UMTravels

The annual tradition continues – the multiple week Birthday Ramble. This year week one is in Cabo San Lucas. Total of three of us.

Salamander and I are travelling together with Roxy taking an earlier flight, but arriving in Cabo at the same time. Roxy misses out on The Board Room with his earlier flight, but with the size of Salamander’s machine-made pancake, maybe he isn’t missing anything:

That’s a lot of butter for that mini-pancake.

UncleMarkie’s breakfast on the other hand…(with Salamander’s in the background):

I got us upgrades on the way down, so we are comfortably in 1A (Salamander) and 1C (UncleMarkie):

And it doesn’t take Salamander long to look like this:

Maybe it was the cocktail – but he did wake up for breakfast number two:

A little too much starch and sugar in the encrusted waffle (maybe I shouldn’t have applied the corn syrup packet), but tasty.

Turns out we have a stop in San Diego, where there is no duty free shopping – good thing I put a “handle” of Evan Williams in my checked bag!

Back on the plane after the security pass – I had to snap this pic just before the door closed. Had we been in the back we would have had a TON of seats to ourselves:

And soon it was time for lunch…

Ah, the joys of travelling up front!

Roxy met us after immigration (quick) at baggage claim – he’s flying with just carry on, and we are out the front to find our driver – and before you know it, on the road with a pretty full van of other people headed to Coral Baja:

After a hellishly long check in process (made better my free watered down margaritas) we are off to the 3-bedroom penthouse, our home for the next two nights:

And then, there is the view… this doesn’t suck!

Dinner night one was room service from the on-site restaurant – we were all beat up from the early morning.

Did I mention that we had our own private hot tub…

And that you can order a full moon from room service?

The night hot tub view!

Terrible admission – there were no groceries in the unit so we headed out to the former MegaMart, now a LaComer after the hurricane a couple of years ago – but I was hungry – hungry for hot red head!

But shop we did…

Mixers, booze, refrigerator (we passed on that), eggs, fresh tortillas…. And next to the sex shop next to the market, a wine shop!

I did stop in, but I’m running with a cocktail crowd this week.

Hopefully we won’t end up like El Gordo (the fat one), who died between the store and the condo:

To be honest, it was 90+ degrees out and we had the A/C cranked, and were mostly running around in robes. Me, I have my Bernie doo on.

I’d been hoping to find the TackyT-ShirtPrincess a shirt from the market on the highway outside the condo:

This place used to have a ton of stuff – a deli, fresh pico de gaia, the works, since the hurricane, it’s now lame, though I did buy some Mexican Brandy the last night of the trip as we’d exhausted all booze in the condo. I was hoping to find a t-shirt in a women’s medium for her to match the one I bought years ago and had to dig up and take a photo of:

Alas – nothing close to it, and the shirts they had were $20USD. Sigh.

After two nights, we “downgraded” to the 2-bedroom penthouse, which I found larger and I loved the rooftop hot tub and tanning deck area – see what you think.

And then the spiral stairs to our private roof top deck:

If you want the walking tour of the place, here it is:

Did I mention the brand new looks like never used BBQ?

And we used it!

Rib eyes and onions on the grill!

And now just some random photos of how we spent our week doing nothing, I say NOTHING:

OK – we did a little more than lay around! There is drinking and tanning to do.

Why leave to penthouse when you can watch them releasing baby sea turtles into the high surf:

And eavesdropping on a wedding!

And there was eating as well….pupu platter…

Scratch-made chicken tortilla soup:

And because you need things you didn’t bring, you improvise. Hot chili sauce made from four packets of ketchup from the first nights room service, combined with the red chili flakes and some garlic powder in the spice rack:

Need breading for fried fish? Crunch up the crackers that came with my octopus ceviché afternoon snack (yes, we did eat out twice in the week):

Crumble those crackers! And no, we aren’t talking about the upcoming election.

Whip an egg, batter the fish, and fry!

I could blame it on the heat, but we didn’t do ANYTHING tourist related. No walk into San José del Cabo, no bus ride to check out Cabo San Lucas, we only did grocery store runs for more supplies – and in the end we were taking the cab (100 pesos, basically $5 USD each way) to the store.

I barely finished a book, Roxy only got one more chapter done in the book he started when we were at Whistler two summers ago. Yep, slugs.

Sunday we headed home on different shuttles – Salamander and I early, Roxy later.

Did spot the cool American Airlines Piedmont Airlines livery at the Cabo San Lucas airport – sorry the shot isn’t better:

Salamander and I managed (after a Wi-Fi call to the US – got to LOVE T-Mobile!) to get upgraded to First on the Cabo to Los Angeles leg, which included a chicken (never found it) and rice lunch:

No upgrade on the LAX-SEA leg, but we had lounge access for more free food and drink:

And before we knew it, Salamander had his bag and headed for Light Rail, I was waiting to see if my hard-side came out on the regular belt or the “oversize” (because it looks like an OtterCase filled with expensive equipment).

Stay tuned for Part Two of the Birthday Ramble, but first I have to work a couple of days.

[213.4]

Nothing like flying in, working for two days, and then leaving again. Hit town Sunday night, did a trade tasting Monday, followed by a private event at the shop Monday night (and baking bread in the afternoon for said event), and boxing wine club Tuesday before heading to Blaine for Tuesday night.

Seaside Boy flaked out, but Rache was in tow, and Surf Betty came up from Bellingham for dinner in the 3-bedroom, 3-bath Penthouse at the WorldMark Birch Bay.

Not a bad unit – and then there is the sunset!

And it comes with presents!

Oddly, no photos of dinner or Surf Betty – who slept over but was gone before dawn headed to Seattle for a work week.

In the morning we were off for CanadaLand, with not much of a wait at the border after hitting Duty Free – and we had a reservation, so no worries:

And it’s a comfortable 90-minute run to Swartz Bay…

With lots of WONDERFUL scenery along the way – this is one of the nicest ferry runs in the Northwest:

We were an hour early for check-in – but the place was ready, though being on the ground floor by the pool was a bit confined:

Especially with the new balcony furniture – the old stuff was better sized:

I had to chuck one of the chairs past the BBQ to be able to cook! But the views are great:

Made a run to the grocery store for dinner for four – all of my usual Victoria dining buddies couldn’t make it (dissertation, cabaret, on a plane to NYC) but one of them sent emissaries!

And we feasted well!

What a WONDERFUL way to turn the BIG 60 – old friend, new friends!

Birthday Ramble Part Two is just three single overnights – so we are one the road again in the morning – but first breakfast:

With a ManMosa (so they call it):

We tried to have a cocktail at the Bengal Lounge at The Empress – but alas, since my last trip, it’s no longer a bar, but a banquet facility. Bad Empress, no links!:

For the pictures of when it was actually a bar, with a WONDERFUL Chinese bartender, CLICK HERE. It’s a LONG post, one that Rache found VERY amusing for so how my nerves where frayed that visit. I miss the that lounge – even with the Curry Buffet that wafted through the space.

We opted to put the car in the ferry line and get a MUCH cheaper cocktail at the Days Inn across from the ferry terminal:

When we hit the lot to load – there was a SERIOULSY cool Land Cruiser-like vehicle – turns out it’s a Bandeirante – a Brazilian manufactured Toyota Land Cruiser.

 

Nice views from the harbor (harbour if you are Canadian):

And of our boat coming in:

We loaded, had some snacks, didn’t take any pictures and suddenly we are off the boat, through immigration, and checked into our final night on Discovery Bay – in a2-bedroom loft – spread across FIVE split-level floors with the master on the lowest floor with a Jacuzzi IN THE BEDROOM.https://www.worldmarkbywyndham.com/resorts/db/

It was nice:

And the views were good:

And we had a nice steak dinner off the grill:

Only a small hiccup on the way home – the Hood Canal Bridge was open and we were 1.5 miles in a backup. Towards the bridge:

Behind us:

And a pretty day for a boat ride….

