Tuscon February 2019 Day 5

I woke up and got cleaned up. The baby didn't wake up so I had breakfast and met up with David then I think I woke her up on Daniela while I was getting my bag and saying goodbye.  We drove to the office and went through the workday without a lot to report except that there were sprinkles of rain at lunch time and it was really raining by the time we got out for the day.

On the way home I had to stop at the CVS to purchase Valentine's stuff. Yes, I am delinquent but also not in my home state so some slack might be available I hope. When I got back to the room it was raining fairly strong.

Daniela had called around to a ton of restaurants and nothing had space on Valentine's day. That coupled with the rain and we decided to stay at the hotel and go to the lounge where we typically have breakfast.  It was busy. I ordered a pizza and she ordered a beet salad. The beets were excessively salty and she didn't like the salad so she sent it back and didn't really eat. The pizza was ok. The food took a long time to get to us because there is only the one cook you can see where they typically do the omelettes in the morning. Korianka got really fussy and so we rushed eating and paying and then headed back to the room. It was basically late enough for Korianka to need to go to bed and that was pretty much the night. Not the best Valentine's Day ever.

Tucson February 2019 Day 4

This is sort of a non-day to really explain. I woke up and got cleaned up. Korianka didn't wake up this early today. I had breakfast, met up with David and headed to the office. We ran class for the day then had a class dinner at the Barrio Brewery which was probably about 15 minutes or so from the office.  It is a small scale local brewery and eatery. We ordered a bunch of apps. I tried 2 kinds of IPA. The first was the Citrozona and it was better than the Rae's Ruby Red IPA which was the second. Both were in the good but not great category. The apps were half off. We took the students and the service guys from Faxitron. I also had a "Firestarter" burger which was absolutely not spicy but was ok otherwise. I didn't think I would be oversold spicy in the southwest but I was.  The bill was surprising low for the number of people I thought. We paid and headed back to the room where I found Daniela and Korianka were already asleep.  So I basically just went to bed myself and that was the day.

Tucson February 2019 Day 3

I had to wake up even earlier today because we needed to get to the office before the students. Unfortunately Korianka also woke up super early today again. I her as I was just about to get into the shower but I chose to get my shower quickly and then I could get her changed and take her with me to breakfast. This would leave Daniela with more time to sleep.  She had a full poopy diaper as a surprise for me when I changed her but I have to thank solid foods for making it less messy than it was before them.

We went down and I tried to feed her some banana and puree but she didn't really want to eat and just spent the time playing and having people say hi to her. I ate hurriedly and made sure I could see her at all times till David arrived and I was able to get a couple other things.  When we finished, I brought her back to the room and woke up Daniela then David and I headed to the office.

The students started to roll in early and it was good to see a bunch of faces I haven't seen in quite a while. The class started and I think there were a lot of good questions. This was learning time for me and I really enjoyed the day from that standpoint. The Faxitron product lines are brand new to me as it is for the students an I finally got to see some technology different from what I have been teaching for a very long time by getting into this project. Still this week was the first time I have seen the devices physically.  David even brought us into the room where they make the Bioptics (Faxitron) detectors and we met Manny who does that day in day out. As with meeting the folks from Newark, DE it is always awesome to see someone who is good at what he does, loves what he does and is just so proud of what he does. It was a great experience.

For lunch we went to a sushi restaurant named Sachiko Sushi. Well it was a Japanese restaurant with a lot of options even for the non-sushi-eaters.  Some of the students got separated and ended up eating at different places. I had a sushi and spicy tuna maki lunch portion which was small. It was good but I needed extra sriracha for the spicy because they weren't spicy at all. I think the portion was a teeny bit too small but it was only $9 so I guess I cannot complain. 

After lunch it was back to class. We found that Daniela and Rene went to Old Tucson which is a former movie lot for westerns and has a couple of western style shows including an acted gunfight and all of that type stuff. I am sure it would have been good fun and I am jealous that I couldn't go but as I said this is a work trip. I am glad they got out though.

The rest of the day went through pretty smoothly and we drove back and agreed to go on our own for dinner. Daniela chose the other Peruvian restaurant she hadn't tried. It was called Incas. I had tallarin ala huancaina with bistek which was good but the noodles were far overcooked and broke instantly. Still the flavor was nice. Daniela had a fish dish. I tried their chilcano and it was very good. I had lucuma ice cream to finish out.  Overall a good restaurant. I didn't quite get if she liked the first or second one better.

Again Korianka was getting fussy by the end so we had to calm her down and she did fall asleep on the ride back to the car which was what she needed. She had a full day all over again.  When we got to the room we pretty much settled for bed almost instantly.

Tucson February 2019 Day 2

I had to wake up early to get ready for work. This being a business trip I will be tied up the whole week with going back and forth to the Faxitron office where Daniela will have a bit more freedom.  Unfortunately for her much like I don't think I yet adjusted to the time change, neither did Korianka who woke up as though she was at home and too her mother with her.

So we all got ready and headed down to breakfast where I was to meet my coworker David. We fed Korianka some banana and some pureed baby food and ate our own breakfasts.  As is usual everyone comments on how beautiful Korianka is. And as usually she smiles all the time. 

After breakfast David and I had to drive off to the office which is about half an hour away. Driving around here is like driving in Miami, I think I mentioned this. You can't get anywhere directly without hitting 57 traffic lights and low speed limits so even though the distance is about 15 miles it is 30 to 40 minutes of travel time depending on the traffic. There is some traffic here but it is of course nothing like Boston.  The region reminds a lot of some of the places we have been in Peru. Rocky mountain-like foothills with sand and low scrub. The buildings are all one to three stories high and I cannot recall seeing anything higher. Lots and lots of cacti around here including the classic cartoon version all over the place.  The buildings look more finished than Peru but it has the same vibe.

It was chillier today with it reaching about 60 to the highest temperature. I was short sleeved of course but everyone else was all bundled up it appeared.  We got to the office and the day was a meet and greet and introduction to the products and material for me.  The actual class would start on Tuesday.  We ate lunch at a restaurant called ChickeNuevo which gave a lot of food. It was a Mexican style chicken restaurant. I had a roasted breast with beans and rice but couldn't finish it.  The day was mostly uneventful otherwise. Daniela went to a Peruvian restaurant on her own for lunch with Korianka of course and spent her day in the sun. I thought for certain she would be wearing a jacket but she didn't. Boston must be starting to rub off on her finally?

We got back to the hotel and got cleaned and ready for dinner. David's wife Rene also came to Tuscon so we all went to a famous restaurant called El Charro which is of course a Mexican place, though the one he chose wasn't the original location. To simplify things for the sheer number of us we drove separately and met there. It obviously gets really busy and they got us a table before it really started to get a wait fortunately. I had carne seca enchiladas and an Arizona made IPA which was non-remarkable. I didn't get the name. The enchiladas were tasty but the carne seca was too seca (dry).  Still they were good.  Korianka did start to get fussy by the end because it was getting late for her and she was crying by the time we got into the car. I was able to get the pacifier into her mouth and she fell asleep almost instantly.

We got back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

Tucson, AZ February 2019 Day 1

Hello,

I know it has been a VERY long time since I have written about travel here on this blog but since I have a new wrinkle I have decided to bring it back.

My daughter Korianka is now just a bit over 7 years old and I wanted to capture what it is like to travel with an infant. Now I must point out that my wife and I have agreed that there will be no pictures of Korianka shared out to the public so if you are looking for that I am sorry. I can post other pictures of our trips and those that don't really show her very well right now. When she is old enough to understand and make her own decisions about being on the internet then things can change.

First off, why Tucson? This is a business trip for Hologic. I am attending and assisting in a training class for products for our newly purchased division called Faxitron. They manufacture specimen imaging devices which means the device take images of non-living matter typically. Usually of things surgically removed from a patient. They also make some non-destructive testing devices (this allow for making sure things are manufactured correctly without having to use up the device or object being tested).

