This is my second in a two part series about trip planning and organization. I spend a LOT of time planning out our trips. I’m definitely someone who likes to have things organized and planned, although I do love the unexpected moments that happen on trips.

Choosing a Destination

Deciding where to go is hard, not because I can’t decide, but because of costs. There are LOTS of places I would love to go, but cost is a major factor. So I usually begin by making a list of places we would love to visit then I plug those destinations into the AAA web site to get airfares. This allows me to narrow things down considerably because the airfare is the most expensive part of the trip. If we won’t be flying, then I take into consideration driving time to each destination.

At this point, we don’t really get to choose the timeframe for our trips. We have one child in college and one who will be in high school, so we fit things in around their school schedules (which have completely different breaks and summers). This often means we’re traveling in early August, when everyone else in the world is too. When our kids are older, I look forward to being able to travel in the shoulder seasons (spring and fall) when prices are lower.

Getting Started

Once we have chosen a destination and made plans, I buy Frommer’s and Fodor’s guidebooks for the location. I read them thoroughly and make notes in a notebook of places to go, things to do, places to eat, and things like hours, web site addresses, entrance fees, and any tips the books have offered. Then I start a Word document where I type in all of the information in an organized way, by city or daily location. Once I’ve done this, a schedule of sorts starts to emerge, based on things we’ve booked and the days and hours places are open.

Using the Internet

I look up every web address I’ve written down and print out hours, addresses, and maps if I think they will be helpful. I visit general toursim web sites for each location and look for links to coupons, places I haven’t read about yet and any tips. Next I check out Tripadvisor.com, where I read through the lists of the top attractions and restaurants in each location. If I find something I don’t already have, I add it to my list. I usually look up attractions and restaurants I’ve noted from the guidebooks to see what people are saying about them on Tripadvisor. This has helped me narrow things down a lot.

Maps

This year I’ve added a new trick to my bag. I created a Google map for each city and dropped pins for where we are staying, places to visit, places to eat and where to shop. One problem I often have is that although I compile a lengthy list of restaurants, we invariably end up out and about and starved. We want to eat somewhere close to where we are and it can be difficult to figure out if anything on my list is nearby. The maps I created will be accessed by our phones, so we can pull them up and look for nearby restaurants when needed.

I always carry a paper map because you can never trust you can connect to the internet. Even a GPS sometimes cannot get a satellite (we had the worst time with this in Aruba). Although the guidebooks I buy have maps in them, I frequnetly find that the free maps you pick up at your hotel or at tourism sites are much better, so I always grab those when possible.

Transportation

We feel most comfortable when we can have a car, but when visiting cities, you really can’t because parking is so hard. So I do my research in advance about public transportation. We usually buy a visitor’s pass for subways – usually there is a 3 day pass you can buy that allows you unlimited access. I make sure to have a subway map with me at all times and I make notes about what subway stops are closest to attractions we will visit.

As convenient as public transportation is, sometimes it is more than we can bear to walk blocks to get to the station, wait endlessly for a train, then hoof it again once you get off. So we always have enough cash for a taxi ride, just in case. I usually will write the name and address of our hotel on an index card and then just hand it to the driver in case there is a language barrier.

 

 

This is my second in a two part series about trip planning and organization. I spend a LOT of time planning out our trips. I’m definitely someone who likes to have things organized and planned, although I do love the unexpected moments that happen on trips. Choosing a Destination Deciding where to go is hard, … Read more →

We’re taking our second trip to Europe this summer. We’ve traveled to Alaska, Hawaii, several spots in the Caribbean and lots of destinations in the US and Canada in the 23 years we’ve been married, so I’ve learned how to prepare. I start planning for a trip months in advance and I start making a pile of things to take about a month before we go. Over the years, I’ve learned some things to make traveling easier, so I thought I would share them.

Preparation Is Everything

My biggest challenge is that I like to be over-prepared. If left to my own devices, I would love to bring lots of clothes to choose from, but I’ve had to learn to pare that inclination back due to airline restrictions (SOMEDAY, I tell myself we will take a long roadtrip and I will be able to bring anything I want!). What I will not pare back on is my other “just in case” items, particularly medicine and supplements. Someone is always getting sick on a trip in our family and so I try to be prepared for whatever might happen. I bring Nyquil, Uristat, Neosporin, bandages, swimmer’s ear drops, antacids, eye allergy drops, several types of allergy meds, ginger, chamomile, zinc, Advil, Tylenol, Motrin, arthritis Tylenol, Benadryl, Immodium, stool softeners, decongestants, Afterbite, anti-chafing gel, Blister Block, yeast infection meds, elderberry, migraine meds, inhalers, quick-fix repair kit for a lost filling, not to mention prescriptions and supplements that people in the family take regularly. You thought I was kidding about being over-prepared? We have used every single one of the items on this list on some trip at some point.