Home safe and sound.

[214.4]

Welcome to the Port of San Francisco’s NEW cruise terminal – it opened last Thursday (and today is Saturday):

Other than a long line customs/immigration was easy – and finding the Princess Airport Transfer bus as well. I was a tad concerned because I never got a printed voucher for the bus, but they didn’t ask for one, so who knows/who cares.

I’m excited to check out the new lounge Alaska is contracting with in the International Terminal where they relocated while their old terminal is being renovated… the lounge belongs to Cathy Pacific and I’m guessing the quality is going to be well above that of a standard Alaska Board Room which is above the standards for Delta’s Sky Club and American’s Admiral’s Lounges.

They did not disappoint:

Seems I was the second one in the lounge for the day as Cathay’s Hong Kong flight doesn’t leave until 1:45PM – so the lounge was VERY empty:

They offered a full pour-it-yourself bar, lots of snacks, and between 11 and 1 a selection of custom cooked noodle dishes:

Like a said, a notch up from the Alaska Board Room – unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the “hot dish” table.

The meal in First Class on the way home was interesting – a kale and bacon dish which didn’t sound appetizing, but turns out it was:

Of course, that wasn’t enough to fill me up for the rest of the evening, so for dinner it was a pork, green pepper, and onion stir-fry since I was out of lettuce and needed some sort of vegetable…

And with that, we end the “Birthday Ramble“.

Night all.

[226.4]

Oh gentle readers – the morning started with a bit of a disappointment….no Princess Black Elite boarding card waiting for me a check-in.

What good is chasing privileges if the computer systems can’t keep up?

After waiting a half-an-hour or so we started boarding – and it seems that everyone else was headed for the aft portion of the ship and even though I was in the fourth row of chairs I was the first one to security on the boat, eschewing the photographer only to be confronted with a ding rather than a beef (or was it the other way around).

Off to the side I stand while they call it in…new card comes down from passenger service and low-and-behold, it is black as coal.

And this time, this is MY view – opting for the balcony cabin on my Vancouver-Victoria-San Francisco cruise. For those who care about these things, since I’m a single, it’s double the fare so it’s $558.00 plus $96.02 in taxes, fees, port charges. For this:

Dropped my bags and scampered down to the Bordeaux Dining Room (6^th Floor, Center) for lunch:

A light lunch – no fries. And as the guy on the last boat said, “Sometimes you just want something simple rather than something fancy.” Even if you are eating it in a fancy restaurant.

When I got back to the room, it was time to send some shirts to be washed and pressed – a Black Elite benefit (which they said due to the volume, don’t expect until 72 hours, not good for same-day service):

Then the safety drill – seats this time, in the Princess Theatre and with that out of the way it’s time to call room service and swap out this:

For this:

And this:

For this:

Yep, took the mixed selection and my Serbian Room Service boy (well, technically he’s 21 and has only been out of Serbia for 45 days) and switched it for all VSOP and Diet – the only whiskey they had was Dewar’s Scotch and the CourvoisierVSOP was the same price – go figure.

That taken are of it’s off to the LGBT meet-up (or is that hook-up) which they have POORLY planned for the Grill Bar, one level up on the open deck from where the “Sail-Away” party is booming. When will these people learn…Wheelhouse Bar! And try not to make it during the Elite Cocktail party for Elites, Platinums, Suite passengers with free nibbles and reduced priced drinks — tonight was fresh guacamole, chips, and $5.00 el Major Margaritas – which were WAY too sweet until I cut it half with ginger ale, but I digress.

Let’s see, where was I – right, LGBT get together. Our poor (but cute) host had a cute little home-made flag the size of a sheet of paper (don’t they give these people a props budget?) sitting forlornly at the table when I finally noticed him. Well, that’s two of us. I sent him over to the bar side of the partial deck having spotted what I thought were a couple of bears drinking – and I grabbed two guys that I’d been on other short cruises with (also from Seattle) and by the time it was happening we’d collected a good dozen people including the host’s bi-sexual sister who was on the cruise too.

Our Princess “Host” is in the blue shirt (and starched white shorts) at the end of the table, his sister is standing to his left. If you can’t find him, here is a close-up:

Wait, here are better pictures of the group, including half of a Sydney, Australia couple sailing all the way to Fort Lauderdale through the Panama Canal…

Dale would be to the right of Stephen (isn’t that a lovely name…wait, it’s my middle name, and even with the correct spelling!) our host. And that would be a Manhattan in a tacky plastic glass. Stephens comment to a couple who had been together for 22 years… “I’m 22, so I guess I would have been in the womb.” You go girl.

Some random shots from around the ship….

And this one I especially like…it’s like a “ghost ship“:

Eight of the gay boys got to dinner the first night in the Bordeaux Dining Room – what a handsome group:

And many of stayed up wayyyyy too late….gambling….not me, but one of the boys put $300 in a penny slot machine – the Aussie was the smartest of the lot, playing poker, where you actually have a chance to beat the house.

Woke up in Victoria to gloom and doom and drizzle…luckily I’d ordered coffee and an eggy-muffin thing the night before:

If you look closely you can see the top of the WorldMark Victoria just to the right of the tallest structure in the picture below – my original plan was to walk over and say hello to Nicola who works the front desk – but the drizzle got the better of me.

Another day, another LGBT gathering – this time in the Wheelhouse at pretty much the correct time, 5:30 (so I could go snag Rob Roys at $5.00 [plus 15%] from the Elite party which also had steak tartare and cheeses). But before I did that I swing by the Explorer Lounge for a couple of $3.99 (plus 15%) Bloody Marys in commemorative glasses (hence, needing to get two of them), drink one, split the other one into two glasses (for breakfast) and pop it in the fridge, and then pop by and get a picture of Stephen calling the trivia contest…

The steak tartare…and I know Melba Toast (what it was supposed to come with), and that isn’t Melba, it’s just toast points.

And the aforementioned Roy Roys – or what was left of them…

That was before I went for two more… and some pictures of the boys at the cocktail party and at dinner for ten which followed:

I’ve actually been on other cruises with the two on the right, one from SF and the other from DC – a long-distance couple.

These two are actually on their honeymoon, while these two have a fascination with Bang Bang, one of the servers upstairs:

With the drinks from the LGBT cocktail party and the wine with dinner, we were probably annoying all those around us, luckily we didn’t sit down until 8:30PM:

And let’s not forget the tin-foil swan for a little take-home dessert…

So another night goes – out too late hanging around the casino, and yes, I’m $30 lighter – luckily all my cash short of the $50 bill secreted away. But I did see part of the “Down on the Bayou” show…didn’t realize there were that many white people in the Bayou, but I’ll go any place that has an accordion player as part of the band.

Got back to the room to find my shirts are back from the laundry:

So much for my request to have them folded and boxed – I guess you get what you pay for, in this case, nothing since it’s one of the perks.

As for my last full day at sea, Bloody Marys await the coffee and muffin thing:

Though they were delivered at 9AM, I went back to bed until 11. Uncle needs his beauty rest. And the weather outside is frightful (or at least dreary).

The ship was rocking and pitching most of the night so the extra hours in the morning calm helped.

Spent the day doing this and that. Missed a sit-down lunch in the dining room and had to settle for the slop line (oh, I mean the buffet). Did my duty-free booze shopping (liter of Jim Beam for $17.99 minus 10% for being Elite Black), and bought a couple of watches at $10 each ($9 after discount) since I’ve been wearing my dual time-zone watch for the last couple of months since all my other watches have dead batteries.

Not that I’ll be wearing both at the same time.

Headed to the wine tasting (also a freebie for the Elites, $9.50 [plus, I’m sure, the 15%] for non-elites) – I headed back to the room when I encountered this line:

Not worth in considering the boring wines they were sampling. Finishing the last pages of my book and taking a nap was a much better use of my time.

