high quality and good variety (although the desserts were somewhat limited). Vegas had been a place famous for cheap surf and turf, but this has become increasingly rare. According to several travel sites, the Gambler’s Special (available, but not advertised on menu at the Hard Rock Café’s Mr. Lucky 24/7) for 7.77 is the best of the cheap eats (Steak, shrimp and fries or mashed potatoes).
What to Do:
A listing of activities we enjoyed during visits to Vegas –
1. Ride a helicopter to the Grand Canyon. In the space of one morning you can get picked up at your hotel, ride a helicopter to the Grand Canyon – land at the bottom of the canyon, enjoy a nice breakfast, and fly back from this national treasure. A most efficient way to see this national treasure! In addition to viewing the Grand Canyon, you get a nice view of Hoover Dam and Celine Dion’s Lakefront Estate.
2. See the Fountains of Bellagio – as seen in the movie Oceans 11, the water show powered by many powerful underwater jets is a can’t miss – and its free! Shown every 30 minutes during the afternoons and every 15 minutes after dusk to rotating choreographed music, it’s a real treat! Warning – the show is cancelled when it is windy.
3. Ride the New York New York Roller Coaster – Consistently rated in the top 10 of America’s top coasters, it’s a smooth and fast coaster with 360 degree loops, corkscrews and thrilling drops. For those with a car and extra time, you can ride one of the tallest roller coasters in the world which reaches 80 miles per hour at Buffalo Bill’s in Primm Valley 40 mile south of Vegas.
4. Enjoy the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian and ride a gondola. It is amazing how many high end boutiques populate locations very close to each other on the strip (Venetian, Bellagio and Caesars Palace all have amazing high end shopping malls – just don’t look for any blue light specials). How many shopping malls can you tour from a gondola traveling along indoor canals and piloted by a singing gondolier?
5. Pretend you went to Paris instead of Vegas by buying a ticket to the top of a 50% scale model of the Eiffel Tower – You get a great view of the fountains of Bellagio and the strip, especially at night.
6. Visit the Stratosphere tower – The 1,149 foot tower has a 869 foot observation level with a spectacular view of the Vegas strip. The tallest freestanding observation tower in the US also has a collection of thrill rides exploiting the height of the tower – a ride on the big shot is an absolute blast, without equal anywhere!
7. Voyage to worlds far away at Star Trek – The Experience. Fans of the TV/movie series have a collection of exhibits, museum and virtual reality rides.
8. Watch the volcano erupt in front of the Mirage at night (8pm-midnight every 30 minutes) – a somewhat dated attraction but one worth seeing. While you are in the area, catch the Sirens of TI outdoor free show (5:30pm, 7, 8:30 and 10pm nightly), and have an ice cream sundae across the street at Ghirardelli’s (located at Harrah’s).
9. Enjoy the Carnivale in the Sky at the Rio – After enjoying a great buffet meal, plan to watch the airborne Mardi Gras parade happening at the Rio every afternoon/evening (3pm, 4, 5, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30). For a fee, you can get into costume and ride in an aerial parade float.
10. Ride the Monorail: The expanded monorail now travels the entire strip starting at a station adjacent to the MGM grand and ending at the Sahara hotel with the nearby Stratosphere tower. You can buy single ride tickets for $3, a book of 10 tickets for $20, or all day passes.
11. For art lovers, three collections are found on the strip – Bellagio’s Gallery of fine art, Venetian’s Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, and the Wynn Collection display many treasures.
12. Visit the Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix – a fun place for adults and kids including three styles of miniature race cars. It’s located off the strip but is a fun place – you can race head to head in sprint karts or for those 16 years of age, run a time trial in gran prix cars.
13. Experience Fremont Street – “Downtown Vegas” has a 1400 foot canopy 90 feet above Fremont streets on which every few minutes a light show celebrating the classic icons of Vegas is seen on a rotating basis nightly. You can also stop at one of the downtown casinos for low limit gaming while you are downtown. Unfortunately, the Vegas monorail does not travel to downtown yet.