Airplane Supplies

I carefully pack my carry-on for planes. We now own 4 inflatable pillows, so each person gets their own to carry. We used to bring regular neck pillows, but they take up your entire carry-on. I have a lightweight blanket I pack that rolls up to almost nothing, and I always wear a sweater or jacket, no matter how warm it is since someone is always cold on an airplane. I bring two eye masks (everyone always says they don’t want them, then they ask if they can use mine, so I bring an extra). For long overnight flights, I pack disposable toothbrushes. I wear contacts and need a small bottle of multi-purpose solution and a lens case. A small hairbrush is also necessary for overnight flights. Other must-haves for airplane travel:

• cards
• gum
• headset (and an extra because I’ve had them break en route)
• book/magazine (for times when electronic devices must be off but other than that, I now have all my reading on my e-reader)
• e-reader/tablet
• lotion
• hand sanitizer
• water bottle (bought at the airport)
• portable snacks (I usually fill snack-size bags with various crackers and snacks)
• fruit that is easy to eat like apples or grapes
• one set of luggage keys

When my kids were little I always brought a new toy or book for each of them and I also had one stashed for the flight home (which is always the hardest because everyone is tired and there is no excitement about where you are going).

We bring all prescriptions in the carry-on, as well as all glasses and sunglasses.

Everyone either wears or brings a pair of socks to wear through security and to wear on the plane if we want to take our shoes off.

My daughter and I have little travel jewelry cases that go in our carry-ons. I do not bring anything expensive for fear of it being lost (flashback to a missing earring in a Florida hotel room: we made the maids empty their vacuum cleaner bags! It eventually turned up in the crease of a chair, but never again!).

Sanitizing

Since someone always gets sick, I am always thinking about what I can do to prevent it (a losing battle, but I do try). I bring a tub of wet sanitizing wipes and try to remember to wipe down airplane armrests and trays. I also get them out when we get to our hotel and wipe the TV remote, door handles, faucets, toilet seat, nightstand, lamp switch and other surfaces (and honestly it is hard to remember to do this because when we get there we want to either collapse or unpack immediately).

I carry a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer in my purse. I have several of these TSA-approved sized bottles. At home, I buy a large bottle of hand sanitizer and use it to refill the little bottles. I have one small bottle on my person at all times and keep the extra bottles in my suitcase. When we are in restaurants, we order, then once we have handed the menus back (which have been touched by countless other people), we all use hand sanitizer.

The Purse

I found this cross-body bag last summer and have used it on several trips. I like it because it has slots for credit cards and money, so I don’t need a wallet. It has several different pockets so I can keep things organized. The purse always contains:

• money and credit cards
• one travel size Kleenex packet (extras in the suitcase)
• hand sanitizer
• lip balm
• a pen
• paper
• my phone
• a small roll-on sunscreen
• several individual packets of wet wipes (that I bring home from restaurants)
• Tide To Go stick
• reading glasses (there are some menus I just cannot read at this point!)
• one set of luggage keys

I also have a small zippered pouch that is my on-the-go medical kit which contains a few bandaids and a few doses of medication/supplements/prescriptions that will be needed in the course of a day.

When my kids were younger, I carried paper toilet seat covers and I will again carry those on our trip this year, since it sounds like some bathrooms may be questionable.

Suitcases

We have super lightweight suitcases for travel (so I can stuff as much as possible in them and still be under the weight limits!) Our suitcases have photocopies of our passports and itinerary.

I pack one small umbrella per person no matter where we are going.

I pack a large fabric tote so that if I buy a lot on the trip, I can carry it home in this onto the plane.

I have a small sewing kit and small travel packets of laundry detergent.

All of the medical supplies are packed in one zipper case. I prefer to bring things like vitamins and supplements in individual zipper bags, but I usually end up with the bottles because I don’t want there to be any question about what they are. I put all these bottles together into zipper bags so I can easily locate them.

All toiletries are double bagged in large zipper bags (double bagging is key – single bagging has led to leakage). And I bring lots of extra bags just in case.

My husband has a tiny (credit card-sized) wallet-tool that has a knife, screwdriver, and

other handy items that we put in the suitcase (it can’t go through security).

We have a handheld luggage scale that has saved us many a time because we are able to distribute things among bags so they come in under weight.

We use TSA approved locks on our suitcases. We have plastic pull twists packed for the instances in which a lock is removed and then not replaced (this has happened a few times). We have bright pink name tags that have only our name and cell phone number on them (country code first if we are traveling abroad).