Tonight’s LGBT Hoe Down had about 10 people show up at the Wheel House Lounge on Deck 7 (directly, and conveniently directly below my stateroom 5 levels). I’ll try to not bore you with too many photos since it seems to be the same people every night…

And then some silliness at the dinner table – I brought my birthday balloons to dinner:

Speaking of dinner, some of the highlights….

Snails in butter!

Both pretty and tasty.

Another late night…woke up at 3AM still in my clothes and still unpacked. Nothing like packing at 3AM.

Uneventful morning – up at 7:30AM, out the cabin door by the mandatory 8AM exit time…even though my disembarkation isn’t until 9:30. But a lovely sunrise over the Bay Bridge…

And the view from my breakfast table on the Lido Deck…

Now it’s just the waiting game to get off the boat and onto the bus for the airport – a final “footie” for you.

[? ? ?] I hate to think what the number will be after a week of cruise boats and dinners.

One of my traditions on the first night arriving in New Orleans is to wander down the street and go to Houstons. Yes, it’s a chain, albeit a small one, but I know there will be live jazz and that I can grab a spot in the bar and just eat good food and listen to good jazz. Isn’t that what New Orleans is about? Even better when you don’t have to fight the crowds in the French Quarter. Oddly enough, I pulled the dinner menu for the Kansas City branch (since I’ll be there in November) and I wasn’t as impressed – the New Orleans menu is much better.

This visit I took Dan along on my tradition. No Colonels as they were a bit under the weather.

That would be the band over our shoulders and Manhattans in front of our shoulders. And the food!

    

    

Clockwise from upper-left-hand: Hand-cut Fries, Oysters St. Charles, Skillet Cornbread, Gulf Coast Style Fish Sandwich. Not a dog in the lot. Yep, wees in nawlins.

If this blog post doesn’t make you hungry I pray for your soul.

Sightseeing for the first full day both The Colonels and I have the same idea, The Southern Food & Beverage Museum which was closed for relocation the last time I was in NOLA. But first, a visit to their on-site restaurant, Purloo (which is a traditional dish made with whatever meat happened to be leftover). The food did not disappoint (nor the atmosphere):

The bar (and the cute hipster bar tender) above, and The Colonels below:

And even though it’s only noon, I had to try their Old Fashioned which warrants a full-size photo AND the recipe: Bourbon or Rye with Demerara Syrup, El Guapo Chicory Pecan Bitters and Citrus Peel. I went for the Rye (and I remember a little mint in there as well).

And the food – not sure where the last photo is! Pretty sure Mr. Colonel had with Fried Chicken with Tasso Mac & Cheese and pickled Okra. Mrs. Colonel had the marinated flank steak over Thai noodles:

Dan had the fried catfish with stone ground grits and collard greens with a smoked tomato gravy…

And I went for a fairly light dish, the Crab Beignets:

Starting to worry about getting on the scales when I return home!

Well nourished, it was time for the Southern Food and Beverage Museum ($10 regular, $8 if you ate at Purloo, $5 Military) which also includes the The Museum of the American Cocktail and the La Galerie d’Absinthe. What’s NOT to love about this place!

And the cocktail section:

With the world’s largest cocktail shaker – 4 at a time!

And for my friend Joe (of Lisa), a collection of Tiki items (he has a Tiki bar in the basement in Indianapolis):

And we close with the pig:

As The Colonels age they are less and less up for going out to dinner, preferring some light appetizers inside, which is what we had before Dan and I headed out to dinner. The thought was The Blind Pelican half a dozen blocks away – but as it turns out it was “Friday Night Fight Night” (Military with ID get in free).

Yep, the blocked off the street and put up a covered fence. Second choice was VooDoo BBQ, which wasn’t as good as I remembered it, and with no bartender (on a Friday night no less), no Manhattan – I had to settle for an alcoholic slushy of some sort (which at least they refilled on the way out). We spilt one of the larger dinners:

And the funky interior hallway…

Saturday we made our way to La Place, Louisiana, home to some of the finest andouille sausage makers in the world, but first, lunch at The Cajun Invasion, this odd mix of Cajun and Vietnamese (which considering the number of Vietnamese shrimpers in Louisiana isn’t all that surprising):

Clockwise from upper left: Mrs. Colonel’s crawfish fried rice, Dan’s fried oyster po’boy, and my jambalaya and meat pie (was supposed to be crawfish, oh well). All surprisingly good for a strip mall restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

But the main reason for the trip was andouille sausage – The Colonels favor Jacobs (and they have it shipped), but reviews differ between first and second place for Baileys – and they are almost on top of each other. For me it was a contest of who had the surliest counter people.

Dan ended up with 1 pound of chicken, 1 pound of pork andouille from Baileys, and the same from Jacobs who smokes theirs for 20 minutes longer (according to local lore). Mrs. Colonel just got stuff from Jacobs.

Tonight we finally got to try the Blind Pelican, and boy did we try it!

Got a table outside with a view of the shrimp boiler:

But we weren’t here for the shrimp, we were her for the oysters! 5 dozen to be exact – three dozen raw, and two dozen charbroiled and topped off with a rack of ribs and coleslaw. During happy hour (4-8pm) oysters on the half shell are $3 a dozen (I kid you not) and $7.50 a dozen for the charbroiled – but you have to buy an “adult” beverage for every dozen you order. With Dan and I this wasn’t a problem.

It takes 4 line guys to shuck that many oysters for a full house:

And my aren’t they pretty:

They are VERY strict in their rules around happy hour oysters:

Sunday was a rainy inside day so we stuck close to home – we’d been making breakfast in the room with eggs, bacon, leftovers, and for lunch we went next door to Igor’s Bar, Grill, Laundromat, Library & Pool Hall. It was so weird to be in there with no one smoking, though 50 years of nicotine was still on the walls. Dan got the burger, I got the sausage sandwich:

Dinner tonight was at Basin on Magazine – a little too far to walk, so it was Uber time again! More oysters on the half shell:

Followed by the corn and crab bisque and seafood gumbo:

And the crispy pulled pork creation (half way through) that wasn’t that crispy:

Birthday breakfast at The Trolley Stop Café – a whopping $3.50!

Packed up the bags, stored them at the desk, and hung around the hotel reading and sitting in the sun – killing time until lunch, and then killing time until the airport.

Lunch was at Pho Orchid, also on the same block as the WorldMark New Orleans. Bun (meat over noodles with broth) for Dan, Korean Beef “tacos” for me.

And then it was time to Uber off to the airport – makes like our 5^th
Uber trip in NOLA. Alas, we are in different terminals (Dan going out Southwest, me going out Alaska), and even the airport lounge I have access i to is in yet a third terminal. We say goodbye at the curb.

[? ? ?]

Not that I haven’t been rambling enough this September, but this one actually includes my birthday.

Step 1: Get to Denver – snagged an upgrade to First Class, though no pictures this time. For the meal, refer to the last two posts of the pan fried gnocchi with a thick Bolognese topping. Yes, more heartburn on the way. Dan snagged me at the airport, but it was 11 by the time we got home. Just enough time to make a cocktail and set up my computer station for the night.

Nice that it swings over the bed.

Step 2: Enjoy the suburbs of Denver by running errands.

• Liquor Store for trip provisions
• Comcast, to exchange a cable box – that transaction took less than 5 minutes, barely giving me time to click a photo of the “museum” in their lobby, cable boxes through the ages.

• Lunch at the Iron Rail Tavern, which was stunning – we split the burger and fries with a side salad and they brought it all already split – with no extra charge!

