I can swear by what this video says. While in Moldova the one phrase I could remember was "Take Cover!" and people always found that endearing. Enjoy!
9 years ago
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Gettysburg, PA
In January some of the 31 and older singles from my church decided to take a ski trip to Gettysburg, PA. Shelley’s boyfriend, the totally awesome Ben, really wanted to go skiing. Shelley thought it would be fun to go as well and somehow managed to talk me into the trip. I don’t know how she does it.
The plan was to avoid skiing. Shelley is a fantastic skier, but didn’t have any of her gear in Virginia. I don’t ski at all, and I really didn’t want to try on the pathetic “mountains” that they have out here. If I am going to go skiing, it will be in Utah or the California Sierra Nevada’s. That is how God intended people to ski. Instead, Shelley and I were going to tour the Gettysburg Civil War site.
Everyone in the group was staying at a Day’s Inn, but I am a hotel snob and refused to stay there. Instead, we stayed down the street at a Hampton Inn where I felt much more comfortable. The Hampton was nice enough, but in our first room (and I do mean first) someone had smeared snot on part of the wall. I cannot stay in a room like that and we had to change rooms. I am still disgusted thinking about it. The hotel was very nice about the whole incident so I don’t fault them.
The next morning we overslept and didn’t make it to the Gettysburg tour. I wasn’t that upset because I was just along for the ride. We decided to drive to Amish country (Lancaster County) as Shelley had never had never been. It was an amazing plan except for the fact that we had no actual idea as where to go to exploit the Amish and gaze at them for our own amusement. Luckily Shell and I live for the road and just headed toward any town or shop with the word Lancaster in it.
Now if you ask us how Amish country was, we really couldn’t tell you. A few weeks before this trip Seabreeze’s mother, Coni, came and helped us to feng shui our bedrooms. Coni did an amazing job and little by little Shelley and I have been attempting to make our rooms infinitely more awesome. To make a short story long, as we were driving to Amish country we saw a billboard advertizing a Pottery Barn outlet store. It was as if the universe was telling us to buy crap for our bedrooms.
The rest of the day became a quest to find the Pottery Barn outlet. Lancaster, PA has an amazing amount of outlet malls. We headed to the Yankee Candle outlet, the Harry and David outlet, the DKNY outlet, and finally, the Pottery Barn outlet. By the time we had finished shopping, we needed to head back to Gettysburg and meet up with Ben. It may seem lame, and it was, but we got some great stuff at even better prices.
We did see one buggy if that redeems us in any way.
Next Trip – Calgary, Alberta
The plan was to avoid skiing. Shelley is a fantastic skier, but didn’t have any of her gear in Virginia. I don’t ski at all, and I really didn’t want to try on the pathetic “mountains” that they have out here. If I am going to go skiing, it will be in Utah or the California Sierra Nevada’s. That is how God intended people to ski. Instead, Shelley and I were going to tour the Gettysburg Civil War site.
Everyone in the group was staying at a Day’s Inn, but I am a hotel snob and refused to stay there. Instead, we stayed down the street at a Hampton Inn where I felt much more comfortable. The Hampton was nice enough, but in our first room (and I do mean first) someone had smeared snot on part of the wall. I cannot stay in a room like that and we had to change rooms. I am still disgusted thinking about it. The hotel was very nice about the whole incident so I don’t fault them.
The next morning we overslept and didn’t make it to the Gettysburg tour. I wasn’t that upset because I was just along for the ride. We decided to drive to Amish country (Lancaster County) as Shelley had never had never been. It was an amazing plan except for the fact that we had no actual idea as where to go to exploit the Amish and gaze at them for our own amusement. Luckily Shell and I live for the road and just headed toward any town or shop with the word Lancaster in it.
Now if you ask us how Amish country was, we really couldn’t tell you. A few weeks before this trip Seabreeze’s mother, Coni, came and helped us to feng shui our bedrooms. Coni did an amazing job and little by little Shelley and I have been attempting to make our rooms infinitely more awesome. To make a short story long, as we were driving to Amish country we saw a billboard advertizing a Pottery Barn outlet store. It was as if the universe was telling us to buy crap for our bedrooms.