Clothing

We get all of our clothes and toiletries out at home when packing, and then we pack some of each into each suitcase, so if one suitcase goes missing we won’t have one person with no clothes. Everyone will have something to wear.

When my kids were babies, toddlers and preschoolers, I packed complete outfits for them in zipper bags for each day – it made it very easy to get everyone dressed.

I bring one dress (that can be dressed up or down) and one pair of pants (I usually wear black yoga pants on the plane for this purpose – in a pinch they can be paired with a top and look like regular black pants) and one long-sleeve sweater (also worn on the plane) when we travel in the summer or to warm destinations. I try to bring clothes that can be mixed and matched. Shoes are a big deal for me. No matter how broken in they are, I always end up with sore feet, so I’ve got to have several pair I can rotate among.

If we will be going any place dressy, my husband wears his all-purpose khakis (that are also used for casual wear) and has one dress shirt, tie and sportcoat ready. My son brings khakis and a polo shirt for dress.

I like to bring a kitchen-sized garbage bag for dirty clothes.

Toiletries

I buy travel size of anything I can find. Yes, it costs more, but it saves space and weight and you have the added benefit of being able to toss it when you use it up. I also purchased Go Tubes that are refillable travel-size bottles that do not leak. They really and truly do not leak. I looked for years and always had those little hard plastic bottles with screw-on caps and they ALWAYS leaked. These are fantastic and allow me to create my own travel size version of anything I need.

Other Items

We have two metal water bottles that are in a sling, so you can carry them over your shoulder or cross-body. We go back and forth on the bottles. Last summer when we went to the southwest, we packed them and did use them a lot when we were out exploring off-road sites. We have found them to be inconvenient in cities though, where it is easier to buy water when you need it and toss the bottle than to always be carrying this around.

We have brought a backpack as a carry-on and then used it in cities during trips. This was useful when we were carrying guidebooks, kids’ snacks, and more around. We’ve gotten to the point where we don’t bring a guidebook (I’ll write more about my trip planning in another post) and we don’t have little kids who melt down if they can’t have a snack immediately, so we’ve stopped doing this.

For this trip to Europe we’ve bought money belts to wear under our clothes. We’ll carry passports, credit cards, cash and other valuables in them.

Plug converters are a must in Europe and we will bring several. We also purchased a dual voltage flat iron for my daughter. When we were in the UK, hers kept blowing the fuse in the apartment we rented. We didn’t realize you need dual voltage for it to work abroad.

What I Do Not Bring

I do not bring:

• travel iron (I’m not a stickler about wrinkles and if there is a problem, I hang the item in the bathroom and turn the shower on hot for a while and it steams the wrinkles out)
• travel alarm clock (we use cell phones)
• heels
• any piece of luggage smaller than the largest size suitcase allowed (even if we are going for a few days, it allows me space for an extra outfit or to buy something)
• those toiletry kits that hang on the back of a door (they take up a lot of space and I usually just end up with everything on the vanity anyhow. If the vanity is tiny, it goes on the bathroom floor)
• packing cubes (they just take up more space and weight)
• power strips (these did not seem to work in the UK – they required too much power)

We’re taking our second trip to Europe this summer. We’ve traveled to Alaska, Hawaii, several spots in the Caribbean and lots of destinations in the US and Canada in the 23 years we’ve been married, so I’ve learned how to prepare. I start planning for a trip months in advance and I start making a … Read more →

We spend every July 4th at Conesus Lake in New York state’s Finger Lakes region. While the 4th is a great holiday, it’s the 3rd that is the big day here. On the night of the third, everyone with a home on the lake lights flares they’ve lined up near the water at 10 pm. The red lights circle the lake, making a ring of fire. There are also bonfires at just about every home, and there are fireworks everywhere. Municipal fireworks are shot off at Vitale Park at the north end of the lake, but about every third house has fireworks they shoot from the ends of their docks. One of our neighbors has so many that he backs a trailer up to his house every year to unload and then spends the day carrying stacks of boxes out onto the dock. It makes for quite a show. In fact, it’s hard to even know which direction to look in, there are so many spectacular lights in the sky. Fireworks are very different when they are exploding directly over your head!

People start “practicing” during the afternoon and by 9 pm there are fireworks everywhere. It lasts until the wee hours of the morning and I’m always in bed hearing more explosions happen outside.

A recent addition to the festivities are Chinese lanterns, tissue paper lanterns with a square of flammable tar at the bottom. You light the tar, wait for the hot air to fill the lantern and let it go. It rises up, up, up until you can’t see it. The sky is filled with these, but I admit they make me nervous that one will end up in a tree or on someone’s roof.