• Pick up some meat from a meat co-op whose slogan is “Meat Is Murder – Tasty Tasty Murder”…

When I’d planned this trip months ago I didn’t know that this would be a holiday for Dan just before he gets his chest cracked up to repair a leaking aorta – at least he’ll have been of work for a week or so and all relaxed. He even had our evening planned months ago – attending this thing called, “The Moth“, but first, dinner at Curry n Kabob (Indian Food) where I had the goat chops:

Followed by a lovely sunset…

The show was at the old Boulder Theatre…

The best way to explain “The Moth” is storytelling done as standup. Three pieces in the first act, two (plus a story by the host) in the second. The last one brought me to tears, literally, as well as Randall, who had just lost his grandmother yesterday, and his girlfriend got the call during dinner that she had lost hers. Man did I need a drink after we got home.

Step 3: Get yea to the train.

Dan’s father George gave as a lift to the station, but we were hours early – at least it’s a nice station to be early at (see separate report on the Denver’s Union Station). Time for some happy hour action. First stop is a place I’d eaten at the last time I was through, Stoic & Genuine:

Oysters on the half shell (4 each of three kinds followed by a repeat 4 of our favorite – the Little Shemogues from New Brunswick) at $2 each with a glass of Muscadet ($3):

Round Two of our happy hour sampling was next door at The Kitchen Next Door Community Pub.

Where we had the salt/pepper calamari, fried pickles, and a couple of Mules.

Alas the waiter was better than the food. The waiter was damn fine.

Time to catch our train…and get a full steak dinner aboard. One of the conductors played us a few tunes while we waited – we wasn’t bad and could play anything that folks called out (though only the first verse):

Time to say goodbye to Denver.

[? ? ?]

All good things come to an end, hopefully in first class – which I’d prearranged with a coupon and a few extra dollars. They give me 4-6 a year, unfortunately they no longer work on the cheapest fares, but if I have to travel at the last minute (or month), they are handy since I’m already paying a premium.

New Orleans is trying to upgrade its facilities, but it suffers the same problem as Kansas City’s airport – it was designed BEFORE (or during, in which case it’s too late) hijacking, 911, radical security. The plan in those days was 50 yards from the gate (in Kansas City’s case) in concentric rings. The problem with New Orleans’s airport is it goes out like fingers with security at each beginning of the finger – with no way to get between terminals behind security (LAX also suffers from this problem). If you happen to be connecting from one airline to another – you are shit out of luck and need to exit and go back through security – or in my case, wanting to hang out with Dan in Terminal B, when I’m in Terminal C, and the airline club I have free access to is in Terminal D (I have no idea what is in Terminal A in New Orleans).

The problem with most airport designs is that they aren’t “blank slate” designs – they are cobbled together over years. In the case of the Kansas City airport, they had a “blank slate”, but as they were building it, the world changed. Here is their original plan – one that they are thinking about rebuilding at the other end of the runway and tearing down the current one. In each of the rings there are four+ small screening things for each 4 gates, so that’s four screening areas PER ring – forget TSApre (and forget any services POST security – you’ll be lucky to get a bathroom or a vending machine):

It was a great plan – before security concerns. Time to tear it down. But I digress….

So, arrived on The City of New Orleans, leaving on Alaska Airlines. After killing some time in the airport, which to be generous, is a pit. The problem with the “finger” layout is that most terminals don’t have a “sit-down” restaurant. In my terminal there was some “buffet” food, and a “bar” with a walk up window and plastic glasses – not what one would expect from the Food Capital of the South. I got a dog here – though they were down to one model (again, not good):

Like I said, I wasn’t that Lucky – no Cajun Dogs left at 3 in the afternoon. Luckily, this was a “tide me over” snack before the flight where there was real food (I know, I just said that about airline food).

It was worth the extra couple of bucks for the guaranteed upgrade rather than sweating it out an upgrade at 72 hours, then 48 hours, then 24 hours, then at the gate. It much nicer to be greeted with this:

The starter (HOT nuts, Jack & Diet, DigiPlayer):

The mezzo (bun, prosciutto, potato salad with mascarpone and truffle oil and a random tomato):

The main (herb roasted Mahi Mahi, lemon fennel rice with white bean, tomato and caper ragu):

The dessert I shouldn’t have eaten (chocolate chip cream filled cake):

THIS, on a three hour flight. And this is why I love long flight up front.

Luckily I had someone (Thank you, Kurt!) picking me up at the airport!

[? ? ?] The next day I got on the scale after 9 days on the road and was SHOCKED – I didn’t gain any weight. There is no god. Or I was walking multiple times more than usual.

After dinner with Dan’s work buddy, back to the Metropolitan Lounge we go – to pillage some of their snacks to bring along on the train – like we aren’t getting enough food. They have us show up for boarding at 7:10, and we do, in fact, board shortly after. Seems they board sleeping car passengers before the 8pm dinner cut-off so we can all have a real dinner.

Dinner on the train – steak. Not worth the $22 that it is on the menu, but since it was included – damn fine. At least for breakfast they had all the options, though Dan compared the “Railroad French Toast” to Denny’s right down to the Maple Flavored Syrup.

Lunch I went healthy – after yesterday’s no greens – NEEDED GREENS – and not the kind cooked in ham hocks, although those are mighty fine as well:

Dan went for the Turkey Meatballs with pasta – the meatballs were good (he let me have half a one) but it’s in a tomato sauce that would give me heartburn.

We get out at Jackson, Mississippi where a buddy of mine lives – but they don’t let non-ticketed folks onto the platform like many other cites – so I have yet to meet Ed in person. Ed is an old LRYer that grew up with many of the same people I did – and we share some interests – letterpress for one. He has a working linotype that he uses set the smaller lead type that my eyes are too old for. He also has a dozen jukeboxes that he services with vintage and new 45’s. Did I mention that he also has a (well, several) 35mm projector that he hauls out in the summer for movie nights to show his collection of “B” movies in their original format. Someday I’ll have to book a ticket where I can stop and sit a spell (as they say in the south).

As we leave Jackson, Mississippi, I shot this odd little scene from the front sleeper car hooked up in its normal configuration – closest to the engine after the baggage car (and transition sleeper for those two-night trains).

Not sure why I took this shot – other than it shows the beautiful clouds and trees of the south:

We while away the hours (the train, is, of course, running late) hanging out in the cabin making cocktails….

And eating jerky since my salad has long passed through my system:

And just watching the scenery roll by:

Before you know it, New Orleans is upon us – the view from the lot of the Amtrak station:

Not a bad view from our one-bedroom unit at the WorldMark Avenue Plaza…

Had a brief visit with The Colonels – they had to cancel picking us up at the train station due to some digestive problems on the part of Mrs. Colonel. They are staying at the Avenue Plaza but in one of the Wyndham units. Luckily Uber started up in New Orleans four months ago. Click on the Uber link and get a free ride (up to $20) and I get one too!

New Orleans here we are!

[118.8]

I sometimes feels like I’ll be on the road all the month of September (and October and November). This installment if from the California Zephyr between Denver and Chicago. What I learned is that two people in a Roomette is a tight squeeze.

As you can see by how close our knees are!

Bring lots of booze and mixers, it’s OK according to Amtrak if you are in a sleeper – and they will even uncork your personal wine in the dining car (leave a GOOD tip!). Dwight taught me to give some of the tip up front for better service with the room attendants.

Boarded the Zephyr in time for dinner, went for the short ribs in red wine demi glaze…with a nice bottle of wine we packed with us. Only once have I had them refuse to open a provided bottle – usually all it takes is, “Ours is better, and we tip well.” As usual, I took my dessert “to go” while Dan ate his ice cream at the table. I should point out that there were no salads with our dinner as they had a refrigerator issue and FROZE all the lettuce.

And before you know it, it’s time for bed:

View from the end of the train, which oddly, the sleepers are at. Normally the sleepers are at the front of the train. Because of this:

Everyone’s phone went off at 7AM with flash flood warnings, luckily not for the railway. Almost as good as an alarm clock to get up and have the scrambled eggs – they were out of the omelet, but still had the Railroad French Toast (think Denny’s with the same corn syrup dressing).