The rest of the day became a quest to find the Pottery Barn outlet. Lancaster, PA has an amazing amount of outlet malls. We headed to the Yankee Candle outlet, the Harry and David outlet, the DKNY outlet, and finally, the Pottery Barn outlet. By the time we had finished shopping, we needed to head back to Gettysburg and meet up with Ben. It may seem lame, and it was, but we got some great stuff at even better prices.
We did see one buggy if that redeems us in any way.
Next Trip – Calgary, Alberta
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Havelock, NC
In January I drove down to North Carolina for a class in Havelock, NC. I decided to make the 6-7 hour drive, because by the time you get to the airport an hour and a half early, make the hour flight to Charlotte, NC, have an hour to two hour layover in Charlotte, make the hour flight to Jacksonville, NC and then drive an hour to Havelock it seemed a bit of a wash. Also, last time I flew to the area I had a bad experience on US Airways and I don’t want to give them any more money.
While it may sound exciting to go to the Eastern Carolina Shore, Havelock is not the “Outer Banks.” Also, since I was there during the off season, all the good restaurants that were recommended to me in Morehead City (a twenty minute drive south) were closed. I ended up eating at Wendy’s my first night there and Panera my second night if that tells you anything.
A couple of things were noteworthy on my trip. First, Marines swear more than any other branch of the Armed Forces. You would think that being a “lady” I would have slowed them down, but they were completely undeterred. I am not complaining or being prudish, it was as if they had taken the cursing to a new level. In a way, I almost admire their creativity.
Second, I actually found some amazing sushi down in Morehead City. I didn’t expect to enjoy the food as I had been having pretty low expectations of the area, but it was the best sushi I have had since moving to the East Coast. One of my students recommended a sushi bar and Japanese steak house called Kabuto. I went in because I had no where else to go, and ended up eating at Kabuto's two nights in a row – an unprecedented move for me. I would highly recommend the California Rolls (I know it is “gringo” sushi, but I still love them) and the hibachi filet mingon. I know it is hard to have a bad filet, but was fantastic.
There is a local place called Ham’s, but I found the service to be slow and the food forgettable. The only reason I really ate at Ham’s was because I could walk there from my hotel. On that note, if you are going to Havelock, the Hampton Inn was recently built and is a perfectly fine place to stay.
It may have been a less than exciting trip, but I did miss out on all the storms in the DC area so I still list my Havelock experience as a win.
Next trip: Gettysburg, MD
While it may sound exciting to go to the Eastern Carolina Shore, Havelock is not the “Outer Banks.” Also, since I was there during the off season, all the good restaurants that were recommended to me in Morehead City (a twenty minute drive south) were closed. I ended up eating at Wendy’s my first night there and Panera my second night if that tells you anything.
A couple of things were noteworthy on my trip. First, Marines swear more than any other branch of the Armed Forces. You would think that being a “lady” I would have slowed them down, but they were completely undeterred. I am not complaining or being prudish, it was as if they had taken the cursing to a new level. In a way, I almost admire their creativity.
Second, I actually found some amazing sushi down in Morehead City. I didn’t expect to enjoy the food as I had been having pretty low expectations of the area, but it was the best sushi I have had since moving to the East Coast. One of my students recommended a sushi bar and Japanese steak house called Kabuto. I went in because I had no where else to go, and ended up eating at Kabuto's two nights in a row – an unprecedented move for me. I would highly recommend the California Rolls (I know it is “gringo” sushi, but I still love them) and the hibachi filet mingon. I know it is hard to have a bad filet, but was fantastic.
There is a local place called Ham’s, but I found the service to be slow and the food forgettable. The only reason I really ate at Ham’s was because I could walk there from my hotel. On that note, if you are going to Havelock, the Hampton Inn was recently built and is a perfectly fine place to stay.
It may have been a less than exciting trip, but I did miss out on all the storms in the DC area so I still list my Havelock experience as a win.
Next trip: Gettysburg, MD
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sacramento, CA
It wasn’t too hard to say goodbye to my family at Christmas because I came back after one week. It wasn’t because I was homesick, I had a course to teach in Sacramento, CA. There was nothing much to report about this trip except that it was the last training course my company offered in our now closed Sacramento office. I must admit that I am going to miss the several times a year I was able to go back home on the company dime. I just hope that the State of California can save enough money for me (unbridled optimism, or you could argue misguided optimism is a wonderful thing) to make it back to Nor Cal periodically.