Our class runs from Tuesday to Friday with Monday being a setup day for the lead instructor David and I. It will be my first time to be in the Tuscon facility and meet the people there.

I do not believe it is possible to take a direct flight from Boston to Tucson or if it is then it is rare and expensive. So we had to choose a single stopover flight which landed in Houston and then on to Tucson. We ended up with United as our airline then.  Daniela and Korianka are obviously not working with Faxitron but are along for the ride as has been typical for Daniela on my trips since she moved to Massachusetts.  Since it is February I am sure she is quite ok with the weather in Tucson over Boston though it appears it will not be the best week of weather here possible.  Anyway it will still be significantly warmer.

Our first flight on a 737-800 departed at 1:33pm from Boston to Houston. The adventure started earlier than that with getting all the stuff we needed and getting it all packed. For this trip we were going to need a rental car so I had to worry about a car seat. I bought a car seat travel bag which allowed me to pack the car seat base and the car seat into it. It is good to know that the car seat can travel for free much like strollers.   We arrived to the airport around 11:30am which gave us a solid 2 hours to get ready for the flight. We left home with the van which we parked at the airport around 10:30 or so.

First was check-in which was confused by the fact I had to pay for some tickets on my card and some on my work card.  Korianka was flying as an under 2 lap infant so was no charge but she still had to be listed when we purchased tickets. United doesn't want to do desk attendants anymore so we had to use the automated kiosks which generated a ton of complications for this. I learned now that I should use the business card to check me in first then the personal card will hopefully locate the others. I am not certain. The personal card located me even though I had a different locator number with the company card.  So then I had to go through and get the wandering attendant to help and instead of him having it switch things up he had to find Daniela's ticket separately. It was rather annoying and added probably 20 minutes over the old fashioned method of just getting to a person at the counter and handing her or him your documents. They did let me check the car seat for free.

The delay meant that we the security line grew but when we got to the person there she told us to go to the premier section because of the stroller. Of course the normal and TSA lines are on the far side from the kiosks. The premier line is on the side near the kiosks. So we walked all the way back to the premier side and the girl there didn't want to let us in. After a couple of minutes of looking annoyed and exasperated she let us.

Some lady in front of us apparently had an expired driver's license and that created a todo about what they should do with her. They decided she would get a full pat down and search. Ok, great.

We put all our stuff through the line. You are allowed to take baby foods that are more than 3.5 ozs according to the TSA website but it might require additional checks. So we had 2 packages of baby food that were just over the limit and the girl running the xray machine saw them and she stopped up the whole security line because she didn't know what to do. I mean everyone behind us had to wait for that. The stroller was too big for the xray machine also so another TSA guy had to take it and check it separately.  Regarding the food I am ok with the additional security on it and I submitted to the pat down and let them do it. But that took extra time because of the expired ID lady in front of me as the TSA agents had to finish the thorough check of her before we could be checked which probably took another 15 minutes. This is made worse to me by the fact that no one behind us got to move until that we were being checked. I know that if I was behind us I would be furious because I was waiting for no reason. The girl could have set our stuff aside and continued on with the people behind us but didn't.  She just stared sort of panicked about what to do.  So about another 10 minutes later we had completed the pat down and were on our way to the gate.

We got to the gate and went straight up with the stroller for the gate check process which was quick and painless. The ladies at the desk told us we could board early which we boarding in less than 10 minute by this point all things adding up to a huge time sink until now.  So Daniela went to the Peet's? Coffee and bought a yogurt and a sticky bun and banana and was able to eat the bun and banana before we boarded but I didn't eat because I didn't want what they head.  We boarded and it was fairly quick. Our seats were aisle and middle but the window passenger was ok with swapping to aisle and that allowed for a better situation for the longer flight.

We took off on time. Daniela breastfed Korianka during the take off which is supposed to help with the pressure change and it apparently did as she fell asleep for takeoff and about an hour or so into the flight.  Korianka was fidgety here and there after she woke up but by trading off here and there we were mostly able to keep her entertained with rattles and looking out the window and bouncing her around. She took a walk to the bathroom and the flight attendants area for a while and overall she was pretty good for the 4 hour or so flight. She did drop her binky to an inaccessible place and we waited until the entire plane was basically deboarded so I could find it and we could leave with it.  Neither Daniela or I got more than 10 minutes sleep. Daniela couldn't while Korianka was sleeping because it was too hard to hold her and not worry about dropping her. Korianka wakes up instantly if Daniela tries to give her to me so that really couldn't happen. I think I got about 10 minutes and Daniela got a few here and there at times when I was holding her.  Overall Korianka was a champ though and while she babbled or cried a bit here and there overall I think she was low impact to the surrounding passengers who were almost all wearing headphones anyway.

When we landed in Houston we were in C terminal but needed to get to E terminal. Daniela took Korianka to the bathroom and changed her and then we took the skyway to terminal E.  By the point we got there they would be boarding in 10 minutes but I had eaten only 2 packages of pretzels and Daniela had her aforementioned snacks. So we found the only places to eat near enough were an Asian placed called Yume and a pizza place. Daniela didn't want the pizza so we ordered from the Asian place and it took long enough that we had to get it to go.  I got what was supposed to be pork katzu and Daniela got a fried rice dish with chicken and shrimp. Daniela fed some baby food to Korianka and her food showed up first so she got to eat some while waiting for mine and I continued to feed the baby. Then we had to race over and be the last people to board the plane. Fortunately it was far from a full flight but people spread out so we were stuck with a guy on the window seat with us.

It was getting late for this flight 6:30pm there is I think 7:30 pm for us and that is typically when Korianka starts the ritual of going to bed.  So she was a bit fussy for this flight. When feeding she did fall asleep for maybe half an hour for this 2 hour 20 minute flight but then she woke up and all the unfamiliar kept her a bit annoyed and fussy and we had to pass her back and forth and keep her entertained. By this time of day she wants mom and not dad. Daniela took her for a diaper change and walked her around towards the end of the flight and that got her to pass out in her arms and stay asleep from there on out. As to the food, I was hoping they would turn on the lights but they didn't. I eventually ate it in the dark and didn't like it at all. The pork was burnt and dry and didn't seem to have panko breadcrumbs. There was no egg it was all dumped into the to go box in a mess. I ate it all because I was starving by that point. It was super salty and not a satisfying meal at all. Daniela loved her rice saying it was the closest to chaufa she has had in the US in  non-Peruvian place.

We deboarded and went to the baggage claim. Tucson is a small airport. I waited and waited and the car seat never came through after the other two did. That was when I found the office that had the car seat sitting in it. It is apparently considered oversize and won't go through the carousel.  The guy said it came through on the prior flight.  Live and learn and waste another 20 minutes or so.  Of course Daniela had the claim tag and he wouldn't take the ticket or driver license from me even though he just took a driver license from the guy in front of me. So I got to go back and get the ticket and show it to him before I could get the car seat.

The rental facility is right off the terminal so that was easy to get to and not too hard. We got a crappy tiny Nissan but it fits everything. It has car seat anchors so installing the base was quick. The trunk had a tough time with the bags and stroller but we can do it differently on the way back.  I used google maps to find the hotel and we drove pretty much straight to the hotel. It is 15 miles but half an hour because the roads are littered with traffic lights and are all low speed limit. It felt like being in Miami honestly for that. It was totally dark out so we didn't really see much but lights from stores adn restaurants and the like.

The hotel is the Embassy Suites Paloma Village which is sort of far out of town thus the longer drive.  It was cool out but not cold to me. Certainly didn't feel I needed a jacket.  We did see a minor accident on the drive to the hotel. We got there about 9:30 or so and got checked in nice and quickly. We settled and I think I was in bed by 10:10 pm or so. Korianka woke up not long after then the night seemed to go as they typically do. 10:10 is like 12:10 at home and with all the lugging and walking and flying we were both exhausted and for me at least sleep came quickly.

