On the Ground in San Diego

Trip date: November 2018


After a morning of work from my room at the Kimpton Palomar, my brother and I took an Uber to San Diego's Old Town. We started with a great lunch at El Agave.

El Agave is a little nicer and has an amazing tequila collection (they call it the museum) vs. your typical taco joint. My tacos and margarita were great!

We had a nice walk around Old Town; I'd never been or didn't remember. It's touristy but also interesting to see the birthplace of California, and to wander around the old buildings. Mark even struck up a conversation with an actual blacksmith!

We hopped in another Uber and headed up to the UTC shopping center. This may sound like a strange destination, as I'm not much of a mall rat, but I wanted to check out the cocktail bar Raised by Wolves, and this is the location they picked for it!

You enter into a shop which has a nice collection of liquor and cocktail related products. We didn't have too much of a wait after they took our name and party size. And then 2-by-2, you are invited to sit in chairs in front of a fireplace, which then revolves to deliver you inside the "hidden" bar.

Mark and I both got quite a kick out of this. And when the lounge is revealed, whoa! It is very large and extremely opulent.

We sat up at the bar and had a few rounds of very good drinks. We didn't try any of the vintage cocktails; 1960's Very Old Fitzgerald 8yr, sugar, and Ango for $790.00 anyone?

Working our way back to the city, our next stop was George's at The Cove, which our bartender at Fairweather had recommended the day before. We sat up on the ocean terrace and drank black manhattans while having a light dinner of grilled octopus. I wouldn't go out of my way to come to George's but if you are in the area, the casual terrace bar was great.

Our last stop of the day was Grass Skirt, which is not so secretly hidden behind Good Time Poke.

We had both the regular painkiller, and the clarified painkiller, both excellent. I'm always tickled by clarified drinks, and I found these 2 to be amazing, or it could have been that I was just a tad drunk!

The next morning after packing and working, Mark picked me up and we had lunch at Ironside. We had visited this place on my last trip down, and I was looking forward to it again!

Clam chowder, cheddar biscuits, and a halibut sandwich all soooo good! Washed down with a couple of spritzes. Perfect last lunch.

Mark was nice enough to drive me to the airport, a whole 15 minutes away! And I had another very comfortable flight home as I was able to use another MVP Gold upgrade for 1st class on Alaska. While earning my last needed miles to secure another year of MVP Gold. A successful trip I'd say!

All San Diego photos here.

Also from this trip:
High Times in San Diego

High Times in San Diego

Trip date: November 2018

There are a lot of reasons that I travel; to explore the world, have a chill vacation, visit friends, have an amazing dining experience, etc. In November I realized I was going to be barely short on miles to make Alaska Gold MVP again, so I started plotting a quick getaway to remedy the situation. Then my brother mentioned he was going to be in San Diego. Perfect.

I was also able to use one of my MVP Gold upgrades, so it was a very comfortable flight in first class. I left for the airport after work and after a bit of a flight delay, arrived at the Kimpton Palomar around 1am via Uber.

I was excited to see my brother, so after a 1/2 day of work in my hotel the next day, we met up for lunch at Fairweather. This is a great rooftop bar, right next to the baseball stadium. Mark told me the day's plans over cocktails and tacos. He was surprising me with an open-cockpit biplane ride over the city. HOLY SHIT! I am pretty much terrified of small planes, which he didn't realize, and hadn't packed my Xanax because generally a weekend with my brother is pretty chill! I ordered a 2nd cocktail.

We arrived at Montgomery Field and checked in with San Diego Sky Tours. Our pilot, who looked all of about 20, assured us that he was actually an active Navy pilot and was one of the owners. In their very cool hangar, outfitted with old flight memorabilia, and a bar for after, he went over the flight plan. Mark and I would ride the same plane but at different times, I offered to go first as I really thought I might bail otherwise, I was sooooooo nervous!

I'm so happy I had the guts to do this as it was amazing! We flew between 400 and 800 feet altitude over the city, the bay, and along the beaches. I was terrified of dropping my iPhone as I took photos, I hadn't thought to bring the wrist strap I usually use when adventure traveling!

After landing I grabbed a beer from their bar and decompressed while Mark took his turn. This was really such an amazing experience, I would highly recommend San Diego Sky Tours when you are in the area!