I would just like to give a shout out to all the people that took time out of their busy schedules to eat food with me. You all know how much I love to eat food! Thanks to: Mom, Dad, Jody Moore, Megan Moore Garrison, Sheri Frazier, Sean Gendreau, Katie McCluskey, and several of my students who ventured to In-N-Out Burger with me.
Next Trip – Cherry Point, NC
I would just like to give a shout out to all the people that took time out of their busy schedules to eat food with me. You all know how much I love to eat food! Thanks to: Mom, Dad, Jody Moore, Megan Moore Garrison, Sheri Frazier, Sean Gendreau, Katie McCluskey, and several of my students who ventured to In-N-Out Burger with me.
Next Trip – Cherry Point, NC
Home for Christmas - Antioch, CA
I can’t believe the time delay in my blogs. I find that I want to do all of this in chronological order, but I am not disciplined enough to blog in a timely manner. I wish I could promise “Yes We Can” like change, but I don’t see it happening any time soon.
So my last trip in December was to my hometown, Antioch, CA. I hadn’t anticipated returning home for Christmas, but being in Phoenix and having vacation time that needed to be used, it just seemed foreordained. It turned out to be a nice trip home as my family was together again for the first time in over a year and a half. It also turned out to be a blast from the past trip as I caught up with two of my best friends from high school that I had not seen many years.
My friend Veronica Leong is a professor in the Engineering Department at Arizona State University (this is especially weird because I spent the prior week in Tempe, AZ but I thought Verny was still working on her post doc at UCLA). She actually runs her own lab and teaches classes and is one of the smartest people in the world. I don’t know if she has been officially designated as one of the smartest, but she is an Antioch High School success story. Thanks for making us look good Verny. She is married to Ryan Santos and has an adorable little boy named Bradley who starts off shy, but then makes us all drink imaginary soup.
When I think of Michelle Kirby, I instantly think of the kindest and most genuine people I know. Michelle doesn’t have a mean bone in her body and it isn’t because she is pushover, it is because she is truly and sincerely kind. I haven’t seen Michelle in many years and I am so glad that our time at home coincided. Michelle has accomplished quite a bit since we last communicated: earning her MBA, running all kinds of insane (in my opinion because I hate exercise and physical pain) marathons and trail races, and traveling the world. She lives in the Denver area and I am rooting for a trip to Denver very, very soon.
It was great to catch up and it honestly seemed as if no time had passed since high school or when we all graduated from college. Since I wasn’t home for very long we didn’t get to spend a ton of time together, but the girls came over to my place one night to catch up. I think it freaked my parents out a bit to have us all together again – it was a bit of time warp.
The next morning we all went out to breakfast so we could also spend some time with Ryan and Bradley. Veronica even brought some of her high school year books to peruse, which was a bizarre and sometimes terrifying walk down memory lane. It was just so wonderful to see my two friends all grown up. I know it sounds condescending, although I don’t intend it to be, but I am so very proud of both of them and I am so happy that we are still friends. I need to make sure it doesn’t take to so long for us to get together again.
Next Trip – Sacramento, CA
So my last trip in December was to my hometown, Antioch, CA. I hadn’t anticipated returning home for Christmas, but being in Phoenix and having vacation time that needed to be used, it just seemed foreordained. It turned out to be a nice trip home as my family was together again for the first time in over a year and a half. It also turned out to be a blast from the past trip as I caught up with two of my best friends from high school that I had not seen many years.
My friend Veronica Leong is a professor in the Engineering Department at Arizona State University (this is especially weird because I spent the prior week in Tempe, AZ but I thought Verny was still working on her post doc at UCLA). She actually runs her own lab and teaches classes and is one of the smartest people in the world. I don’t know if she has been officially designated as one of the smartest, but she is an Antioch High School success story. Thanks for making us look good Verny. She is married to Ryan Santos and has an adorable little boy named Bradley who starts off shy, but then makes us all drink imaginary soup.