14. Visit Hoover Dam – building began in 1930 on one of the 20th century’s great construction achievements and remains a great tourist attraction – 725 feet of concrete on the Colorado River.
15. Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas at Primm Valley (40 miles south of Vegas). While several shopping areas populate the city including an “outlet” mall called the Las Vegas Premium Outlets, you need to travel to Primm Valley to find typical “outlet” discounts.
16. Visit King Tut’s Tomb – for those that missed the US tour of King Tut’s riches, you can see a replication of the burial chamber and artifacts at the Luxor.
17. Skydive Indoors – at Flyaway Indoor Skydiving (near the Hilton/Convention Center) you can fly on top of a wind tunnel simulating skydiving. I'm not convinced it is a good representation of sky diving but it is a unique experience.
18. Love fast flash cars? – visit the Las Vegas Ferrari-Maserati showroom at the Wynn.
Where to Stay:
With each hotel holding thousands of rooms, each one is almost a city in itself. Factors such as price and location influence where one stays. Generally, the use of vacation packages often brings significant discounts – by purchasing Vegas packages from Expedia.com, Travelocity.com or airlines such as Alaska you can get reasonable deal at many high quality resorts. For those that partake in significant gaming, special rates (and even free room/food/beverage) are available – but generally big players already know where they are going to stay, where they get freebies. The major casinos have websites often advertising “the best rates” but prices may not include tax which is considerable in Vegas – so buyer beware. For tourists that pre-pay for a package you can’t take advantage of “comps” earned from playing – so if you plan to gamble a lot, it probably is a good idea of booking a reservation directly from the hotel. In general the good luxury hotels on the strip require you to play several (4) hours a day with a minimum $25 bet at each table game to qualify for gambler’s rate (~$60/night) and minimum $100 bet for free room/food/beverages.
Having stayed at most of the luxury hotels on the strip over the years (with the exception of the Wynn), the most luxurious “basic” rooms we’ve seen are at “The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.” Our most recent excursion to Vegas included a stay at this brand new all suite hotel built at the site of Mandalay Bay in the South Strip (booked in a discount package thru Expedia.com) – The suites included a nice sitting room with 42” plasma TV, wet bar, and an additional bathroom. Bedrooms were large, elegantly decorated and included a large flat screen TV. Master bath with its own LCD TV was also tastefully assembled. In general, once you leave the Mandalay Bay hotel and enter the connected lobby of the “The Hotel” it is like entering a different world – none of the noise and bustle of Vegas casinos. If you want a luxurious oasis to take a vacation from Vegas but remain on the strip, consider “The Hotel.”
The next best hotel on our list is the Venetian – Venice in Las Vegas complete with indoor canals and gondolas, and elegant artwork. The Venetian is another all suites hotel – although the suites are somewhat less elegant than “The Hotel” – they have a bedroom area, luxurious bathroom and a sitting area with its own TV. The Venetian also has a location on the North side of the strip which may be more convenient for many people rather than The Hotel’s extreme southern location.
Best of the rest – In general, the major hotels all provide a clean, smartly furnished room and comfortable bed. For many, it is a waste to have an overly luxurious hotel room when you’ll be spending as much time as possible away from it. If you are visiting Vegas during the warm season (Mid spring to October) you may want to stay at either Mandalay Bay or MGM due to the great water park/pool facilities. Mandalay Bay has an artificial beach complete with wave making machine allowing body surfing. Both the MGM and Mandalay have great pools and artificial rivers allowing lazy people the chance to “swim” – sitting on an inner tube enjoying a beverage. Beware that even during off peak times, people wake up to place “dibs” on the limited deck and beach chairs so if you snooze much past pool opening time you really lose. Note that Caesar’s Palace has great pools as a recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue showed.
A completely unscientific and arbitrary rating of the strip hotels we have stayed at (not including the Wynn) would put The Hotel on Top, followed by Venetian, Mandalay Bay (when the beach is open), Bellagio, MGM (with the water park open), Mirage, New York New York, Caesar’s Palace, Mandalay Bay (when the beach is closed), Treasure Island, MGM (when the water park is closed), Luxor and Excaliber. Remember that it is a long way from Mandalay Bay to Stratosphere and even with the new monorail for transportation it may be important to stay near the attractions you will want to see the most.