We headed back into the Little Italy area of town and found our way to False Idol, inside of the restaurant Craft & Commerce. This tacky tiki bar, with crazy Christmas decorations, and a menu for all occasions, was very fun and the drinks delicious! Rum was just what we needed after our afternoon of biplane flying!

It was a gorgeous night out so we walked to our dinner destination of Kettner Exchange and chose a table on their rooftop. We had an absolutely delicious dinner here, the shared plates were more than enough for the 2 of us. Our duck meatball, huge pork chop, and caramel dessert were all hits!

Right across the street, Mark introduced me to the historic dive bar, The Waterfront. Since 1933 this fun and enthusiastic bar has been packing people in, and it was no different on this Tuesday night. We just had a quick shot, but if you are in the mood to people watch, make new friends, or just spend a day drinking (they open at 6am), go in for a visit here!

My choice of nightcap is a bit different, so Mark kindly let me drag him to Noble Experiment, which we discovered on my last trip to San Diego. It's so pretty, so little, and just dark enough. Oh and the cocktails are amazing.

All San Diego photos here.

More eating and drinking from this trip: On the Ground in San Diego

24 Hours in Miami

Trip date: December 2018

For our 15th annual New Year's Eve trip, my friends and I were heading to Peru. The trip was happening on the heels of my 3-day over-the-top birthday celebration weekend in Seattle, which Forest had flown in for. We would be meeting Caitlin and Thibault in Lima, but seeing that there were no direct flights from Seattle, we decided to do a sleep over in Miami.

We were up super early for our direct 5 1/2 hour flight. I had used one of my companion fare tickets on Alaska Air, and had also booked us in Premium. Hello free mimosas!

The flight was actually to Ft. Lauderdale, which was just a quick 30-minute Uber away from our hotel on South Beach. The Kimpton Angler's Hotel had just been newly remodeled, was in a great location, and had a lovely rooftop pool.

As we were checking in, the girl at the front desk asked if it was my birthday, and mentioned there was something in the room. That is nice! When we entered the very cute hotel room, I found a bottle of champagne and some little petit fours and a card. I assumed by the way she had spoken, that it was from the Kimpton, turns out it was from my friend Kate in Switzerland! What a nice surprise, and thank goodness Forest knew about it and clued me in!

Both of us were a bit run down from the recent festivities, and so decided to check out two cocktail bars, grabbing some food along the way, vs. doing a big dinner. First up was Broken Shaker at Freehand Hotel. The hotel itself is very cool, it looks really old and old fashioned. The bar takes up the outside space around the pool with lots of little table and couch set ups, as well as adirondack chairs.

The entire space was really cute, the drinks were good, and it was busy even on Christmas night. I've been to Broken Shaker in Chicago and didn't love it. This one was much better!

Next we grabbed an Uber to Sweet Liberty. Unlike Broken Shaker, which when you are inside the actual bar is stand up only, this place is huge! It looks like a big old dive bar that you would go to for a game of pool and to watch the game. But the cocktail menu is more than just shots and pints.

Unfortunately the air con was cranked and I was absolutely frozen solid. We had a couple of rounds with some good bar bites and headed back to the (warm) hotel.

The next day we had planned on laying by the pool until it was time to head to the airport, but the weather had other ideas; it was cold and rainy! We had a very good breakfast at The Local House which was just off the beach, but it was too stormy to sit outside.

This time our Uber took us to Miami Airport, just 20 minutes from the beach, and after checking in we did a bit of duty free shopping before hitting the Business Class Lounge for drinks and snacks.

I'd say this lounge was above average. There was a big buffet with serve-yourself wine and liquor as well as an assortment of little sandwiches and snacks. There was a dessert and coffee buffet set up separately. And servers were always coming around to clear away dishes, which I appreciate.

And then it was time to board our flight to Lima! Disappointed not to get to take advantage of Miami's normally sunny weather, but very excited to be heading to Peru!

Miami photos here.

Other posts from this trip:
Lima City of Kings
Welcome to the Jungle
Piranhas and Pink Dolphins
Ringing in 2019 in the Amazon
The Sacred Valley of the Incas
Discovering Machu Picchu
Dining at 11700 Feet
Cusco Daytrip
Return to Lima

Seen in Chicago

Trip date: Oct 2017

Another friend with a work conference, another invitation to join for some afterwork/weekend fun. Yes, thank you!

