Tag Archives: Trip Advisor

ROAD TRIP DAY 18: FALLS, FALLS, EVERYWHERE FALLS!

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The drive along State Route 13 from Elmira to Ithaca was breathtakingly beautiful. Atlanta may be the “City of Trees”, and there are plenty of them along the roads in Griffin, but not quite the abundance of trees like here.

Yesterday was all about the local wineries, and today it was WATERFALLS. They’re everywhere!

Our first stop was at Robert Treman State Park where we had a short hike in to see Enfield Falls. Here, swimming is allowed as long as a lifeguard is on duty. It is still too early in year, because the water is c-c-c-c-COLD! Trust me on that; I tested it by dipping a hand in the water, and that’s as far as I would get, even if swimming had been allowed today!

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If I hadn’t seen it with my very own eyes, I NEVER would have believed a state park waterfall (or ANY waterfall for that matter) would have a– get this– DIVING BOARD! Yes, you read that right.

During the off months, the board is removed from the frame, and it is replaced with a “NO DIVING” sign. See below, if you don’t believe me.

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There was also a roped off swimming area, and I could just see grabbing my cap and goggles (in the summer months) for some laps back and forth.

Our next stop at Robert Treman State Park was the hike in to see Lucifer Falls. Seeing only six other cars (and no tour buses!) in the parking lot was a delightful sight after the throngs of tourists we encountered on Memorial Day at Watkins Glen. We hiked the Gorge Trail to the falls enjoying the peacefulness of being the only ones during much of our hike.

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This was the most interesting of the falls, because of the ups and downs, and twists and turns. It was just stunning!

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For perspective and scale, that tiny person in the upper right corner is Bruce!

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After a short drive, we arrived at Taughannock Falls and first took in the view at the Falls Overlook. At 215 feet, Taughannock is the tallest free-falling waterfall in the northeastern United States. It was quite a perspective from the top looking down at the tiny specks of people below. Soon, we would be those tiny specks looking back up to the overlook.

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Although the hike in wasn’t as interesting, because it was fairly flat, it was still gorgeous. The thick tree canopy provided a nice, cool shade from the sun, and the path followed along the river.

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Crossing the river on a small bridge, we could view the full length of the falls and see just how high we had been on the overlook. WOW!

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Our final hike of the day was a very short one at Ithaca Falls, located in the city of Ithaca. When I say “in the city” I mean IN the city. It was in a residential neighborhood, and there were houses just across the street.

What we enjoyed most about these falls was the ability to get right up to the waterfall, just 25 or 30 feet away. Fabulous!

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Although there were other waterfalls in the city (including some on Cornell University’s campus), it was late in the day, and we were getting hungry for dinner.

Just a short walk from our hotel was the #3 ranked restaurant on Trip Advisor in all of Ithaca, a city that is a foodie haven for excellent ethnic cuisine.

Saigon Kitchen was fabulous, and at $12 for my “Saigon Kitchen Curry”, it was reasonably priced. It was the happening place, too, because the restaurant was packed with people pouring in and out. For a Wednesday night, they were sure doing a great business!

Tomorrow, we hit the road and head for Alexandria Bay at Thousand Islands.

ROAD TRIP DAY 11: ROCK ON!

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Cleveland is the birthplace of Rock ‘N’ Roll, a term coined by radio DJ, Alan Freed to describe the uptempo black rhythm and blues records he played beginning in 1951. The first live rock concert was staged here by Freed in 1952, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Before heading to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, we went to Cleveland’s #3 ranked (of 192 “Things to Do” on Trip Advisor) attraction, West Side Market. With origins of the land dating back to 1840 the market is Cleveland’s oldest publicly owned market. There are now over 100 vendors, and the variety of foods available was fantastic. What a sight! I could see why over 1,500 Trip Advisor members had posted reviews about it with an overall score of 4.5 of 5.

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After returning the car to our hotel, we walked the one-mile trip through Playhouse Square and downtown to the waterfront of Lake Erie to spend the remainder of the day emersed in Rock ‘N’ Roll. We were so enthralled by the exhibits and videos that we ended up spending nearly six hours there!