Peru Christmas 2015 Day 2

When we woke up, it was late for the breakfast we were supposed to have at Donna and Edwin's house. However we got cleaned up and headed over and were able to have a quick snack there before we went to San Borja to attend a VIP showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Edwin had gotten the tickets which included the show and 4 popcorn and soda combos.  The theater was Cineplanet.  We arrived with a couple minutes to spare and Daniela and Donna got the food and were a couple minutes late. Edwin and I took pictures with the costumed characters that were posing with people for the show. The costumes weren't bad. The stormtroopers and Darth Vader were both very good. Maybe Boba Fett wasn't so great but not bad anyway.  The movie was in English with Spanish subtitles so I was safe. The few spots of alien language that had subs had both too.

Not getting into heavy details. I will say I liked the movie. It had some issues but nothing too glaring and was overall fun. Unlike in episodes 1, 2 and 3 I actually wanted the characters to succeed in this movie.  It did maybe feel a little bit long at some points but not in the same way that I felt that both of the Avengers were too long.  I would say if you are a Star Wars fan that didn't like episodes 1, 2 and 3 like I am then you may still actually like this one.

After the movie we had to go to a shopping area because Donna was having the dress done for her wedding and they needed to be with the seamstress for the fitting and adjustments and such.  So Edwin and I walked around and he shopped for ties and shoes but only succeeded on shoes by the end. In the middle we ate lunch at a place called Maria Pastor which has pretty much all the Peruvian standards. We had a sampler plate with ceviche and fried calamari and causa on it. I had the lomo saltado which was quite good. Daniela had chaufa con mariscos which is chinese style rice with shellfish.  Edwin and I had beer and Daniela and Donna had chicha morada.  After lunch was done it was back to the seamstress for them and Edwin and I were able to find some shoes for him.  We still couldn't find a tie so we went to a mall near their house and went to Ripley and Saga Falabella and found something that worked in Saga so bought that.

After the mall it was on to their house where we had a dessert and coffee. I had an piece of apple pie and Daniela had a passion fruit cream pie.  Edwin bought the desserts from a shop down the street.  So we stayed and talked for a while before we headed back to Daniela's house for the night and I think I passed out instantly.

Peru Christmas 2015 Day 1

Flightline picked us up at around 6:45am. The traffic was actually fairly light so the ride in was not too bad.  They didn't give any passes to Daniela at United in regards to security or boarding group specifically but I was able to get her through the Premier lines for both boardings during the day.  Check-in was quick as was security due to the Premier line. We couldn't do TSA Pre because they didn't give that to Daniela.

We got breakfast at one of the places in the terminal. I had an English muffin, bacon and coffee and Daniela had a bowl of fruit and a cappuccino.  That was fine and by the time we were done we were on to theoretical boarding time.  However the plane was not in the gate. It had arrived the night before at 8pm so it really made no sense that it wasn't ready. The wait for that and the delays to get the luggage on board made us probably an hour or so late.  Fortunately we had a long layover in Newark.  The flight was something I slept through. I didn't even take note of the types of planes on these flights.  The trip to Newark was pretty much over before it started.

At Newark we both found lunch at a cafeteria/self serve type place but I desperately tried to find something else. There was nothing that was get food quick in the terminal I could find so I ended up back there as well.  She had a salad type thing from the bar they had and I had a steak and cheese with peppers. It was very greasy and I should have gone for the pizza. We boarded on time and the plane left without an issue.  Though I slept through the majority of the flight I will say it was a mostly bumpy flight that didn't smooth out until it was about 3/4 of the way through or maybe further.  I wanted to watch some Japanese movies on the entertainment system but the foreign films didn't work even after they rebooted the system.  My unit didn't work until I asked them to reboot it about 5 and a half hours into the nearly 8 hour flight.  I ended up watching Minions because by the time I was going to watch something I needed something short. I had seen it before of course so it was not important if it ran longer than the rest of the flight.

We got through the security line before a large plane or two followed us so that wasn't too bad. We got our suitcases and cleared the customs in short order.  After about a 10 minute wait Daniela's family arrived in Lucho's car and we were able to get all the suitcases in and at least her mother, brother, Daniela and myself in the car. Donna and Edwin took a taxi to the house. We got our stuff inside and they made some popcorn and we had some wine and talked for a while before I being totally exhausted went to bed not long after her mother.  Daniela stayed up a while longer I am sure.

Picture Posting

The links for recent picture albums in Shutterfly.

Jamaica Day 1

Jamaica Day 2

Jamaica Day 3

Jamaica Day 4

Miami Day 1

Miami Day 4

Miami Day 6

I do have to get some pictures off the cell phone to complement the actual camera pictures.  I will try to get those soon.

Miami 2015 Day 8

We woke up and started getting packed for the trip home. We had to check out by 11am.  Before we could really check out I needed to get a new debit card to replace the missing one. So we walked over to the Bank of America near the police station in Sandy Isles Beach and I got in the queue to get something. Daniela took a short walk to a gas station and bought some snacks with the last of our cash but amazing the wait was really short. The lady that helped us was very nice and quick and it was only a few minutes before I had a temporary debit card and some cash in hand.

We started the walk back and decided to stop for breakfast at El Mega Chuzo.  They do have a breakfast menu but most of that is scrambled eggs. I am not nuts about the concept and had instead salchipapas which is basically hot dogs and french fries.  It was actually a very large serving and very good.  Daniela had a tamale.  We had coffee and juice to go along.  When we finished eating we got back to the hotel and tried to get checked out.  Unfortunately we were 10 past 11 and the door was already locked so I went down and got in the giant check-out line and Daniela got the key turned back on and got the bags. Since the line was massive it took a while to get out.  Eventually I did get through. We got the car from valet and drove out to a couple of different malls to kill time since we were well ahead of the time for the plane which was departing at 7:50pm.  We killed time till eventually we got to the airport, filled the rental with gas and turned it in.

We checked into the airport with little problem then made our way to a gate area where we could charge phones. Daniela walked around a little bit and I and just waited. After a bit we had lunch at Shula's where I had a burger and beer and Daniela had tea because she was only hungry for a snack. So she found a bakery and bought a couple things. Not much longer and we were on the plane which took off on time and landed on time after an uneventful flight that both of us mostly slept through.  The Flightline van was there and waiting and we were home before long. Still it was near midnight when we got home and I needed to get sleep to get to work the next morning.

Miami 2015 Day 7

This was supposed to be an easy day to relax but instead we started off by me canceling the corporate card I forgot to cancel then night before then walking over to the police station to try to file a report. We were given the number to the Port Everglades police dispatch who took information and gave us the number to the ferry terminal which we had already called with little luck.  So we got the rental car and then drove to the port to speak to people directly.  Of course just as you might expect the people at the ferry terminal were not really much help. We found out they don't have any security cameras in the terminal especially where the security line goes. They called up other people who said they didn't have any turned in wallets.  It was a few minutes of basically finding out as much as we could have already figured out. That the wallet was gone and there would be no finding it at all.  So from there we took a turn at the port police. We were able to find an officer directing traffic at an exit to one terminal and he explained how to get to the local area police station and that he would call another officer to meet us there.

We drove to the police station and officer S. Jackson did meet us there and he wrote out a report of our incident to be submitted to the police report.  He was definitely a bit older and you could see he was fighting with using the computer a bit but still he managed to get it done. I realized still that this process would just put it in the books but no police work would go beyond that report. I am not surprised by it but mostly disappointed with the lack of security cameras in the terminal.  

After this couple of hours had passed we drove back to the hotel and after getting the car parked walked over and had lunch at El Tropico which was a Cuban restaurant. I had the churasco and Daniela had a liver dish which I cannot remember the name of at the moment. She had some fresh juice and I had a Presidente or two.  The food was very good and I was unable to have dessert at the amount I ate.

After we got back to the hotel I asked permission to turn on the AC and crash for a bit, which is what I did. I was exhausted and rather annoyed still and the cooler air with the AC gave me the first respite I had from the temperatures of Miami for sleeping and I slept well.  Daniela took a long walk along the beach and was on her way back when I finally woke up a few hours later. 