When I think of Michelle Kirby, I instantly think of the kindest and most genuine people I know. Michelle doesn’t have a mean bone in her body and it isn’t because she is pushover, it is because she is truly and sincerely kind. I haven’t seen Michelle in many years and I am so glad that our time at home coincided. Michelle has accomplished quite a bit since we last communicated: earning her MBA, running all kinds of insane (in my opinion because I hate exercise and physical pain) marathons and trail races, and traveling the world. She lives in the Denver area and I am rooting for a trip to Denver very, very soon.
It was great to catch up and it honestly seemed as if no time had passed since high school or when we all graduated from college. Since I wasn’t home for very long we didn’t get to spend a ton of time together, but the girls came over to my place one night to catch up. I think it freaked my parents out a bit to have us all together again – it was a bit of time warp.The next morning we all went out to breakfast so we could also spend some time with Ryan and Bradley. Veronica even brought some of her high school year books to peruse, which was a bizarre and sometimes terrifying walk down memory lane. It was just so wonderful to see my two friends all grown up. I know it sounds condescending, although I don’t intend it to be, but I am so very proud of both of them and I am so happy that we are still friends. I need to make sure it doesn’t take to so long for us to get together again.
Next Trip – Sacramento, CA
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Phoenix, AZ
As I said in the last post, December 2008 turned out to be crazy busy. The third trip of the month took me to Phoenix, AZ. I was very excited about this trip because my awesome friend Elise attends Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. I rarely get to see Elise now that I live on the East Coast and as she will testify, I am horrible at keeping in touch with people over the phone (Elise, I promise that this is true for everyone, not just you. I am an equal opportunity ignorer). I have a wonderful friend, Suzette, who lives in Tucson, AZ – or so I thought. I was so pleasantly surprised to learn that she now lives in Phoenix and we were able to get together and catch up. What a great trip.
I booked a reservation at the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix based on the recommendation of my client. Supposedly the Hyatt was only a few blocks from the training location and it would have been an easy walk to and from the hotel. Well, at the last minute they changed locations and I ended up commuting everyday to Tempe. I’ll admit, I was tempted to change hotels, but once I get settled in I am loathe to leave. Also Hyatt Hotels are pretty nice. Plus, it was a reverse commute and I had a nice rental car, so it turned out pretty well in the end. I will say that I am disappointed with the Phoenix downtown area. Unless there is a basketball game going on, the place is practically dead after 5 pm. I didn’t enjoy walking to my hotel from the parking garage at night because the streets were almost as empty as a ghost town. To be honest, it freaked me out a bit.
Elise and I love to go out and eat and this trip was no exception. Elise and I planned on meeting after she was finished with school (she is working on her PhD) and I was finished working. Monday night we went to her favorite Vietnamese restaurant. They had some awesome egg rolls. After that we went to Cold Stone and had the best ice cream combo that was ever created: After Dinner Mint. It is Chocolate Peppermint ice cream with marshmallows, Oreos and chocolate shavings in it. So good, but sadly it is only available during the holidays.
Tuesday night Elise and I headed off to one of our favorite places to eat, California Pizza Kitchen. As some of you may recall (Mom you are probably the only one that remembers this) that I have been boycotting CPK for removing my favorite pizza, the Pear and Gorgonzola, from the menu. I am sure that the loss of my patronage did irreparable damage to CPK’s financials, but that is what they get for crossing me. I am so glad I gave CPK another try because PEAR AND GORGONZOLA IS BACK ON THE MENU! Shout it from the rooftops and everyone order that pizza because I don’t want to have to be without it again. Afterwards we saw a Christmas movie with Freddie Rodriguez in it – which was fine by me because he is super cute.
I also drove by a Costco Home store on Tuesday. Now this is not a Kirkland’s or a regular Costco Warehouse with furniture in it – this is a separate warehouse with just furniture and accessories. Why do we not have this in Virginia? I want one and I want one now here in Virginia and also one for my friends and family in California (my Veruca Salt impression). Costco, don’t hold out on me – share the joy!
I also found a Half Price Books in the Phoenix area – would it be a Jen trip if I didn’t visit Half Price Books? It was a nice shop and I was able to sell some books for a solid price and I loved browsing around the store. I really wish we had a Half Price Books out here in DC, think of all the money I would waste.