Along the way be pass all sorts of stations in all architectural styles… here is the Creston, Iowa station:

But actually, THIS is the Amtrak station in Creston, Iowa:

Or the box that is Ottumwa, Iowa’s station. Extra points for the fictional television character from Ottumwa.

Answer: Radar O’Reilly from the TV series MASH.

It was at Ottumwa, Dan needed to do a little trackside yoga to combat the tight quarters – next time a Bedroom rather than a Roomette:

And here is our lovely room attendant who kept us well stock in ice:

Just after leaving Burlington, Iowa (on the border with Illinois) two hours late, we passed this lovely suspension bridge that I’d actually driven across a couple of years ago when I was visiting Galena, Illinois with Lisa and Joe (stayed at the WorldMark Galena). Galena is mostly known as the home of Ulysses S. Grant.

As you can see, the weather is clearing up. Just in time for lunch – bacon cheeseburgers for the both of us, oddly they’d acquired some iceberg lettuce for the burgers to go with the tomato and onion. And sure enough, the sun is out showing off the corn fields:

And better late than never, we finally arrive in lovely Chicago, a little over two hours late. Here is a shot of the old station which rumor has it they are bringing back to life:

And a GREAT shot of Chicago that looks like Seattle because:

• There are draw bridges
• There is a Boeing logo on their headquarters
• There is a Starbucks

Time for a little food – even though they say we are getting dinner on board, I’m skeptical…off we go after trying to reach his CDW rep he deals with…Dan does the logical thing – he goes on Yelp and looks for happy hour specials within 3 blocks. We ended up at Blackies, with half of Chicago hanging out in the sun:

Buffalo Wings and Manhattans – that’s a happy hour!

Dan is looking happy.

As we were leaving Blackies – Dan gets the call – so we are off for MORE cocktails with his CDW rep at the sports bar in the train station!

I love this photo – and before you know it, we are on the train headed to New Orleans. They were serious about the meal – they loaded us 45 minutes before The City of New Orleans was scheduled to leave. No rocking for dinner! Stay tuned for the next post.

[218.6]

Got to the condo around 10AM – and check-in as at 4PM.Been there, done that. Left my name and number at the desk, went down the hall to the lounge, gathered a couple of pillows and took a 3-hour nap.

The nap done, it was off to find some lunch…and a coupon from WorldMark to make it cheaper. The choice? Relish, a European Gastropub just around the corner. The deal? 15% off food.

Got there to find the house wine, a Naked Shiraz on offer for $4 a glass, VERY cheap by Canadian standards and not a bad glass pour. I paired it with the Duck Confit tacos ($11) for a wonderful little lunch:

That put me back at the WorldMark around 2PM – room still not ready, so it’s off to the IGA Marketplace with a 10% off coupon to get the rest of the stuff we need for dinner.

Tonight’s dinner guests are Solus+ and Helene. The dinner menu is:

• Fish that Helene is bringing
• Sourdough bread
• Caesar salad
• Red and White wine
• Croatian cookies for dessert

But before that can happen, I have to get checked in, which turns out to be around 2:30 – after declining to have them fix a broken light in the kitchen. I think I can suffer.

And oh how I suffer at The Canadian…

Helene arrived around 5, Solus+ around six…alas, none of the dinner picture turned out…might have been the wine…

A late night, and a late morning of sleeping in…did a 3-egg fish scramble with cheese for my breakfast this morning, before settling into getting caught up on the blog… and by 3 it was time for another run to Relish for their oyster happy hour from 3-6PM with oysters at a “buck-a-shuck” – paired nicely with a Beefeater slightly dirty martini in honor of Pucci:

I ended up having a dozen of those “buck-a-shucks”.

Back to the IGA for a little more fish – Helene brought more than enough, but not quite enough for two meals – more salad and a little more for the pupu platter that BamBam always devours….

Croatian chocolate cookies on the left, sliced up heirloom sweet peppers that were on sale at the IGA for .99 a pound.

The boys (Hummingbird and BamBam) got there a little after 6, and with no word from Epick since I emailed him yesterday, finally a text response that he wasn’t coming….would have been nice to know, might not have bought more fish.

But a good dinner it was:

With leftovers for the boys to take home.

Their big news is that they finally, after seven years, have settled with the insurance company over their house fire. The money is in the bank, and they’ve found a place that they want to put an offer on in the city, in a neighborhood that I really like (as does Helene), so I’m wishing them the best of luck.

Another relaxing morning capped with another 3-egg omelet (no fish this time – sent it home with the boys for the cats). Checked out a little after 10:30AM, waited a few minutes trying to flag down a cab and finally just decided to save the $10+ and walk back down the hill to the cruise terminal – at least it wasn’t raining!

This is one of my favorite oddities on Hornby – it’s actually the bottom floor of what is now the Vancouver Art Gallery, but obviously in the past it was a police station…

Showing up at 11am seems to be the thing to do…unless you are on the Holland America boat that isn’t boarding until 1PM since they had a little norovirus outbreak. The downside of the Vancouver Cruise Terminal is that everyone, no matter how many boats are in dock, are all shoved through the same security line….meaning to Elite Line. At least past security – where they always notice my bottle of wine and direct me to the registration table – which I’ve started ignoring since no one seems to notice – there were dedicated lines for Preferred Passengers.

And a waiting area with coffee and pastries — too bad my Cruise Card is still showing Platinum (Silver) rather than Elite (Black) …I hate to start my cruise by bitching someone out, but I want my free mini-bar setup and I’ve got shirts that need laundered and starched.

[? ? ?]

I didn’t put in a time call for a cab – something I usually do, especially if I have an early flight. With a cruise where I have until 3PM to get my ass on the boat, I could wait a few minutes for a cab.

Assuming I could get them to pick up the phone. Yellow Cab … “please stay on the line for the next available agent”….5 minutes later, Orange Cab, “please stay on the line for the next available agent”… 5 minutes later. Uber. Car is ten minutes away. I’d never used Uber before but I had it on my phone with a $30 credit towards the first ride. If you aren’t already signed up for Uber – use promo code 7eo06 and get your own $30 credit (and I get a free ride too!).

Honestly is was closer to fifteen minutes, but only because the computer said I was 2 blocks further up Rose Street – but the driver has your number so it was soon fixed. When you can’t even get a taxi company to ANSWER THE PHONE no wonder Uber, Lyft and all the other services are eating cabs lunch and dinner. Cost for my ride in a private car with a former Metro Access driver?

FARE BREAKDOWN

Base Fare                     1.35

Distance                     12.98

Time                         4.90

Subtotal                    $19.23

Safe Rides Fee (?)                 $1.00

City of Seattle accessibility and admin fee     $0.20

Free trip up to $30 from James             -$20.43

CHARGED

Personal •••• 2459                 $0.00

Yes, I left money on the table, but the ease of setting this up was AMAZING. And I got to the terminal in time to have lunch in the dining room (rather than the buffet) which was off limits to most other travelers if they were preferred early boarders or showed up after 12:30. Many of my Princess SeaMen (a group of gay frequent cruisers on Princess) were turned away. Of course they got there later because they’d been on the cruise the day before, on the same route, and caught a shuttle back from Vancouver to catch this one.

Boarding was the SMOOTHEST that I’ve ever had…maybe showing up a little after 11AM is a good plan. Preferred Lines for security and check-in, and almost instant boarding of the Golden Princess. I’m on this cruise to get my Elite Status on Princess. Since I’m going solo, I actually get 2 cruise credits for this trip – meaning my 14^th and 15^th cruise by their bookkeeping (not counting the 3 that I added that weren’t in their records). Dancing Bear (DB) completed his 14^th and 15^th on yesterday’s cruise so we’ll have to see how quick they are at getting status levels updated. This is, of course, a concern to me because my 16^th cruise where more benefits kick in is this coming Wednesday after a couple of days in Vancouver.