All of this fun has a few downsides. Our dogs go completely crazy. They hate the noise. We leave them in the house and try to get them to stay in an interior room with the doors closed. Another big issue is that the next morning there is debris everywhere. The deck is covered in dust and scraps of paper. The water has garbage floating in and we clean up what washes ashore. Any cars that are outside are covered in debris. At least this year we didn’t hear any sirens, so hopefully there were no injuries.

 

We spend every July 4th at Conesus Lake in New York state’s Finger Lakes region. While the 4th is a great holiday, it’s the 3rd that is the big day here. On the night of the third, everyone with a home on the lake lights flares they’ve lined up near the water at 10 pm. … Read more →

My husband and I have been married for 23 years and have been traveling together for 24 years. We started small because we had no money, and drove increasingly further each year. We stayed close to home when the kiddos were little, but have been trying to explore more and more of the world ever since. It occurred to me that I’ve been to a lot of place and experienced a lot of amazing things over the years, so I want to share some of them with you.

One of the places that we have never forgotten is the Red Roost Restaurant. It’s located inthe middle of Maryland’s DelMarVa peninsula. When we visited (before GPS was invented), it was in the middle of nowhere and involved complicated directions like “turn right at the chicken coop.” We did find it and at the time it was a very nondescript building (an old chicken coop itself) set on a deserted road, with a parking lot full of pick up trucks.

We tentatively went inside and were seated at a booth that had a roll of paper towels and a squeeze bottle of what looked like melted butter on the table. The inside was plain and the highlight of the decor were the pendant lights covered with bushel baskets. The business was family owned, and it was clear many employees were part of the family. At that time, the menu was all-you-can-eat (today’s menu has some all-you-can-eat and some al a carte items). We ordered Maryland crabs, fried chicken, ribs, steamed shrimp, and clams. The waitress brought our food and literally dumped it on the table in front of us. It also included corn on the cob and some other sides I just don’t remember. We ate and ate and they brought as much food as we wanted (we were young and not worried about our waistlines!). It was all incredible, fresh, and intensely flavorful. It was simply eye-opening for us to find that food poured on the table could be better than almost anything we’d ever tasted.

After we stuffed ourselves, the waitress convinced us to have apple pie al a mode which may have been the best piece of pie I’d ever eaten. The night was not over yet though. The wait staff passed out song sheets in plastic protectors and everyone sang along. One of the waiters sang a heartrending version of Danny Boy I have never forgotten.

We left nearly in tears from the sensory overload of incredible food, intense homey atmosphere, and the music that brought everyone in the room together. We’ve never forgotten this meal, but have never been back in the area to try it again, so I can’t speak to what it’s like today. I only hope the new owners still pass out the song sheets at the end of a wonderful meal.

My husband and I have been married for 23 years and have been traveling together for 24 years. We started small because we had no money, and drove increasingly further each year. We stayed close to home when the kiddos were little, but have been trying to explore more and more of the world ever … Read more →

We just returned from a trip to Aruba. It was shorter than we planned because Continental/United completely screwed up. Forgive me for venting before I share the fun stuff. First our flight from Buffalo was delayed because the flight crew got in late. Then there was a problem they were fixing. We finally got on the plane 2 hours or so late. It took off, flew for 15 minutes and turned around and came back to Buffalo with another mechanical problem. They could not get us to Newark in time for our connection. So they flew us there later in the day and stuck us in a hotel overnight and we were to fly out the next morning (to console ourselves, we took the train into NYC and ate at Basta Pasta, where they make a pasta dish that they mix up inside a wheel of Parmesan cheese). Late at night, the toilet in our room broke and we had to change rooms. The next morning we went to the airport and somehow they had canceled our tickets! They were able to get us on the flight, but not sitting together. We finally arrived in Aruba about 26 hours later than planned, losing an entire day.

My vent is over. Aruba is beautiful. It’s a desert island with palm trees, cacti and the famous divi divi tree (which always bends west due to the wind). It’s windy there but the wind felt good in the heat and kept the bugs away. The island is very Americanized, disappointingly so we thought. There are American chain restaurants everywhere. All the signs are in English. You can pay in American dollars everywhere. The high rise hotel area was tacky and crowded (fortunately our hotel was just past this nonsense).

We stayed at the Marriott Stellaris in a gorgeous oceanfront room. It was huge with a huge bathroom. One of the most comfortable rooms we’ve ever been in. The resort was beautiful with a huge pool and wonderful beach. The sand is soft, there are no shells and only a few pieces of coral. The water is an amazing turquoise and was saltier than any ocean water I’d been in before. It was about 87 during the day and 77 at night.