A direct flight on Alaska Air from Seattle to Chicago got me into town just in time for dinner. I grabbed the train at O'Hare and for $5 was downtown in 45 minutes. From the station it was just a quick 5 minute walk to the Kimpton Monaco located in the Loop.

I met Lorraine at the hotel and we headed out for the night, first stop Maude's Liquor. I'd come here on my last trip and like it for a well made drink while in the West Loop. The bar is small and gets busy so we were standing for a bit until a couple of barstools became available.

Our main event of the evening was drinks and dinner at The Office, a 14-seat speakeasy underneath the Aviary. Unlike upstairs, the vibe here is old-school classic, many cocktails contain antique or hard to find spirits.

We sat at the bar and had a lovely meal and our bartender Alyssa served us excellent drinks. Both of us thought the dishes would be more the size of small snacks, but it was all quite substantial and delicious! The steak tartare, and the steamed mussels really stood out.

And the signature ice cream sundae dessert was very fun! Drinking booze and making sundaes, excellent adult entertainment!

And just to gild the lily on the evening, we walked over to the newly opened Blind Barber. Is it a barbershop? Is it a cocktail lounge? Depends what time of day it is! Better suited for us, the shop was closed but the bar hidden behind was open for one last nightcap. Very fun space!

The next morning I worked from the hotel before meeting Lorraine and an ex-employee of mine at Au Cheval for lunch. The restaurant doesn't take reservations so we waited across the street at Haymarket Bar with a glass of wine.

It wasn't long before we were enjoying this spot's decadent fried chicken, fried bologna sandwich, and the BURGER!!! The restaurant is busy, kind of a diner style, and has very rich and excellent food. I hear it's a fun late night place as well.

Strangely for all the times I've been to Chicago I had never been to the Field Museum. Lorraine had heard about the Jurassic World exhibit so after lunch we grabbed an Uber and headed to the land of the dinosaurs.

I have to say, I thought the exhibit was really fun and very cool. There was an animatronic T-rex, the Gentle Giants pen, the raptor pen, and a cool creation lab.

Of course we also saw SUE in the museum's main gallery!

We also spent some time going through the various halls of taxidermied animals, it's an amazing collection! In fact The Field has over 19.5 million specimens from around the world!

Unfortunately we had gotten to the museum late in the afternoon and we didn't have a lot of time before they closed. We had to do a very quick walk through the Ancient Egyptian exhibit, but I'd love to go back and spend a day at this incredible museum!

That evening we met my friend Jesse for drinks at Prairie School, a stunning mid-century modern cocktail bar fashioned after the architectural style of the same name. It had just opened and was the creation of Jim Meehan, owner of New York's PDT. I'm very glad we had a chance to drink there as the bar closed in May sadly, after just 8 months.

Lorraine and I headed off to Elske for dinner afterwards, what an awesome spot this is! The outdoor courtyard is cozy with a fireplace and deerskin throws. The menu is modern Danish. The food is delicious! Highly recommend!

Avec has been dishing out their paella for years now, and I'm here to tell you it is still as delicious as ever! A 1/2 order of that along with salad and the well-known dates stuffed with chorizo in tomato sauce made for an excellent lunch the next day. And it was perfect fuel for our post lunch shopping at Eatly and Bloomingdales.

That night we started with very posh drinks at The Milk Room. This tiny 8-seat bar is inside the gorgeous Chicago Athletic Association building, and serves drinks made with rare and antique liquors.

I have no idea how they find these spirits or how often they have to change the menu because they run out, but the drinks were excellent and it was fun to try a few things. It's a spendy cocktail spot though, with prices starting at $26 and going much, much, higher.

From here we went to pretty much the opposite bar to meet my friend Beth. Moneygun was packed with hip drinkers, and offered a menu of about 30 "classic" cocktails, all priced at $10.75. The three of us then walked around the other side of the building where we entered into what looked like a loading dock; we were dining at Oriole!