Which Shows to See:
Las Vegas is famous for shows you can’t see anywhere else in the world. The most widely recognized show (after the unfortunate demise of Siegfried & Roy’s show) is the Bellagio’s O – one of the many cirque du solei shows now found on the strip. A combination of incredible human stunts, music, artistry and a high tech pool/stage which showcases the performer talents made critics call a ticket to see O worth a trip to Vegas by itself. Ray’s personal favorite cirque du solei show is Mystere (at Treasure Island). It was the first Cirque du Solei show on the strip and remains a special treat – the incredible human stunts provide a glaring contrast to today’s special effects enhanced entertainment. The music and costumes also enhance the artistry of the show. Another highly rated cirque du solei show is Ka – now at the MGM. The LA times called Ka “the most lavish production in the history of western theatre.” It doesn’t showcase human stunts like the other two shows, but nearly overwhelms all of the audience’s senses.
Other great shows we recommend include Danny Gans (at the Mirage) – just outstanding musical and comedy entertainment. Danny combines surprisingly clean and non-offensive (unless you’re Michael Jackson, Dean Martin, or William Hung of American Idol) humor with fine imitation of famous musical artists from Tom Jones to Elvis to Five for Fighting. Celine Dion has a great show at Caesar’s Palace showcasing her unique musical abilities in a Vegas musical extravaganza.
Shows that didn’t make our recommended list include Blue Man Group (although they must be doing something right being “promoted” from Luxor to Venetian) and Zumanity (at New York New York) which seemed like a PG-13 cirque du solei show without the color, pageantry or special effects of the other shows. Note we haven’t seen “La Reve,” another cirque du solei show at the Wynn.
Where to eat:
Detailed reviews and menus of individual restaurants are available at multiple websites such as Zagat.com so this blog won’t focus on food. Even the buffets are hard to rate because the “best” ones may have a bunch of food you don’t want to eat. The Carnival World Buffet at the Rio is often mentioned as a top buffet because of the wide variety of food available. The separate Rio Seafood Buffet is also a local favorite. On our most recent trip we ate at Cravings (the Mirage Buffet) and found it to be extremely good with high quality and good variety (although the desserts were somewhat limited). Vegas had been a place famous for cheap surf and turf, but this has become increasingly rare. According to several travel sites, the Gambler’s Special (available, but not advertised on menu at the Hard Rock Café’s Mr. Lucky 24/7) for 7.77 is the best of the cheap eats (Steak, shrimp and fries or mashed potatoes).
What to Do:
A listing of activities we enjoyed during visits to Vegas –
1. Ride a helicopter to the Grand Canyon. In the space of one morning you can get picked up at your hotel, ride a helicopter to the Grand Canyon – land at the bottom of the canyon, enjoy a nice breakfast, and fly back from this national treasure. A most efficient way to see this national treasure! In addition to viewing the Grand Canyon, you get a nice view of Hoover Dam and Celine Dion’s Lakefront Estate.
2. See the Fountains of Bellagio – as seen in the movie Oceans 11, the water show powered by many powerful underwater jets is a can’t miss – and its free! Shown every 30 minutes during the afternoons and every 15 minutes after dusk to rotating choreographed music, it’s a real treat! Warning – the show is cancelled when it is windy.
3. Ride the New York New York Roller Coaster – Consistently rated in the top 10 of America’s top coasters, it’s a smooth and fast coaster with 360 degree loops, corkscrews and thrilling drops. For those with a car and extra time, you can ride one of the tallest roller coasters in the world which reaches 80 miles per hour at Buffalo Bill’s in Primm Valley 40 mile south of Vegas.
4. Enjoy the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian and ride a gondola. It is amazing how many high end boutiques populate locations very close to each other on the strip (Venetian, Bellagio and Caesars Palace all have amazing high end shopping malls – just don’t look for any blue light specials). How many shopping malls can you tour from a gondola traveling along indoor canals and piloted by a singing gondolier?
5. Pretend you went to Paris instead of Vegas by buying a ticket to the top of a 50% scale model of the Eiffel Tower – You get a great view of the fountains of Bellagio and the strip, especially at night.
6. Visit the Stratosphere tower – The 1,149 foot tower has a 869 foot observation level with a spectacular view of the Vegas strip. The tallest freestanding observation tower in the US also has a collection of thrill rides exploiting the height of the tower – a ride on the big shot is an absolute blast, without equal anywhere!
7. Voyage to worlds far away at Star Trek – The Experience. Fans of the TV/movie series have a collection of exhibits, museum and virtual reality rides.
8. Watch the volcano erupt in front of the Mirage at night (8pm-midnight every 30 minutes) – a somewhat dated attraction but one worth seeing. While you are in the area, catch the Sirens of TI outdoor free show (5:30pm, 7, 8:30 and 10pm nightly), and have an ice cream sundae across the street at Ghirardelli’s (located at Harrah’s).
9. Enjoy the Carnivale in the Sky at the Rio – After enjoying a great buffet meal, plan to watch the airborne Mardi Gras parade happening at the Rio every afternoon/evening (3pm, 4, 5, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30). For a fee, you can get into costume and ride in an aerial parade float.
10. Ride the Monorail: The expanded monorail now travels the entire strip starting at a station adjacent to the MGM grand and ending at the Sahara hotel with the nearby Stratosphere tower. You can buy single ride tickets for $3, a book of 10 tickets for $20, or all day passes.
11. For art lovers, three collections are found on the strip – Bellagio’s Gallery of fine art, Venetian’s Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, and the Wynn Collection display many treasures.
12. Visit the Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix – a fun place for adults and kids including three styles of miniature race cars. It’s located off the strip but is a fun place – you can race head to head in sprint karts or for those 16 years of age, run a time trial in gran prix cars.
13. Experience Fremont Street – “Downtown Vegas” has a 1400 foot canopy 90 feet above Fremont streets on which every few minutes a light show celebrating the classic icons of Vegas is seen on a rotating basis nightly. You can also stop at one of the downtown casinos for low limit gaming while you are downtown. Unfortunately, the Vegas monorail does not travel to downtown yet.
14. Visit Hoover Dam – building began in 1930 on one of the 20th century’s great construction achievements and remains a great tourist attraction – 725 feet of concrete on the Colorado River.
15. Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas at Primm Valley (40 miles south of Vegas). While several shopping areas populate the city including an “outlet” mall called the Las Vegas Premium Outlets, you need to travel to Primm Valley to find typical “outlet” discounts.
16. Visit King Tut’s Tomb – for those that missed the US tour of King Tut’s riches, you can see a replication of the burial chamber and artifacts at the Luxor.
17. Skydive Indoors – at Flyaway Indoor Skydiving (near the Hilton/Convention Center) you can fly on top of a wind tunnel simulating skydiving. I'm not convinced it is a good representation of sky diving but it is a unique experience.
18. Love fast flash cars? – visit the Las Vegas Ferrari-Maserati showroom at the Wynn.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
A weekend in sunny San Diego
Traci and I headed to San Diego to catch the weekend interleague series between the Padres and the Mariners at brand new Petco Park. We took the early morning Alaska direct flight, unhappy to find out after we arrived that our pre-reserved seats in the middle of the plane had been mysteriously changed to the back of our 100% full plane. Fortunately, we enjoyed a tasty cinnamon scone on the plane and arrived on time in San Diego.