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One of the highlights was watching a one-hour movie on three HUGE screens (the side screens were angled in) that highlighted the music of each hall inductee through the years since its inception in 1986. The concert footage was fabulous, and they did a wonderful job editing it for each class of inductees.

Another favorite exhibit was “Paul Simon Words & Music,” a first-person narrative of the personal story of Paul Simon’s life and his creative process. Simon’s first solo album was one of the first albums I ever owned, and it is still a sentimental favorite– that is, after Carol King’s Tapestry album, my first and favorite album EVER.

The final exhibit that appealed to me as a hobby photographer AND a lover of rock and roll was “Herb Ritts, The Rock Portraits.” Ritts (1952 – 2002) was best known for his anti-glamour bold portraits of rockers such as David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and more. Many of those photographs graced the covers of Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone magazines.

What impressed me most about Herb Ritts’s style was his honest approach of photographing his subject without props and bringing out the inner beauty and soul of his subjects. He also had a way of making his subjects look FABULOUS. Sting, for example, was never somebody I envisioned as being GQ cover material, but when I look at this shot of him, all I can say is, “Wow!”

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What I can say with certainty after today is that coming to Cleveland just to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was worth the trip!

Here are some scenes of Cleveland at night:

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Our hotel is located just one block from Playhouse Square, the largest theater district in the U.S.A. outside of New York City.

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Hanging over the center of Playhouse Square is the G.E. Chandelier, the largest chandelier in the world.  It measures 20 feet tall and weighs a whopping 8,500 pounds!

HITTIN’ THE ROAD (THANKS TRIP ADVISOR!)

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Soon, Bruce and I will be hittin’ the road in Scarlet (our Prius V) on a six-week adventure that meanders through 18 states in an odd-shaped loop.

It’s been in the planning stages for six months, and now we’re excited to see our plan through, especially since most of the states we’ll be visiting will be firsts for us.  (I’ve been to 26 states so far.)

For the longest time, I couldn’t quite figure out how to plan for such a trip.  We had a (very) loose idea of where we wanted to go; however, I just didn’t know where to start.

Is there a right way to organize this long of a road trip?  As the old saying goes, there are many ways to skin a cat.  (Where did that saying come from?  The visual in my mind when I hear that… oh, never mind.)

After reading several blog posts and internet sites, I learned there are as many ways to plan a road trip as there are people who have done it.  After I pondered them all, I hit the delete button and decided to do it my way.  Bruce agreed—

a good thing since he’s leaving all the planning to me anyway!

The first place I started was sending an e-mail to my family and friends asking for recommendations after giving them a loose idea of the states we hoped to hit.  As it turns out, most of those recommendations made the cut, and we are planning our travels around them.  (Take Niagara Falls, for example.  More than one of them said, “Bring your passport and see the falls from the Canadian side, because the American side is TACKY!”)

While researching on the computer, I also visited the tourist bureau of each state and requested a map and guide.  Sure, all of the same information is available online, but the paper guides were for Bruce who spends as little time on the computer as possible, thanks to burnout from a computer-intensive career.

As for the maps, they’re going with us in a file box with a folder dedicated to each state.  I will be adding AAA maps where needed, and I plan to file keepsakes that I collect along the way such as chocolate labels from chocolatiers I hope to visit (and sample!).

My favorite source for planning this road trip has been Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.com).  You can find my reviews there as “ElaineK-SunCity-GA.”

Skeptics out there will claim that many of the reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp are fakes posted by friends and family members of the business owner.  Sure, there are probably plenty of restaurant reviews posted by the Aunt Bobbi Sue’s and Uncle Billy Bob’s of the world to help out their entrepreneurial nieces and nephews who just opened up rib shacks off some godforsaken highway.  I’ve seen them myself, and those reviews are easy to spot.  Type in the restaurant’s name on the site, and you see ten restaurant reviews giving the joint a perfect rating.  Not one of those reviewers has ever written a previous review about anything else.  That should be your first clue.

Now, type in “Boldt Castle” (located in Alexandria Bay, New York) into Trip Advisor’s search engine.  The castle was recommended by two friends, so I thought I should check it out.  Bingo!  590 people have reviewed it, and it gets a 4-1/2 out of 5 rating.  In addition, many reviewers posted photos, so I can see for myself how beautiful and photogenic it is.  I immediately added Boldt Castle to our itinerary.

