I know when I walk into a hotel room and immediately want to extend my trip an extra month that I’ve chosen the right place. I never really thought that “hotel living” would be something for me until I set foot in my room at the XV Beacon. So, with my most recent Boston visit, I have a fully renewed affinity for Boutique hotels and the indulgence of a personalized service experience.
Yes… it’s from an old SNL skit, but it rings in my head constantly when I fly. I’ll say it. I’m a Northwest girl {i.e. Northwest Airlines}, tried and true. Two things that made me this way: Minneapolis is {was} THE Northwest Hub and, when I moved to Los Angeles it was the only non-stop flight LAX-MSP. So it’s where I started earning my miles, it’s the acquaintance ties I had, and hell, I once dated a guy who’s father worked for NWA. Call me loyal. (more…)
On a recent flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt, I found myself in an innocent game of flirting with one of the flight attendants. Tony was just so sweet. On this particular flight, it was important to catch some Zs, so when the sun went down and I fell asleep, he came by and considerately turned off my overhead light. (more…)
Yes, I chose Swan Lake because I had seen Black Swan earlier this year. If you’ve seen it, can you blame me? It’s a pretty incredible movie. But I also chose it because it is a true classic ballet. Other than the Nutcracker I realized I have not seen much classic ballet. And like the Nutcracker, Swan Lake is also by Tchaikovsky. I took note of the similarities in the structure to The Nutcracker, although not in a critical way. It was beautiful, just stunning… the costumes, the dancing, the experience. I’m not writing this to review the Ballet {that I’ll leave to the actual critics}. But, I did come to New York just to see this performance {well, also to have a Central Park run, see below} – to experience this night, to watch something I can only dream of doing myself. So that’s exactly what I got. (more…)
Humor me for a moment. Ok, more than just a moment since this is going to be a new Feature, in which I get to talk about “life-in-the-sky”…
I try to make each and every flight as pleasant as possible. That means I’m super friendly to the flight attendants, I roll with the delays, and I pay attention when I get extra attention. (more…)
When a girl is on her own in New York City there are endless possibilities. When THIS girl is on her own in New York City there are, must-do, go-to, have-to-go-see-it places I need to check-off my list! So, with a few hours to kill before an evening out, I headed to SOHO to do a little… site seeing? Oh no, no. I go shopping! I use the excuse that I need a dress for dinner, but really – let’s be honest – it doesn’t matter what the reason is: shopping in New York City is a necessity. I was good and only bought one thing, but made sure to spend a thousand imaginary dollars window shopping. (more…)
Last week, in her “1 Night Stand: NYC” post, Anna mentioned that she used to have a severe fear of flying. So, of course, that inspired me to do a bit of airplane safety research! The most interesting stuff I came across was advice and personal facts direct from the Pilots themselves.
Hopefully, the majority of these tid-bits below will further inspire her confidence {with maybe just 1 or 2 exceptions}. Sorry, Anna, but I couldn’t resist! (more…)
The thing I have discovered about traveling alone is that, alone you are not. You will meet people when you travel alone to a city. Now, let me be clear that I’m strictly talking city here – yes it is true that if you travel alone to somewhere with no people you will be alone. But, in a city, there are people everywhere. I’m pointing out the obvious here, but in this case, when I traveled to New York to have a little weekend away, I didn’t realize how having dinner, going out, drinking coffee – whatever I decided to do - I would hardly have time to myself. (more…)
I used to dread any evening flight. Anything that had me flying in the dark was out! I won’t get into the fact that from age 10-30 I was terrified of flying (though flew anyway) but if I had to fly, I had to see outside. I had to know there were clouds below that were the cause of the turbulence, or if we were flying over a mountain range, or simply to look outside and know there was more around me than 160 (give or take) strangers. But, I conquered my fear and then discovered the joys of not only flying in the evening but better, overnight. The Red Eye. I like to think of it as the ultimate way to pack-in just a bit more on any trip. (more…)
Check out TripAdvisor’s Top 25 Beaches in the United States. Looks like Florida, California, North Carolina and Massachusetts win out overall…
Beaches are so wonderfully diverse. I’m always humbled by the presence of the sea. One of my favorite childhood memories is of visiting my cousins in Seattle and taking a trip to Orcas Island. Sneaking out of our cabin at midnight for low-tide and being truly memorized by the hundreds of six-pointed starfish on the beach, just completely blew my 10-year mind. (more…)