We visited the donkey sanctuary, saw the natural bridge, and drove north to the lighthouse. We walked the beach, swam, slept on the beach, and had a good time. The shopping was horrendous. There are lots of cruises so there are lots of designer stores and jewelry stores. There were NO artisan shops or galleries. The only nice shop was the mopa mopa store. Mopa mopa is a special technique. Boxes or figures are carved out of wood. Resin from the mopa mopa tree is boiled and stretched by hand and then hand applied to the boxes. It is colorful and amazing. We did track down one art exhibit at an art school where nothing was for sale other than little painted plates, so I bought one of those. I also bought soap at the donkey santuary (made from donkey milk) and a nice

magnet.

The streets have no signs. NONE. There are no street numbers. And GPS is unreliable, going in and out all the time. Even though the island is only 20 miles long, we got lost several times. It was very frustrating. Even the concierge desk gave bad directions.

The people were friendly and the food was quite good. We enjoyed two dinnersat restaurants that have their tables right in the sand at the water’s edge. You kick off your shoes and eat with your toes in the sand. One illuminated the water (Flying Fishbone) which was pretty and the other(Passions) had tiki torches. We had lots of fish–Caribbean lobster, wahoo, grouper, shrimp, and crab. We also went to the The Old Cunucu Housefor lunch. A cunucu is a country house made of thick adobe type walls. This one was 150 years old. This restaurant serves tradtional Aruban food and we were anxious to try it. Bitterballen were deep fried meatballs. Pastechi were like empanadas filled with cheese. We also sampled deep fried chicken leg and the national dish keeshi yeni, described as stuffed cheese. It wasn’t really though – just shredded chicken in a sauce covered with cheese.  There are lots of types of cornmeal sides – deep fried, pan fried, etc. We enjoyed this

taste of real Aruba, except we think my son had some bad shrimp (he had a shrimp cocktail) which meant we weren’t able to go out to

dinner our last night because he was ill.

The last day we were there was Aruba’s national flag and anthem day (think 4th of July). To celebrate, the hotel had a special brunch with native dishes, so we went to that. They had a deep fried cornmeal and cheese side called funchi that was fantastic. They also served oxtail stew (Mr. MarthaAndMe grew up on oxtail soup) and several other traditional dishes. It was fun, but a bit heavy for 8 in the morning, we thought!

When we travel to other countries, we always go to a grocery store and this one was very interesting. There are different types of grocery stores – many with Asian names and others that have English names. We went to one called Super Food. It was filled with Dutch people (Aruba is part of the Dutch Commonwealth, although it is now an independent country – similar to the relationship between Canada and the UK). People were speaking Dutch and many, many food items had Dutch packaging. Gouda is practically the national

cheese of Aruba (any dish you order with cheese has Gouda in it) and I was surprised to see they sell it sliced and packaged like we sell American cheese. We bought some Dutch cookies and chocolates. My son was excited by the potato chip flavors – it was Lay’s but they had Cheese and Onion, Paprika, Ham and Cheese and others we have never seen.

Overall, we had a nice time, but it was too short due to the airline screw up. I

wish we had had more time to explore or get out on the water.

We just returned from a trip to Aruba. It was shorter than we planned because Continental/United completely screwed up. Forgive me for venting before I share the fun stuff. First our flight from Buffalo was delayed because the flight crew got in late. Then there was a problem they were fixing. We finally got on … Read more →

One of my favorite things to do is try new food while traveling. Our journey to the SW was a bit problematic since neither I nor Mr. MarthaAndMe can tolerate spicy foods, which ruled out many local specialties.  We did manage to try many new and interesting things though.

In Vegas, we had a 2 for 1 coupon for the MGM Grande buffet which was, as expected, simply terrible. I’m not a buffet fan, but I’ve been to one at the casino in Niagara Falls Ontario that was not bad, so I had hoped this one might be good. It wasn’t.

We did have a fantastic lunch at the Burger Bar which I think was next to the Luxor in the attached mall. Amazing burgers with a huge array of toppings to choose from, incredible milkshakes (probably the best ever), and terrific fries with lots of dipping sauces. For dessert, we had the chocolate burger, which was a Nutella patty on a donut. It had strawberries on it. We ordered one and everyone sampled. Over the top, but excellent.

We had a nice lunch at Cannoletto in the Venetian after our gondola ride. Dinner was at Emeril’s Fish House in the MGM. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was. We picked it based on the menu posted online. Which was not the menu we were given. There was no fish I found interesting – at a fish house! I had a nice clam chowder then got the baked lobster which was removed from the shell, mixed with a cornmeal mix and shrimp and returned to the shell.  Mr. MarthaAndMe got a cold seafood plate that was unattractive and nothing special. Underwhelming. The price was overwhelming. I’m still choking.

