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Category: driving
“In the cherry blossom’s shade there’s no such thing as a stranger.” — Kobayashi Issa
4/10/2013 – 4/14/2013 Miles MPG Average Speed 1810 48 60 A Note About Mileage: I ran a little experiment on this trip. Usually I drive a bit over the speed limit – so around 74 MPH on the 70 MPH stretches of the interstate where traffic is light.
This time I set the cruise control at 65 MPH from Orlando to Savannah – and averaged 53.8 MPG for that stretch.
Driving listening:
4/10/2013 – 4/14/2013 Priceline Retail $ Savings % Savings Inn At Mulberry Grove (2.5-star Savannah) $46.11
$34 bid* * * Sheraton Reston (3.5-star) $43.88
$36 bid + $10 bonus cash$138.88
$124 base rate$95 68% * I’m not counting any savings for the Inn at Mulberry Grove. As I describe below, the hotel was so bad that I can’t view it as a bargain.
Dining
Panera J. Christopher’s Luke’s Lobster
Wednesday
Wednesday was a travel day – I left town after work to drive part of the way to DC, planning to stop in Savannah for the night and have a shorter drive on Thursday.
So normally I wouldn’t even right anything about Wednesday, but I had dining and hotel experiences so bizarre and unacceptable, that I decided to relate them. If you don’t want to read my complaints, just skip to Thursday.
After a while, I looked at the time and saw that it was 7:27, so I pulled out my receipt and checked it. When I saw the time on the receipt was 7:01, I actually assumed their register was wrong. A few minutes later, I walked up to the pass where they were delivering the food and saw that they had an expediting screen that listed ticket numbers and how long they’d been waiting. My ticket was #13 and I’d been waiting thirty-seven minutes.
So I went back to my table and stood there for a bit, watching the pass. Food was coming out and no one else had been waiting as long as I had. I was more curious as to how this had happened and what would happen next at this point. When servers picked up food, they checked the screen – I assume to find which table a guest was sitting at – so I was really curious as to how no one had figured out that someone had waited thirty-seven minutes.
After a bit, I went back to the pass and took a picture of the screen, because I figured no one would ever believe that I’d waited forty-five minutes for food at a freakin’ Panera Bread, and went back to my table which was quite near the pass.
At this point, one of the servers saw me take the picture and I heard him point this out to the manager and tell him that I’d taken a picture of the screen.
Now, put yourself in this manager’s position. You’ve just been told that a customer in your store has been waiting for forty-five minutes and took a picture of the screen that proves that. What do you do?
A) Immediately go to the customer’s table and apologize for the wait, assuring them that they’ll receive their food shortly.
B) Send the guy who pointed it out to you, whose job is to drop off full plates and pick up empty plates, to apologize to the, probably irritated, customer.
If you chose B, then you’ve been to the same customer service school as this guy.
I thanked the server for telling me, assured him that I didn’t think it was his fault, and told him that I would like to speak to the manager. I watched as he returned to the pass and told the manager this.
Now, put yourself in this manager’s position. The customer who’s been waiting forty-five minutes for food as specifically asked to speak to you. What do you do?
A) Immediately go to the customer’s table and apologize.
B) Wait until the customer’s food is ready, deliver it yourself, and apologize.
C) Stay behind the pass and send the server to tell the customer you’ll refund his money, visit him soon, and his food will be out shortly.
Do I have to tell you? Yeah, C.
So a few minutes later (at the fifty-eight minute mark), the server brought my food. I thanked him for it and he told me the manager would be coming. So I ate my food.
When I had finished, I had still not spoken to the manager. I stood up – he was still working at the pass. I looked around and decided that $12.50 was not worth the time it would take me to walk over there, get his attention, and get the refund – especially when he had made it rather clear that what he was up to was far more important than dealing with me. So I left.
Once on the road, I called the store and asked to speak to a manager. The woman who had answered told me she was the manager and I became confused – I’d thought the guy at the pass was the manager. Maybe I had misjudged things.
I explained to her what had happened and found out that they had two managers working. I was … shocked. Two managers on duty and neither had bothered to come to my table? Wow.
She explained that she hadn’t known about the situation and the other manager was very busy, but she was sorry and would be happy to refund my money. I explained that after waiting an hour and facing a long drive, I had left because I didn’t want to spend more time on the issue.
So, next management training quiz. A customer has just called you, told you they waited an hour for food, had taken a picture of the expediting screen at forty-five minutes, asked to speak to the manager and then waited twenty minutes without getting to speak to one, and left rather than waiting for a refund because he had a long drive. Do you?
A) Apologize again and ask for his address so you can refund him via a gift card.
B) Say you can understand him not waiting and reiterate that you didn’t know about the situation and the other manager was very busy.
Just … wow.
So let me make it clear: I was more amused than angry at waiting an hour for my food. If the manager had showed up when it was pointed out to him and apologized, I’d have had a good laugh with him about it. I waited fifty-eight minutes for food at Panera Bread … come on, that’s funny!
But he didn’t know that. Most people would have been irate. A lot of people would have been spitting-pissed at that long a wait. And he sent some poor kid out to deal with that possibility.
Dealing with your store’s mistake is the job of the manager, not the kid picking up dishes. And with two managers on duty, there is no excuse whatsoever for one of them not to be dealing with the issue. Unacceptable.
Anyway, I got back on the road and headed for Savannah. I’d booked the hotel in Savannah only that morning – up until then I’d been trying to get a room somewhere in South Carolina for the night, but couldn’t find anything at my price point. I switched to Savannah, figuring I could get a pretty good deal near the airport again and wound up with something off I95 at Savannah North.
I arrived at the Inn at Mulberry Grove a bit before 11:00 PM and checked in. After 10:00 PM the front desk is behind protective glass, which did not give me a warm-fuzzy about the neighborhood – but they did have a young girl working the desk, apparently alone, so I can understand wanting to be safe.
Along with the keycard came the TV remote … I’ve never seen that before, but apparently it’s how they keep track of how many rooms they have left. Okay.
The first thing I noticed about the room was that it had an odor. Nothing really identifiable, but vaguely unpleasant. I was disappointed, but knew I’d get used to it in a few minutes, so not that big a deal – then I drew back the bedcovers and noticed some dark stains through the sheet, so I pulled that back too.
I can understand not being able to get juice stains out – but maybe put them at the foot of the bed? (I didn’t check that – afraid.) And, yeah, the yellow stains maybe mean it should be replaced. I checked the other bed, which half of it was okay, but the pillows …
Between two beds and six pillows, I did manage to find two pillows and half a bed that I wasn’t entirely uncomfortable spending the night with. Yes, I could have gone back to the front desk and complained. That would have taken time – at least half an hour. Go to office, explain, get new key, move bags, return old key and TV remote, etc. If I’d been staying multiple days, then I would have asked to be moved, but could live with it for one night, in favor of getting some sleep before my 6:00 AM wakeup. So I went to take a shower …
My first thought was that a previous guest, so despondent at the thought of sleeping in that bed, had slit his wrists in the tub and grasped the curtain with one bloody, claw-like hand in his final moments.
Then I stepped into the tub and realized that a far more plausible explanation was that a previous guest had simply slipped in the damn thing, split his head open on the side, and left that mark with his final, dying efforts to reach help.
Please note: I have no personal knowledge of death, by suicide or misadventure, at the Inn at Mulberry Place. I merely speculate with the available evidence.
Much as I speculate that the mirror frame in that room has not been cleaned since those damn Yankees sank the CSS Georgia near Old Fort Jackson.
There were a lot of other maintenance issues with the room – chipped paint, wall stains, etc – but these were the worst. I called the hotel Monday when I was home and also emailed them the photos. During the call the manager seemed to be more interested in making this about me not having asked for a change of room that night than addressing what is clearly a fundamental problem with maintenance at her property.
Even after I stated clearly that I wasn’t looking for a refund, she seemed intent on justifying not giving me one. I don’t care about a refund for one night in that hotel – I care that it’s represented as a 2.5-star on Priceline and clearly isn’t deserving of that rating. I care about the possibility of winding up in this hotel next time I go to Savannah. And I care about trying to bring these type of things to a hotel’s attention and being asked if, maybe, the pillow was yellow from bleach stains …
Now, I’m not a chemist, Miss Hotel Manager, but … oh, hell, never mind.