When she got back we sat out on the balcony and watched the end of a wedding reception from a wedding that was held on the beach at the hotel.  Then we started to watch the movie Good Will Hunting. The surf was sort of loud for the speakers of the laptop and we ended up moving inside to hear better. After the movie it was bed.

Miami 2015 Day 6

We had to get up really early because we were going to take a day trip to the Bahamas and the pick up was at 5:45am. This trip is done through a ferry ride to Grand Bahamas. The ferry ride takes about 3 hours. The ride to the ferry terminal in Fort Lauderdale area took maybe half an hour and then we went through check-in at the ferry port. That was quick but very low tech. I have to say this now though we didn’t discover it until much later. I think either the security people or the couple in front of us stole my wallet and credit cards during the security line while the man in front of us took forever to go through the metal detector. It was something I didn’t discover then but after we got to the restaurant on the other side of the ferry ride. It is also possible they were stolen from our bag while we were sleeping on the ferry but that would be unusual based on where we placed the bags.  I am quite pissed about it but there isn’t much we can do but cancel the cards and such. My license was already expired and I was working with a temporary until I got home. Will hit the remainder of the saga for day 7.

The terminal wait was like 1 and half hours which begs the question why we had such and early arrival but it was uneventful. We bought some bad instant coffee stuff from a machine while we waited. We boarded and found a spot on the boat that allowed for us to stretch out and as I said mainly slept the whole ride. I bought a ham and cheese sandwich and a muffin and some coffee and orange juice which we ate quickly before we departed though. The ferry was enclosed and there wasn’t really much to see so we slept the whole trip through really.

When we arrived we disembarked and were checked for our passports again and then it was pretty much through to the parking lot where our shuttle to the beach area had not yet arrived. We waited for them for about 10 to 15 minutes which I think is kind of sad.  They know what time the boat is going to arrive so they have little excuse for being late. Still the driver was funny and explained a small amount about the Bahamas and the island.  The ride was maybe 15 minutes or so.  He dropped us off and said he would take folks to a great restaurant he suggests called the Afterdeck. We needed rest rooms to change and such so we followed him to the restaurant. We got changed in their bathrooms and then decided to eat there anyway.

I had to two of their Kalik beers which is local Bahamas and the fish and chips. Daniela had grilled grouper which she really liked. The fish and chips were nice too. This was where I figured out my stuff was missing.  Still we were in the Bahamas and there was not much we could do about it there. We had not time for it to happen in the Bahamas so it had to happen at the terminal. I have no doubt it happened in the security line.  In any event after lunch we walked around and did quick souvenir shopping then headed to the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon basically in the water in front of a hotel that let us use their beach chairs.  It was a nice afternoon. The water was just cool enough to counteract the heat out. We saw a ray and some other fish in the water. It was amazing how crystal clear the water was. Honestly I couldn’t believe how easy it was to see to the bottom even at a depth where I was standing in shoulder deep water.  We finished up and got back to the restaurant where we changed in their bathrooms again. The power was out so it was interesting. Apparently the power was down in the whole town of Lucaya which is where we were.  We met the really drunk Brazilian at this point. From San Pablo he was very loud. He had limited English but it was funny. He was rather loud the whole shuttle ride back to the ferry. I do not think it was obvious to everyone he was gay though because he appeared to be hitting on the German girls that were on the trip.  Still it was funny all the same though maybe it got a little bit old by the end.  Boarding the ferry back was a lot quicker. They had no power so the security lines were quicker and they just had us go right out and get on the boat from the car entrance (I suspect because they couldn’t work the gate stuff.  We waited only a little while before we got going and then bought some snacks from the duty free shop (nuts, chips, cookies, candy) then fell asleep for a large part of the return trip.  When we returned we had a quick shuttle ride and were the first stop back.  We stopped at the quick mart in the gas station across the street to get some water and food then we headed to the room.  That was where I started canceling all my credit cards before we went to bed.  It was a long day when all was said and done.

Miami 2015 Day 5

We woke up and got prepared to drive to around the Fort Lauderdale area. Today was the day for the Bruins hockey game at the BB&T Arena in Sunrise, FL but also Daniela had a friend from her high school now living around the Sunrise area so we were going to meet her for a little while at the Sawgrass Mills Mall near where she lived. She had to pick up her husband airport so it would be maybe an hour or so. Not long enough to have lunch but at least a snack.  Her name is Pamela. I met her and they started to talk about old times in Spanish so I wandered the mall for a little while, mostly looking in the bookstore near the food court.  After maybe an hour or so I came back and Pamela was ready to leave so we said goodbye and Daniela and I went in search of lunch.  I didn’t want to eat food court food so we found the Cheesecake Factory and ate there. I had chicken and biscuits and Daniela had a fish dish.  The food was decent but not spectacular and I felt like I had a huge bubble in my stomach for the rest of the afternoon. I did have 2 Sam Adams Octoberfest beers but I don’t think that is enough to cause that. 

When we were done eating we did some actual shopping through the mall which is quite large. We did buy a couple things at the outlet stores they have. At the Nautica store we found out the Arena was literally across the street from the mall. Pamela said it was close but not that close.  It turns out when I checked that the distance was about 10 minutes by walking. The guy said a lot of people park at the mall to go there and security doesn’t do anything about it. We did a bit more shopping until it was getting close to the time to go to the game. When we were done we went to the car and I put on my Bruins jersey and Daniela changed to warmer clothes. 

The walk really was only about 10 minutes, but the first road leading out of the mall had a lot of trees that had spiders that were black and yellow striped and no word of a lie at least 4 inches and probably more like 6 inches on the leg spread.  I was horrified and so was Daniela. Not willing to get too close and the light starting to fail we took some pictures from a distance away that I am not sure will do them justice.   Still we had to press forward and get through to the arena. It was not a pleasant part of the day but we did make it uninjured somehow. I suppose the spiders took pity on us.

We got to the arena and they had a bunch of kids’ activities out front that you would rarely see at an everyday game in Boston. I suspect that they are trying to drum up more interest in the sport with the youngsters because they don’t have the already decades long history that the Boston area has. We got inside and found the seats really quickly. Daniela went for food while I watched the warm up skate.  We got popcorn and a hot dog and a couple of cokes for the game.

The bruins scored first on the power play and again on the power play both were goals by Brad Marchand.  They got one more goal by Zdeno Chara and then the Panthers scored one goal and that was it. The Bruins had a couple of 5 on 3 penalty kills and failed on the first one but that was it for the rest of their PK time. They ejected Marchand from the game for a boarding penalty with 2 minutes to go. 5 minute major and game misconduct.  I didn’t really get to see the play.  The Bruins killed those penalties too but even with the free icings did not manage to score an empty netter. But they did win 3 to 1.  The fans overall were quiet in comparison to Boston fans. We had some folks near us in section 324 that had cowbells and did small chants but there appeared to be more Bs fans than there were Panthers fans.  There was one obnoxious guy in the back but as it became apparent the Panthers were going to lose he sort of quieted down.

We walked back through a similar area that had the spiders we walked out of but this one appeared to not have any or at least as many.  We got back to the car and drove back with a limited amount of traffic trying to get on to 95 south that probably took us an extra 10 minutes beyond what it should have.  We got in an pretty much crashed soon after.

Miami 2015 Day 4

We woke up a bit earlier than other days because we needed to get cleaned up and ready for a city tour. A small tour van came to pick us up at 8:30am and we were taken to the main office of the tour company. There we had a few minutes then were picked up by a double decker open topped bus for the first part of the tours we were taking which was a city tour.