When reading reviews, I give the most credibility to other top contributors who are experienced travelers and have posted a lot of detailed reviews.  I also make sure to read a selection of the positive AND negative reviews on a particular listing, so I can evaluate whether a particular restaurant or hotel is worthy of our business.  (I will ignore one bad review of a Mexican restaurant, for example, if the reviewer criticized the margaritas, especially if all of the other dozens of reviewers raved about the excellent food.)

Thanks to Trip Advisor, I now have a seven-page Word Document filled with recommendations for places to see, things to do, restaurants to dine in, and accommodations where we can crash each night (if we don’t stay with other Affordable Travel Club members www.affordabletravelclub.net ).  I organized it in itinerary order, and I’ve included the driving time required to get from place to place.  Finally, using www.SwimmersGuide.com , I found pools to train at throughout our travels and listed their locations, and lap swimming times.

The itinerary is just a loose guide; weather and our moods will dictate how closely we follow it.  One thing for sure, though; we will definitely be visiting the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and Boldt Castle!

Stay tuned for future posts from the road IF/WHEN I have time and feel like writing.  Otherwise, I’ll catch up with y’all when I get to it!  A big THANKS to my friend Cynthia who will be watching over the house while we’re gone!

TOURING ST. AUGUSTINE BY DAY & NIGHT

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Usually, when we arrive in a city that offers a hop-on/ hop-off Old Town Trolley Tour, we take the tour at the beginning of our stay to get the lay of the land and hear the history. We then go back and see selected stops in more detail, throughout our stay.

This time, it didn’t work out to stick with our plan, because we needed to take weather, wind, and fishing conditions into account for kayak fishing. And, it worked out better to front-load that activity, while the conditions were most suitable.

As it turned out, it didn’t matter anyway, as far as fishing goes (Bruce came up empty-handed), but it did matter for kayaking. Paddling in windy conditions and strong currents is no fun, so we were happy to avoid it and ride on the trolley, instead.

We got an early start, yesterday, to get our 1+ hour round trip on the trolley completed before the heat and humidity beat us down. Wise decision; the temperature was 88 degrees with a “feels like” of 98. So, we comfortably relaxed in our cottage during the hottest part of the day, before venturing back to the historic district for some photography, dinner at Pizza Time and our St. Augustine City Walks tour, “History, Mystery, Mayhem & Murder!” (http://www.staugustinecitywalks.com/?page_id=77 )

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More on last night’s events later…

Back to the Old Town Trolley Tour, they really do a great job filling you in on the history of the area and adding interesting and humorous facts. The commentary is always enjoyable and the open air trolley fun to ride.

This time, the same was true- except for the trolley ride always being “fun”. There were some bumpy parts of the ride that literally sent our butts flying completely off the seat- which meant having to land back on them. Ouch. Not good when you have herniated discs in your neck…

We were more than ready to bid farewell to our Old Town Trolley, after we completed our round trip and returned to our first chosen stop, Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Henry Flagler built the church as a memorial to his daughter who passed away, shortly after she was born. Flagler’s wife died a couple of days later. (This, by the way, is the same Henry Flagler, founding partner of Standard Oil, along with John Rockefeller, who built Hotel Ponce de Leon- now Flagler College.)

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What drew us to this church, besides the gorgeous architecture, were the stained glass windows we spotted from the street. A German artist by the name of Herman Schladermundt designed the 92 stained glass windows in the building. They were installed in 1902, and then restored from 2002 – 2005, at a cost of $748,000.

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The remainder of our time downtown today was spent stopping in to see some of the buildings we were curious about, when we drove by on the trolley. Casa Monica, for one, is a beautiful upscale hotel, well worth a stop in to get out of the heat and admire the interior decorating. We also took a peek around the grounds of the Lightner Museum and Villa Zorayda Museum, just to take a few photos.