Since it is just an overnight cruise, I opted for an interior cabin ($173.00 total — $118 for the cruise, $55 for taxes/fees/port expenses) rather than my usual balcony cabin – DB got upgraded from inside to balcony on his, lucky bugger.

Good food at lunch, though with my 10AM breakfast I was less than hungry which didn’t stop me from the Shrimp Salad (so awesome, no photo, got eaten too quickly) and the beef tenderloin followed by a sherry trifle:

I’m not sure I’d really call a Jello-based dessert a “trifle“. Others at the table had the Salmon and the Burger:

Even the appetizers were tasty and beautiful:

Speaking of DB, met up with him after lunch….

And a tour of his cabin…nice view:

I even grabbed some little desserty things from the International Café in the atrium:

And a cocktail for myself from the minis I’d brought on board in the toiletries….DB is on the all drinks included for $49 (+15%) a day plan. They wouldn’t make a dime if Swanda were on this boat, but he does tip well.

At 3:30 was the mandatory lifeboat drill – and a twist is that you no longer have to bring your life vest if you’ve done the drill before – gone is the sea of orange vest wearing people. As for me, I brought a cocktail instead of the life jacket – and plopped on the floor rather than stood:

Sail away at 5, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, BiSexual, Transgender) Meet-up at 5:30 in the Wheelhouse Lounge. It used to be called the “Friends of Dorothy“, think Wizard of Oz, sort of like the “Friends of Bill W.” for the folks in recovery. I miss the name, but the younger generation is sort of clueless about the FOD term.

A crowd of 20+ showed up. Men, Women, mostly around my age, mostly white. A couple of out-layers, older black gentleman, youngest Eastern European boy (Anthony).

After hanging out for a couple of hours, the consensus with crowd that I’d been on other cruises with was that it was time for a swim in the Lotus Spa pool (with adjoining wet and dry saunas), followed by an 8:30 dinner. With free drink coupons and refilling from the room which now had a full bottle of Maker’s Mark in it from duty-free (a perk of being on a one-day cruise is you get your liquor the minute you purchase it), luckily there are no pictures from dinner – where I added a bottle of wine to the meal since I have a $50 room credit I need to use up and Mick picked up the cost of the Maker’s (for which I still owe him). Shared the wine with one of the others at our 9 person table. And a noisy table it was.

Lovely sunset off the railing….

One of the joys of cruising….

Up until 2AM,and need to be out of the cabin at 8AM, then breakfast on the Lido Deck, and then taking a nap until my 9:30 disembarkation time….

Customs was a snap…hand them the form…and then the hell of two 5,000 person boats being in dock at the same time. This was the cab line:

That’s about ten switchbacks – I gave up after five minutes and decided to walk the 12-15 blocks to the WorldMark at The Canadian – even in the drizzle I got there in 20 minutes at which point I would have only been a third of the way thru the cab line.

Next up, two days in Vancouver, BC.

[? ? ?]

Skipped breakfast – or shall I say, I had coffee and the cheesecake left over from yesterday’s lunch. It felt better to sleep than eat a heavy breakfast.

I’m here to report that at least when we are in cell phone range, the wi-fi in the Parlour Car seems to be keeping up with everyone. Occasionally I can get a couple of bars in our downstairs room one car back.

Here is a little scenery from said Parlour Car:

And from the wine tasting that oddly enough started during our half hour layover in Portland…

Though as you can tell, we were moving again by the time I took this shot. Speaking of the Portland station – I’ve never had to walk so far to get to the Metropolitan Lounge (for sleeping car passengers) as I did this time – we were on the second to the last tracks away from the station so had to walk the length of the train to cross over:

We were about a half an hour early into Seattle, meaning that by 9PM I was home after catching a cab to Mags house where my car was parked.

Gone for a week? Look at the mail:

And what went into the recycle bin:

Had to make a taco truck run as the early dinner on the train was fading fast.

[? ? ?] we will see how much I’ve gained after 6 days of being fed three squares

Too much puttering around that with nasty traffic I was over half an hour behind schedule.

And more ugly traffic trying to get to the Cruise Ship terminal. Oh well, we don’t sail until 3:30.

Magnatrious clocked our time getting through the check-in process to actually getting on-board – 1.5 hours. Maybe I should start skipping getting on-board in time for an appropriately-time lunch. No crowds getting on the boat at 2pm.

A quick burger for lunch – it was the shortest line, then the it was the 3:15 safety drill with the wonderful Benjamin – a shy member of the orchestra:

Never did find out what instrument. Then we were back to the cabin for some relaxing:

Until the deck got too hot and I had to strip down to the Speedos for cocktail time:

An early dinner at 6 as the LGBT Gathering is in the Wheelhouse Lounge at 7:

Prime rib for me, peppercorn medallions for Mags.

And off to the Wheel House we go – no time for dessert. Wow – a one night cruise and 40 guys in the bar – and apparently another 20 missing.

Too cold for Movies Under The Stars – even with the provided blankets – I don’t like Star Trek THAT much.

I can’t believe later we both ordered room service (Club and a Croque Menou) AND did a brief drive by of the buffet before bed.

This will be the last day of that sort of behavior for me.

{203.1]

Let me start by saying – this was a QUICK trip. Just two nights in the Caribbean, plus a day of travel on each end. But it is my friend Anne’s 45th birthday, and I could find some frequent flier mile flights…. Here is the itinerary:

That would be the Sunday night (after work) red-eye Seattle to Miami, then the morning flight to St. Martin – the return flight is an early morning (7:30am) from St. Martin to Miami, Miami to Tampa, Tampa to Dallas, and then Dallas to Seattle. The return routing was to maximize the number of First Class legs (two, rather than one). 47,500 miles and about $80 in fees using my Alaska Airlines miles to book all these American Airlines flights.

Flights down were good – I’d packed “refreshments” and had the middle seat open on both legs (a modern miracle these days!):

Yes, someone finally did show up for the window seat and then bitched about “so many rules” – she needed to put her bags up above since she was in the bulkhead – and she was the last person on the plane. Thank god she slept the entire flight. No food service, and only two drink runs – but I’d bulked up in the Alaska Board Room in Seattle that closed just about the time I needed to head to the gate.

And my three hour flight to St. Martin (French Side, Sint Maarteen – Dutch Side) after a most unsatisfactory quick Nathan’s Hot Dog with sauerkraut for breakfast (bottom of the bun was hard as a rock). Luckily, when I arrived in St. Martin this is what awaited me in the lobby…

Maybe I should have gone for the Subway that was next door…a quick small burger and time to grab a cab to the condo that the girls just checked into. Mindi (who flew in from Dublin, Ireland) doesn’t know I’m coming. Side note – Sint Maarten has that Caribbean/Mexico feel – but being a Dutch protectorate (the side I’m staying on) there is great signage, and even a taxi zone rate chart that the cab drivers association publishes.

Nothing like showing up at the door with a “booze delivery”. Here is the place we are staying:

Although, if you do a 180 degree shot behind you…you see this…

Yes, that would be the jet I arrived on headed back to Miami. The terminal is on the other side of the runway – but the place is really quite, with all the condos blocking the noise on the beach just outside the back door…

And the inside of the place is nice as well – and the couch look comfortable, which is good because that’s where I’m bunking for the next two nights:

Upstairs there are two bedrooms and two baths, with a half bath on the main level – sweet place.

And we have a fabulous deck with a BBQ! Hello cooking in!

But before we can BBQ, we have to hit the road (thanks Anne for renting a car!) to get the girls lunch (weirdly enough, at a different Burger King) and pick up groceries for the condo:

Several hundred dollars later we have food, mixers, rum, coconut syrup – all the things for a perfect vacation….but first, some ocean time – and the girls afterwards….

