Category / Travel

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2018: The Year In Travel

As I arrive home from California, I thought it would be nice to look back at the many trips I took last year.  Things got started in March, when I headed out to Las Vegas for the IBM Think conference.  Along the way, I took in a show, Absinthe, at Caesar’s Palace, a Barenaked Ladies concert at Mandalay Bay, and a show by The Chainsmokers at MGM Grand, where I was staying.

Following the conference, I took a detour to Phoenix for a long weekend, where I took in some Cactus League action at Camelback Ranch and Peoria Sports Complex, seeing the White Sox, Cubs, and Mariners (twice!).  I also enjoyed a trip to the slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend in Page, followed by a quick trip to the Grand Canyon.

About a month later, I took a short weekend trip to New York.  Danny, Michael, and I flew to New York on a Friday night, where we met up with Angelina and had dinner with the family she was nannying for.  Saturday was a glorious spring day, spent sight seeing at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, Central Park, the Guggenheim museum, and the Empire State Building.  Sunday was spent at the Lyric Theatre, watching both parts of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, before heading home early Monday morning.

My next trip came at the end of July, as Val and I headed down to Roanoke, Virginia, to celebrate Jeff’s 50th birthday.  After a day of “work”, the highlight of the trip was Saturday’s hike up Catawba Mountain to McAfee Knob.  Sunday was spent recovering, before heading home.

I spent most of September in Europe, starting with a week in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Aside from work, there was a trip to Castle Ward in to look at Game of Thrones filming locations, a hockey game featuring the Belfast Giants, a trip to the Ulster American Folk Park and a nip across the border to the wonderful town of Muff in Ireland, and a Black Cab tour of locations in Belfast related to the Troubles. Continue reading →

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In The Land Of Cotton

This past weekend, I got on a very small plane, along with Val, and headed down to the beautiful metropolis of Roanoke, Virginia, to celebrate Jeff’s 50th birthday.  Our trip started Thursday night after work, where we arrived and got some quality time with a young puppy named Simba.  Friday, the three of us worked remotely before heading out for dinner and to see the sights of Roanoke, which basically was The Roanoke Star and a grocery store.

Saturday, we headed out early to hike up Catawba Mountain to McAfee Knob.  With an elevation of 3,197 feet and a trail distance of approximately 4.4 miles, McAfee Knob is one of the highlights of the Appalachian Trail.  It took quite an effort on my part, and probably more time than we were planning, but the views from the top, not to mention the satisfaction of one of my traveling companions, were worth it.  The trip back down was a bit easier, thanks to a fire road, but a small stumble certainly made it interesting.

Sunday was spent relaxing and recovering from the strain of the previous day, until it was time to head back to the airport and fly home.

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Where Everybody Knows Your Name

This past weekend, I finally got to use my birthday gift from last year, a trip to Boston to see the White Sox take on the Red Sox with Danny and Michael.  The trip started early Saturday morning, with a trip to O’Hare to catch a 6 AM flight.  After arriving in Boston, we took a bus and a train to get to the Museum of Science, where we spent most of the morning.

With food on our mind, we wandered back over towards where we got off the train and found ourselves in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, where we ended up at The Paramount, rated as one of the 10 best breakfast spots in Boston.  A long wait through the oddly run restaurant, where you order and get your food prior to being seated, ended up in a decent meal.

After eating, we headed to our hotel, which was located in the medical district.  We checked in and relaxed for a bit, before deciding on going for ice cream prior to heading to Fenway Park.  Like nearly everywhere else we went, the ice cream shop was a little hole in the wall, but it certainly served its purpose.  From there, it was short walk up Brookline to the ballpark, which was… a little underwhelming.  From the outside, you could barely tell that it was a stadium.  Michael even asked where it was as we were standing outside it.

The game went about as you would expect.  With James Shields on the mound, the White Sox did not put up much of a fight.  We were sitting down the left field line, with a good view of the Green Monster.  The seats, which may or may not date back to the stadium’s opening in 1912, were not really designed for people well over 6 feet tall, so there was a lot of uncomfortable shifting as our knees were smooshed in to the seats in front of us.

After the game, we went back to the hotel and called it a night.   Continue reading →

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An Adventure

Earlier this morning, I got on a plane, with Angelina, to head to Disney World.  Later tonight, we will hop back on another plane and return home.  What would cause someone to something this, well, goofy?  A day of adventure!  Which, was my graduation gift to her.

Odds are good that it will turn out slightly better than my last trip to the house of the mouse.  How much can we fit in one day?  Time will tell.

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Vacation Recap – Universal Studios

UniversalAfter a whole 9 weeks since my last trip to Florida, I woke up early on the morning of June 1 for a 6 AM flight to Orlando with the family.  After landing, we caught the shuttle to the Hard Rock Hotel, where we had a long wait for the rooms to be ready.  After a quick lunch and a round of mini golf at the Citiwalk, Dennis, Angelina, Danny, and I went to Islands of Adventure for a quick re-introduction to Harry Potter land and the Jurassic Park ride.  We then headed back to the hotel, finally got in to our rooms, had dinner with appearances from a minion and Scooby Doo, and then called it an early night due to the early flight.

Thursday morning we got an early start and started at Universal, where we had a breakfast date at the Leaky Cauldron in the new Harry Potter area.  After breakfast, we headed to Olivanders to pick up wands for the boys, then went through the line for the Gringotts ride, before my mom and I begged off before the ride began.  It was at this point I got a text message from Jeff asking me to get him a wand.  As you may recall, I was at this very spot with Jeff less than 2 months ago and he could have purchased his own wand, but he was being a bit of a baby.  So, I went and bought him a wand, putting more thought in to it than I probably should have.  Once everyone was done at Gringotts, we hopped on the Hogwarts Express for the ride to Islands of Adventure.  Later, we wound up back at Universal, where Danny had an encounter with the shrunken head on the Knight Bus.

Friday was back to Universal for a character breakfast at Cafe LaBamba, followed by a return trip to Harry Potter land. After a quick trip back over to Islands of Adventure, we headed back to the hotel for some fun in the pool.

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