On the city tour they explained a little about the city. That the name Miami was from an Indian word meaning sweet water. The guide was funny and told a lot of jokes.  The tour showed us South Beach for the Art Deco architecture.  The day included a lot of celebrity chasing by mentioning the houses that belonged to so and so and where certain TV show and movie scenes were shot as much as anything else. After South Beach it was on to the Coral Gables where we saw houses adorned with coral or even made with coral because the area was filled with it from prehistoric times as the location was once completely under water a few million years ago. It was neat to see it all.  After the Coral Gables it was on to Little Havana which had the primary aim of getting us into a Cuban cigar shop. Don’t smoke so didn’t buy any cigars (blech) but did get to taste and chose to buy some Cuban coffee.  After the cigar shop a bit more about Little Havana which was the primary stopping point for Cuban immigrants but is now the major location for a lot of Central and South Americans who come to the US because they don’t have to learn English to be there.

The city tour brought us to Biscayne Bay where we were told to get lunch at the Tradewinds restaurant which we did. They said the restaurant could get us food in time and reasonably priced. I had a Cuban sandwich which was nice and Daniela had a salad with shrimp on it. I had a couple Sam Adams and Daniela had a couple of lemonade type drinks. Nothing was spectacular or terrible in the restaurant but it was pricey due to the lemonade drinks which were $10 each which is kind of scary considering they were non-alcoholic.

From there the tour put us on a cruise ship that sailed around Biscayne Bay.  The tour was about an hour or so. There was a guide who first explained a little bit about the history of the islands in the bay which are almost all man made except for one.  That was the early part of the tour. The remainder and main focus of the ride was to show off mansions from rich people which was probably about 40 minutes of the ride. I am not a celebrity chaser so much. Also many were formerly owned by and not right now.  So while I guess it could be neat it was mainly lost on me.

After the boat tour we had to wait probably another 15 minutes at the port when we were picked up by a different bus who drove us out to the Everglades National Park at a place called Coopertown. At Coopertown we took an air boat ride into the Everglades where we did indeed see several alligators during the tour. The guide was very funny and we had a good time. It was neat the way the boat turns like a drift. I think we saw about 6 alligators out in the wild.  When we got back we were given the chance to hold a gator that was about 3 feet long or so. Then we got to do a small wildlife show which included a baby alligator and boa snake mainly. In all it was a good part of the tour and what I enjoyed the most.  The alligators’ skin is much softer than you think it would be.  They drove us back to the tour office and were then given a ride back to the hotel so it was fairly late by the time we got back. 

We got cleaned up and headed across the street to Pacha Mamma again. This time Daniela had anticuchos and I had aji de gallina.  Hers was better as the chicken was not really shredded for my dish. I liked the flavor of the sauce but the chicken was just cooked and chopped for mine.  We had a couple of Cuscenas as well.  The waiter there suggested we go to “Dassy’s” for the Patriots game and we were able to look it up and find it was only about 15 minutes walking so we decided to visit Duffy’s Sports Grill.  Walking there was a bit treacherous as google maps had us hit the wrong side of the road and we had to cross a highway, but we did make it.

At the bar we had to wait a while to be seated but they had tons of TVs so we could see the game fairly easily.  The game was already started by the time we got there. Apparently Gronk already scored a touchdown just before we arrived.  Obviously there were tons of Dolphins fans there but there were no small number of Patriots fans as well. We ended up getting seated in an area with a lot of Pats fans so it was safer. Still I think the Miami fans are very fair weather and the support for their team seemed limited at best, especially as the game went on and it was obvious the Pats were going to win.  Daniela got the place to sing me happy birthday while we had dessert after the game was over. Since we had eaten at Pacha Mamma it was basically just beers while we were watching the game.

We safely walked back to the hotel on the correct sides of the road.

Miami 2015 Day 3

We woke up later and the weather still wasn’t fully cooperative. It was very windy and cloudy apparently due to a tropical depression hanging around the area. Still we had to basically get ready because we were going to drive to the Sandals home office where we would meet with Silvio and Arlenes who were reps from Sandals we met on the trip to Jamaica.  They offered to take us out to lunch for Cuban food one of our days in Miami. We got ready and then Daniela had to do some work so we basically had breakfast of sorts and then I killed time until it was time to go.

We got the car from the valet and the drive was probably about 50 minutes to just beyond the airport a bit to the south. There was of course traffic but we made it unscathed.  The office was a little difficult to find but we were able to get there. They do not have enough parking spaces for the companies that work in that location it is quite obvious.  We got inside and Silvio took us to a conference room and we chatted about different things until Arlenes was done with her phone meeting. She joined us and Silvio drove us to La Carreta which is a famous Cuban restaurant a few minutes away from their office.

La Carreta has about 5 locations Silvio said. The staff all spoke Spanish as a first language. I had the ropa vieja and Daniela had something called vaca frita de pollo which if translated literally means fried cow of chicken.  It means that it was a shredded chicken dish done in the way of a shredded beef dish that is popular for Cubans.  I had mine with black beans and rice. The food was excellent.  Silvio and Alrenes both immigrated from Cuba to the US some years back. They explained a little bit of their thoughts on the island and the potential for it to open back up. It sounds like it is opening but still there is a long way to go. They believe it will happen though because it will benefit everyone.  They explained a bit about working as a travel agent in the US to Daniela and gave her some ideas and some contacts. They were very nice and very helpful too. We tried to pay but they wouldn’t let us.

After we finished lunch we got back in the car and drove to the malls near the airport.  There was the Dolphin Mall and the International Mall. The Dolphin Mall was definitely the better of the two and much larger. Daniela sends a lot of passengers there so she wished to make sure she knew more about them.  After that we headed back to the hotel.

We again had a bit of traffic but not as bad as say the day we got into Miami.  We got in and got cleaned up and changed and then went down to the hotel restaurant, which is Kitchen 305 (the area code of the region).  It was all you can eat lobster night which meant it was very crowded and busy but neither of us wanted lobster. The initial step of getting seated was quick but it took a long time for a server to visit us. They also took a while to get us drinks and food. I had a beer and Daniela had white sangria. I had a grilled swordfish dish with polenta and Daniela had a whole fish fried snapper.  Both fish were fresh but overcooked and hers was on the dryish side. I didn’t care for the fact the fish was dropped right on the polenta for me because it didn’t allow for the separation of flavors.  It took a long time get served through every step and it was very noisy in there.  The good news was that we had the $100 credit from our time served with the sales pitch so it didn’t really cost us any money. I would advise don’t go to this place on one of their all you can eat nights unless you are going for that promotion.

Daniela wanted to go dancing so we took the bus to South Beach which was $2 per person and maybe about half an hour for as long as we went. We then walked around the South Beach area along Ocean Boulevard and Collins Avenue.  We looked at all the restaurants and found that there were a couple of clubs and mostly restaurants. I got the impression from other people it was mostly clubs and only couple restaurants but it didn’t seem that way to us. The most famous club is Mango’s but when we got to it Daniela didn’t seem to like it so we ended up walking down to mostly the end then turning back and getting a drink at one of the restaurants to take a rest because it was a lot of walking and basically very close to midnight at that point. 

When we finished we decided to take a taxi back to the room and call it a night because it was very close to too late for the bus and we didn’t know where to get a stop.

Miami 2015 Day 2

We woke up early enough to get ready for a sales pitch we had signed up for at the time we arrived to the hotel.  The reason we signed up for it was to get a $100 credit at the hotel restaurant and two free breakfast vouchers.  The lady at the concierge said that it would take 90 minutes or so and we were not obligated to buy anything.  I assumed it was the standard time share type sales pitch and I know I have no need for a time share, so it would be 90 minutes for basically $130 or so.

Before the pitch we went to the breakfast restaurant and ate. They have a buffet for $17 a person not including tax and tip. Like most people I cannot eat $17 worth of breakfast food nor can Daniela so we ordered off the menu more reasonably.  I assume the vouchers will be for the buffet.  I had a bagel and bacon and Daniela had the all American. She had orange juice and I had coffee (hers came with coffee too).  We took maybe about 20 minutes and that got us just in time for the appointment.