If you go to Vegas, skip that and go to Hash House a Go-Go where we had one of the best meals of the trip. It’s described as “twisted farm food”. I had an amazing corned beef hash. The pancakes and waffles were out of this world. Everyone loved it here and it was all organic and homemade.

Our next destination was the Grand Canyon where we had a really bad dinner at the Bright Angel Restaurant. We then went to Sedona, AZ. We tried to eat Mexican at Oaxaca. I couldn’t eat any of it. Too hot. We had a fantastic dinner in Sedona the next night at the Heartline Cafe, where I enjoyed some local trout. I loved the food at this place and highly recommend it. We also enjoyed tea smoked chicken dumplings which I will be trying to recreate.

Our next memorable meal was at the Cowgirl in Santa Fe, where we had BBQ. I

don’t have any food pics, but must comment on the potato salad which was made with sour cream instead of mayo. I’ll be making that one myself too.

Next stop, Santa Fe. We headed up to Taos for the day and had lunch at Michael’s Kitchen where I tried a sopapilla,

essentially a pillow of fried dough, served with honey butter. Amazing. It was light and fluffy and not greasy. I loved it. However, we bought some of their cookies and didn’t like any of them. Thumbs down on that.

While in Taos, we visited the Taos Pueblo, which has been continuously lived in for at least 1000 years. It was stunning. The people were very friendly and there was lots of shopping. We also went to San Ildefonso Pueblo where there was nothing to see, so I highly recommend this one instead. We took a quick tour which was very informative. Before we left, we tried some blue corn fry bread (a Native American specialty). Wow. It was

crunchy, really flavorful and not greasy. It was one of the best things we ate the entire time. We put powdered sugar on it. I could have eaten 20 of them, but the 4 of us shared one.

We made it back to Santa Fe and had a pretty unexciting dinner at a tapas place which I won’t bother with since it just was not good and was overpriced with bad service.

Next stop, Colorado Springs. We ate at Adam’s Mountain Cafe, which was not as good as we hoped (given that it was all organic), and also at Edelweiss, a German restaurant that was at least something different. The potato pancakes were fantastic, served with smoked trout and salmon. The apple strudel would have been good if the dough had not had almond flavoring which I dislike. We had a really bad lunch at Coquette’s in Manitou Springs which was voted best new restaurant, but we didn’t understand why. It was all crepes, gluten free, but the fillings were stingy, sauceless and dry. Avoid at all costs.

We had another lunch at the Stagecoach in Manitou Springs, based on the recommendation of our conductor on the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway, where the men in the family enjoyed Rocky Mountain Oysters (cow testicles, in case you didn’t know).  They were thinly sliced, breaded and deep fried. You couldn’t tell the difference from a chicken nugget to be honest.

Our last night we went to the Buckhorn Exchange in Denver, the oldest restaurant in the city which is known for its wild game, which it not only serves, but has hanging on the walls (stuffed and mounted). It was a bit overwhelming to see so many dead animals on the walls around us.At first I thought I was going to have to get fish since I just couldn’t do it. I ended up ordering Colorado lamb (no sheep on the walls!) which was excellent and tasted so much better than lamb I buy at home. Mr. MarthaAndMe got elk which we loved, loved, loved. It was velvety, grassy and had a hint of cedar. I would have it again given the chance. Teen Martha had quail which was good as well.

Other culinary tidbits – we bought several varieties of jerky (buffalo, beef, and elk) which Dude Martha enjoyed throughout the trip. I tried the NM official state cookie (bischochito) which I didn’t care for (anise flavored, which I dislike). And I must admit the cookies the Doubletree Hotel offers are amazing. We had some excellent ice cream at a place in Idaho Springs, CO. Mr. MarthaAndMe got butter brickle which I have not seen in years and it was soooo good. I had brownie sundae ice cream there which was also excellent. The service was terrible though- rude and snotty (we actually encountered many, many, many rude waiters, servers, hotel clerks, and shop owners on our trip – it made us appreciate our own Good Neighbor City, Buffalo where people are known for their friendliness).  We had some of the famous homemade donuts at the top of Pike’s Peak. They were pretty good, but not stupendous. They were just plain fry cakes that seemed to have some cinnamon and nutmeg in them. They were served warm though which was a bonus.

And if I ever have to buy a sandwich at a 7-11 again I may go on a hunger strike. We ended up doing this a few times for lunch while on the road and it’s just not something you want to do if you can avoid it.

One final comment, a plea really. Dear Restaurateurs, please come up with some good desserts! The only thing we had that was good was at Burger Bar in Vegas! I am tired of creme brulee, chocolate cake, sherbet, carrot cake, and chocolate lava cake. I want interesting, creative, fun desserts to go with the interesting, fun, creative meals we enjoyed. I would love nothing more than a wonderful cookie plate or some fabulous pie to end my meal, or some interesting ice cream (like the kind we had in Idaho Springs). The one place where we did order dessert that we had high hopes for was Harry’s Roadhouse in Santa Fe. It sounded fantastic. It was just wasn’t though. At least they tried though.