 

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Villa Zorayda Museum

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I also insisted on stopping in to see Isabelle, at Tours Saint Augustine/ St. Augustine City Walks, who I had communicated back and forth with via e-mail. After reading about their “Tour de Chocolate” walking tour (http://www.staugustinecitywalks.com/?page_id=67 ), I just HAD to sign us up for the tour. But, there were no tours listed on their calendar for our travel dates. Disappointed, I e-mailed Isabelle asking if there was any way a tour might be added to the schedule for any of the 9 days we would be visiting. At first, we would need four people to get a tour scheduled. So, I wrote back letting her know that if anybody else inquired, we would happily join them, because I just HAD to take that tour. I also included a link to these blog posts to emphasize my point: https://elaineiakstravels.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/chocolate-haul-the-final-tally/ and https://elaineiakstravels.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/82/ . Well, Isabelle spoke with her boss and she added a date just for us, for this afternoon.

Isabelle also invited us to be her guest on another City Walks tour, which brings us back to last night’s walking tour…

Before the tour, we stopped at Pizza Time for some authentic N.Y./ Italian style pizza and garlic rolls. It was another excellent Trip Advisor recommendation; 266 reviews averaging 4-1/2 out of 5. How could we go wrong?

It’s just a little hole in the wall dive; eight tables and four counter stools. But, the slices of Sicilian “Lasagna Pizza” and thin crust “Four Seasons” (artichoke, ham, mushrooms, and roasted tomatoes, with basil pesto) were terrific, as were the garlic rolls with marinara sauce on the side.

We walked it off with Maggie, our City Walks tour guide, and two other couples, on our “History, Mystery, Murder & Mayhem!” tour. The tour was two hours long (she asked if we minded if it went longer than planned, so she could add some extras) and about 1-1/2 miles of walking.

Maggie was a wealth of knowledge; she definitely had the “History” part of the tour covered. And, she was a great story teller, getting in plenty of “Murder” stories in, as well.

We stopped on Treasury Street, the narrowest street in North America, so Maggie could tell us about the murder of Lt. Delaney that took place in 1785. It was another murder, but she also covered “Mystery” in her story, as this murder was the first documented unsolved murder in St. Augustine’s history. It is still unsolved; the oldest “Cold Case” ever!

Where “Mayhem” came in was when pirates came in and created plenty of it. We listened to a very interesting story about it, as the Castillo San Marco fort served as a backdrop. It was dark by that time, but the fort was beautifully lit.

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For the entire tour, we walked through the old historic part of St. Augustine; much of it on old brick streets. At the fort, there was uneven terrain best traversed wearing comfortable walking shoes which we all were wearing. That’s common sense for a walking tour, right? Wrong; at least for a past guest on Maggie’s walking tour who completed the tour wearing 5-inch stiletto heels. We learned a new term from the urban dictionary while hearing that story: Touron. It is defined as, “The derogatory term combines the words “Tourist” with “Moron” to describe any person who, while on vacation, commits an act of pure stupidity.” If the shoe fits…

Maggie was a terrific guide and her stories made the history of St. Augustine come to life. What a fun way to learn!

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FROM ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH TO THE SPANISH QUARTER

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Yesterday, while visiting a beachside farmer’s market, we got a good look at St. Augustine Beach; the tourist beach I mentioned in my last post. Although I prefer our quiet Vilano Beach, where we are staying, St. Augustine Beach is quite nice! It’s a very WIDE beach with nicer sand, but it doesn’t have that quaint feel that we prefer.

The farmer’s market was worth the visit, as there were nice artist booths, along with the produce and various homemade food items. Besides, Bruce scored on some tasty kettle corn and I picked up some butter toffee pecans that were terrific!

The weather here was expected to be hot and humid; after all, it is June in Florida. But, yesterday and today were well above the normal “feels like” temps. It really takes it out of us, so we limited our outdoor time exploring St. Augustine, after we left the farmer’s market.

Lunch was at The Floridian ( http://www.thefloridianstaug.com/ ), a little gem I found on Trip Advisor ( http://www.tripadvisor.com ); my go-to site for anything travel related. Check out all the healthy and tasty-sounding items on the lunch menu. My vegetarian black bean and sweet potato burger (with goat cheese added) was fabulous, as was Bruce’s sweet potato and coconut bisque soup. Dynamite!