This is Anne’s 45^th birthday ramble – having just finished 10 years at Amazon she has 2 months off to recharge – she bought my condo in Cabo San Lucas so she will have another week sometime before the end of the year. I like the condo, but it was too far from the grocery stores, and the kitchen too small to cook all the things I like on holiday. And it was a full floating week, Saturday to Saturday, which with my work schedule that would mean taking two weekends off (annoying my business partner).

Speaking of condo cooking…. Our dinner:

That would be a couple of racks of ribs off the grill – a nice salad, some asparagus, and, of course, mas vino tinto. Opps, that was Spanish, not Dutch.

Day Two on the island is a circular road trip of the island to Phillipsburg and around the island through Marigot and back home.

Here are some photos of our adventure:

And lunch at a fabulous outdoor café on the beach:

Guess we can’t do a Naked Lunch…but the lunch we did get was wonderful. Mindi has the goat cheese salad…

I went for the conch stew which came with some fried plantains, a little salad and some dirty rice….

Anne went for the half chicken, which also came with the plantains a little salad and a scalloped potato dish…

No cheap, but yummy. Iguana was on the menu as well – but I couldn’t help thinking about Josh’s Igauna. But they are plentiful on the island….

Marigot is famous for its traffic jams – at all times of the day, but today wasn’t too bad:

And yes, this is the main “highway” through town.

Back to the condo for our late afternoon lounging around in an out of the water. We came to the conclusion that we really needed a house boy to refill our drinks without having to get out of the ocean. Here is the cocktail view:

And some silly selfies….

Our place even comes with Beach Dogs…Dora and Bruno (Dora pictured):

On our circle tour we picked up some steaks for dinner – moved the BBQ around to get better lighting on it – yummy.

Great food, great company, but I have an early flight (7:30am) in the morning for my four leg flight home.

As for my airport breakfast – MUCH better than my Nathan’s Dog in Miami on the way down:

That’s a REAL breakfast, including salad and hot sauce.

Sint Maarteen to Miami on time, Maimi to Tampa on time, both in Coach. Starting with Tampa to Dallas I’m in First for the rest of the way home – as you can tell from this photo….

And a decent snack:

Got to Dallas for my long layover – the other ones were less than an hour and a half – which in Miami included time for me to get through customs. Thank goodness for Global Entry – a machine rather than a line. Easy Peasy. Luckily in Dallas I have access to the Delta Sky Club which is located in the same terminal as Alaska who I’m flying home.

And my office in the lounge:

Two different soups, salads, vegies/dips, free drinks, not bad.

Oddly, no pictures of my seat, the food, the drink on the last leg (Dallas to Seattle) – I think tiredness is catching up with me, but I did find a final silly selfie on my phone, from one of the legs of my trip:

Bathroom mirror shot.

Home before midnight….barely.

[225.0]

Birthday time in Berkeley, California, just not mine. The birthday boy is Lunetta – who is turning an unspecified age. But first, I have to get there, and it’s a morning flight, so this is what I look like in my favorite seat, 1C:

But they wake me up with food – it’s an hour and a half, so it’s the fruit/cheese/cracker plate (with a Seattle Chocolate):

And finally awake by the time I’m at the Oakland airport….

I should have stepped further down to be under the Alaska sign – as that’s my airline of choice.

Lots of plans this trip. Booze shopping (maximum per checked bag is 5 liters, all of which must be under 120 proof), dropping off my passport at the Vietnamese Embassy for a visa for my January trip to visit Sean, and, of course, cooking the birthday boy a birthday dinner of braised lamb shank.

Here is my adventure in pictures….

After a lovely welcome dinner (scallops and a citrus salad prepared by the boys), it was time to get out of bed and get to the Embassy to stand in line, but first I have to get there. BART to the Civic Center exit:

But when I got there – a police involved shooting that shut down many intersections (and most of the Civic Center BART exits):

Walked a handful of block to where traffic was moving and hailed a cab – when I mentioned 1800 California, I’m going to the Vietnamese Embassy – he corrected me, “That is 1700 California, I’m Vietnamese – when are you going?” The Embassy’s Visa Section is on the 8^th floor of a random medical building:

But since I was early (they have a LONG lunch from Noon to 2:30), I popped across the street for a Vietnamese snack (Summer Rolls) from Whole Foods:

I was third in line when the Visa Section opened….

Took less than 15 minutes….and $100 – maybe I should have just showed up at SGN (Ho Chi Min airport, though the code is left over from Saigon) with the “invitation letter” and paid the $46 – oh well, less time at the airport in January.

An amusing truck in front of the embassy – modified with tape…

So much for the Budget brand.

This morning in a moment of clarity I emailed my buddy Moody to see if he was around since he hadn’t been answering text messages – he was, so after I was done at the embassy, I started the zig-zag walk to the Union Square area where he goes to school. It has been years since I’ve walked around San Francisco as a tourist, especially in The Tenderloin. Here are some of my favorite photos:

That would be a bad deal on their part for me as a customer…

Love these old neon signs around The Tenderloin:

And who can’t resist an amusing Chinese restaurant name…

That’s how I like them, Hung Phat. It actually looks like it’s permanently closed with someone living in the space.

Hooked up with Moody at the Powell BART station for the ride to Berkeley for dinner with the boys. It’s good to see him again – last time was in July – way too long!

Tonight’s dinner was BBQ’d Chicken Breasts with a lovely salad.

Wish he could have stayed the night, but it’s a school night for him – damn higher education!

Morning with strata (and egg dish) and a shot of my work desk in Berkeley:

Life is hard on the road (#lifeishard, #unclemarkie, #ontheroadagain) and the birthday dinner is no exception. I did a shopping run of BevMo and the Berkeley Bowl (dangerous place) to get the supplies for the Birthday Meal of Braised Lamb Shanks….first you braise:

Then you boil:

Then you plate:

Then you eat:

My trip ended with a SERIOUSLY early from back from Oakland – at least I was in First coming and now going – easier for me to sleep, especially with a couple of Red Barons (Champagne & Cranberry Juice, also known as a Poinsettia) in me. Odd thing is what I was travelling with – a BBQ that I bought at BevMo because it was $9.95 (plus tax), and a couple of pounds of rabbit meat:

Landed at a little after 11am, so that I could have a quick nap before reporting to the shop at 1:30.

[217.8]

Before I get to the really, really late birthday dinner, I have news from the island. The potting shed now has hot and cold running water — the only joint that leaked when we charged up the system was a compression fitting on the water heater — and that had a shut-off value so it was easy to redo. Congratulations MoonSong — all those sweated fittings and not a single leak! Hopefully I’ll post the picture in a day or two (on this post) of what the final plumbing looks like. Not only did we get the water meter moved 6-9″, we got it’s casing back in, and one wall of the footing form installed. This is going to be GREAT!

Now, the downside of all this work is that I had a seven o’clock dinner with Helene from MSFT at the Brooklyn. The ferries off the island are 11am and 4pm — with nothing in between (but stuff before and after). Got the 4pm off the island, changed out of my muddy work clothes at the rest area (and into my nice “symphony/opera” clothes) and made it to the Brooklyn fifteen minutes early. Now that is timing!

The headline of today’s entry mentions a year and a half late birthday dinner. This was the birthday dinner celebration for my 50th birthday. I’m 51.4 at this point. And Helene still owes me another for the trip to Canada when she became a landed resident — though I’m not sure I helped, probably hurt.

Rest of the week is hectic with job searches, and the the Kinsey Sicks tomorrow with ex-Councilman Curt in Tacoma. Friday is meeting with the Head of Development for the Evergreen Foundation for lunch and a review of my scholarship and outreach efforts, then poker in the evening with the crew. Saturday is caucuses for the Democrats which means back on the island by 1pm. And Sunday is a brunch on Vashon — looks like Lopez is going to be an coming and going in one day.