Wednesday night we just ordered Pizza Hut (with their yummy breadsticks) so I could do laundry at Elise’s place. I watched my first episode of Private Practice (yummy Taye Diggs) and Elise and I talked about our feelings and relationships. We love to talk about feelings and relationships.
I had demanded Mexican food while I was in Arizona. Elise knew of an excellent place called Ponchos. It was amazing food – their red sauce on the enchiladas had a hint of smokiness that was so delicious (chipotle powder perhaps?). It must be well known in the area because we had to wait 20 minutes to get in on Thursday night. Also, Bill Clinton ate there when he was president, and say what you want about Bill, but he strikes me as the kind of guy that enjoys good food. Elise and I took a picture in front of Ponchos so I wouldn’t forget all the places we ate while in Phoenix. I will say that this picture below is not very flattering of me, but I think it is totally hilarious. I am standing next to Elise and look at how enormous my head is in comparison to hers. What on earth happened to me? Is my parent’s house built over a nuclear waste disposal site? Has the military been conducting experiments on me? What caused me to grow this gigantic head – I know that it isn’t to house my gigantic brain. I think that radiation or nuclear waste is the only answer.
On Friday I met up with my friend Suzette for lunch at a sushi restaurant in Tempe called Ra. It was very good sushi – I especially enjoyed the tuna which didn’t have a fishy taste at all. Suzette and I met doing a study abroad in Madrid, Spain. We ended up assigned to the same house and just hit it off. Before this trip to Phoenix, I hadn’t seen Suzette since June 2001. I had so much fun catching up – it was as if only a few months had passed and not 8 years. Suzette is working on a MA in Accounting. What a savvy girl to get a degree in something practical and useful.
I booked a flight from Phoenix to Oakland so I could go home to Antioch for Christmas. A few hours before my flight left, I met Elise at a very popular restaurant called Oreganos. They have this cookie sundae that is out of this world. Essentially, it is a freshly baked cookie, warm out of the oven and still a little doughy, served with vanilla ice cream on the top. It was heavenly and if I close my eyes I can still taste it. Elise, I hope you will eat another one of those cookie sundaes in my honor. It was so hard to say goodbye to Elise, I wanted to pack her in my suitcase and take her on all my trips. Sadly, Elise has a dissertation to finish and loads of money to earn so she can buy me pretty things.
I have to admit that when I first arrived in Phoenix, I thought it lacked charm. Upon leaving, however, I began to see the beauty in the landscape. I sometimes wonder if I could live there long term, although I think I would complain endlessly about the hot summers.
I would also like to give a shout out to my friend Tina. Tina was in my class in Phoenix and we became instant friends. She is a super cool chic and I hope to see her again in the near future.
Next trip – Antioch, CA
I booked a reservation at the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix based on the recommendation of my client. Supposedly the Hyatt was only a few blocks from the training location and it would have been an easy walk to and from the hotel. Well, at the last minute they changed locations and I ended up commuting everyday to Tempe. I’ll admit, I was tempted to change hotels, but once I get settled in I am loathe to leave. Also Hyatt Hotels are pretty nice. Plus, it was a reverse commute and I had a nice rental car, so it turned out pretty well in the end. I will say that I am disappointed with the Phoenix downtown area. Unless there is a basketball game going on, the place is practically dead after 5 pm. I didn’t enjoy walking to my hotel from the parking garage at night because the streets were almost as empty as a ghost town. To be honest, it freaked me out a bit.
Elise and I love to go out and eat and this trip was no exception. Elise and I planned on meeting after she was finished with school (she is working on her PhD) and I was finished working. Monday night we went to her favorite Vietnamese restaurant. They had some awesome egg rolls. After that we went to Cold Stone and had the best ice cream combo that was ever created: After Dinner Mint. It is Chocolate Peppermint ice cream with marshmallows, Oreos and chocolate shavings in it. So good, but sadly it is only available during the holidays.