Upon arriving in San Diego – the airport is located 2 blocks from the ocean in the center of town – a short taxi ride took us to the brand new Omni hotel which is physically connected via skybridge with the baseball stadium. After checking in, we walked past the San Diego convention center toward the giant USS Midway aircraft carrier which serves as a quite interesting museum. Included in the $15 entrance fee is a small digital audio recorder which contains a plethora of tidbits on aircraft, ships and history. Wandering around the various decks of the carrier during the self guided tour was quite fascinating – while the carriers are quite large, it seems so cramped inside given the huge number of sailors and aircraft previously inhabiting the ship. Even the flight deck with its runways and catapult seemed so small given its role of landing and launching jet fighters. After leaving the Midway, we went to San Diego’s Seaport village for a nice lunch at a village café. Traci enjoyed a tasty wrap while Ray liked his Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwich. From the café, we took a ride on a San Diego “Seal.” Both Seattle and Boston have “Duck Tours” featuring old World War II amphibious landing vehicles that take tourists around downtown and into the water. San Diego has “Seals” which are more modern open air hybrid busses/boats which tour the city and head out onto the North Bay where we saw marine life as well as many ships and landmarks. Our tour director was quite good – she had all sorts of interesting facts about San Diego and its history. On the ocean we saw the USS Ronald Reagan (America’s newest aircraft carrier and found a whole bunch of Sea Lions sunning themselves on barges.
After a long first day in San Diego, we headed back to the Omni hotel and crossed the skybridge to Petco Park. We got prime seats using the ticket broker stubhub.com -- 2nd row behind first base for the Friday night game -- so we spent the whole game in our seats. Gil Meche didn’t have his best game and the Mariners fell behind early – but mounted a nice rally and ended up winning in a 14-5 blowout (the only victory of the weekend). The San Diego fans were quite dedicated – it was amazing how many stayed to the end despite the lopsided victory. After the great victory we headed toward the “Gaslamp Quarter” which is San Diego’s nightlife area for dinner. After checking out several restaurants, we ended up at an Italian place called La Bocca – both of us had seafood pasta dishes which were quite good. Because of the baseball game, dinner was quite late and we didn’t get back to the Omni until well after midnight.
On Saturday, we planned on taking a break from baseball and headed to San Diego’s famous Balboa Park – a collection of 13 museums plus the San Diego Zoo. Because of the limited time for this trip, we passed up seeing the zoo (as well as Seaworld) and saw several of San Diego’s museums in the park – Japanese Friendship Garden, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Hall of Champions Sports museum, the Railroad museum, the Museum of Man and the Natural History museum. Ray thought the Sports museum was the most impressive despite having an obvious focus on San Diego teams and athletes – Seattle needs one! Traci was impressed with the Graham Flint Gigapxl photography exhibit at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The huge, wall-sized photos were taken with a custom built camera at 1000 to 4000 megapixels producing incredible resolution. Most of the other museums had some interesting exhibits, but they clearly aren’t the Smithsonians. Having checked out all of the food places in the park we settled on eating at the Art Museum (Traci had a nice soup and salad combo, Ray had a chicken Caesar salad). From Balboa park we took a taxi back to the Omni and went to the hotel pool/gym – the pool area was way too small for the number of people hanging around the pool after the afternoon baseball game concluded (we missed the Mariners 8-5 loss). The gym was small but well equipped with brand new machines. From the Omni we headed to Horton Center Plaza which is San Diego’s downtown shopping center located next to the Gaslamp Quarter – the shopping mall was an unimpressive open air collection of the usual suspects including Nordstrom and Macy’s. After a disappointing shopping expedition we headed back to the Omni to enjoy a scrumptious dinner at McCormicks & Schmicks. The chain has a location in Seattle famous for its happy hour – Traci and Ray had a great dinner at the location located in the Omni. Traci had a nice Mahi-Mahi entrée and Ray had what he described as the best $19.95 Top Sirloin steak he ever had. You would normally expect to pay extraordinary high prices at a restaurant located in the lobby of a hotel across the street from a ballpark, but the prices were quite reasonable. We noticed that other steak places including Flemings (located 2 blocks from the Omni) seemed to have significantly lower prices than Seattle. We decided to have dessert at the San Diego Ghiradelli, also located at the Gaslamp Quarter. Ray loves the sundaes at Ghiradelli’s and stops there whenever visiting San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago and now San Diego. After another busy day it was back to the Omni.