I’ll be doing a third post about some of my purchases on the trip, so stay tuned!

One of my favorite things to do is try new food while traveling. Our journey to the SW was a bit problematic since neither I nor Mr. MarthaAndMe can tolerate spicy foods, which ruled out many local specialties.  We did manage to try many new and interesting things though. In Vegas, we had a 2 … Read more →

Hello everyone. I’m back after 13 days, 2000+ miles, 4 states and lots and lots of fun. I’ll be posting about the food on the trip separately. We flew to Vegas and drove to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Santa Fe, Colorado Springs and flew home from Denver. Along the way we:

Saw a comedy/magic show in Vegas (Mac King – highly recommended)

Saw the Titanic exhibit in Vegas

Went to the Fremont Street Experience

Went to the Pawn Stars store (it was closed)

Enjoyed tigers, lions and dolphins (including a baby dolphin!) in Vegas

Took a gondola ride at the Venetian

Saw the fountains at the Bellagio and the volcano at the Mirage

Gambled exactly $1 and lost

Enjoyed the lazy river at the MGM Grande

Stopped at the Hoover Dam

Saw the Grand Canyon

Drove a Jeep through the Red Rocks in Sedona

Visited the town of Jerome at the top of a mountain

Noodled around Oak Creek in Sedona

Saw two cliff dwelling sites

Saw petroglyphs

Visited a meteor crater

Drove through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

Visited two pueblos, including one that has been continuously occupied for over 1000 years

Took the high road to Taos

Saw the Rio Grande

Visited Rancho de las Golondrias, a living history musueum

Saw a prairie dog village

Saw wild horses on the road

Rode a cog railway to the top of Pike’s Peak

Saw the Continental Divide

Saw a buffalo herd

Went to a Ghost Town Museum

Rode horses through the Garden of the Gods

Sampled different mineral springs waters fresh from the spring at different fountains throughout Manitou Springs

Happened upon a fine arts show

Visited Seven Falls

Went to a wolf refuge

Went to the Denver Mint (where unfortunately they were cleaning the machines and we did not actually get to see coins being minted – very disappointing)

Visited a gold mine and panned for gold

Went to Dinosaur Ridge and got to stand in actual dinosaur footprints

My kids never want to get in a car with us again after this. The photos are kind of mishmashed in this post, but you’ll get the idea!

cliff dwellings

Hello everyone. I’m back after 13 days, 2000+ miles, 4 states and lots and lots of fun. I’ll be posting about the food on the trip separately. We flew to Vegas and drove to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Santa Fe, Colorado Springs and flew home from Denver. Along the way we: Saw a comedy/magic show … Read more →

Things are finally slowing down here so I’ll have more time to blog. I threw up some Puerto Rico photos the other day but didn’t have time to write anything. San Juan is a beautiful city, with narrow cobbled streets, old forts, and Spanish architecture. One thing we did that was off the beaten path was follow directions in a guidebook to find a place that sells limbers. Limbers are a frozen juice, like a popsicle. They come in plastic cups and are sold from a window inside a hallway in a residential building. You wouldn’t have a clue it’s there unless you knew to look for it. In the photo, Mr. MarthaAndMe is standing outside the building. You have to go in a doorway and then go up to a barred window to order. They have a list of flavors, but seemed to be out of most of them. We ended up with passion fruit, grape, pina colada and one other I can’t remember. You aren’t given a spoon or straw and have this cup full of frozen juice. We sat across the street with a view of the harbor and tried to eat them. Mr. MarthaAndMe suggested squeezing the cup to get the juice to pop up a bit. Great idea – until we realized it made the cups crack and soon we had juice dripping everywhere. It was a complete disaster. It tasted great though!

We drove through El Yunque, the rainforest and it was beautiful. The other very special thing we did was kayak in the bioluminescent bay at night. We went to Fajardo (there are two others in PR as well). I don’t have any photos yet –  we took some with a waterproof disposable camera that I haven’t had developed yet. We arrived at 8 when it was getting dark. We didn’t shove off until about 8:30 or so. You have to walk through the water to get to about knee high water then they have you climb into sea kayaks (2-person). You kayak through a mangrove forest for about half an hour (quite an adventure in the dark!) and come out into a bay. As you turn into the bay, you notice that when you dip your oars in the water, the water seems to glow an eerie blue.  We paddled out to the middle of the bay and the guide tied all of our kayaks together and tried to talk about the phenomenon but one of the other guides was intent on squirting Teen Martha with a water gun and getting the other teens involved so we ended up not hearing much. You could put your hand in the water and swirl it and the water was electric blue when you moved it. They then put a tarp over our kayak and encouraged us to splash water on our legs. The droplets glowed like blue diamonds. It was absolutely amazing. It was really the highlight of our trip.