Tuesday night Elise and I headed off to one of our favorite places to eat, California Pizza Kitchen. As some of you may recall (Mom you are probably the only one that remembers this) that I have been boycotting CPK for removing my favorite pizza, the Pear and Gorgonzola, from the menu. I am sure that the loss of my patronage did irreparable damage to CPK’s financials, but that is what they get for crossing me. I am so glad I gave CPK another try because PEAR AND GORGONZOLA IS BACK ON THE MENU! Shout it from the rooftops and everyone order that pizza because I don’t want to have to be without it again. Afterwards we saw a Christmas movie with Freddie Rodriguez in it – which was fine by me because he is super cute.
I also drove by a Costco Home store on Tuesday. Now this is not a Kirkland’s or a regular Costco Warehouse with furniture in it – this is a separate warehouse with just furniture and accessories. Why do we not have this in Virginia? I want one and I want one now here in Virginia and also one for my friends and family in California (my Veruca Salt impression). Costco, don’t hold out on me – share the joy!
I also found a Half Price Books in the Phoenix area – would it be a Jen trip if I didn’t visit Half Price Books? It was a nice shop and I was able to sell some books for a solid price and I loved browsing around the store. I really wish we had a Half Price Books out here in DC, think of all the money I would waste.
Wednesday night we just ordered Pizza Hut (with their yummy breadsticks) so I could do laundry at Elise’s place. I watched my first episode of Private Practice (yummy Taye Diggs) and Elise and I talked about our feelings and relationships. We love to talk about feelings and relationships.
I had demanded Mexican food while I was in Arizona. Elise knew of an excellent place called Ponchos. It was amazing food – their red sauce on the enchiladas had a hint of smokiness that was so delicious (chipotle powder perhaps?). It must be well known in the area because we had to wait 20 minutes to get in on Thursday night. Also, Bill Clinton ate there when he was president, and say what you want about Bill, but he strikes me as the kind of guy that enjoys good food. Elise and I took a picture in front of Ponchos so I wouldn’t forget all the places we ate while in Phoenix. I will say that this picture below is not very flattering of me, but I think it is totally hilarious. I am standing next to Elise and look at how enormous my head is in comparison to hers. What on earth happened to me? Is my parent’s house built over a nuclear waste disposal site? Has the military been conducting experiments on me? What caused me to grow this gigantic head – I know that it isn’t to house my gigantic brain. I think that radiation or nuclear waste is the only answer.
On Friday I met up with my friend Suzette for lunch at a sushi restaurant in Tempe called Ra. It was very good sushi – I especially enjoyed the tuna which didn’t have a fishy taste at all. Suzette and I met doing a study abroad in Madrid, Spain. We ended up assigned to the same house and just hit it off. Before this trip to Phoenix, I hadn’t seen Suzette since June 2001. I had so much fun catching up – it was as if only a few months had passed and not 8 years. Suzette is working on a MA in Accounting. What a savvy girl to get a degree in something practical and useful.I booked a flight from Phoenix to Oakland so I could go home to Antioch for Christmas. A few hours before my flight left, I met Elise at a very popular restaurant called Oreganos. They have this cookie sundae that is out of this world. Essentially, it is a freshly baked cookie, warm out of the oven and still a little doughy, served with vanilla ice cream on the top. It was heavenly and if I close my eyes I can still taste it. Elise, I hope you will eat another one of those cookie sundaes in my honor. It was so hard to say goodbye to Elise, I wanted to pack her in my suitcase and take her on all my trips. Sadly, Elise has a dissertation to finish and loads of money to earn so she can buy me pretty things.
I have to admit that when I first arrived in Phoenix, I thought it lacked charm. Upon leaving, however, I began to see the beauty in the landscape. I sometimes wonder if I could live there long term, although I think I would complain endlessly about the hot summers.
I would also like to give a shout out to my friend Tina. Tina was in my class in Phoenix and we became instant friends. She is a super cool chic and I hope to see her again in the near future.
Next trip – Antioch, CA
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Orlando, FL
Being a West Coast gal, when it came to visiting a Disney theme park as kids, the Davis clan headed 7 hours south to Disneyland. I had naturally heard of Disney World, but really had no interest in going out of my way to visit. Disneyland is enough for me, it being the original and therefore the best Disney theme park. Skip ahead to my early 30s and the time arrived for me to visit Disney World.