On our last day in San Diego, we started the day at a nice breakfast spot called Cafe 222 located 3 blocks from the Omni. It was an extremely busy breakfast spot, Traci enjoyed a delicious waffle while Ray had a ham and cheese omelette with tasty crispy potatoes. From breakfast we went to Petco Park for the Sunday afternoon game. We purchased regular outfield tickets from the Padres and spent time wandering around the stadium during the game – Petco Park is a most impressive stadium for family enjoyment of baseball. Behind center field is a large Park area accessible during the game which contains a whiffle ball diamond hosting organized kids play during the Padres game. A large grass lined hill permits viewing of the Padres game from a picnic blanket. Even a large scoreboard screen faces outward from the Park so the picnic crowd won’t miss any of the action. Petco also has a rich assortment of electronic video game kiosks and both a batting cage and a fast pitch contest. A worker actually creates custom baseball bats for fans while you wait($70). The actual architecture of the stadium reminds me of Seahawks stadium – somewhat plain but with good sight lines in the seating areas. I think the biggest problem with the stadium is my perceived unfairness of the bullpens – The Padres get a nice fenced bullpen in left center field while the Mariners were placed along the 1st base line without protection from the field (and the fans). I don’t know if any other ballparks treat teams so differently but it does seem unfair. I think Petco Park is the most family friendly baseball stadium I’ve seen so far. I do believe SBC park in San Francisco is the best park for non-baseball fans and of course, Safeco field is the best park for baseball fans.
Our visit to San Diego concluded by traveling to the airport via taxi. The only major problem with the whole trip occurred when the friendly Alaska Airlines people told us that our flight had already left despite us being 90 minutes early for our ticketed flight. We learned that Alaska had cancelled our flight and rescheduled us for the earlier flight (but neither of us were notified). So we had to endure a 4 hour wait for the final flight of the night (which was delayed an additional hour) bringing us back to Seattle at 1 AM. I guess the moral of this story is in the age of ever changing airline schedules be sure and check your flights the day before you leave home on the internet!
Upon arriving in San Diego – the airport is located 2 blocks from the ocean in the center of town – a short taxi ride took us to the brand new Omni hotel which is physically connected via skybridge with the baseball stadium. After checking in, we walked past the San Diego convention center toward the giant USS Midway aircraft carrier which serves as a quite interesting museum. Included in the $15 entrance fee is a small digital audio recorder which contains a plethora of tidbits on aircraft, ships and history. Wandering around the various decks of the carrier during the self guided tour was quite fascinating – while the carriers are quite large, it seems so cramped inside given the huge number of sailors and aircraft previously inhabiting the ship. Even the flight deck with its runways and catapult seemed so small given its role of landing and launching jet fighters. After leaving the Midway, we went to San Diego’s Seaport village for a nice lunch at a village café. Traci enjoyed a tasty wrap while Ray liked his Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwich. From the café, we took a ride on a San Diego “Seal.” Both Seattle and Boston have “Duck Tours” featuring old World War II amphibious landing vehicles that take tourists around downtown and into the water. San Diego has “Seals” which are more modern open air hybrid busses/boats which tour the city and head out onto the North Bay where we saw marine life as well as many ships and landmarks. Our tour director was quite good – she had all sorts of interesting facts about San Diego and its history. On the ocean we saw the USS Ronald Reagan (America’s newest aircraft carrier and found a whole bunch of Sea Lions sunning themselves on barges.
After a long first day in San Diego, we headed back to the Omni hotel and crossed the skybridge to Petco Park. We got prime seats using the ticket broker stubhub.com -- 2nd row behind first base for the Friday night game -- so we spent the whole game in our seats. Gil Meche didn’t have his best game and the Mariners fell behind early – but mounted a nice rally and ended up winning in a 14-5 blowout (the only victory of the weekend). The San Diego fans were quite dedicated – it was amazing how many stayed to the end despite the lopsided victory. After the great victory we headed toward the “Gaslamp Quarter” which is San Diego’s nightlife area for dinner. After checking out several restaurants, we ended up at an Italian place called La Bocca – both of us had seafood pasta dishes which were quite good. Because of the baseball game, dinner was quite late and we didn’t get back to the Omni until well after midnight.