We had to fill out some paperwork then we were brought upstairs to the penthouse where we received a different sales pitch than I was expecting. Instead of trying to sell a time share they were selling something called Eccentry Holidays. The idea is that you pay a membership cost and then $200 a year and get vastly discounted prices on 4 and 5 star accommodations around the world.  When I say vastly discounted they were showing things like $300 a week or so for many of the places. It would be required to rent for 7 nights/8 days. They have their own deals with lots of properties and it all in all sounds like a great deal. The sales guy was very personable. Former golf pro on Carnival cruise ships.  The pitch also brought a short tour of the property but not much really. A quick look at a renovated condo style room at the Newport Beachside which is an older hotel.  In the end it actually took about 3 hours to get through everything and we did not buy in.  The suggested startup price for 3 weeks as he presented it to us was a bit over $10000 because of Daniela’s student idea (said it was supposed to be for 2 weeks but he could toss another one in). By the way it was the manager that did the offering and not the sales person.  I think 3 weeks typical would be $20000 when I looked at the charts he was pushing around.  We didn’t do it because first it is insane to commit to something like that. Second we will be doing more Peru travel than anything else. Third there is a limitation to the dates of availability of a property it appeared. In any event we earned our dinner and breakfast credits through it all.

After the pitch we walked out to find lunch and went to a Colombian restaurant named Meg Chuzo which is apparently a slang term for Colombian shish kebab. I had something called a maicito which was a mixed bowl of grilled chicken with yellow corn, cheese and a few other things and was quite tasty. I had one Presidente and one Aguila beer each because the Presidente on draft ran out.  Daniela got a soup and an arepa which is meat on a corn tortilla.  However the soup was so filling we took the arepa home.  She had a passion fruit juice too.

After lunch we walked to the supermarket and bought some water, fruit and cheese then headed back to the hotel.  We got changed and headed down to the ocean.

It was still very very windy out so we tested the water which was warm but ended up in the outdoors Jacuzzi for a little while then in the regular pool for a while as well.  They both were heated as far as I could tell.  After a long while in the pool we got back to the room and showered and dressed and got a quick dinner at the restaurant bar at the pier because we were trying to be quick so Daniela could Skype with her sister. Unfortunately her sister got detained and we rushed for little reason. We sat out on the pier area at first but it was too windy and moved to a place protected by the building. There I had a bacon cheeseburger and Daniela had a grilled chicken panini.  I had an iced tea and Daniela had a hot tea.  They had a guy playing guitar and girl signing which was nice.  The food was ok but nothing spectacular. They did serve me rare like I asked though. One thing to notice in Miami is that every restaurant includes tip in their totals so far. So if you come down here make sure you read the receipts and don’t double tip the staff. 

After dinner we went back to the hotel. Daniela had to do some work on the laptop and I decided to head to bed.

Miami 2015 Day 1

We woke up and packed in the morning because we were being picked up by Flightline at 8:45am. I was able to get my keys to David to keep an eye on the apartment during the week. It is nice to live so close to work.  The car came to pick us up just a couple minutes ahead of schedule. The driver wasn’t really a talker at all but that was fine.  It would be directly part of the commute hours to get there but at least I was not driving.  The ride to the airport had traffic mainly getting on 95 from 3 then from about 28 down to the HOV lane on 93. The driver used the HOV lane which I am sure saved us about 15 minutes or maybe more on this drive rather than taking the regular lanes.  The airport was not crazy busy and we used the automatic check-in kiosk with no issues and dropped off our bag quickly. Because I bought both tickets this time we got TSA Pre and the security line was quick and easy with no shoe or laptop removals.  Inside we found the Cisco Brewery restaurant was serving breakfast and decided to eat there. They were not fast but the food was ok. I had a bacon melt and Daniela had a full breakfast. Coffee for both and a banana and orange smoothie for Daniela.  By the time we finished and settled it was already boarding time and in moments we were on the plane.

The plane departed on time. It was a 737 that was of course full. There were a few bumps but both of us basically slept through almost all of the flight. It was uneventful is the easiest way to put it.

This was my first attempt getting out of Miami airport in all the times I have been to it. We had to take a tram to baggage check then we had to figure out to go upstairs to the walk that was almost as long as the airport which brought us to another tram that took us to the rental car pickup.  Since I am an Avis Preferred we already had our Ford Fusion in space C8.  Getting out was quick. I was worried because my current license expires before we are done with this trip but I have a temporary with me (I also brought my passport).  The guy gave me no issues though. There was a crap ton of traffic getting from the airport to the hotel. I think we met into the start of commute time which kinda sucked.  I think it took about an hour to get what google maps GPS said would take about 30 minutes without traffic. Still we made it there and it was pretty direct. 

We chose to use the valet parking at the Newport Beachside Hotel which is $25 per day versus $20 for self parking.  I am not sure if renting was totally going to be a good idea for the whole trip. I did see that they have a rental booth for the hotel so might have been able to rent for the guaranteed drives we had to do anyway.  In any event, it took longer than it should have to check us in. They were apparently still cleaning rooms from previous checkout and the girl had a hard time finding us one with the ocean view like we reserved. Fortunately we got room 402.  By the time we got checked in Daniela had already gotten us into a tour of the facility for the next day (presumably to get us to come back again but including a $100 credit to the hotel restaurant and a free breakfast each if we did it by noon the next morning).

We got to the room which is nice but maybe a little run down (not bad just obviously not been redone in a few years).  It has a separate living room and large bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub.  We got changed and decided to walk around to find dinner. We managed to go maybe 10 minutes away where we fond Pacha Mamma (spelled with 2 Ms) which is a Peruvian restaurant and I knew we were eating there today on our anniversary day.  We sat outside. The waiter and chef were both Peruvian which was nice. We got a bottle of red wine and started with a trio of ceviches, plain, with rocotto and with yellow aji.  They were the best ceviche we had in the US. The waiter had us get the corvina which is a traditional ceviche fish in Peru.  He kept us down to only one main dish because he said two would be too much for us so we got the seco de cordero (braised lamb shank).  It was excellent. It was served with beans and rice and yukka along with a small salad of red onions and tomato.  We were very close to full by the time we finished this.  To finish out we tried their picarones which were not on the menu but they turned out to be standard wheat based fried dough with a sugar based sauce on them. They were good but not proper picarones.  Oh well, no place can be perfect.  So we finished with a coffee each then walked up strip to a point where it turns to a bridge then back down by the beach when we found a way in. I think the walk was an hour and a half or so.

When we got back to the room the front desk had given us a bottle of champagne for our anniversary so we opened that then we tried out the Jacuzzi then called it a night.

Washington DC 2015 Day 3

Again it was breakfast at the hotel. This time waffles, sausages, eggs, fruit, sweet potato fries and of course more coffee.  The other guests were more talkative this morning and we talked about a lot of different things with each other and with Keith the owner of the hotel.  It was interesting conversation that covered politics and economics and education and so on.  I could tell the other guests were on the conservative side and that Keith was in between on it.  I am sure I have not yet mentioned he is black but he definitely understands both side of the argument better than I ever would be able to.  

We headed out this morning to go straight to the Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights as our primary focus. On the way we saw a bunch of children playing xylophones at a very tiny (smaller than the Billerica one) farmer's market.  We watched them play a couple of songs before continuing on to the Archives.  When we got there we had a long line of people trying to get in (you get screened for security purposes) and it probably took about half an hour or so before we were actually inside. We headed straight to the rotunda and had to wait maybe another 5 to 10 minutes to be let in to see the documents. It is tough to read the actual Declaration of Independence because it is so faded and the only signature you can really see at this point is the John Hancock.  The rest of it is just so faded it is tough to see much. They had a replica for easier reading as well as many panels of explanation.  The Constitution was more legible by far as is the Bill of Rights.  It was great to finally see them. We spent quite a while in the rotunda.  I was the guy that listened to the guards and just wandered around to see things rather than forming up in a line like a lot folks did. People didn't get bad about me pushing in around here and there though so it was cool. 