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A wander around the Spanish Quarter where The Floridian was located, was well worth putting up with the heat. The beautiful church (see below), narrow brick streets, huge Spanish moss covered trees, quaint B&B’s, and wonderful architecture, made it a very visually pleasing place to explore. Even the Visitor’s Center and neighboring Spanish-style parking structure were pleasing to the eye. (A parking structure? Pleasing?? Believe it or not- yes!)

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Our Spanish Quarter exploration also landed us in Fudge Buckets ( http://fudgebuckets.com ) ; another Trip Advisor recommendation. Yes, I brake for chocolate; just ask my mom. When we were in Brussels and Brugge, Belgium, we stopped at every chocolate shop. And, I mean EVERY single one!

And, yes, I bought some buckets of fudge; buy four and get one free!

Back at the cottage, we enjoyed our daily early evening walk on the beach, followed by a Bruce Cook cooked dinner. Amazing what he can do in such a tiny little kitchen!

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I Slept Like a Baby Last Night…

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…but, this is a travel blog.  So, back to Sanibel Island… 😉

We woke up this morning to winds too brisk for kayak fishing, so we opted to return to Tarpon Bay to paddle through the mangrove tunnels.


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Although we weren’t as lucky this time to see a Roseate Spoonbill or River Otter, we did see many egrets and herons to keep my camera active and both of us entertained.  It was a beautiful paddle, once again; a must-do for anybody traveling to Sanibel Island.

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The afternoon has been a relaxing one.  Lunch was very casual; an Italian Sub and California Wrap at Sanibel Deli & Coffee Factory.  Once again, Trip Advisor reviews steered us to the right place! 

After lunch and one last walk along Lighthouse Beach, we returned to the cottage to start organizing for our trip home.  Whaaaaaa!  The time, as always, has gone by much too quickly.  We hit the road in the morning, stopping for the night in Ocala, before returning home on Friday.  We are not keen on making the drive in one day, so it will be a slower trip home which is just fine.

Sanibel Island has been wonderful; a place we plan to return to next year.  The only negative was the abundance of noseeum bites we managed to collect on every nook and cranny of our bodies; in between the tons of repellent we were forever spraying on ourselves to avoid them.  But, noseeums and all, we’ll be back!

Winding Our Way Through the Windy City By Boat

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Before I travel, I do a lot of research on my destination; because it is something I really enjoy doing as part of the entire travel experience.  But, this time, I chose a different approach, because I was traveling with Laura.  She had been to Chicago before and had ideas in mind about what she wanted to see, this time around.  I was excited about going along for the ride!  And, we were meeting up in Chicago more to celebrate her upcoming 50th birthday, rather than mine, which had already been celebrated in California.  So, aside from finding our accommodations on Trip Advisor, I had only glanced a time or two at Chicago’s tourism website and quickly checked out “Things To Do” in Chicago, on Trip Advisor.

There were only a few things I knew I really wanted to do in Chicago; my must-see, must-do list.  Otherwise, I figured I would enjoy anything Laura would want to see and do; after all, she has been my best friend for 42 years!  So, what topped my list?  First of all, “Cloud Gate”, the huge sculpture in Millennium Park affectionately known as “The Bean”, because of its bean-like shape.  I knew it would be a hoot to photograph, so I had my heart set on it.  Meanwhile, I had my stomach set on sinking my teeth into a Chicago-style deep dish pizza.  In my mind, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.  In Chicago, it’s deep dish pizza!  And, speaking of food, which Laura and I do frequently, I wanted to treat Laura to dinner at Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill, for her birthday ( http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/grill.html ).  Finally, I was sure Laura and I would agree on this one:  An architectural boat tour to learn about downtown Chicago’s varied architecture.  (And, if we made it to the Art Institute, it would be a bonus!)

Thanks to Laura scoring a Groupon, we got a great deal on that architectural boat tour that we were both really looking forward to doing.  So, we set out on foot after enjoying our first night and breakfast at our B&B, heading down Michigan Ave. (“Magnificent Mile”) towards the river.

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Wow!  What a gorgeous avenue; the most beautiful I have ever seen in a large U.S. city.  Gorgeously planted and maintained mini gardens surrounded each tree, along each side of the street, and there was no litter or graffiti to be found.  Chicagoans sure take pride in their city; at least in that part! (We never ventured out to the south side…)  But, the Magnificent Mile is also one of the wealthiest miles anywhere.  Sak’s, Neiman Marcus, Tiffany’s; the list goes on.  It it’s not there, it doesn’t exist.  Needless to say, my wallet stayed firmly in waist pack as we soldiered on (with blinders).