It's obvious why Chef Noah Sandoval's restaurant was awarded 2 Michelin stars! Everything was perfect, from entering the warehouse and being greeted with a little amuse drink, the stylish main dining room, the service, the dishes, and of course the food!

Some of my favorites from the 15 course menu, with wine pairings, were the caviar with sea urchin, the king crab with chicharrones, the pork rib, and the pasta with truffles.

But honestly, everything was fantastic and Chef Noah is both a gifted chef as well as super personable (he heard me talking about going to Sayulita and slipped me a note with his favorites places!)

After our desserts and mignardise, they sent us home with an individual sized hazelnut pear tart boxed up, it made a great snack the next day! Chicago has so many great restaurants, and I haven't been to all of them for sure, but Oriole ranks high on my list of dining experiences!

Hard to believe we were hungry the next morning, but we were! And we had an excellent brunch at Roister, Chef Grant Achatz's casual eatery, where the fried bologna sandwich lived up to the hype. 

A little shopping along the Mag Mile, and a quick day drink at Sable Kitchen & Bar was all we had time for before grabbing an Uber to the airport.

Chicago never disappoints!

All photos here.

New York State of Mind

Trip date: Oct 2015

After spending five days in Chicago, Forest and I flew off to continue our girls' trip for another five days in New York. I was very happy to get a complimentary 1st class upgrade on Delta even though it was just a short jaunt to the Big Apple. We were on separate flights, coming into different airports (I always gotta earn those miles!), so I grabbed the subway E line from JFK and headed into the city.

I was staying at the Kimpton Ink48 in Hell's Kitchen. It was an easy 10 minute walk from the 50th St subway stop to the cute boutique hotel that was once a printer. My only complaint was that the hotel was covered in scaffolding making my nice view of the city a bit awkward. After I got unpacked I walked to the CitizenM Hotel in Times Square, where Forest was staying. This is an over-the-top hipster hotel with big fun art and a great rooftop bar where we had a drink.

From here we headed to the Highline at dusk for their weekly stargazing event, hosted by the Astronomy Club. I already love the Highline, but this free viewing event was awesome! We saw the rings of Saturn and a double star and spoke to some nice geeky people. If you are in NYC on a Tuesday night between April and October, I'd give this a go for sure (clear skies needed obviously!)

Next up, Uber to cocktails at Dead Rabbit. You've probably heard of this place, being voted the #1 bar in the world and all. This was a repeat stop for me (one which I would do over and over) and IMHO these folks are completely deserving of all the accolades they receive. We had planned on a one-and-done but they took such good care of us we ended up tucking in for a bit. We had prime seats at the bar upstairs (I've never actually sat downstairs so can't compare) and enjoyed our complimentary tea cups of punch while reading through the impressive cocktail menu and stories of New York embedded in them. We ended up ordering a few snacks (Scotch egg!) as neither of us had eaten since our flights. Finally when we tabbed out we were presented with gratis Irish Coffees. Class act Dead Rabbit! 

We grabbed another Uber and headed to Madison Square Garden to have dinner outside at Shake Shack. We ran through the park, getting to the burger shrine just before they closed. Burgers and red wine procured, we sat outside under the twinkly lights on a perfect New York fall evening. *That* was a great night and a fantastic start to our visit! 

The next morning we took the subway to Russ & Daughters Cafe for brunch. OMG. This place is so incredibly delicious and cute! A do not miss I'd say!

The beautiful, sunny day called for some serious walking and window shopping. Sometimes wandering is exactly what you get to do on vacation, that you don't always get to do at home. We walked across lower Manhatten over to Pier 25 on the Hudson River where Grand Banks is docked. Fabulously sunny day, sitting on an old schooner, slurping oysters and drinking white wine. Heaven!

We stayed until the sun started to dip and then Uber'ed off to meet our friend Karen for drinks at Nitecap. This is a perfect review of this little cocktail den. 

It was a quick walk from here to Mission Cantina for dinner, our friend Larin joining us. Absolutely delicious, unfussy, fun food here.

We tried for after dinner drinks at Attaboy but the wait for four was too long so Forest and I headed back to our part of town, stopping at Nomad Hotel's Elephant Bar. Another repeat stop for me, I love this place even though it gets super busy. The drinks and the ambiance are always spot on.

More NYC tales here.

All photos here.