In the photos I posted earlier, I showed paella we enjoyed as well as a photo of Teen Martha with a pina colada. These were both taken at Barrachina, the place that claims to have invented the pina colada. The night we were there, they had flamenco dancers performing.

As for the shopping, it wasn’t great. Most of San Juan had tacky souvenir shops. There was one fantastic place that sold hats, but Mr. MarthaAndMe did not buy one. We found some galleries and some artisan shops, but I really didn’t buy much. There were two nice shops by El Yunque where I bought some things. When I got home, I realized nothing I bought cost over $12 which is incredible.

In photo #1 you’ll see a shell bracelet, a bar of soap, a leather case with leather dominoes, and a three dimensional sculpture of a San Juan scene. Photo #2 shows a little painting that has some shells glued on it and a watercolor print of a San Juan scene. You’ll also see a bowl with a basket edging, a bookmark and a Christmas tree ornament. The kids and Mr. MarthaAndMe got t-shirts. Teen Martha bought a tshirt dress and a beautiful white cotton embroidered top that was made in Ecuador. Dude Martha also bought a hat. One strange note is that all of the women’s clothes were tiny. Teen Martha could not find much that fit. Even an XL looked like a small to us. I did not understand it at all.

Photo #3 is a piece of aluminum that has been etched and painted and mounted on wood. We saw a lot of these, but almost all had the 3 kings in them and I’m not big on religious icons. We finally found this one.

Things are finally slowing down here so I’ll have more time to blog. I threw up some Puerto Rico photos the other day but didn’t have time to write anything. San Juan is a beautiful city, with narrow cobbled streets, old forts, and Spanish architecture. One thing we did that was off the beaten path … Read more →

View of mountains fro hotel Grounds of Rio Mar Beach Resort Old San Juan, viewed from a fort Beautiful beaches El Yunque rainforest Teen Martha’s 1st Pina Colada (drinking age 18)

Hello everyone. Sorry to have been gone for so long. I am in the middle of a giant, short deadline project, came down with the world’s worst cold/sinus infection and in the midst of it all, went to Puerto Rico for a few days.

It was our first visit there. I’ll put up a post with photos of what we did later this week, but wanted to share the food now. Overall, I was not a fan (sorry PR!). A lot of the food is fried and much of it was bland. There is a lot of seafood, but I didn’t have anything that really wowed me.  The whole red snapper was probably the best thing we had. It’s cooked whole though, which I’m not a fan of. Served with fried plantains. It was moist and very fresh.

We ate lunch at a place recommended to us where we ended up sitting at a

counter. Like most restaurants, we had to point to what we wanted since we couldn’t pronounce the Spanish and our server didn’t understand the English. I had mofongo (mashed green plantains) stuffed with chicken. That was pretty good. It came with rice and beans of course. And some whole pieces of plantain.

Another adventure was dinner at a Spanish restaurant (Barrachina) where Teen Martha and I shared seafood paella. I enjoyed it, but there were pieces of shell throughout, making it hard to eat.

Many restaurants outside San Juan are in kiosks on the beach. We ate at two of these places with mixed results. At one of them I ordered crab stew, which is made with a land crab. I really did not care for this. The crab tasted very earthy and pungent to me – it

definitely tasted like a land crab! It was served with mofongo and a little salad that was cute, but came with bottled dressing.

For breakfast one day, I had what is called a mallorca, a yellow dough with ham and cheese inside. I enjoyed this, but like everything, it was just bland. I needed something – mustard or a sauce to bring it to life.

One local item I wanted to try but we did not is lechon, whole roast suckling pig. We saw numerous tents on the roadside selling this, but I could not bring myself to eat at them (hygiene concerns). On our last day we asked the concierge where to go to enjoy this. She was less than helpful, first saying you would not eat it for dinner because it has been on the spit all day and gets old (which I think cannot be true since I’ve been to pig roasts and it does take all day for that pig to cook). She then recommended only 2 places that were each an hour away. So that didn’t happen.

Overall, the food was just not a hit for us. We had fun though and I’ll share what we did in a later post.

Hello everyone. Sorry to have been gone for so long. I am in the middle of a giant, short deadline project, came down with the world’s worst cold/sinus infection and in the midst of it all, went to Puerto Rico for a few days. It was our first visit there. I’ll put up a post … Read more →