We arrived at the Wrigley Building early for our boat tour, so it was a perfect opportunity to take a stroll along the river and take in the sites of downtown.  What a fabulous surprise!  There was a point to me explaining my lack of research preparation for this trip, detailed previously; I had no idea Chicago had a river located right in between the skyscrapers of downtown!  Having skipped over any of the photos posted on the tourism website or Trip Advisor, I had no idea what to expect.  And, honestly, what I thought I might expect was something more like Manhattan, in New York City.  I figured downtown to be located on Lake Michigan and our boat tour cruising along the shore, to take in the sites of the skyscrapers.  After all, that is what our N.Y. boat tour was like.  Reasonable, right?  Noooo; it wasn’t like that at all!  A river runs right through downtown Chicago with skyscrapers and cafes lining each side of it.  And, beautiful bridges (all unique) cross the river at each block.  WoooHoooo!  It was love at first site.  And, at the very moment I laid eyes on this scene, I declared Chicago my favorite large city in the U.S.A ; other than San Diego, that is!)

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 The twin towers above are “Marina City” (aka “Corn Cobs”); a mixed-use residential/ commercial building.  It was designed in 1959 by Bertrand Goldberg; an architect who seemed to have an aversion to right angles.  When it was completed in 1964, they were the tallest reinforced concrete structures in the world.

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Trump International Hotel and Tower, named after The Donald, is a condo-hotel designed by Adrian Smith.  At 92 stories (1,389 feet), it is one of the tallest buildings in Chicago.

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The tallest building in Chicago, at 108 stories, is the Willis Tower, formerly known as the “Sears Tower”.  At completion, in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world.  Today, it is ranked 7th.

This is why I enjoy modern downtown skylines:

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See you next at “The Bean”!

May in Washington, D.C. & June in Chicago

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It has been a busy spring:  4 crafts shows; swim meets at Georgia Tech, Geezer (Senior) Games, Greensboro (Nationals), and Athens; Griffin Choral Arts’ season finale concert; train trip to Washington, D.C.; and, a trip to Chicago.  Mix in some contract work, a handful (or two) of community events, and a 100+ miles of swim training, and, it made for a delicious spring that went by in the blink of an eye.  Happy summer, everybody!

Turning 50 in January kicked off what has turned out to be a fantastic year, so far.  So, my best friend, Laura, and I kept things rolling by meeting in Chicago to celebrate her upcoming 50th birthday.  In 42 years of friendship, this was the first time we had met up for a girls-only trip out of town.

Since we both enjoy staying at B&B’s, we decided to rely on our favorite travel website, www.TripAdvisor.com, to recommend one for us in Chicago.  Research led us to Gold Coast Guest House Bed & Breakfast (http://www.bbchicago.com/index.html ), centrally located in downtown Chicago.

So, Laura flew from California and I flew out from Atlanta, meeting up in the airport, to begin our adventure to a city she had visited before, but was new to me and on my bucket list.

Sally greeted us upon arrival at the B&B, a charming row house located on the edge of the Gold Coast, one of the priciest neighborhoods in the country.  It is quite charming and comfortable; just perfect for what we wanted.  And, the location could not be beat!

After settling in and being shown around, Laura and I headed out to enjoy drinks on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building; a short walk away through the lovely streets of downtown.  As we strolled down a small section of the Miracle Mile (Michigan Avenue), we passed by sports commentator, Peter Gammons,; probably in town for the Chicago Cubs vs. Boston Red Sox, game taking place that evening.

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Upon arrival, an ear-popping elevator ride took us up to the 96th floor bar, where we gawked at the view, as soon as we stepped out.  But, check this out…  When was the last time you used the restroom facilities anywhere with a view like this?  It brought hand-washing to a whole new level!

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More scenes of downtown, as we made our way to Big Bowl for a tasty dinner of Asian stir-fry.

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Next up:  Winding our way through windy Chicago by boat.  Check back soon!