7 posts tagged “vacation”
We made a pilgrimage to Waterloo, NY this weekend for a clothes-shopping excursion at the outlet mall. Not as much for ourselves as for our friend, who wanted to renew his entire wardrobe. What great timing too. Most of the outlet stores were offering sales of 30, 40, or even 50 percent off merchandise, in an attempt to help spur sagging sales figures. The fact that it was father's day weekend probably didn't hurt either.
We arrived at 1pm on Saturday, ate our lunch, and proceeded to wander from store to store until about 8:30, just before the mall closed. Seven hours! That's a lot of shopping! Junkii and I did okay - each buying a couple of pairs of shoes and a few small items - but most of our time was spent helping our co-traveler outfit himself in new couture.
Once we finished, we faced a new challenge: where to eat. None of us wanted another dose of food court (I had already had my Arby's fix at lunch). So despite our rumbly tummies, we decided to suck it up and wait for dinner until we drove back to Syracuse, where we spent the night.
A New Default Chain?
Now, we didn't want to spend a lot of time or money at a nice restaurant - nor were we dressed for fancy fare - so we elected to go to one of the many chain family restaurants on offer in the US. In the past, Junkii and I have had disastrous luck with such places. Friendly's, Chili's - they've all promised yummy food, but they've all delivered over-salted, over-sized, over-cheesed, otherwise unmemorable meals. We've nicknamed Appleby's Crappleby's because it's so dismal. Nope - from our experience, chain eateries tend to be sub-par at best. Still, they're quick and cheap, so we decided to try our luck at one we hadn't tried before (for food, anyway) - TGI Friday's.
Maybe it was because we were so hungry, but honestly the food was good. A little over-salted maybe, but we ordered off the "reasonable portion" menu and received a good-sized plate of tasty food. My crusted pork chop was tender and juicy, with a yummy sauce and some particularly good mashed potatoes. Junkii had a perfectly cooked (medium rare) 8oz steak that was like butter. We left satisfied, overjoyed that we now have a chain restaurant option that we can turn to in times of need. Huzzah.
Of course, there is another chain that we rely on. We visit one every time we go to the States, and this visit was no exception. Breakfast at IHOP! It was the highlight of day two, and really, there was nothing else to report on.
well, maybe one other thing...
No Go Hotels
Junkii and I now have a total of 4 hotels that we won't use in Syracuse anymore. we long ago concluded that the Red Roof Inn was dirty and the bed was too hard for another stay. And we found Motel 6 too smokey to bother going back. But we added two more to the list this weekend. Mel likes the Days Inn, but I find it feels old and dirty. I've always liked Super8, but on this trip Junkii found it gave him the creeps on cleanliness. So we agreed not to use either anymore.
Our co-traveler's experience this time also helped change my mind about Super8. His room had an odor so bad that he couldn't stay there. Unfortunately they had no extra space to move him to. He wound up sleeping in our room on the floor (well, on a couple of comforters and some sheets. It was a hard bed, but at least it didn't stink. They comped him his room in the end, but there's no call for such poor quality cleaning.
So far, the only hotel we agree on is the Quality inn. It's comfortable, clean, and with a friendly desk staff. That will probably be our default hotel. It's pricier, but it's worth the extra $20 a night for the peace of mind.
Last weekend we unwound in upstate New york (is Albany considered upstate?). The trip included stops in Albany (to see Comedienne Kathy Griffin), Waterloo (to shop) and Syracuse (because there aren't any hotels in Waterloo.)
Kathy was wonderful - so quick-witted. Her routine is clearly only partly scripted. Aside from a few segments that she could tell any time, most of her act involved gossip about the latest celebrity headlines and the dumbass things they do. Her biggest targets were Paula Abdul's blundering on American Idol (she's either hepped up on goofballs or the judges' comments are completely scripted) and Mylie Cyrus's recent photoshoot cuddling with her dad (which is just creepy).
Kathy's humour isn't so much about content - there's nothing inherently funny about The View or Oprah (except that these shows have an audience - oh wait, I'm confusing funny with sad again) - it's about her delivery. She comes out with some truly witty turns of phrase, making Hollywood bigwigs look the fools they are. And it's all done so off-the-cuff - some of these gossip stories are only days old - that it seems likely her upcoming Toronto show in August will be almost completely different from the one we saw in Albany. I'd be lying if I said we aren't tempted to go.
