Blast from the Past: Myrtle Beach, SC

A little while back I went to Myrtle Beach, SC. The way my travel worked out, I stayed an extra night and explored the town a little bit. As expected, Myrtle Beach is tourist central. Which -- being the cheeseball that I am -- is totally OK with me.

Speaking of tourist central, my hotel was connected to shopping/restaurant/entertainment area called Broadway at the Beach. It had regular stores (think Victoria's Secret), restaurants, an aquarium, an IMAX theater, carnival rides, and carnival foods. I ate my weight in funnel cake. I love funnel cake.
Although the weather was yucky, I was determined to have some beach time. So, after lunch, I changed into a bathing suit and walked on the beach. Turns out it was much, much too windy/chilly to lay out. Sad.

Unlike my very white feet, the sand at Myrtle Beach is not white. (By the way, toenail color is OPI Jade is the New Black. Love it!)
I found a couple huge jellyfish. This is the first.
This is the second.

Capeside, MA (really Wilmington, NC)

Let me begin by sharing that I love Dawson's Creek. I watched it throughout high school and college. When the show ended, TBS would show two rerun episodes everyday. You could watch the whole series in one summer. It was perfection. So, when I saw that I was going to Wilmington, NC I was pretty psyched because Dawson's Creek was filmed here.

This is the waterfront. It's a really cute boardwalk along the water. It's lined with boats, vacation homes, cute stores, and seafood restaurants. You could take wide variety of boat tours there: dinner boat tours, murder mystery boat tours, and overnight bed/breakfast boat tours.

This is the federal courthouse in Wilmington. This was used as an art museum in Dawson's Creek. Joey and Jack went here before Jack came out.
This is a building on the campus of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. It was Capeside High School on Dawson's Creek.

By the way, while I was in Wilmington I heard the theme song to Dawson's Creek (I Don't Want to Wait by Paula Cole - horrible song)!

Blast from the past: Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada

As I indicated in my last blog, I recently had a pretty awesome week of business travel. I went to Vegas and then Portland, Or.

Work required me to go to Laughlin, NV. Luckily for me, Laughlin is a couple hours from Vegas. So, naturally, I went out a day early. While I was there I saw a Cirque Du Soleil show - O. It was so impressive. It is incredible what those performers can do. I was in awe during the whole show. I think the performances were more impressive than those in Love (the Beatles Cirque Du Soleil show), but I loved them all. I would like to see Mystere next time I'm in Vegas.

To continue my love affair with Hertz upgrades, I share with you my awesome rental -- a Cadillac, DTS. The car was huge, but rode really well.

Last time I was in Vegas I stayed at the Venetian, this time I opted for the Bellagio. The room was very nice (Vegas rooms spoil me), but it was much smaller than the room in the Venetian. Although it was smaller, it did lack the old lady smell of the Venetian. Next time, I would like to stay at either the Wynn, Encore, or Aria.

Bellagio during the fountain show. Love it! You must eat at Mon Ami Gabi and watch the fountains. It's one of my favs in Vegas.

View from my room at the Bellagio. The internet discount rate doesn't get you a view of the strip. But, the pools at these casinos are amazing.

The ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio. Those flowers are made of glass.

Horse in the lobby of the Bellagio.

The atrium of the bellagio. Last time I was there it was decked out in Fall decor. Unfortunately, when I was there it was in the middle of being transformed into Spring.
Small water fountain outside of the Bellagio.

One of the things that I love about Vegas is the food. There is food everywhere. At every price point. And most of it is yummy. During this trip I noticed that people like to make unexpected things out of food -- chocolate to be more specific. I love chocolate. I love things made out of chocolate.

World's largest chocolate fountain.

Closer shot of the chocolate fountain.
Chocolate flowers.

The City Center (which recently opened) is this really neat, high end mall connected to the Aria (new casino). This is a restaurant inside of the City Center. It reminded me of the Jetsons.