On Saturday, we planned on taking a break from baseball and headed to San Diego’s famous Balboa Park – a collection of 13 museums plus the San Diego Zoo. Because of the limited time for this trip, we passed up seeing the zoo (as well as Seaworld) and saw several of San Diego’s museums in the park – Japanese Friendship Garden, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Hall of Champions Sports museum, the Railroad museum, the Museum of Man and the Natural History museum. Ray thought the Sports museum was the most impressive despite having an obvious focus on San Diego teams and athletes – Seattle needs one! Traci was impressed with the Graham Flint Gigapxl photography exhibit at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The huge, wall-sized photos were taken with a custom built camera at 1000 to 4000 megapixels producing incredible resolution. Most of the other museums had some interesting exhibits, but they clearly aren’t the Smithsonians. Having checked out all of the food places in the park we settled on eating at the Art Museum (Traci had a nice soup and salad combo, Ray had a chicken Caesar salad). From Balboa park we took a taxi back to the Omni and went to the hotel pool/gym – the pool area was way too small for the number of people hanging around the pool after the afternoon baseball game concluded (we missed the Mariners 8-5 loss). The gym was small but well equipped with brand new machines. From the Omni we headed to Horton Center Plaza which is San Diego’s downtown shopping center located next to the Gaslamp Quarter – the shopping mall was an unimpressive open air collection of the usual suspects including Nordstrom and Macy’s. After a disappointing shopping expedition we headed back to the Omni to enjoy a scrumptious dinner at McCormicks & Schmicks. The chain has a location in Seattle famous for its happy hour – Traci and Ray had a great dinner at the location located in the Omni. Traci had a nice Mahi-Mahi entrée and Ray had what he described as the best $19.95 Top Sirloin steak he ever had. You would normally expect to pay extraordinary high prices at a restaurant located in the lobby of a hotel across the street from a ballpark, but the prices were quite reasonable. We noticed that other steak places including Flemings (located 2 blocks from the Omni) seemed to have significantly lower prices than Seattle. We decided to have dessert at the San Diego Ghiradelli, also located at the Gaslamp Quarter. Ray loves the sundaes at Ghiradelli’s and stops there whenever visiting San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago and now San Diego. After another busy day it was back to the Omni.
On our last day in San Diego, we started the day at a nice breakfast spot called Cafe 222 located 3 blocks from the Omni. It was an extremely busy breakfast spot, Traci enjoyed a delicious waffle while Ray had a ham and cheese omelette with tasty crispy potatoes. From breakfast we went to Petco Park for the Sunday afternoon game. We purchased regular outfield tickets from the Padres and spent time wandering around the stadium during the game – Petco Park is a most impressive stadium for family enjoyment of baseball. Behind center field is a large Park area accessible during the game which contains a whiffle ball diamond hosting organized kids play during the Padres game. A large grass lined hill permits viewing of the Padres game from a picnic blanket. Even a large scoreboard screen faces outward from the Park so the picnic crowd won’t miss any of the action. Petco also has a rich assortment of electronic video game kiosks and both a batting cage and a fast pitch contest. A worker actually creates custom baseball bats for fans while you wait($70). The actual architecture of the stadium reminds me of Seahawks stadium – somewhat plain but with good sight lines in the seating areas. I think the biggest problem with the stadium is my perceived unfairness of the bullpens – The Padres get a nice fenced bullpen in left center field while the Mariners were placed along the 1st base line without protection from the field (and the fans). I don’t know if any other ballparks treat teams so differently but it does seem unfair. I think Petco Park is the most family friendly baseball stadium I’ve seen so far. I do believe SBC park in San Francisco is the best park for non-baseball fans and of course, Safeco field is the best park for baseball fans.
Our visit to San Diego concluded by traveling to the airport via taxi. The only major problem with the whole trip occurred when the friendly Alaska Airlines people told us that our flight had already left despite us being 90 minutes early for our ticketed flight. We learned that Alaska had cancelled our flight and rescheduled us for the earlier flight (but neither of us were notified). So we had to endure a 4 hour wait for the final flight of the night (which was delayed an additional hour) bringing us back to Seattle at 1 AM. I guess the moral of this story is in the age of ever changing airline schedules be sure and check your flights the day before you leave home on the internet!
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