What started out as a calm morning… with Raf and his girlfriend showing up to paint, at noon turned a little crazy.

As I’m trying  to pack to leave at one, a knock comes on the door from the neighbor — over spray on their cars. Shit. At least Raf was there to deal with his mess before Jeremy got home to discover his pride and joy with over spray on it. Maybe I should give him the cover to my Jag.

Finished packing with Raf cleaning up the mess, or so I hope. I’ll need to drop MaryAnn a note on my return. Oy Vey. Just what I need.

Left on schedule for the airport and by 1:30 was sipping a drink in the Board Room. And worrying. Detailing for two cars… let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Three drinks later it’s off to the North Concourse. Alaska Airlines has outgrown it’s space in C and D terminals and is now encroaching on United’s N Terminal.

Flight left a couple of minutes early — and could have been more than that considering we started boarding 45 minutes prior and it’s only a 737-700.

My seatmate in 1A was travelling with a baby less than a year old — she looked relieved when I pulled out my Bose noise cancelling headphones, though in general the kid (Nash, as in the automobile) was a pretty good flier. I’ve had worse adults next to me.

Flight landed on time (amazing with the head winds) and by 6 I was at Mark and Onyx’s place unpacking dinner. Yes, I packed dinner in my carryon:

• two containers filled with shrimp stuffed with crab rolled in Procuitto (6 each)
• one container of croutons
• one container with seven baby orange bell peppers (which I then stuffed with goat cheese and broiled with the seafood bombs)
• one bag of romaine hearts, 3 heads, two for tonight, one for tomorrow

From Mark and Onyx came the salad dressing from my last visit, and cocktails (scotch for the Marx and Devon when he arrived, pomegranate margarita for Onyx and the girls, Birthday Alicia and Devon’s daughter Maggie). From Alicia and Devon, a couple of bottles of red wine.

The only thing missing? A picture of the before and after:

• in the container
• on the broiler pan
• done
• served

Oh well. It was a stunning dinner. Not bad for a 50th birthday dinner. The birthday guests left around 10 to head back over the bay, and Mark and I chatted away until well past midnight. Onyx had the sense to go to bed at a more normal time.

Happy Birthday, Alicia.

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Before I go into lunch details — I’ve been meaning to talk money. As in the Exchange Rate.

Here is what my dollar is worth to the Euro:

Here is that my dollar is worth to the Pound:

And my British friends have been complaining about how close the Euro and the Pound are in worth — the Pound used to have a premium::

As for me — it is one of the best exchange rates for the Dollar/Pound and the worst for the Dollar/Euro. Thank goodness my I’ve got free lodging and only one intra-Europe flight to pay for.

Now as for that stunning birthday lunch, it was at Tanners Restaurant.

Three birthday boys, one whose birthday it is today (Nigel). Mine was Monday, Mark’s is next week.

And what a birthday lunch — the prix fix menu I chose was the mackerel salad for a starter and the plaice for the main — and I was so stuffed that I declined the dessert (or pudding as they say here). A couple of nice bottles of white and I was ready for a nap!

Tonight we are having the chicken roasted with some other sides, but with the huge lunch I’m less than hungry — no clubbing for me tonight.

Back to Dublin tomorrow afternoon.

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Another weekday, another trip – this one to the Bay Area to visit Mark and Onyx, and celebrate my 61^st birthday!

It’s always lots of luggage when I visit – bringing wine to the boys. A lot of stuff for three nights!

Another early morning flight….

And no upgrade to first…

But plenty of room in the overhead!

Onyx was a saint (a hungry saint) and stopped at a small burger stand on the way home.

Pretty good stuff (even if the staff is a little surly).

Got settled in and took a nap before getting rousted for a dinner of take-out Ethiopian which, for some reason, I don’t have a picture of, even though the boys had company over – must have been having too much fun.

Was up late (Mark [the other one] was up until 4am working), so slept late. Hit BevMo in the afternoon for bourbon, rye, and ginger – because at 6pm we are due at Rosenblum Cellars on the Oakland waterfront for the start of my birthday (61) evening:

Devon is a member so the first flight is on the house….

A good time was had!

Even the hipsters who are playing Giant Zynga on the lawn:

We had some little nibbles, but it was off to dinner at Marica, starting with a Beefeater Martini in honor of Pucci:

It was a fine meal…. with free mussels for the birthday party!

Followed by swordfish for several of us:

Meatballs for Devon:

Salad and Calamari for Mark (I thought about those, almost wish I’d ordered them):

A damn fine birthday meal!

Friday was a laid-back day, I took BART into town to hook up with Rache who as on a day trip to the Brazilian embassy for our upcoming trip to Uruguay in November.

Takes about 15 minutes to walk to the station, and 20-30 minutes later, you are in downtown San Francisco. I found Rache in the Ghirardelli chocolate shop having a coffee:

We headed out for an afternoon of drinking, starting at The House of Shields:

Next up is the Pied Piper (which didn’t open until 4pm):

The Pied Piper is the home of this WONDERFUL mural by Maxfield Parish:

Just the three of us having scallops and Brussel sprouts as our dinner.

All the fun came to an end with an early Saturday morning run to the Oakland Airport for my return home. Had enough time for a real breakfast at Chili’s…

Which, as it turns out, sadly I wouldn’t need when I heard my name called:

But really, all I wanted was a place to sleep, not a huge breakfast burrito and a fruit place (though it looked REALLY good).

Next week is Kansas City, and the completion of my quest for Alaska MVP Gold 75K!

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Yesterday was another “train day” – not on the train but dealing with Amtrak.

As it turn out, the routing that I proposed in my earlier post, while a valid “routing”, isn’t a valid “redemption”. Seems that ALL LEGS of the journey must be within a single zone.

The route in question was Denver to New Orleans (for my birthday ramble this year) via Chicago (California Zephyr) and Washington, DC (Capital Limited connecting to The Crescent):

After a longer than usual chat with a couple of Guest Rewards folks (who, in turn, had to check with their supervisors) the above routing would be a two zone (three nights) ticket. To get from Denver to New Orleans using only one zone, the trip would look like this and only be for two nights using the California Zephyr and The City of New Orleans:

That said, if you really wanted to maximize a two-zone (four nights), this, believe it or not, is a legal routing:

But there are other legal routings that would work:

The green line at the top would be the Empire Builder, the blue in the middle would be the California Zephyr and the purple at the bottom would be the Sunset Limited.

Bottom line – my September Birthday Ramble will be two nights in Denver, two nights on the train, five nights in New Orleans.

In other train news – realized that it was Double Points time (they do one in the shoulder season of fall as well). That promotion is good until May 16^th – AND I have a $75 Coupon I need to use for Amtrak travel before October 11, 2015. The coupon is from the snarky letter I wrote about being forced out of my sleeper and onto a bus between Portland and Eugene on my way to Denver last fall. You can see that blog post here:

• Part One (with the bounced part of the trip)
• Part Two
• Part Three

The bottom line was I got a $75 Guest Certificate for the hassle of have to pack up my room, get on a bus, and then set the room up again a couple of hours later. Not terribly happy at the time, but feeling better about it now that I just booked a trip using $74.80 of the $75.00 – the station agent (stopped in when I took Solus+ to catch the train yesterday) asked, “Do you mind eating the 20 cents?” It might have been amusing to get a 20 cent certificate, but I said I was happy just eating it. And the seats are in Business Class (free newspapers and a $3.00 off coupon for some food/booze).

The trip? Olympia to Portland (I’m in Olympia the previous night for an Evergreen event), spend a couple of hours at Powell’s Books or eating oysters at Jakes, then back on the train to Olympia to grab the car and go back to Roxy’s for another sleepover. Nothing like a free trip! AND 300 Amtrak Guest Rewards points.

Well, that’s my Amtrak news for today. Next post will be the much delayed Spring Break Three post.

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