What prompted this visit you may ask? Work. I signed up to take an analytical investigation methods course so I could be a better worker bee. While I may sound flippant, I really appreciate that my company will pay for me to take training courses. The closest course to DC was in Orlando, so that is how I scored a trip to the happiest place in Florida.
December turned out to be a crazy month for me. I started off the month in Ottawa, headed down to Orlando, FL a few days later, then traveled directly to Phoenix, AZ for a week, flew from Phoenix to Antioch for Christmas and made it back to Reston in time for the New Year. I am still tired from those trips. It was quite an environmental shock to go from Ottawa (freezing cold) to DC (pretty cold) to Orlando (do I really need a sweater cold). Being a professional, I only complained about the climate change every 10 minutes or so. What willpower I have!
The course was very helpful for my job, mostly because it reaffirmed that I am on the right track and I have acquired a pretty solid foundation when it comes to link analysis. There were some very, very cool people in the class and I really enjoyed learning from them. You guys know who you are.
I got to spend a lot of time with Sloane, a fellow student, who is just awesome. Since her agency wouldn’t spring for a rental car (Bad Government! You don’t send a lone woman into a sketchy area of town without a rental car – it just isn’t safe) she and I would pal around trying local restaurants. It helped that we stayed at the same hotel, which was the Marriott Courtyard Orlando Downtown. The problem with this place is that the local police warned us not to walk around at night and there was no place to eat within walking distance anyway. Also, the beds were so hard only Seabreeze would have enjoyed them. I didn’t sleep well for 6 nights because of those stupid beds.
The first night we went to Boston Lobster Feast. I am not going to eat at a seafood buffet ever again. I don’t like seafood enough to make it worth the money and any seafood buffet is a total sacrifice for quantity over quality. I think I ate more chocolate soft-serve than I did actual food.
The next night we headed for Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment center located at the Walt Disney World Resort. What I like about Downtown Disney is that it is free. Sloane and I decided to go have Cuban food at Bongo’s Cuban Café. I really enjoyed the food: tostones, flank steak with chimichurri sauce and a virgin strawberry daiquiri. It was also lovely eating outside (in December – Crazy!) and overlooking the lake. After dinner Sloane and I headed to the largest Disney store in the world and were totally overwhelmed.
Sloane and I also ate at a sandwich shop called Firehouse Subs. They serve some nice hot subs there and for those of you that like hot sauce, they have every variety under the sun. Lastly, before I took Sloane to the airport we ended our quest for a good Cuban sandwich at Vega’s. They were great sandwiches and cooked on authentic Cuban style bread. I am not a huge fan of pickles on my sandwiches, but the entire combination of mustard, bread, pickles, and pork all smashed together was absolutely delicious.
While in Orlando I learned a few things about crime. One, never travel on Orange Blossom Trail unless you are looking for transvestite prostitutes. Two, don’t murder your child. I bring this up because they found Kaylee Anthony’s body while I was in Orlando taking a course at the Orange County Sherriff’s Office. When I walked out of the Sherriff’s Office after class, the place was crawling with reporters and there were helicopters flying overhead. I even saw a CourtTV van in front of the county courthouse. It was a total circus. Now I am not qualified to say if she is guilty, but she totally is.
On my last day in Orlando, I decided to go to the Magic Kingdom – by myself. Now I have been to an amusement park by myself once before and I hated it. For some reason I thought that the Magic Kingdom would be different. I was so wrong. I was the only person by themselves that I saw the entire day. It was all adoring families together for the holidays and reveling in each others company. I didn’t want to miss an opportunity which is why I decided to go in the first place, but it was so depressing to be such a loser. It should be called the Suicidal Kingdom for Singles. I did have fun going on the rides and watching all the little kids dressed up as princesses and pirates but I still would have liked to have had someone, anyone with me. Plus I felt compelled to stay the entire day as I paid almost $80.00 to be all depressed. I may have been miserable, but I was bound and determined to get my money’s worth of misery.
On a final note, Disneyland is way better than the Magic Kingdom. Disneyland’s holiday decorations are far better and the Magic Kingdom doesn’t even turn the Haunted Mansion into the Nightmare Before Christmas ride. What’s the deal?