Thursday
By coincidence, my mother and step-father were in Savannah for the week, so I met them for breakfast early the next morning.
healthier; the tomato added the acidic bite that compliments the richness of the Hollandaise; and the bacon … well … it’s bacon. Bacon doesn’t need a reason. This was a really good dish, well-prepared with just the right amount of Hollandaise.
I also tried some of the blueberry-granola pancakes my mom ordered and they were good as well.
Back on the road, I made it to the DC area around 5:00. I was staying in Reston, VA and planning to take the train in to the city. Given the time, I went straight to the station at Dunn-Loring, one stop from the West end of the Orange line.
DC has a wonderful subway system. The trains are clean and comfortable, with padded seats; they run frequently and on-time; and you can virtually anywhere you want to go and be within a couple blocks of your destination when you leave the train.
Thirty-some minutes after getting on the train in Dunn-Loring, after changing to the Red line at Metro Center, I exited at Gallery Place – about 100’ from the entrance to the Verizon Center where the Capitals were about to play the Carolina Hurricanes.
Up I went. Past the 100-level, lower-bowl seats. Past the Club seats, where’d been in Raleigh for the Hurricanes home games there. Past the Skybox level. Past, in fact, everything – to the highest, cheapest seats available, above, even, the freakin’ Jumbotron itself.
The Jumbotron which, ten minutes into the game, displayed the bewildering statistic that the Capitals had managed to play ten minutes, at home, without a single shot on goal!
Not being a particular fan of either team, though, I was able to just enjoy the game and not worry about who won, although I do tend to root for the home team, just because.
After the game it was back to the subway and out to Virginia to get my car and head to the hotel – which the Sheraton was much, much nicer than the Inn at Mulberry Place and only $2 a night more.
Friday
I actually had a purpose other than vacation for this trip, so Friday morning was spent taking care of that, and I wound up getting into the city-proper around noon. I exited the subway at the Farragut West station near Farragut Square.
This is a congregating spot for food trucks and I was hungry for lunch.
Two sides of the Square were bumper-to-bumper with trucks serving food of all kinds. I went with a Korean truck and bulgogi two-ways, regular and spicy.
I chose double-salad instead of salad and kimchi. I’m willing to get a bit more adventurous with my food choices as I age, but I draw the line at recipes that involve burying your jar of cabbage in the ground. Maybe in my fifties.
The food was good. The spicy had both heat and flavor, but the heat wasn’t overwhelming. But after a few bites I was interrupted.
An older woman sat down next to me, mentioned that the food looked good, and asked me which truck I’d gotten it from. I told her and confirmed that it was good, but I could tell from her appearance that she was probably homeless.
We talked for a few minutes about Orlando – her asking if Disney had much different rides than when she’d been there years ago, me mentioning that Orlando had grown a lot and how ridiculous the ticket prices were now. I said that the food was pretty good, but a bit spicy for me, closed the container and put it on the bench beside me.
A few minutes more conversation and I checked the time, made my excuses, and left, leaving the food on the bench. When I looked back from the edge of the park she was eating it, which is pretty sad to think of in our nation’s capital.
I walked toward the Mall, detouring along the front of the White House to see who might be protesting.
There was only the guy who’s been there forever and one other group – so, politics aside, what’s really changed so much from the days when there were crowds of protesters in the park all the time and why aren’t they still there?
Once on the Mall, I walked through the World War II Memorial, headed along the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial. Most people don’t know that everything West of the Washington Monument was originally part of river and swamp – there was a wharf along Constitution Avenue.
They’re doing work on the Monument’s facings with some serious scaffolding.
Say what you will, you will never convince me that these are not the greatest speech ever given by a President.
From the Lincoln Memorial I went through the Vietnam Memorial and then over to the National Academy of Sciences.
The Einstein Memorial outside the NAS is so different from the others in DC, and, having just read a couple biographies of him, I think it would make him smile. The floor in front of him is set with metal buttons in a star map centered on Polaris.
The NAS doesn’t have a lot of exhibits and is as frequented as other places, but they do have some interesting things. Like a map of the technologies necessary to get to the VCR and an example of pre-RADAR aircraft detection.
I crossed the Mall to the Tidal Basin and headed along it toward the Jefferson Memorial. It was a nice walk underneath the cherry trees, which were still mostly in bloom.
I’m probably on a list somewhere for taking a picture of the helicopter …
Back to the Mall, where headed toward the Capital and stopped at the Hirshborn Museum – most of the Hirshborn is modern, but they do have Rodin’s Burgher’s of Callais properly displayed.
Some museums display each of the figures separately, but they’re meant to be together as a single piece.
From the Hirshborn, I went to
my Meccathe Air and Space Museum.That’s not a model … that thing went to the freakin’ Moon. Air and Space is one of the most awesome places in the world.
That’s the beginning of commercial space flight right there, which means it’s the beginning of real, serious travel into space and beyond.
From Air and Space I walked to L’Enfant Plaza and caught the Green line to the Navy Yard-Ballpark station for a Nationals game. I have never before been to a baseball game. I know … but I wasn’t a sports fan growing up and Orlando didn’t have a baseball team anyway.
I had a hot dog and Cracker Jacks because I was at a ballgame. No peanuts except the ones in the Cracker Jacks, though … which the prize in Cracker Jacks kind of sucks these days.
I learned that baseball is the exact opposite of hockey, but it’s interesting enough in a strategic-way for me to want to go to another game. Sitting somewhere other than the outfield, I think.
It definitely is more conducive to socializing than hockey, with the breaks spread out instead of long breaks between periods. And, from what I observed, there’s far more beer consumed … at least in the outfield.
I still think it would be more fun if the players were allowed to check.
Saturday
Back to the Mall early to go to the other Smithsonian buildings. There was a large crowd from the Cherry Blossom Festival going on.
I started in the Natural History Museum for the dinosaurs and the Hope Diamond.
From there I wandered around the Mall for a bit.
And then made a brief stop at the American History Museum to see the Philadelphia gunboat and the Star Spangled Banner. No photos of either due to exhibit restrictions, but worth the visit.
I don’t care much for the tune, but the Star Spangled Banner itself is moving. To fully understand the meaning of what Francis Scott Key wrote about it, you have to understand the context of the time – when lowering the colors (flag) meant surrender of either the ship or fort. For the flag to remain flying while the British ships withdrew meant something for a young country.
From there I had time to go through part of the National Gallery, certainly not all of it, before that night’s hockey game.
Sometimes at work I know just how this guy must feel …
The nice thing about art museums is that they typically have a lot of comfy seating, which makes for nice break. Even gangnam-style.
I got the “Taste of Maine”, which is a sampler consisting of half each lobster, shrimp, and crab rolls.
These are served “Maine-style”, with the bun toasted, just a bit of mayo on the bun, cold seafood, and a lemon butter drizzled over it. Simple and delicious. The crab was the best of the three, with the lobster a close second.
For dessert I had their Cherry Blossom Ice Cream Sandwich – cherry ice cream between chocolate chip cookies.
For entertainment while waiting for the Verizon Center to open for the game, there was these guys outside the Gallery Place subway.
And then another band showed up around the corner.
The Capitals have some odd fans, but I had a better seat for this game.
That’s “Crosby Sucks”, which is taking a rivalry with the Penguins a bit far, in my opinion.
A long way to drive to see Stamkos and the Lightning play, but that’s how it worked out.
After the game, it was back to the hotel for a few hours sleep and then the drive back to Orlando.
Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.–Sir Walter Raleigh
4/4/2013 – 4/7/2013 Miles MPG Average Speed Raleigh-Durham, NC 1416 44 56 
Driving listening:
4/4/2013 – 4/7/2013
Priceline Retail $ Savings % Savings Radisson Hotel Research Triangle Park (3.5 star) $51.96 (inc. tax & fees)
Bid: $41 + $10 bonus cash$108.11 (inc. tax) $56.15 52%
Thursday
It was raining at 4:00 AM when I rolled out of bed. Raining at 5:00 AM when I got in the car for the drive to Raleigh. And raining nine hours and six hundred miles later when I pulled into the hotel. A nasty, drizzly rain that came with a temperature drop to the low forties in North Carolina.
Yes, a disgustingly early start, but I had a ticket to the hockey game at 7:00 that night and didn’t want to be late.
I checked into the hotel and settled into the room for a brief rest before the game. I don’t usually say much about the hotels unless there’s a problem, so consider this foreshadowing.
The hotel’s older and used to be The Governor’s Inn, hence the suite next to my room.
I actually doubt that he stayed there, considering the rather nice house he has about twenty minutes away.
In the room I found the typical flyers and handouts waiting for me, along with a rather stern pamphlet warning me not to steal the towels and giving the price of virtually everything in the room should it turn up missing after checkout. Now, a lot of hotels have such a price list, but they typically phrase it as “if you wish to purchase”, not “housekeeping counts everything”.
So right from the start this left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s the hotel equivalent of showing your receipt on the way out of some retailers: “Thank you for shopping with us. Please prove you’re not a thieving bastard. Have a nice day!”
Anyway, I used the Urbanspoon app to find a random BBQ place and headed for Backyard Barbeque Pit. It was close and had really good reviews on Urbanspoon.
Now … here’s where I have to admit some culpability for my experience at the
restaurant: I was in North Carolina. I knew I was in North Carolina. I am not a stranger to BBQ in North Carolina. And … I ordered brisket in North Carolina.
I know, I know. North Carolina BBQ is about the pig, only about the pig, and all about the pig. But I ordered brisket.
So on a future trip, I feel that I owe Backyard Barbeque Pit a second visit, but for this visit I had the brisket. It came covered in gravy, which greatly confused me. Brisket shouldn’t come with gravy … brisket with gravy is … pot roast?
But, brisket or pot roast, it still wasn’t very good. Fatty and some pieces so veined with fat that hadn’t cooked out that it was chewy. The gravy, or sauce, was good neither as gravy nor sauce, but did manage to cover the meat and preclude me from getting any of the other sauces to stick. So not good.
The sweet potatoes were very good, though, and clearly homemade. I’m not sure if the beans were entirely homemade, but they didn’t taste of a can and were good as well. The hushpuppies, which were more what I’d call corn fritters, not as grainy and sweeter than what I’d call a hushpuppy, were very good.
It was still raining when I finished dinner and headed for the game at PNC Arena.
Carolina was playing Tampa and I am not a Tampa fan, so I was hoping to see the Lightning get trounced. Unfortunately, other than a first period goal disallowed for the Hurricane player kicking it (which I didn’t see a kick), it was all Tampa Bay.
It was raining when I left the game.
Friday
No rain or clouds in the morning, just a beautiful spring day.
After sleeping in a bit I headed for the North Carolina Museum of Art for the afternoon. Quite a few of the exhibits don’t allow photographs, so none of those.
The museum’s made up of two buildings. One (West) for their permanent collection and the other (East) for special exhibits. Most of the museum is free admission, but there’s a charge for some special exhibits – I sprang the $10 for the two that were currently there and started in the East Building.
The upstairs was mostly contemporary art, mostly an exhibit of pieces by two artists, a photographer and a painter. They each did normal, household still-lifes, but were exhibited alternating: a photograph and a painting next to each other.
What would have made this exhibit really interesting would be if they’d each done the same scenes and been displayed together. A photograph and a painting of the same thing would have been intriguing. But that wasn’t the case. Mostly I preferred the painter’s work.
There was an interesting video exhibit. I don’t normally care for video as art, but this was intriguing. It was five actors reacting emotionally – different emotions for each one – and it was sixty seconds of video slowed down to fifteen minutes. Bill Viola, Quintet of Remembrance. Most interesting if you see it from the beginning, not coming in halfway through.
From the beginning, the actors aren’t very expressive, so there’s a sense of discovery as they begin reacting and you realize that they’re each doing something very different. Pretty cool, all in all.
Last upstairs was a gallery of high school work. Framed and displayed with as much care as everything else. The assignment had been to create artwork based on a word or phrase, and some of the pieces were very well done – others were clearly high school, but some I would have been happy to see there on their own merits.
Quite unlike the first of the special exhibits, 0 to 60: The experience of time through contemporary art.
This is one I paid for. Schmuck.
So first is a piece where someone took several clocks, cut them into pieces and glued them back together. Meh, but not painful.
Next were two clocks, side-by-side, but showing different times. Okay, I said to myself, there could be something here, but I’m not sure what it is.
So I read the card and found that the clocks had been installed set to the same time, but went out of synch as the batteries wound down. It’s entitled Perfect Lovers. Ooookaaaayy … could have been something there … but … I shouldn’t have to read the damn thing to understand what the artist is getting at.
Now, next, was a board.
Wait, wait … it’s an unfinished 1”x4”, just like you get from Home Depot and, wait for it … the artist has cut out one of the knots and attached it to a clockwork motor so that the knot rotates like clock hands.
We’ll pause while you catch your breath from that one.
Next: Clock motor with a rotten banana peel attached.
No comment.
There was a hundred foot roll of paper with a line made out of hair down the middle.
An air compressor attached to about thirty feet of hose that inflated and deflated a paper bag attached to the end of the hose.
An artist who saved all of his receipts for a year and then duplicated them on to a roll of paper, by hand, with colored pencils. This was interesting … especially the checks he duplicated complete with MICR routing and account numbers … and signatures.
An exhibit that consisted of a letter from the artist stating that he intended to do a performance art piece consisting of punching a time clock in his studio every day and taking a picture of himself. And a letter from someone stating that he would sign the artists timecards to ensure there was no “cheating”. Along with the timecards and a timelapse video of the artist standing next to the time clock for a year.
Punching a time clock every day for a year is not art. It’s called a job. Get one.
My favorite, though, was the pile of candy. Big pile of cellophane wrapped candy in the corner. The “art” is interactive, in that the viewer decides whether or not to take a piece and staff refreshes the pile from the 175-pounds supplied by the artist.
Apparently there’s “art” at the cash register of every diner in America.
From there I went to the other special exhibit, Object of Devotion, which was a collection of 13th-14th century British alabaster. All religious works, so not thrilling to me, but I guaran-damn-tee that nothing in the other exhibit will be touring museums 800 years from now … so there.
Then over to the other building for the museum’s permanent collection, which spans virtually everything from African folk art to Egyptian to Classical Roman statutes (sans penii, thanks to time and chisel-wielding Popes) – all the way through 19th century painters. Something for everyone, really.
But mostly I was there to see the Rodins – one of the largest collections of Rodins in the country.
The Rodins took up the rest of the time I had for the museum. I left there and headed for the Duke University campus, stopping for dinner at another random BBQ place on the way.
Bullock’s does not take credit cards, but there’s an ATM in their lobby. The lobby walls are decorated with celebrity photos, all of whom seemed to have been happy with the food. The menu is huge – much larger than I’d
expected, including such BBQ classics as quesadillas. That made me a little hesitant, but the place was packed at 2:00 in the afternoon, so I stayed to give it a shot.
Bullock’s does not appear to engage in any pretense that BBQ means anything but pig. Specifically pulled pork. The menu doesn’t even say pulled pork, it just says “BBQ”. BBQ with other things, maybe, like BBQ with catfish, BBQ with Brunswick Stew … but, ultimately, the BBQ part all means the same thing.
There is “sliced BBQ”, if you don’t want pulled, and “ribs”, but it’s clear that the focus is on the pulled pork. I got the BBQ with Brunswick Stew, which came with coleslaw and hushpuppies.
There were no sauces on the table, so I asked if they had any when my food was served. Apparently Bullock’s believes that their BBQ is perfectly sauced as-served, and I got a “look” for my heresy. The server was still smiling and pleasant, but there was still a look … sort of like the look a Borgia Pope might give Martin Luther at a dinner party.
She did bring me a small bowl of a sweet, vinegar-based sauce, though.
The hushpuppies were very good and the Brunswick Stew was excellent, but the BBQ was possibly the best I’ve had since I started these trips. As-is it was flavorful and spicy, tender without being fatty. The sweet sauce was good, vinegar-based as well, and added a nice contrast, so I alternated between the two.
I asked for a desert recommendation and wound up with the “lemon icebox”. Homemade and delicious, it was a good end to the meal.
From dinner I headed onto the Duke University campus, a beautiful place, for a lacrosse game.
Lacrosse is much higher scoring than hockey and, as near as I can tell, the goalie is just there to take up space. Shots seemed to either miss the net entirely or score. Duke won handily, 17-6, and I froze my ass off on the aluminum stadium bench. 40-degrees in April.
Saturday
I started the morning on a sour note, because I discovered that the hotel had charged my credit card over $200. This was a prepaid, Priceline room, so there should have been only a $50 authorization for incidentals, if that. Instead there was a $150 authorization and one for $52.16.