We also went to the exhibit on alcohol in the US including the Prohibition.  Downstairs we visited the exhibit which included the Magna Carta and also was a treatise on liberty and civil rights. It was very jam packed with information and took a while to go through.  We visited the Archives gift shop and then headed out for lunch.  The visit took a few hours all over again.

We had seen a restaurant called China Chilcano in our travels the previous day. It had a logo that included the Nazca lines.  Daniela wanted to go there so we headed to it. It was only a couple blocks from the Archives on 7th street.  We got in quick and were seated. I ordered a chilcano (it was a touch weak) and Daniela started with a chicha morada then on to a pisco sour. The waitress talked us into trying a tasting menu.  This would be $55. Entrees were about $15 or so so it sounded like a good deal. .She said it would be great for two people. I need to emphasize that for later.  I asked about the chef and it is Jose Andres.  He is a Spaniard and not Peruvian. I hit this as a warning sign but Daniela was still excited so we picked up the Chilcano tasting menu. I should point out the theme of the restaurant is the fusion of Peruvian, Chinese and Japanese cultures in Peru.  There is no doubt they have their own form of Chinese food called chifa.  The name suggested the restaurant would have chifa to Daniela and myself so that is partially why she wanted to try it. The idea of a bowl of chaufa which is what they call fried rice Peruvian style was very appealing to her.  The tasting menu started with a causa each.  This is a potato with meat over it dish down with yellow potatoes.  It was nice but they were very small. I bite or two at best. This was followed by a Chinese spoon of ceviche which was not really enough to get a good feeling about it. The ceviche had no spicy in it which is a must for the Peruvian. Also Daniela felt the fish was overdone in the acid though I am not sure there was enough for me to notice that. We received a pork shumai dish and a vegetable gyoza dish both off which had 4 pieces and I wasn't crazy about them too much but they weren't offense. There was a dish of aeropuerto (airport as you may have guessed) which is fried rice with noodles on top. Almost no rice in it. A cold rice noodles dish came but neither of us liked it and she said she had never seen it in Peru. Then a short fat rice noodle dish that had tomatoes and eggs. Very sweet sauce but not terrible.  There was sugar snap peas but prepared separately from either the rice or noodles. Those were decent.  The next dish was aji de gallina and it was reasonable but the texture was wrong. It did have the olive and some potato. I think it must be tough to get actual hen and prepare it correctly in the US so it was just chicken.  I liked it but I expected the aji sauce to be more creamy and accurate.  We were supposed to get lomo saltado and another saltado with shrimp but something happened and our ticket got lost we were told and over a half an hour later we still had nothing. It was getting late and we wanted to see the White House before it got dark so we had a brief conversation with the waitress and she agreed to cancel the rest of the meal and cut us down to the lower tasting menu as well as to remove a round of drinks for the extended delay that was not fixed after two attempts.  That was when the bill was handed to me and I found out the tasting menu was supposed to be per person. I can honestly say there is no way I would have ordered a tasting  menu for me at $55 in the first place but even more so when I saw the size of portions in the tasting menu. We complained to the waitress and the manager took the bill down to one order. I explained that they should word it better in the sales presentation as well as on the menu. The manager said they would work on that.  Longest paragraph in the trip and it is about a restaurant. I would say the idea was a good one. And I know Daniela was excited about having Peruvian food but we both left disappointed and upset in the long run.  Worse yet later in the day we both felt funny to the stomach. Basic statement is. Do not go to China Chilcano for 2 reasons.  One it is not really accurate to Peru. Two it was not really a good experience for us for more than just the inaccuracies (we saw the lomo saltado someone ordered had potato chips instead of French fries).

After this failure we marched on to the White house which was just down Pennsylvania Avenue of course. It took maybe 20 minutes from there and we walked around back and then to the front side of it. We found out you can petition your congressman for a chance to visit the White House but we didn't do that before we left so we will do that in a follow visit where we have more time. There are definitely too many museums to visit for a two day trip.  By the time we were done taking pictures we both spoke about our stomach discomfort and decided to head back to the hotel to have some tea bu ton the way found our first and only gift shop in the streets of DC called White House Gifts. So we went in and bought a couple things and had our pictures taken on their presidential sets.  It was cute. Then we headed back to the hotel. We had some tea then I started to write blog entries and decided I was too tired before I finished so went to bed. Daniela had a little bit of stuff to type up as well. I do not feel we did near as much as the day before but we literally lost over 2 and a half hours at the restaurant when all was said and done there and it ate up most of the prime time to do anything.

Washington DC 2015 Day 2

We started off the day with a breakfast in the Mount Vernon Square Bed and Breakfast. They served sausages, toasted croissants, grits with cheese, scrambled eggs, home fries and fresh fruits.  I had a couple of cups of coffee too.  The food was enjoyable. This morning the other guests all talked only with their own couples so it was a quiet breakfast that passed by.

We got out to the streets and immediately took Keith's directions towards the National Mall as heading to 7th street and working our way down from there. You pass by the Verizon Center but on the way we found the Smithsonian National Art Gallery and Portraits Museum. It was just about to open for the day so we decided to wait the few minutes then entered

Inside the portraits gallery we barely made it through half of the first floor. We went through the modern portraits of celebrities which was mostly photography but there was a painting of Katy Perry (odd choice I felt). After you pass through that it is historical figures working their way forward from the colonial times into the American Civil War and all areas in between. There were portraits of many individuals from Massachusetts and I made sure to read the information beside the pictures for all of those.  I did skip on some folks that made little impact to my memory from other places a bit.  Even then with a fair amount of skipping we took around 3 and a half hours to get the distance we made and decided to get out and have lunch. We went simple and both of us chose to eat from different food trucks right outside the museum.  I had a Philly cheese steak from Phamous Phillies. Daniela got a lamb gyro plate from a Greek food truck. My sandwich was really quite good. Daniela appeared to like her food a lot too. We got there just in time as the trucks were preparing to end their day.

From there we walked to the National Mall by starting out heading toward the Capitol building.  We took pictures from several angles and postulated what was on top of the dome.  It was a bit hard to see because of the work being done on the dome right now but apparently it is a bronze statue of "Freedom."  That I know from Google (how else).  I thought it looked like a skeksi from The Dark Crystal at the angle we could see it from.

We worked our way through the greens area and on to the Washington Monument. We found you can go up to the top but only a very limited number of tickets are issued in the morning and you have to get there very early to get any tickets later on in the day but at least it was nice to be up close to it. If I recall, on my last trip it was roped off because of damage from the recent earthquake.

On we headed to the World War II memorial which is newer in the grounds and in between the Washington and Lincoln monuments.  It is quite large and different from other war memorials in the sense that it is one we can list as a total victory for the USA.  WWI was too limited for us by the time we got into it.  The Civil War has defeat coupled with victory in many respects so it also has some limitations.  I think also there is some significance in the location.  We circled that around then continued our way to the Lincoln Memorial.  When we got there we found there was a tour starting at 6pm run by a US National Park Ranger so I ran up quick and took some pictures while Daniela waited at the sign.  When I got back the ranger was there and she started a tour with maybe 8 of us. This tour is provided free of charge.

The ranger was named Joann and she was originally from Texas where initially she became a ranger at Carlsbad Caverns.  She has been in DC as a guide for 4 years she said. She took us up and around the Lincoln monument and explained about its design and purpose and about the significance of the statue of Lincoln itself as well as the two quotes on the walls inside the monument.  I think Lincoln was a tougher subject for her because she struggled a little bit but she did a good job all the same.

From Lincoln we traveled to the Korean War Memorial. It was already dark by this time and the statues almost looked like ghosts in the darkness. There are 19 statues and 19 panels of etched images on stone in the monument to signify the 38th parallel that was being protected in the Korean "police action" which never officially had the US declare war.  She definitely picked up steam in explaining about the statues and the quotes in the monument.