I also had the chance to go to the Hoover Dam. I took a few pictures. But, they don't do the dam justice. The scale is amazing.

Eventually, I made my way to Laughlin, NV. It is a couple hours outside of Vegas in the middle of nowhere. Literally you are driving in the desert for hours with nothing and suddenly there is a cluster of casinos and you've reached Laughlin.

I stayed very high class in Laughlin -- the Golden Nugget.

These are the people who stayed at the Golden Nugget with me. Average age? 72.
My work was gracious enough to upgrade me to the waterfront room (it was $45/night instead of $24/night). I saw bunnies!

Blast from the past: Portland, Oregon

A little while back, I had a truly magnificent work travel week. First, I had to go to Laughlin, Nevada (I'll post about this in the near future). Laughlin may not sound awesome (and it really isn't), but it is a short (approx 2 hr) drive from Vegas. So, I went out a day early and explored vegas. Then, I had to go to Portland, Or. I love the pacific NW so much, that I stayed out an extra night. All of this adds up to (almost) perfection in work travel. Now, on to Portland.

Portland was a lot of fun! As expected, the weather was overcast/rainy. But, I packed my umbrella and explored this very walkable city. And, by explored, I mean that I walked A LOT. I also rode their free light rail system at the end of the day when my poor feet were crying out. On my way back to the hotel, I got on the wrong bus and got to see the Rose Coliseum. But, I eventually made my way back.

First, based on the recommendation of the my neighbors on my flight, I went to Powell's books. This place is huge and confusing. Rooms are color-coded and there are maps throughout to help you make your way. But, I still got lost. Which was so much fun! There were books about everything. They even had a room filled with antique books.

I don't know how I feel about this book.

Then, I made my way to the waterfront park. It was very pretty.

I also walked around Chinatown. And found a very interesting looking restaurant.

It would be a huge letdown to find out that the food does not taste good.

Then, I walked around the Pearl District. Lots of fun!

Apparently there is an area (near the pearl district) where the streets have the same names as simpsons characters because the creators of the show are from Portland. Sadly, I missed that. There's always next time. Love Portland!

Austin, TX

I was in Austin, TX recently. It was the same week the that crazy guy crashed his plane into the IRS building. Luckily, I wasn't near the IRS building and I left town before that happened. But, during my short time in Austin I had some of the best food ever. Great tex-mex (expected) (Chuy's with tacky elvis decor), HUGE Whole Foods (apparently it started there), and the most awesome ice cream (Amy's Ice Creams). There was also a fun looking downtown area (6th Ave, maybe?) that looked like it could be fun. Austin is definitely the best city i've been to in TX and I would like to return soon.

I also explored UT's campus a little. Enjoy!

Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.

Godzillatron
Cute bus stop
Apparently demand is not high for BCS championship gear at the team store at the stadium.

Gross by way of Phoenix

I haven't traveled much lately. This week's scheduled travel was hampered -- at least in part -- by the snow storm in PA. I'm not complaining. My last trip was to Phoenix on 1/24-1/25. Nothing too picture-worthy happened in Phoenix. But, on my way back from Phoenix (first class, score!) I ran into a situation that makes me appreciate the Iphone camera. Below is proof that people are gross and inconsiderate. Enjoy!

Blast from the past: Du Bois, PA

Recently, I went to Du Bois, PA. Du Bois is about 2.5 hours away from Pittsburgh. That's 2.5 hours of driving that consists mainly of small, two-lane highways. To top that off, I always get lost when I'm driving in or around Pittsburgh (even with Nancy Neverlost). So, add about 15 minutes of extra driving. Du Bois really wasn't very noteworthy. There was a lot of snow, but the roads were well kept. The upshot of this trip was the time that I got to kill in Ikea near the Pittsburgh airport. Unfortunately, I failed to take any pictures that capture the awesomeness of Ikea.

View from my hotel room
Scenery on the way to Du bois

Snow pile in parking lot of hotel