I spoke to the front desk about it and apparently the hotel has a policy of charging $50 per day instead of the $50 per stay that most properties authorize. They couldn’t explain the $52.16 and said they have no record of it.
I then spoke to the manager, because even though this isn’t a charge, it’s quite a large authorization. I really didn’t like the justifications he tried to make. First, that some people smoke in the room … well, fine, but I can smoke in a room on one night just as well as three, so why a per night authorization?
Then he made a comment about prepaid guests and not having any recourse against them. Again, I can clean out everything in a room in one night just as easily as three. And it was another example, like the “don’t steal the towels”-note, of being asked to prove I’m not a thief. Not the experience I want from a hotel.
Around noon I arrived in downtown Raleigh. I’d scheduled a walking, tasting tour with Taste Carolina for the afternoon. While I was waiting for the tour meeting time, there was a Lebanese festival going on, so I watched some performances.
And some halawat el-jibim … I think. It was a sweet-cheese and semolina topped with pistachio.
Served cold, it was sweet, nutty, cheesy and chewy.
Also a sweet Arabian coffee – both very good, and I would have tried some other things from the food booths, but it was time to head for the Raleigh City Museum and meet the tasting tour.
The tour was several miles walking, with a little bit of history mixed in with stops at five different restaurants.
The first stop was Centro, a Mexican restaurant downtown. Like several other places on the tour, this is not a place I would have chosen for myself and, also like the other places, it’s someplace I’d now like to return to for a full dinner. 
Our tasting here was Chilaquiles Verdes … I have no idea what that is. It was a creamy sauce that started sweet and then became a little spicy, finishing with the rich taste of the beef. This dish was tied for my favorite of the tour and I heartily recommend it.
We also got an interesting drink – “hamicha”, I think it was called – a sweet, flowery tea made from hibiscus. I recommend that as well.
Gravy is an Italian place that served us the best gnocchi I’ve ever had. The individual pieces were larger than I expected and perfectly cooked. So often gnocchi can be gummy, but these little tidbits melted under the least pressure and
melded with the sauce beautifully.
The sauce was cream, garlic, spring onions, and spring artichokes, with a hint of parmesan on top. It was sweet and creamy, but the parmesan brought just the right amount of saltiness to each bite. Tied with Centro for my favorite dish of the tasting.
Gravy paired this with a really nice white wine from Italy that I don’t remember the name of.
PieBird sells pies. I like pie. The make both sweet and savory pies, but the tasting was all sweet.
I sat down and looked at the slice in front of me to find lemon icebox … which I’d
I’d just had a pretty good one at Bullock’s. But one of the other tourers suggested we cut each slice into bites and all try each kind, which went over well.
So we each wound up getting a bite or two of: lemon icebox, peanut butter cream, honey (local honey), something that was all nuts, and one that was made completely from sugar. All of them were good, but I think the sugar and honey ones were the best.
Tyler’s Tap Room is a lot about beer. I don’t care for beer at all … it seems like a waste of good grain. Things were on their way to becoming a perfectly good whiskey but went horribly awry … The tasting was in their bottle store, which sells
the regional brews they feature.
I tried the beers they had for us to sample, including one that they infused with other flavors. They take a featured beer and then enhance some of the flavors already present by running it through an infuser system – this week they featured one that they infused with chili, basil, lemongrass, lime, and ginger. We tasted both the before and after versions and I could understand what they were doing. The before-version definitely had the flavors they mentioned and the after-version was much bolder.
I still don’t like beer.
The food tasting was pretzel nachos and pork sliders, both of which were good renditions of typical American pub fare. My pork could have been pulled a little more, as there were a couple large chunks, but it was very tasty. The pretzels were fresh, hot, and tender, and the nacho cheese had just the right amount of heat.
The last stop on the tasting tour was Kimbap, a Korean restaurant almost across the street from Tyler’s. I liked Kimbap immediately, just because of their beverages – any place that goes out of their way to advertise soda with cane sugar instead of
corn syrup gets points from me right up front.
Our tasting here was some sesame greens (which I ate before the photo) and a shrimp fresh roll.
The greens were really good, with just the right amount of oil, which is why I ate them before taking the photo. The roll had a bit too much lettuce for me, but after I took a bit out it was quite good. The sauce wasn’t too spicy and added a lot of flavor.
Also on the tour, we saw the Governor’s Mansion. Nice place.
And a pair of racing Trolley Pubs.
As near as I can understand this, your group pays to rent the trolley, brings its own booze, and then has to pedal around town … drunks are weird.
After the tour, the operators provided rickshaws back to the starting point, with a rather interesting restaurant ad on the back.
From downtown I was back on my way to the PNC Arena for the second hockey game, this one against the Rangers. I got there a little after 5:00, almost two hours before the game, the parking lot was half full and the grassy areas were covered with awnings and grills.
For the Tampa game, the arena had been a sea of red and black, Carolina’s colors, but the crowd pulled out the blue for the Rangers.
There were so many Rangers fans that they managed several “Let’s go Rangers!” chants during the game – they were drowned out by “Let’s go ‘Canes!” after the first few verses, but they didn’t give up. The Rangers’ goals, and there were many of them, got as much applause as Carolina’s one goal did.
After the game I hurried back to my room to catch a few hours sleep before heading home at 5:00 AM, but the manager of the hotel had left a gift for me in the room.
A Weekend in the Garden of Good and Evil
3/28/2013 – 3/31/2013 Miles MPG Average Speed 665 43.5 52 
Driving listening:
3/28/2013 – 3/31/2013 Priceline Retail $ Savings % Savings Wingate By Wyndham Savannah Airport (2.5 stars) $50.27
$40 bid + $10 bonus cash$97.66 ($87.20) $47.39 54% Between the data on biddingfortravel.com and the Priceline Express deals for these dates, I determined there was little chance for a nice hotel on the river for what I’d be willing to pay. The Savannah Music Festival was running on weekends this month and the weather was beautiful, so a lot of people would be headed there.
So I started bidding for the airport at $36 ($46 with the $10 bonus cash). That bid was rejected, but I added zones and $2 twice, to be accepted at $40 ($50 with the bonus cash). There aren’t any free rebid zones for 2.5 star hotels in Savannah, so I could have wound up with a hotel in one of the new zones – and paying too much for it.
But the zones I was adding were on the river and in the city – so I’d still be pretty happy to get something for that price, even for a few dollars too much.
Dining
read my review 
read my review 
read my review 
read my review 
Thursday
Thursday was a travel day – I left work a little early for the 4.5-hour drive to Savannah. After checking into the hotel, I checked Urbanspoon and Google Maps for BBQ places and wound up at Shane’s Rib Shack.
This is clearly a new location in a brand new shopping center and employees were still being instructed on how to use the register and take orders when I arrived for dinner.
I got the combo platter with ribs and chopped chicken (apparently they’ve had some confusion about the chicken, because they were adamant I understand the chicken was chopped and “was I okay with that”). I picked baked beans and macaroni and cheese as my two sides, and the platter, somewhat inexplicably, also comes with two chicken fingers.
My receipt indicated a $0.25 upcharge for the mac-n-cheese, something I didn’t see on the menu board.
So my first impression of the food was that everything except the chicken fingers was cold – not just lukewarm, but cold. The chicken fingers were hot, though, which leads me to believe that the kitchen dropped them in the fryer, then dished everything else up and let it sit until they were ready. This is something they should address, because there’s really no reason for BBQ to be served cold.
The chicken fingers, aside from being hot, were also pretty good. Still not entirely sure why they were compulsory on my combo platter, though, and not something I’m particularly interested in at a BBQ restaurant. If I’d been after chicken fingers, I’d have just gone to the Zaxby’s next door and gotten better for less money.
The macaroni and cheese, looking past the temperature, was pretty good, with a strong cheese flavor. The beans, on the other hand, were nothing I couldn’t get out of a can … and an unheated can, at that, so … ew.
The ribs were good, even at room temperature. They were tender and meaty, with a sweet, sticky glaze that I wish had been represented in the selection of sauces on the table.
Saving the worst for last, the chicken was cold and dry. Now, keep in mind that I like dry chicken – more than being okay with it, I actually do like it. But this was too dry even for me. Maybe if it hadn’t been cold, too.
Friday
It’s a twenty-minute drive from the airport hotels to the Savannah riverfront. I arrived early enough that there was no trouble parking in the lots on River Street and spent some time enjoying the area before the crowds arrived, then headed for Huey’s on the River for breakfast.