Then it was on to t he Vietnam War Memorial which is of course the giant list of names of all the soldiers who died of wounds from the Vietnam War.  It is capped off on either end by statues of soldiers and of nurses and is meant to be set in a circle. The beginning and end of the war are both in the middle of the large wall that contains all the names.  It was a bit dark and there were few people around but it is still significant to see it right in front of your eyes.  There were gits left to names there that the guide said are being housed until a museum is complete to display the items. She said one person left a Harley Davidson motorcycle there in tribute to someone fallen in the Vietnam War.

We finished off her tour at the World War II memorial she explained the ordering of the state and territory names in the monument as the order the states and territories joined the US. Of course Massachusetts was one of the Original 13 states so very close to the center which is the seat of honor as it were.  The seat of honor being the stars that each represented 100 dead soldiers in WWII.  That means that there were over 4000 stars in the monument.  When she finished we had lost maybe one or two but still there were 6 of us. She radioed on to a guide at the Martin Luther King jr monument who was going to start an 8pm tour and he waited for us to get there.

This ranger's name was Lowell and he was an elderly man that was so very enthusiastic and entertaining that he captivated more than the official 4 of us that were on the tour at every stop we took. He told his stories in such an animated fashion that you couldn't help but listen to him.  He preached a little bit but in a good way about the responsibilities of the individual to keep moving forward those things that were started by people like Martin Luther King jr, FDR and Thomas Jefferson which were the three monuments on his tour.

He explained about the monument of MLK jr first. This is the newest monument in the Mall and was dedicated late due to earthquake and hurricane causing slight issues in its year of opening which was 2011 I am pretty sure. The moment consists of a mountain which had MLK as part of it but broken free.  Also there are two wings with many of his quotes running up and down each side. It is definitely more interested to enter through the mountain and come around to see the statue of the man than  if we had seen it from the other direction I think.

From MLK we moved on to FDR. He was quite funny through FDR which is a rather large monument that is spread out over a fair distance as it has "rooms" that express the different terms of Roosevelt as president.  From election through the Great Depression and the New Deal and on to WWII and to his death. Lowell most definitely liked FDR as a character in history and had many stories and quotes to share. He said something at each room and as I said he picked up large crowds that stayed until  he was done. He was like a born entertainer.

Between Roosevelt and Jefferson we found out he had  degree in history and said the was embarrassed they paid him to do his job he loved it so much. We chatted about a few different things as the walk between the two monuments takes a few minutes. He knew the proper greeting in Quechua which shocked Daniela (at the end of the our I recorded him saying it for her).  On to Thomas Jefferson which is a single round Roman Pantheon style building he brought us in and explained a bit about the man whom he said he didn't like because he had no sense of humor.  Again we picked up a large crowd of folks who listened to his speech.  He had a few people come over and thank him for what he did while there. It was very funny but I get the feeling the park rangers consider him like that strange uncle you have that needs a little but of caring but is really great to have around. They sent another ranger to help him get back to his car but  he said he was all set.  He helped us got on track to head back to the hotel as well. We really were fans of him as a guide and he is among one of the favorites I've ever had.

Daniela was freezing by this point because Lowell had loaned her his inner fleece jacket for the duration of his tour and she had to give it back. So we took a taxi back to the hotel and she got her own jacket then walked back down to Busboys and Poets (because it was already past 11pm to get something quick to eat.  Daniela had a chicken barley soup and hot chocolate and I had a bacon cheeseburger and a beer.  After we finished eating it was straight back to the hotel to crash for the night from exhaustion. It was a very long day with a very large amount of standing and walking.

Washington DC 2015 Day 1

This trip started with a business trip to Newark, Delaware which finished on Thursday at about noontime. We had already landed on Monday and rented the car and spent the past couple nights in Newark with me involved in a service focused conference which was a great experience and a lot of fun besides.

After getting dropped off at the hotel by my boss we basically got our stuff and packed into the car for a drive down to DC. Since we were leaving at about 1pm the traffic would not be so bad I hoped but there was going to be road construction I was sure.  I didn't bring an actual GPS so we used my phone as a GPS. It gave me a couple of detour around traffic suggestions (I don't have Waze and was just using Google Maps which I think worked fine).  It took us probably about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get there. The ride was basically uneventful. The last 4 miles through downtown DC were basically the lengthy feeling part as we hit a lot of traffic lights and the roads were narrow.

We got to the hotel and drove around the block twice before I settled on a place to park.  We had to walk a short distance from there and ring the doorbell but we didn't bring our bags because the sign for the Mount Vernon Square Bed and Breakfast was not very large and we wanted to be sure it was the correct place.  We were met at the door by Keith who owns the place. He had me pull the car up to an illegal parking space on the corner to get the bags out then checked us into the room. He gave us a tour of the facility. We are in the Terrace room which does actually have a terrace. He said he does not advertise it because it is not much. Really it is just a nice large place where you can hang out with a small plastic table and chairs. It is starting fall and there are a few leaves and things there.  Still it is nice to have access to outside. Technically terrace has access to the roof by a spiral staircase too but he told us not to go up there so we won't.  After he got us settled he helped me park the car in a private parking area attached to the building (no charge that I know of).  I had to back into a very tight spot but he said we would not need to move the car for the rest of our DC trip because the National Mall is only a 20 minute walk away which was what I was aiming for from the place.

The room is very large. The building is from a bygone era but it adds to the charm feeling like an old brownstone from a wealthier family. He helped me with a map of the area with markings to a few things. We found out he is a hypnotist and gives 2 free hypnosis sessions to guests too. Daniela said he bought the house on auction while it was in really bad shape and he and his wife fixed it up. When they divorced he decided to make it into the bed and breakfast. I think he has done a great job with the decor and feel of the place.  The one oddity is that our private bathroom is on the second floor even though the Terrace Room is on the third floor. It is lockable from the inside and I suspect all the other rooms have their bathrooms internally, it is a quirk that there is no room for the bathroom upstairs or something. The bathroom is very large and much nicer than the bathroom we just had at the Embassy Suites in Newark, DE. It has a shower with a lot of options for regular shower head or water pick and more. There is a lot of room in it too. I am willing to bet a lot of people would be bothered by the situation but as of this point it has not been an issue for us.

Daniela had to do some work for a few minutes then we headed to a local restaurant named Busboys and Poets where we had lunch/dinner. I had Ropa Vieja (shredded beef Cuban style) and Daniela had wild rice and beans with grilled chicken. I tried two local beers and Daniela had 2 fresh squeezed orange juices. The food was really good. The Belgian style beer was bland but the amber lager was quite nice.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel where Daniela unfortunately had a bit of work to do so really just called it a night by that point.

Jamaica 2015 Day 5

We woke up at 3:45 and I took a shower and got the luggage finished packed and outside for them to pickup for the transfer to the airport. We found the breakfast station and had a couple things and some coffee (there was not much there at 4 in the morning). We found some of the partiers still going and talked to them for a couple minutes before we had to get to the transfer bus. At the bus we had the hour and a half or so ride to the airport which was uneventful.

We got checked in to the flight bought a couple of souvenirs then checked through security and shopped a bit more but we really didn't buy anything. We found the gate and ate breakfast at the Margaritaville restaurant near our gate. I had pancakes and bacon and coffee. Daniela had an egg and cheese sandwich and juice.  We boarded and had a reasonably uneventful flight to Miami on American which was only about 1:15 in the air.

At Miami immigration and customs were some small lines but not too bad really. We got the bags rechecked for Boston then figured out that our flight was departing at 6:40pm (it was 12:30 or so) and not arriving in Boston then. So I got in touch with David and let him know. We tried to change to an earlier flight but it was not possible. We got a quick lunch at the bar and then Daniela took a nap then we wandered for a bit and Daniela had dinner because she really didn't eat the lunch at the Island Chicken restaurant. I got a frosty for dessert from the Wendy's then basically we boarded the plane.

This flight was also a little bumpy but basically uneventful and we slept through a lot of it.  By the time we deplaned and got our luggage it was maybe 10:15 and David was waiting for us and he drove us home forthwith and we really honestly just crashed as soon as we got in, not even bothering to unpack.