Next Trip: Phoenix, AZ
What prompted this visit you may ask? Work. I signed up to take an analytical investigation methods course so I could be a better worker bee. While I may sound flippant, I really appreciate that my company will pay for me to take training courses. The closest course to DC was in Orlando, so that is how I scored a trip to the happiest place in Florida.
December turned out to be a crazy month for me. I started off the month in Ottawa, headed down to Orlando, FL a few days later, then traveled directly to Phoenix, AZ for a week, flew from Phoenix to Antioch for Christmas and made it back to Reston in time for the New Year. I am still tired from those trips. It was quite an environmental shock to go from Ottawa (freezing cold) to DC (pretty cold) to Orlando (do I really need a sweater cold). Being a professional, I only complained about the climate change every 10 minutes or so. What willpower I have!
The course was very helpful for my job, mostly because it reaffirmed that I am on the right track and I have acquired a pretty solid foundation when it comes to link analysis. There were some very, very cool people in the class and I really enjoyed learning from them. You guys know who you are.
I got to spend a lot of time with Sloane, a fellow student, who is just awesome. Since her agency wouldn’t spring for a rental car (Bad Government! You don’t send a lone woman into a sketchy area of town without a rental car – it just isn’t safe) she and I would pal around trying local restaurants. It helped that we stayed at the same hotel, which was the Marriott Courtyard Orlando Downtown. The problem with this place is that the local police warned us not to walk around at night and there was no place to eat within walking distance anyway. Also, the beds were so hard only Seabreeze would have enjoyed them. I didn’t sleep well for 6 nights because of those stupid beds.
The first night we went to Boston Lobster Feast. I am not going to eat at a seafood buffet ever again. I don’t like seafood enough to make it worth the money and any seafood buffet is a total sacrifice for quantity over quality. I think I ate more chocolate soft-serve than I did actual food.
The next night we headed for Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment center located at the Walt Disney World Resort. What I like about Downtown Disney is that it is free. Sloane and I decided to go have Cuban food at Bongo’s Cuban Café. I really enjoyed the food: tostones, flank steak with chimichurri sauce and a virgin strawberry daiquiri. It was also lovely eating outside (in December – Crazy!) and overlooking the lake. After dinner Sloane and I headed to the largest Disney store in the world and were totally overwhelmed. 
Sloane and I also ate at a sandwich shop called Firehouse Subs. They serve some nice hot subs there and for those of you that like hot sauce, they have every variety under the sun. Lastly, before I took Sloane to the airport we ended our quest for a good Cuban sandwich at Vega’s. They were great sandwiches and cooked on authentic Cuban style bread. I am not a huge fan of pickles on my sandwiches, but the entire combination of mustard, bread, pickles, and pork all smashed together was absolutely delicious.
While in Orlando I learned a few things about crime. One, never travel on Orange Blossom Trail unless you are looking for transvestite prostitutes. Two, don’t murder your child. I bring this up because they found Kaylee Anthony’s body while I was in Orlando taking a course at the Orange County Sherriff’s Office. When I walked out of the Sherriff’s Office after class, the place was crawling with reporters and there were helicopters flying overhead. I even saw a CourtTV van in front of the county courthouse. It was a total circus. Now I am not qualified to say if she is guilty, but she totally is.
On my last day in Orlando, I decided to go to the Magic Kingdom – by myself. Now I have been to an amusement park by myself once before and I hated it. For some reason I thought that the Magic Kingdom would be different. I was so wrong. I was the only person by themselves that I saw the entire day. It was all adoring families together for the holidays and reveling in each others company. I didn’t want to miss an opportunity which is why I decided to go in the first place, but it was so depressing to be such a loser. It should be called the Suicidal Kingdom for Singles. I did have fun going on the rides and watching all the little kids dressed up as princesses and pirates but I still would have liked to have had someone, anyone with me. Plus I felt compelled to stay the entire day as I paid almost $80.00 to be all depressed. I may have been miserable, but I was bound and determined to get my money’s worth of misery.On a final note, Disneyland is way better than the Magic Kingdom. Disneyland’s holiday decorations are far better and the Magic Kingdom doesn’t even turn the Haunted Mansion into the Nightmare Before Christmas ride. What’s the deal?
Next Trip: Phoenix, AZ
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