Huey’s has several Eggs Benedict variations, and I almost went for the crab cake one, but decided on tomato, with the parmesan garlic grits recommended by the server.
That recommendation was good, as were the grits. I would have preferred a bit more more Hollandaise, as the end result after cutting into the eggs was a little yokey, but overall they were quite good. The tomato added a nice bite of acid to each bite that cut the richness of the sauce and yolk. And the dash of cayenne on top finished each bite with a kick.
I also got an order of their beignets with praline sauce. These would make a breakfast by themselves and should really be shared … I didn’t share.
I was back at Huey’s for breakfast Saturday, described below.
Savannah is still a working port, in fact one of the busiest ports in the US.
I spent the morning browsing the shops and listening to the buskers who’d arrived early to claim a spot on the riverwalk. At the end of the riverwalk I climbed the stairs up to Bay Street.
Bay Street has a different character than River Street. The riverwalk is all restaurants, bars, and tourist shops. Bay Street has a more gentile feel, with moss-covered trees and flowers.
The two streets share a row of two-story buildings, with the second floor fronting on Bay Street running along the river bluff and connected by bridges that span the Factor’s Walk below.
Bay Street has the antique shops and galleries. After a morning of browsing things that I really, really like and really, really can’t afford, I headed for the Georgia Railroad Museum a few miles away.
It’s fascinating to see not only the trains and cars, but a working roundhouse and turntable, as well as the blacksmith and mechanics shops that went into keeping a steam railroad running. All powered from a central steam engine by either piping steam to the work area or a spinning driveshaft and belts.
After the Railroad Museum, I headed for Old Fort Jackson. I learned that the Army Corps of Engineers will be deepening and widening the Savannah River channel to accommodate supertankers, and part of that entails raising the CSS Georgia ironclad from the Civil War.
Once raised and restored, the US Navy gets to decide which museum would get the artifacts, as the Georgia is still classified as a captured enemy vessel. My opinion is that there should be no question that the Georgia should be part of the Fort Jackson exhibits, as she belongs with the other sites that defended the Savannah River.
Tried a panorama shot of the river from the fort’s rampart.
For dinner I tried for BBQ again, hoping to find something better than Shane’s. Smokin’ Pig came up, but Google Maps navigation said I’d arrived at my destination with no BBQ place in site. I pulled into the first parking lot to check the address and see what had happened.
Well … since I was already in the parking lot …
Look, my rule is that if the Universe drops a perfectly good cupcake place in front of you, it’s rude not to get cupcakes. So I did.
Raspberry-almond and lemon-crème, which I had for desert Friday and Saturday. I also got directions to the Smokin’ Pig.
I’m not sure if they actually cook in their sign, but it does get attention. And as I walked through the door to come face-to-face with a shelf full of pig-shaped trophies, I figured I’d finally get some good BBQ.
I got the combo platter with ribs, brisket, Brunswick stew, and potato salad.
Everything except the potato salad was piping hot. The stew was flavorful and the corn kernels in it were still crunchy and sweet. The potato salad had big, tender chunks of potato.
The ribs were meaty and tender, but the winner was the brisket. Full of flavor, not to much salt, and tender enough to pull apart with a plastic fork. Of the BBQ I’ve had in Georgia so far, this is the one I’d go back for.
Saturday
For breakfast I was back at Huey’s for their French Toast with praline butter. This was an awesome dish – the praline butter with little chunks of pecan made for a wonderful flavor. But I have to wonder what they’re thinking to serve it with a single-serve, plastic cup, pull-tab lidded, serving of nasty Smucker’s corn-syrup.
The bolder flavor of a Grade B maple syrup would really compliment the praline. I cannot imagine that real maple syrup would increase their food costs all that much.
I had an interesting surprise when I parked Saturday. Apparently they don’t enforce the parking fees on weekends. Not only was it prominently posted, but when I tried to pay (because prominently posted apparently isn’t good enough for me to notice), the machine wouldn’t take my money.
Seems to me the city is missing out on some income by doing this and I’m not sure why they do. It would make sense to me for them to still charge, even if they don’t have staff to enforce it, and just not tell anyone.
After another walk along the river, I headed away from the waterfront into the city. I spent some time in the parks, watching birds and people.
I stopped by to tour the Jepson Center, part of the Telfair Museum. I was a little disappointed by this museum. They had a touring exhibit of 16th – 17th century Italian religious art, which was somewhat interesting, but not really my thing. Other than that, though, and a great silver collection, there wasn’t much in the building. Possibly they have more at their other buildings, but this was the main, largest, most modern of their locations.
The building has three floors, but there are no exhibits on the first floor. The second floor had part of a children’s exhibit and a small area of “digital art”. The third floor had the touring Italian exhibit and the silver, along with the rest of the children’s exhibit and a closed gallery.
My opinion is that this museum thinks a little too much of itself and not enough of the art. The building’s big and pretentious (and uncomfortably warm). They surely used all the wall space they could for the three story list of donors that winds up the central staircase. I paid to see art, not a list of names.
I’d made a lunch reservation for The Lady & Sons, Paula Deen’s restaurant. Well, a late lunch, as the only time I could get in was 3:00.
This isn’t the sort of food I’d normally be interested in, southern comfort, but I wanted to eat there at least once. The Lady & Sons is not fine-dining, the restaurant reflects the food, southern comfort. It has, possibly, the most friendly staff I’ve ever experienced.
I got the buffet, which consists of fried chicken, baked chicken, short ribs, and a variety of classic southern sides – most of which really aren’t my thing.
The fried chicken, even sitting in a buffet tray, had a crispy crust and was still very moist. The green beans were a bit salty for my preferences, but still good. The sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese were very good, and those, along with a second piece of fried chicken, sent me back to the buffet.
I also tried fried green tomatoes for the first time, these ordered off the menu.
These came with a sweet onion relish and a red pepper sauce. Pretty good and something I’ll have to try again when I haven’t already tucked in to two plates of fried chicken and sides.
I got a peach cobbler to-go for later that evening, and that ended my weekend. I headed back to the hotel for an early night and earlier morning to get on the road home.
I’d Drive an Hour to Avoid That–Denver Results
At first blush, flying seemed like the best choice. A 29-hour drive would have been excessive. But while the return flight was mostly okay, the results of the I’d Drive an Hour to Avoid That game on the flight to Denver were very close.
Flying Driving Actual Time 12 hours 29 hours Game Results 12 Totals 24 hours 29 hours Now, let’s look at the cash – because I like to feel I’ve received value for my time and money. We’ll compare the total costs of flying vs. driving for this trip, including the seat upgrades that kept flying from being a painful experience. Keeping in mind that the Prius’ driver’s seat has more legroom than even the “preferred” airline seating.
Flying Driving Ticket $280 Gas $350 Rental Car $59 Hotel (extra nights) $120 Rental Car Insurance $44 Seat Upgrades $108 Rental Car Gas $40 Total: $531 Total: $470 Flying actually cost me more when all was said and done. Even if I hadn’t upgraded my seats, the cost savings would have been under $100. So it really comes down to time versus comfort and flexibility.
Flying saved me two days of travel time, and a lot of the hassle of flying could have been avoided if I’d been willing to spend more ($150) for a direct flight out of Orlando to Denver.
On the other hand, I like driving to places. I like the process of the roadtrip, and the flexibility. So next time I go to Denver, which will not be in February, I’ll probably drive.
It’ll be a longer trip, but I’ll have options. Maybe I’ll stay overnight in Atlanta on one of the legs and see a show at Shakespeare Tavern. I’m sure there’s something worth seeing in Kansas or Missouri …
Rocky Mountain High
Priceline Retail $ Savings % Savings Delta – Melbourne to Colorado Springs $280
$230 bid
$50 tx&fee$339
$309 base
$30 tx&fee$59 17% Alamo Compact Car $14.64 / day $19.53 $4.89 25% Courtyard by Marriott (3-star) $42.20 / day $61.60 $19.40 31% (3-star)
$57.22 / day $87.69 $30.47 35% Didn’t drive this trip – wouldn’t mind driving to Colorado, but it would have meant an extra travel day on either end. The gas estimate was $310 – that would have been a wash with the flight and car rental, but I would have needed two extra hotel nights somewhere. So in this case, flying seemed the best choice.
I’ve been planning to go to Denver for some time to visit friends, but so much of my travel is last-minute that the flights have been too expensive.
My price-point was to get the flight, with taxes and fees, under $300, but with the lowest retail price for these dates being $309, I didn’t really expect my $230 bid to be accepted. Surprise.
I had some unused Priceline Bonus Cash available for both the hotel and car. So I bid $7 a day for the car, which the Bonus Cash added an extra $5 to. So, really, with taxes and fees, I got the car for the retail price less the Bonus Cash application. But even so I still saved $20 over the time I’ll have the car.
The Bonus Cash for the hotel was $10 a night, so my $34 winning bid was made $44. The savings for this trip aren’t as significant as some of the others, but it’s still a 3-star Courtyard for $42 a night real money. Considering the Motel 6 is probably advertising $39.95 plus tax, I think this was a pretty good deal.
The trip started with a drive from Orlando to Melbourne to catch the outgoing flight. All of the flights out of Orlando were $150+ more, so the hour drive to the Melbourne airport seemed worth it. It also gave me a basis for a new game I invented to play while flying somewhere: “I’d Drive an Hour to Avoid That”.
The rules of the game are simple. When you fly somewhere instead of driving, you add up all the things you’d gladly drive an hour to avoid and add that to the flight travel time … if the total is still less than the driving time, then you made the right decision in choosing to fly. Let’s play!
Starting parameters, door-to-door travel times: Air=12-hours, Car=29-hours.
I’m going to take a step back to the act of purchasing the plane ticket now, because it’s applicable to the game. $280 was a decent price. I’m happy with it. Of course, once you buy the ticket, it’s time to then buy the ticket again, by dealing with the a la carte items.
Yes, much like dining at a fine steakhouse, where the price you pay gets you a slab of beef and everything else is extra, the price of the ticket gets you a seat with lots of extras for you to ponder on. The difference, of course, being that the slab of beef is generally quite nice and well worth the price, while the basic seat on an aircraft is … not so much.
Yes, sir, thank you for being a valued customer, sir, here’s your ticket.
Will you be wanting to actually change clothing at your destination and need to check a bag, sir? There’s a slight charge for that, sir, but I’ll be happy to take your credit card now.
You’re absolutely right, sir, it’s a short trip and you can manage with just a carry-on. Now, sir, I see that you’re a
lower-classeconomy traveler and you’ll be boarding the aircraft in Zone 3.No, we don’t divide the actual aircraft into zones for boarding, just the passengers. First we’ll board those who
say theyneed special assistance, then First Class passengers, then all of our frequent flyers who’ve actually flown frequently, then Zone 1 passengers, Zone 2 passengers, and, finally,the dregs of the flying publicyou.But I’ll be happy to take your credit card now and upgrade you to preferred boarding, where you’ll be
at the top of the lower-classesboarding with Zone 1. Thank you, sir.Now, sir, I see that you’re 6’-2” and would you possibly want a seat where your patella is not actually in contact with the seat in front of you for the entire flight? I do have to warn you that we are not responsible for the cost of surgery to repair damage when the passenger in front of you reclines, crushing your kneecap.
Yes, sir, an exit row would absolutely give you more legroom, but we now reserve those seats for members of our frequent flyer program – not all members, you understand, but those who’ve managed to total up some actual miles. If any exit row seats are available 24-hours before the flight, we’ll open those seats up for
cheap bastardsanyone to select. All you have to do is select that seat at check-in and insert your credit card for the slight upcharge.Of course, sir, that’s assuming that any of those seats are available 24-hours before departure. If you’d like to be assured of
unbroken kneecapsa preferred seat, we do have larger seats with more legroom available to anyone for an upchargetwiceslightly more than the exit row would be.Oh, no, sir, I’m sorry,
you’re a fucking idiotyou misunderstood. The upcharge isn’t to upgrade your seats for the entire flight, it’s for each leg of the flight. Yes, sir, a separate charge to upgrade the seat each time you step onto a new plane.Thank you, sir, I’ll run that charge through right now and thank you for flying Nickel & Dime Airways.
Now, I understand the business process behind this and I actually do agree with it. It lowers the price of the basic ticket so that someone who doesn’t want any of those extras can get the lowest price and those who value the extras can pay for them. This is good business and good for the consumer, in general, but I hate it.
I hate it not because I object to the fundamental practice or find it deceptive, as some do. I’m a big boy and I can do addition real well, so I can calculate the actual cost of the extras and make an informed decision. I just don’t like it – I prefer not to make that many decisions about what should be a simple flight.
Guess how many decisions I have to make about where to sit when I drive somewhere.
So, a la carte options on the flight? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (1)
TSA screening. Yay. First I hand my boarding pass and ID over. He looks from it to me three times. Little hint for you guys at TSA: If the driver’s license picture looks like the guy in front of you, it’s fake. He asks me if I’ve lost weight … yeah, thanks, gained weight since then. Divorce makes you happy and you enjoy things more. He laughed.
Shuffle forward. Shoes off. Guy in front has two carry-ons, needs three bins for his laptop, shoes, coat, etc. Yay, waiting.
My turn now. Shoes in the bin, plus my little ziploc of toiletries, then my big ziploc of electronics. I don’t have a laptop with me, but I know that between the camera, gps, charging cables, etc., there’ll be an issue if I leave them in the bag.
Into the scanning chamber … feet on the special places, hands up, wait for the radiation exposure. Or get felt up by the TSA “officers” … yeah, because if I saw them at the last place they worked I totally wouldn’t feel it was necessary to check my order twice before driving away.
Having to buy quart-sized bags and special-sized toiletries? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (2)
TSA screening in general? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (3)
So now it’s time to wait at the gate. I don’t like waiting. It’s just a personal preference where I prefer to be in motion and making progress, rather than sitting still and waiting. Faced with a traffic jam, I’d rather drive more distance on a different route, even if it takes the same amount of time, than sit still.
Having to sit still and wait before every flight? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (4)
Next they start calling for boarding.
Lying bastardsPeople who need assistance, First Class, Frequent Flyers, and then I’m up … Zone 1. Which I can start boarding as soon as I edge my way through all the Zone 2 and 3 people who cluster around the gate under the misapprehension that staring at the gate attendant will make her let them board earlier.Down the jetway. Wait in line. Onto the plane. Wait in line. Slowly make my way down the aisle. Wait in line. I don’t like waiting in line any more than I like sitting and waiting.
Jetway, aircraft, and TSA lines? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (5)
So I’m safely ensconced in my seat, happily reading a book on my Kindle, when the aircraft pulls away from the gate and the
stewardessflight attendant tells me I have to shut my Kindle off during takeoff and landing.Now, never mind that the Kindle’s in airplane-mode, which means that all of its antennas are off. Never mind that it has about the electronic signature of an LCD panel, twenty of which are still operating in seatbacks. Never mind that there is absolutely no evidence that cellphones, tablets, Kindles, or MP3 players have any effect whatsoever on aircraft. Never mind all that – let’s look at a different fact.
Follow me on this, FAA-people: There are 200+ people on the aircraft. You’ve asked them to turn off their electronics. This presumes that all 200+ of them have complied, since you don’t check or force them in any way. This presumes that of all 200+, no one, through malice, oversight, or obstinacy, has a phone on in their pocket, carry-on, or checked bag. No phones, tablets in sleep mode, etc. None. On any flight, ever.
Because if we accept that some percentage of people … 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%, whatever, but some percentage of people will leave their device on. And once that percentage is accepted and applied to all flights everywhere, we see that dozens of flights a day, hundreds a week, thousands a year, tens of thousands in the decade since this silly rule went into place … have all flown with “electronic devices” running and have had no incidents whatsoever. Making your rule … absolute bullshit.
Not having to comply with a rule I know to be absurd and useless? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (6)
I get to change planes in Atlanta, which is always fun. Luckily, my connecting flight is on the same concourse as I arrived at, which makes it easier, but it’s also at the far end of that concourse. So I shoulder my duffel bag and take the long walk from one side to the other.
Yes, a rolling carry-on would be easier. And over the years I’ve accumulated no fewer than four of them … but the ex “needed them” and at $300 an hour for the attorney it wasn’t worth arguing about. So now I have a duffel bag until I’m willing to buy a carry-on with wheels.
Changing planes? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (7)
It was well past lunchtime, so I figured I’d get something to eat while I waited. There wasn’t really enough time for a sitdown meal, so I headed for the food court.
Unfortunately, none of the food court vendors had fewer than fifteen people in line and there were no tables available. So faced with the prospect of a long wait in line with a carry-on and heavy jacket to juggle, then trying to find an empty table with that plus a tray of food, I opted for a prepped sandwich from a sundry store.
I walked up to the register with a turkey sandwich, a bottle of Sprite, a small package of cashews, and a candy bar. I handed over $20 … and actually didn’t understand that the clerk was asking for more money.
I ate half the sandwich before I couldn’t stand the soggy roll anymore and gave up.
Eating in an airport? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (8)
On to the next flight, where I had a preferred seat ($) with extra legroom on the aisle. Which would have been perfect except for the big guy sitting next to me.
He was not fat. He was big. Dude’s shoulders were wider than his assigned seat and I’m pretty sure there was chemical enhancement involved in his physique and his biceps encroached past the arm rest by at least two inches. This was not only physically uncomfortable as I tried to avoid three hours of touching a strange man, but mentally uncomfortable as those rock-hard muscles were a constant reminder of certain inadequacies on my own part.
Bo Beefy’s bulging biceps? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (9)
And there was the traditional crying baby on this flight, so it was a two-fer.
Crying baby? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (10)
Finally on the ground in Colorado Springs I was able to pick up my rental car keys without any trouble and headed out to the lot to be on my way.
Seventeen degrees when I landed, with lots of snow on the ground. Curiously, I didn’t feel a need to blast the heat in the car. Only once, the morning I left, did I turn the car’s heater past the first speed. And it really wasn’t until that last morning that it seemed cold to me … for the rest of the stay it seemed cold, but no worse than it gets in Orlando during a cold-snap.
I had a nice, hour-long drive to my hotel outside of Denver – a drive that was actually a relief after the sitting on the airplane for so long.
The next morning I had some free time before meeting a friend in the evening, so I headed a little ways out of town to do some hiking. The spot I chose was just an open-space park with walking trails, not a huge state park, but it was a nice walk, with good views.
I took one of the less traveled trails up onto a ridge.
There were flocks of geese all over town, including people’s yards.
And a few fields of prairie dogs.
Friday evening and Saturday morning I spent visiting an old friend who I haven’t seen in too long.
Saturday night I was planning to drive to Loveland to see a hockey game – the Avalanche were away, but the ECHL Eagles were in town. But Saturday afternoon the weather forecast called for heavy snow overnight, and I didn’t want to be an hour away from my hotel after the game and have to drive back in the dark with snow falling. So I skipped the game and stayed in.
Dinner wasn’t incredible, but Denver has a couple chains that I really like and don’t have in Florida. Tokyo Joe’s is upscale, fast-food Japanese – think a Japanese-version of Chipotle. Build your own bowl of meat, vegetables, sauce, and rice or noodles. Tasty and affordable.
I had chicken with brown rice, carrots, broccoli, snap peas, bean sprouts, and teriyaki sauce.
Sunday morning there’d been a few inches of snow overnight and the forecast had changed from “heavy snow” to “blizzard warning” through 11:00PM.
My return flight was at 6:00 Monday morning from Colorado Springs, an hour away from my hotel. To arrive in time I’d have to leave the hotel before 4:00AM – not a problem, unless there was, say, a blizzard during the night.
Rather than risk that, I decided to move to Colorado Springs on Sunday morning. After breakfast I got on Priceline and got the Springhill Suites for $45. I did have to eat the Sunday night stay in Denver, but, even so, I still saved money on hotels for the whole trip.
Leaving the hotel I got a look at what had happened overnight. Mine’s the white one:
There were a lot of cars moving on the interstate, but the area around the hotel was covered with ice and snow with very few cars. I drove very slowly in the area, but the last turn before getting to the cleared roads was on a slight downhill slope. As I was making the turn, I felt the traction go and the car slid like a bumper car. I hit the far curb broadside.
It cracked the hubcap and messed up the alignment a bit … so I figure I’ll be hearing from Alamo. They were closed when I turned the car in, so I just dropped the keys off. That $11 / day for full coverage is looking pretty good right about now …
Now, here’s where people might say that this was an advantage to flying over driving. After all, if I’d driven, then it would be my car that had been damaged.
No, I reply. If I’d driven I would not have been on the road at all, because I wouldn’t have been facing a 6:00AM flight the next day. I would have had options.
I could have left Saturday afternoon and been safely ensconced at a blackjack table in Vegas by the time that storm rolled in.
I could have decided to wait it out, curled up in my room with Chinese take-out until the roads were well-cleared and I could safely leave.
In other words, I would not have been faced with the decision to drive in unsafe conditions or miss a flight. Instead I spent thirty miles like this:
I’d drive an hour to avoid that decision. (11)
I settled myself into the slow lane behind someone who seemed to know what they were doing and trundled along at 30-35 MPH. About halfway to Colorado Springs we got to an area that the plows had been through and things sped up to 45.
Colorado Springs was getting light snow, but had 15-20 MPH winds. With that and a damaged car, I decided not to try going anywhere except a short trip for dinner.
This was at HuHot, another upscale, fast-food place, this time Mongolian grill. I really, really love this place and was very disappointed when the one in Orlando closed. I think it had a horrible location, nestled into a tiny strip-mall near the Florida Mall. Very sad. If I had $1,000,000 for a franchise I’d open one.
I got to bed early and up early the next morning. No new snow had fallen in Colorado Springs and the roads were clear, but 166 flights had been canceled the day before in Denver.
The return flights had enough turbulence that the flight crew had to remain seated and both legs (COS->ATL & ATL->MCO) had no beverage service. Except in First Class … apparently First Class people can handle turbulence without spilling their drinks, but the peons can’t. It’s an acquired skill, I suppose.
In Atlanta I had time to eat — got a mediocre chicken sandwich with a stale bun, frozen chicken, and plastic silverware … because of all those times someone’s hijacked a plane with a butter knife and a fork.
And home … with the beginnings of a cold, that I’m sure is the result of sitting on a plane for four hours breathing recycled air.
Getting sick when I travel? I’d drive an hour to avoid that. (12)
And in my next post, we’ll have the game results and post-game analysis.
Day Five–The Truth is Out There
Miles MPG Avg. Speed Since Austin 989 45 54 Trip 2200 45.6 57 Food
(today/budget)Hotel
(today/budget)Trip Savings
$70 / $140 $47 / $75 AAA – $6
PriceLine – $216Today is mostly about driving and getting the car serviced. I woke up a little after six, but let Aryn sleep, though she was up at 7:00. We were on the road by 8:00, heading for Roswell and then on to Albuquerque which has the first Toyota dealer since the car hit 5000-miles in west Texas.
Not a lot to see on this drive … just flat land and scrub brush, broken by the occasional plateau. We did see about three antelope beside the road at various points, though (no pictures of them).
The truth about Roswell is that I was underwhelmed. We didn’t stop, just drove through, so didn’t see the freaky stuff which is, I assume, outside of the main town on the roads closer to the military bases. Roswell itself, which is bigger than I expected from how its depicted on TV and in movies, had a lot of alien signage, but not what I expected.
This sign was in a rest stop bathroom … which begs the question: What, exactly, did I just wash my hands with?
There really wasn’t time to stop in Roswell, as the goal for today was to get to Albuquerque, get the oil changed, and get Aryn to swing dancing tonight. As it was, we had just enough time. Arrived in town and checked into the hotel around 1:00. I got an appointment for an oil change at 3:30, arrived a little early, then back to the hotel to pick up Aryn and drive to dinner (6:15), and finally back to nearby the hotel for her dancing at 7:30.
While I was at the car dealer, Aryn searched the web for someplace to eat dinner and came up with Café Jean Pierre for crepes.
I had a beef bourguignon crepe and a New Mexico Syrah, and Aryn had spinach Florentine, then we split a crepes Suzette. We were able to have a nice dinner without me worrying about the cost, because we’ve done very well on the food budget for this trip.
Both of us loved our entrees. The beef bourguignon was savory and tender – melting in my mouth. When the dessert hit the table, I was ready for it and had already taken two bites before I remembered to take a picture.
Even when Aryn wasn’t
mooching off her future in-lawstraveling with her friend or staying with his folks, we’ve been eating cheaply.I used Priceline again for the hotel in Albuquerque, along with information from other bidders gained from BiddingForTravel.com.
Albuquerque has a lot of Priceline hotel zones, five of which have no 3-star or better hotels. Since I didn’t have a particular preference where we stayed, I selected several zones that do have 3-star hotels and started the bidding at $30 – this is pretty low, since the successful bids posted on BiddingForTravel.com were mostly in the $40-50 range, but with so many zones to rebid with, it was worth a shot. Then I used the zones that don’t have 3-stars to be able to rebid. We wound up with another Courtyard at the airport for $47 a night.
Day Three–On the Road Again
Miles MPG Avg. Speed Today Trip Food
(today/budget)Hotel
(today/budget)Trip Savings
$20/$86 $89 / $90 AAA – $6
PriceLine – $118Note: No mileage stats for today. At 5000 miles, the Prius demands maintenance by putting a Maintenance Required message on the display, which blocks the trip stats from view. Have to find a Toyota dealer to get the oil change and also to fix whatever Aryn did to my iPhone plug. It now charges when the car is first turned on, but immediately turns off with a message to consult the owner’s manual for instructions on how to plug an iPhone in. This happened immediately after she switched cables to charge her phone.
The trip really starts after today – Carlsbad is the first scheduled place to do stuff. It also marks the end of the long driving days – or, at least, the long, driving-only days. From here on out, there’s something to do or see at the end of most of the drives.
The day started with finding a bunch of ants in the room at Austin. Not hundreds or anything, but consistently a dozen or so on the desk.
I’m hoping none decided to make a home in the netbook and thence to the car.
Aryn went to a springs with her friend in the morning, while I slept in after poker last night and headed off to pick her up between noon and 2:00.
On the way, I stopped for some BBQ — since Aryn doesn’t eat red meat, I figured I’d do that when she wasn’t with. JJ’s Hamburgers and BBQ, Voted Best Tacos, Breakfast All Day:
With variety like that, it has to be good, right? I got a big pile of beef brisket, fries, potato salad, and a sweet tea. The brisket was pretty good – tender and flavorful, but the sauce was a bit salty for my taste. Not bad, but probably not Texas’ best offering.
Interesting menu items included a “Cheddar Pour”, which seemed to be a hamburger on a platter with cheddar sauce poured around it and, possibly, toasted in the oven to give the cheese sauce a crispness (not sure about that last bit, but the picture on the menu seemed to imply it. Sadly, we’re leaving Austin today, so I can’t try the 7-pound breakfast challenge …
We got on the road and a very positive benefit of the detour to Austin was a much nicer drive. The original route had us on I10 all the way across Texas. From Austin, though, we took 290 south, back to I10. This was a fun drive with lots of curves and hills.
Once on I10, this stretch with an 80-MPH speed limit and me keeping it between 80 and 85, the gas mileage was less than stellar. I now understand why Texas has such high speed limits – with everything so far apart, you have to drive that fast to get anywhere.
Even this drive was nice, though, with rolling hills and trees giving way to the more pronounced hills and scrub of desert.
And finally a long stretch on a two-lane road (70MPH limit) to New Mexico after eight hours on the road.
I booked the hotel for tonight and tomorrow through Priceline yesterday. Carlsbad is a tough place, because there are very few hotels and they’re pretty expensive. As an example, the Super8 was $79 for these two nights.
I bid $75 for a 2.5-star. Priceline showed only two 2.5-star hotels available, a Fairfield and a Best Western. They rejected that bid, but counter-offered at $89. In order to bid again, because there’s only one hotel zone, I’d have had to drop to 2-star – so rather than pay $75 for the Holiday Inn Express, I took the offer at $89 and wound up with the Fairfield. It’s normally $159 for those nights.
So for not much more than the $79 Super8, we get a much nicer room, internet, and breakfast. Yay, Priceline!
WARNING: The remainder of this post contains graphic content, reader discretion is advised.
So Saturday and Sunday were my first days wearing the Magic Underwear. When we left Friday, I wore regular underwear and have two pair of the Magic Underwear. Sadly, the Magic Underwear Company doesn’t seem to supply any instructions for the best way to clean the Magic Underwear in a hotel room, so I had to improvise.
Saturday night, I took them in the shower with me. They do shed water, as it took some doing to get them wet and then squish them up with some of the hotel shampoo. After rinsing, I hung them on the shower rod to dry.
They’re pretty comfortable new and the pair I washed seemed okay, if still a bit damp, this morning, but the real test comes tomorrow when I have to wear Saturday’s pair again. If they don’t feel clean and comfy, I’ll be stopping at Walmart.
Day Two-Deep in the Heart of Texas (or Meet the Parents)
Miles MPG Avg. Speed Today 452 50.5 52 Trip 1209 46 59 Food
(today/budget)Hotel
(today/budget)Trip Savings
$19/$55 $51 / $90 AAA – $6
PriceLine – $48We got up early (before 7:00) and had the free breakfast at the hotel, then got right on the road. Again Aryn rode with her friend and I didn’t meet up with them again until we arrived at his parents’ house outside of Austin.
I kept my speed down in the 60-65 range today and averaged 50 MPG. I had one span of 109-miles that averaged 54.6 MPG.
I had expected, since Texas is considering an 85 MPH speed limit, that traffic would be pretty speedy, but that wasn’t the case. The right-most lane consistently traveled at 65, regardless of the posted speed limit. Which probably says something about spontaneous order and the lack of need for so many rules.
Also seen shortly after entering Texas, an accident attorney’s billboard which said “We Sue Lawyers”. You go, man.
Like flipping a switch upon entering Texas, BBQ joints everywhere. Added to my list of trips for future years: A BBQ tour of the South. I’ll head up to the Carolinas, then eat my way to Texas at every independent, roadside BBQ place I pass. Mmmmm … BBQ.
Since the plan was to stay here until Sunday for her to meet his parents and get shown around his hometown, I decided to absent myself and leave them to it. I called a couple guys in Dallas who I know from the internet and arranged to meet them for some poker. I’ve been
trash-talkingdescribing my poker prowess to them for a couple years and they want my money badly.So I dropped Aryn at her friend’s house and got back on the road for 3+ more hours of driving to the outskirts of Dallas. We got dinner and played some low-limit poker – I won about $20, less the cost of the pizza I bought, so more like
$-7.00.The game was going to be late, so I decided to get a hotel for myself, rather than show up at their door in the wee hours. I booked it for back in Austin, so I got the drive back there out of the way at night. That way I could get up, pick up Aryn, and be fresh for the drive to Carlsbad on Sunday.
I decided to try for a nicer hotel first, so bid $45 for a 3-star in the Austin Northwest area (#5 on the map below).
That was rejected, so I added the Austin Arboretum (#2), added the 2.5-star category (Hampton Inn, etc.), and raised my bid to $50.
That was rejected too, so I added the airport area and raised my bid to $51. That got me the Courtyard by Marriott by the airport, which normally sells for $99 on their website and Priceline.
Day One–Wagons Ho!
Miles MPG Avg Speed Today 756 43.6 64 Food
(today/budget)Hotel
(today/budget)AAA Savings
$45.40/$50 $104.80/$50 $6 Today was all about the driving. I picked Aryn up at 10:00 and we were driving by 10:30. Plans have already changed a little, because she’s riding with her friend from Texas on his way home. He drove to Orlando earlier this month, then they flew to New York. So she’s riding with him until we get to Austin – an unscheduled stop on the trip so she can meet his family.
First for the stats-geeks: MPG was as high as 45 and as low as 41, according to the Prius’ trip computer. It was 45 until the stretch of I10 from Tallahassee to Alabama – a combination of the hills and my dislike for that road dropped it.
Yes, dislike for a road decreases gas mileage, because my speed went from 55-65 to 70-80. That road is just hilly and curvy enough to be annoying, but not enough to be interesting.
After dark, my speed dropped back to 55-65 and the last 165 miles averaged 51.8 MPG.
We started looking for a hotel around the time we crossed the Mississippi, but had some confusion. Aryn and her friend pulled off at exit 151 to look for one, but I didn’t get the call from Aryn until I was just past the exit.
There were a lot of hotels there, but after six miles I’d found no place to turn around, so called them to get back on the road. Sadly, that exit was the last hotel availability for quite a while, as the road then starts across a bayou.
The next exit had only a Holiday Inn Express at $99, but it was nearing 11:00 Orlando time, so had to take it.
Up at 6:00 for the 6:30 breakfast – which has an automated pancake machine. Six or seven hours to Austin.