It was well worth the 6-hour drive to Albany. And that's saying a lot because Albany doesn't have much else to offer.
We stayed in the "entertainment district" and let me tell you, it was pretty dead by the time we arrived around 5pm. The area doubles as the business district and, like Ottawa, it simply empties out in the evening. We spent hours wandering around looking for a liquor store and a decent restaurant that was open for dinner, but to little avail. In fact, the hotel staff said they couldn't advise us of a place to go buy liquor that would be safe.
How can people live like that, scared of their own city? Last October we walked throughout Manhattan - day and night - and never once felt threatened. What's with Albany?!
Still, we took a few pics the morning before we left, checking out the state legislature building and a kind of cool, sci-fi looking area that was actually a mix of government buildings and a performing arts theatre, known as the egg - for obvious reasons.
Then we decided enough was enough and, after a quick trip to iHop (We never go to the US and don't go to iHop), we hightailed it outta there and headed towards a full day of shopping in Waterloo.
Waterloo (about 20 muinutes from Syracuse) is a bit of a hidden treasure. Everytime we mention it, people ask "You mean Watertown?" No, not Watertown. Watertown is a hole. Waterloo is a hole with an outlet mall. And amazing deals! Banana Republic at 50% off?! Hello! Sign me up.
Very happy we didn't take Margot's challenge of not buying new clothes for a year. I think we spent about $600 each. I got loads of new dress pants and nice shirts, and I got 4 new pairs of shoes (that would be my mother's genes kicking in.) Mel did similarly well and, after more than 6 hours of shopping - and a visit to Arby's (I never go to the US and don't go to Arby's) - the stores closed at 9pm.
We headed back to Syracuse for the night to prepare for the 100% accurate trip through customs the next day.
We finally finished the Tabblo of photos from our NYC trip. Sorry for the delay. We've been so busy working on it that we've been avoiding vox. We're back now!
You know, Tabblo is a great system. It displays your photos really nicely. But it's certainly a time-consuming process. Anyway, here it is, complete with text.
Sunny but windy that is. Today we made a trip down to Nogales, Mexico where we had a fantastic time, but we're not gonna tell you about that yet. We're trying to keep this in chronological order. Here are a few pics and descriptions of our visit to San Diego.
San Diego is nice, but I don't think either of us is too keen to visit again any time soon. We took a trolley tour there and, compared to the one we did in Boston, there was just not as much to see in San Diego. Which makes us think we'd likely choose another Eastern Seaboard city for the next US tour. Prolly New York, but I'm sure Washington and Philly both have their history.
For now, we present San Diego!
...On the edge of the Desert.
No drugs though. Unless you count the non-drowsy generic Sinutab that kept Melvin awake on our second night in Vegas. Or the copious amounts of alcohol that one is served while sitting playing $1 roulette.
We managed to get away from Casa Grande for a few nights last week. We drove to las Vegas for two nights and then on to San Diego before heading home. More on San Diego later.
We walked the strip in Vegas and took in the sights at all the big casino hotels. We also took a trip down to old Las Vegas and managed to catch the Fremont Street Experience -- a recurring sound and light show that plays on a dome covering about two city blocks. pretty cool. While we've been told the show has been better int he past, we were both pretty impressed by the music and animation presented. Youtube has many videos showing past shows, but here's the one we saw -- an advertisement for a new musical playing nearby! Love the groovy tunes!
And once you've had a look at that, you can check out a few additional photos from our trip to Vegas here:
Well, We're here and we love it! Arizona is a fantastic place -- clear skies, crisp clean air, and shorts weather! That's a good enough reason to come down, but there's a lot more to see yet.
We're heading for Las Vegas today for a couple of days and we'll hopefully get to see some of the beautiful landscape in this part of the world. In the meantime, check out a few of these photos from the park where Mom and George live.
It's a senior's community, but it's well set up for us to have a good time. Most of the residents go to bed early, so we can take over the pool/hot tub area and games rooms in the evenings!
Here are a few preliminary photos:
