California or bust!

We left New Orleans around 4pm on a Friday. Travel tip: just because you're on vacation doesn't mean the rest of the world is! Interstate 10 runs across the entire southern portion of the country, and when we returned to it to head West in rush hour traffic we realized the rest of humanity were still going about their business though we were taking a break from reality. Once moving though we had got the chance to see some pretty awesome sights, and had learned a key lesson. First outside of New Orleans we drove over Lake Ponchartrain which is so large the causeway that goes over spans about 27 miles long. While looking out the window you find it difficult to grasp that A.this is a lake, and B.you've been on a bridge doing 65mph for almost 20 minutes already.

Did I mention Louisianna has not only some of the nicest humans I've ever come in contact with but amazing

food? Well dinner time rolled around and yet again an amazing place popped up... It was time to try good ole crawfish, or as the locals referred to them as craw daddys.

And just in case my NY Yankees shirt wasn't a dead give away that I was in fact a "yankee" they pinned me as soon as I opened my mouth to speak. This place was awesome and a middle aged woman from the neighboring table picked a crawfish from my plate and showed me the proper way to eat one when she saw me staring at my food clueless as to how to eat it.

Next stop was Texas...

By far the largest most monotonous state, not to mention boring, and unwelcoming! Granted that is just my opinion, and hopefully one day I'll return there to have a better experience. We arrived in San Antonio around 1am and decided we'd see the Alamo in the morning. San Antonio was hands down the cleanest city I've ever seen, not a stitch of gum, a wrapper, cigarette butt was to be seen, but boring!The Alamo took about 10 minutes to walk to from the hotel in the sweltering heat, then some awesome Mexican food on the river walk, and that was the jist of that town. We decided to get back on the road and head to Del Rio which is a small town that borders Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, connected by a small bridge over the Rio Grande. We were told this was a fairly safe place to cross over the border in spite of the drug cartel and human trafficing that plagues the border currently. 

Del Rio... I dubbed hell on earth! It's hot and it's a miserable place! The Days Inn we stayed in was one of the grossest hotels of many on this trip, you walked outside and started to sweat from breathing, had the worst meal, and not to mention the locals were not a fan of "yankess". Our mission of going to Mexico in spite of all the warnings was accomplished though. The border taxi we took cost 15 dollars and we walked back to the U.S over the bridge which was pretty cool though. By 1pm we were back on the road and decided we'd drive straight through to Tuscon, Arizona where we'd sleep then figure out where we wanted to go next....

-Lauren

 



Cancun

This week I am going to write about the time that I flew down to Cancun for a week with a big group of friends.  We booked this trip long in advance through a travel agent, so it technically is not a Binder for us.  However, we did have a great time and we traveled in a group of 20 friends which definitely added to the fun and safety of the trip.  I say safety because the pro of the trip if that you are in Mexico, the weather is really nice and the resort is fun and clean; the con of the trip is that you are in Mexico, just down the road in any wrong direction you are stuck in the middle of a slum surrounded people that live to take advantage of dumb travelers.  If I could give one bit of advice it would be not to be a dumb traveler.  Only participate in activities that are sponsored by your resort and stay together. 

                I remember going on this trip within the year after my high school graduation.  The $1400 price tag of a round trip, stay at a nice resort (Oasis), and all inclusive food and drinks is a nice price but it left my wallet hurting for the rest of the trip so I was probably a cheap tipper without having a choice.  I don’t regret spending out of my price range and breaking a few savings bonds at all.  This was a once in a lifetime trip and will almost definitely never happen again.  Half the people I went with are basically married at this point in time and there will never be a time where 20 of us can get together for a week and act stupid and forget about all responsibilities and alcohol control.

                Immediately upon arrival everyone in our group paid the extra $250 for a 5 day fun pass and this covered the night part of our trip.  The resort itself was great for the day time.  Every day we would wake up early and go right to the beach and relax or play volleyball.  Obviously we would exercise the all inclusive drinks part of our travel package about 95% of the time we were conscious.  When the sun got to be too much we would head to one of the gigantic pools.  The cool part of the pools is that everyone had a big bar in it.  The sketchy part is that after all of the drinking, nobody ever seemed to get out for a bathroom break.  You do the math on this one.  Whenever anybody was hungry, all inclusive food was always local.  At times the guys would gather up and throw the bartend about ten pesos and tell him to keep the shots coming because they were naturally weak and fruity.  We called this “Hammertime” and it would always end up in me running from Mexican security.  This was not a big deal as I was over a foot taller than your average Mexican Seguridad and easily out ran them every time.

                The nightlife was crazy.  Unfortunately I can’t get into heavy detail about some of the things I witnessed from the group of people I traveled with, but you can use your imagination.  The 5 day fun pass was the highlight of the trip and if you are traveling to Cancun to get drunk and stupid and do things you will probably regret, I highly recommend buying one.  If you are traveling for any other reason- definitely pass on this one.  One night we went on a bar crawl, another night we took a booze cruise to an island, and every other night was packed with tickets to get into over the top bars and clubs like Senor Frogs.  Every location had great entertainment and fun events going on.  Although at the time our mindset was more about the all inclusive drinks that were expanded to the fun pass locations and the girls we could find to drink them with that were not in our group (which were not in short supply).

Upcoming Aruba Trip!!

I’m planning a trip to Aruba! YAY! I have never been there, but I’ve heard such great things about it. Recently, Aruba launched a brand new image through their “One Happy Island” campaign. It caught my attention pretty quickly.The commercials are everywhere, especially on my favorite channel (which just happens to be the Travel Channel). And usually, right after I see one of these commercials, I have clear blue water and white sand images stuck in my head.

There are so many beautiful hotels to choose from it’s hard to make a decision about where to stay. My brother offered me advice to skip the all inclusive resorts. His reasoning was that there are so many restaurants you’re not going to want to eat the same food for a week straight. In fact, he even said that if we get desperate, there are McDonalds, Wendy’s, and Pizza Hut chains in walking distance.

I always go on tripadvisor.com before booking anything. Not only can you read traveler reviews on hotels, restaurants and attractions, you can look at user-uploaded pictures. In the past few days, I’ve narrowed down my hotel choices to just a few based on what other people had to say, as well as beautiful or down-right-scary pictures they have uploaded.

I'm so excited, I can't wait to go! I’m planning on going in June, and until then I’ll keep on researching the Island.  :)

-Katie

Canada Part 2- Toronto

            As a continuation of last week Ill be talking about  the time I spent in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  It is about 100 miles driving distance north of the Niagara- US border and well worth the boring and drive that is anything but scenic.

            While making our yearly Canada trip, my friends and I really lucked out one year.  The Jets were playing Buffalo in the Rogers Centre in Toronto on a Thursday night.  The scheduling and location allowed us to experience a new city and sit inside during the game and more important, the game was on a weeknight which expanded the trip a few days. 

            Toronto itself is like a smaller, cleaner, and colder New York City.  It is always a fun experience to be in another country, but it is also nice to not worry about a language barrier.  Most people in Toronto speak English over French. 

            When we plan these trips a few days before they happen we like to meet up before hand and this is wear the ideas that theme our Binders come about.  They usually start off as a stupid thought that quickly turn into somewhat of a dare.  This dare eventually becomes a group challenge that everyone on the trip must take part in.

Our idea for this trip was to all don business suits when we went out at night and to all follow the same story that we were stockbrokers who flew up from New York City earlier in the day and decided to hang around Toronto to celebrate a big week on the NYSE.

            To make sure our whole game plan was not a two- bit operation, we went over every detail before we hit the town.  We all worked for Jon Thomas Financial and after our final meeting of the day were out to dinner and went to a night club still in our suits looking for a classy VIP section ended up in a night that would go down in history as, “Suit Night”. 

To make this long story short when you wear a suit out anywhere unusual and are accompanied by a group of “professional businessmen” - people treat you totally different.  You can do whatever you want for the most part and others will just watch and allow it.  Of course the money to back up adventurous nights like this is imperative as the restaurants, bottles, and roped of sections of clubs are not the cheapest, but all well worth it. 

            Toward the end of the night I had to stop, look around, and take it all in.  I showed up with seven other stockbrokers and every one of them had their own “Suit Night” happening.  Over the DJ’s microphone you could hear “Jon Thomas Financial Hoooooo!”, and the crowd yelled back every time.  The VIP section had a dance floor that was livelier than the actual dance floor with drinks flowing just as much as the actual bar.  It was like a scene out of Wedding Crashers- you would think we were actually celebrities.

            As a continuation of last week Ill be talking about  the time I spent in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  It is about 100 miles driving distance north of the Niagara- US border and well worth the boring and drive that is anything but scenic.

            While making our yearly Canada trip, my friends and I really lucked out one year.  The Jets were playing Buffalo in the Rogers Centre in Toronto on a Thursday night.  The scheduling and location allowed us to experience a new city and sit inside during the game and more important, the game was on a weeknight which expanded the trip a few days. 

            Toronto itself is like a smaller, cleaner, and colder New York City.  It is always a fun experience to be in another country, but it is also nice to not worry about a language barrier.  Most people in Toronto speak English over French. 

            When we plan these trips a few days before they happen we like to meet up before hand and this is wear the ideas that theme our Binders come about.  They usually start off as a stupid thought that quickly turn into somewhat of a dare.  This dare eventually becomes a group challenge that everyone on the trip must take part in.

Our idea for this trip was to all don business suits when we went out at night and to all follow the same story that we were stockbrokers who flew up from New York City earlier in the day and decided to hang around Toronto to celebrate a big week on the NYSE.

            To make sure our whole game plan was not a two- bit operation, we went over every detail before we hit the town.  We all worked for Jon Thomas Financial and after our final meeting of the day were out to dinner and went to a night club still in our suits looking for a classy VIP section ended up in a night that would go down in history as, “Suit Night”. 

To make this long story short when you wear a suit out anywhere unusual and are accompanied by a group of “professional businessmen” - people treat you totally different.  You can do whatever you want for the most part and others will just watch and allow it.  Of course the money to back up adventurous nights like this is imperative as the restaurants, bottles, and roped of sections of clubs are not the cheapest, but all well worth it. 

            Toward the end of the night I had to stop, look around, and take it all in.  I showed up with seven other stockbrokers and every one of them had their own “Suit Night” happening.  Over the DJ’s microphone you could hear “Jon Thomas Financial Hoooooo!”, and the crowd yelled back every time.  The VIP section had a dance floor that was livelier than the actual dance floor with drinks flowing just as much as the actual bar.  It was like a scene out of Wedding Crashers- you would think we were actually celebrities.

 

The Big Easy

We arrived in New Orleans around 3a.m. Thursday morning. A hostel was booked over the phone somewhere around 9p.m  while driving through Mississippi. It was located in the Art/Warehouse district not far from the superdome and had air conditioning in addition to a bed, that was more then enough for us because we were exhausted.  First thing in the morning we headed over to the French Quarter to meet up with New York friends who were also in town. We all met up at a place called Tropical Isle for the infamous "Hand Grenade". I haven't the slighest idea of this drinks content, and the bartender will only say it's a secret

recipe but let this serve as a warning that these things are potent! After partaking in one and waiting a terential down pour we decided it was time to partake in some local fare. Jessica is a pescatarian so a famous place found on Yelp.com was perfect and within walking distance. Acme Oyster House has been showcased on show's such Man vs. Food for there raw oyster eating challenge. We had the best chargrilled oysters either of us had ever eaten, and shared a Shrimp PoBoy, all of it was amazing! That's basically how we spent our two days in New Orleans eating, drinking, and oh did I mention sweating? The temperature there never fell below the 90 degree mark, and the humidity makes the air so dense it's difficult to breathe. What an amazing city it is though! The Big Easy has culture all it's own unlike any other city I've encountered in the U.S. Jazz bands are playing on the street corners, friendly people with extreme southern drawls will tell long winded stories even though you only asked for directions, the architecture and art galleries,voo-doo shops and haunted cemetary tours,it's ok to walk down the street wearing a masquarade mask at night while drinking a highly potent alcoholic beverage that tastes like fruit punch served in a cup that takes two hands to hold, and food unlike any other (Coops on Decatur Street had the best Jambalaya). Even after the devistation of Hurricane Katrina there is no doubt that this city is alive! Although it was only our first stop we both agreed at the end of the trip it was in the top 3 best ones of the entire trip. As for the next few states they didn't fare quite so well. Texas is a mighty large state to drive through, check back for details...

Lauren

Cabo!

If I had to name my favorite vacation spot it would be Cabo San Lucas, hands down. I’ve been there twice, both times in January and both times I stayed at the RIU Santa Fe. It’s just beautiful. When you get off the plane and are driving to the resort you can’t picture how this desert is going to provide you one of the prettiest beaches. But after you check in and make your way to the beach you realize why Cabo is a celebrity hotspot. The resort’s backyard is breathtaking.

Even though you don’t want to leave the beach, Cabo has so much to offer. Here is a list of my top 3 things to do in Cabo:

3.  Divorce/Lovers Beach: You can take a water taxi to Divorce Beach, which is where the Arcs meet the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean. There are people walking around with coolers of Coronas, Dos Equis and waters. However, it’s a little buggy there so pack some bug spray.

2.  Squid Roe: The town of Cabo is so cute, and at night there are various nightclubs and bars to go to. My favorite is Squid Roe. It is three floors high with an open ceiling (Did I mention that I didn’t see any rain when I was there?) Many celebrities have been spotted here including Jay Z and Beyonce. In fact, Rhianna was showed up when I was in town.

1. Mango Deck: Mango Deck is located on Medano Beach, the main beach where most of the resorts are located. This place is way too much fun for one person to have in a day. They have specials running daily on buckets of beers and margaritas. The place itself is set up on the beach with lounge chairs so you can take in the sun. In the middle of all the chairs they have a stage set up for various contests they have throughout the day. If the hot sun is too much for you, they also have a shaded restaurant.

-Katie

Cross Country Adventure 2010

 Vacations I've been on tend to be a little like myself last minute, scattered, and more expensive then initially planned. This past summer my best friend of 25 years and I embarked on the elusive cross country adventure. We are both fans of checking things off of our bucket list and this one was to be an awesome adventure. A few years ago she moved to Orlando, while visiting New York in March of 2010 and a few vodka tonics in we came up with this fabulous idea of our ultimate adventure. At first we both questioned whether the other would go through with it. One night about two weeks after she left I received a text about a really cheap car rental as we had both agreed niether of our cars would be taken. So just like that we decided we'd go the first 3 weeks of June and to book the car while it was cheap. Little did enterprise know that we would be taking there $400 unlimited mileage Chevy Aveo from Orlando to California and back. Throughout the next 2 months we threw around a few ideas of routes to take, and sites to see none of which were ever set in stone. What we did know the first week of May was that I'd be flying to Orlando early in the morning of June 2nd and we wanted to hit the ground running to be in New Orleans by Night. Orlando to New Orleans was a mear 639 miles and 9 hours away. Now for most people this seems like an easy enough task but Jessica and I had not taken into account numerous factors. For one I was leaving my house in Amityville at 4am to ensure I made my flight (which I've been known to miss a few), June 1st was my 28th birthday and I of course had to celebrate a little, and lastly we didn't book anywhere to stay once we arrived in the big easy. Stay tuned next week for the contiuation of making it to New Orleans and the experience that followed!

Lauren

Clovis as we named the car was our new friend for the next 3 weeks

Oh, Canada! part one

Most of my vacations are brought on in a very scrappy manner, meaning that a few friends and I will decide where we are going, what we want to do, and then finally schedule out the whole trip about a week before we leave.  Every trip usually adopts some sort of a theme or revolves around some kind of an event.  The outcomes of this method are great times that are just about as random as the planning we put into them.

This week I am going to post about the Great White North and my adventures and experiences while traveling to Canada.  In this blog I am going to talk about the times when I have visited the Buffalo and Niagara areas of Canada and next week I will add stories and misadventures from Toronto which is where the real fun begins.

I have made the trip to Niagara with a group of buddies about five times and these kinds of mini vacations, which we like to call “Binders”, have become a yearly ritual.  We plan the trip on the same weekend that the New York Jets visit the Buffalo Bills.  This provides some kind of stability for the planning of the trip and for some, and an excuse to leave their significant other for a weekend of fun with their friends.  Ralph Wilson Stadium (Bills Stadium) is about 45 minutes away from the border of Canada where the Niagara Falls are.  The hostility you receive from the charming Buffalonians for wearing Jets jerseys to a game in Buffalo is priceless.  It is all in good fun on our part; however the Buffalo fans never seem to get that memo.  Overall the game is such a fun experience and the intensity of 95% of a sellout crowd hating you because of your green and white jersey adds to the excitement of the game in a weird way.  Majority of the time the heckling stops half way through the game as the Bills fans realize they are clearly out matched by the Jets and that we are cheering for the better team.

Making the trip up there is a hassle.  Unless we start to fly and take out the whole road trip aspect of our Binder, the drive will always suck.  However, in the past few years we have perfected the transportation and travel part of the trip.  Driving in a few separate packed cars is not so much fun.  Loading up an eight seated Durango with video game systems and screens is pretty fun.  Renting an RV and designating two people (Canada Rookies) to drive the whole way while everyone else drinks and hangs out inside is quite possibly one of the smartest and most fun ways to have a trip like this.

One constant downfall of the trip is customs.  We have never and would never try and smuggle anything illegally in or out of the US (except for me, I will explain) but passing through the border has become such a hassle.  Before every Binder to Canada I stress that everyone gets their passport and has it ready as it is now required by law to pass through customs.  A few years ago I was really nagging everyone to not forget their passports and when it was time to get our passports together I then realized that I had packed my check book, which is of similar size and exactly the same color.  On top of the feeling of humiliation that I had left my passport at home, ten hours away, my friends and I had quickly gained a sense of desperation and stupidity.  With nowhere else to go but the long ride home, back to Long Island, I volunteered to climb through my Focus’ back seat and into the trunk.  This is where I spent the scariest 20 minutes of my life as we passed through customs.  I remember sweating so heavily and hoping that we did not qualify for a random search.  I would never even think of attempting something like this and would never suggest it to anyone.  The idea worked and we were off to an exciting weekend in Canada.  For some reason they make it so much harder to get into Canada than to get into the US.  The US Border Patrol is like the cool easy going Fonz to Canada’s uptight Richie.

Niagara, Canada is perfect for college students aged 18- 21.  The drinking and gambling age there is 19 (it used to be 18) and this attracts a lot of travelers from upstate colleges who are too young to legally drink in the States.  The area is kind of “touristy” and has a heavy family feel to it.  In recent years my friends and I have branched out from spending our Binders here.  The clubs are decent and the casinos are fun but the area gives a kind of, “been there done that” feel after visiting more than once.  The streets do come alive at night for various holidays.  For example, one Halloween we happened to visit and had a great time.  Tons of Buffalo college students made the short trip north and everyone had a blast in their costumes.  I had a great time even though our brilliant Jonas Brothers costumes bought us more heckling than appreciation, but I guess you can’t win them all.

After exploring this area of Canada we have discovered a hidden gem of that region.  There is a college town about 30 minutes away called St. Catharine’s.  It does have the feel of any other college town except that the bars and clubs are much more fun.  We did not know what to expect when we first arrived and ended up waiting on a long line outside of a small building called the Red Hot Chili Pepper bar.  When we finally got in, I realized the place is much more expansive than it looked.  The main floor had a club look to it and Hip Hop and House music mostly played.  There was nothing unusual or special here but when I found out there was a huge basement is when I really appreciated this place.  The down stairs had a house party feel to it and there was constantly a live band playing alternative music.  The crowds totally split themselves between upstairs and downstairs and catered to different people with different tastes                .

After getting out of hand with the typing of this blog I will be discussing the experiences I’ve had with Toronto, Ontario, Canada next week.  Here are some various pictures from these Binders with their own stories to tell.

-          Brian

The Sunburnt Calf

This past weekend I traveled to Manhattan to have Sunday brunch. My boyfriend and I visited a couple who recently moved to Manhattan and they wanted to take us to try their favorite burger at The Sunburnt Calf. It’s located at 226 West 79^th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam.

Since it was pouring rain we decided to take a taxi and we got to the restaurant around 1:00. They told us it was going to be a half hour wait but we sat down pretty quick.

Their deal for brunch was pretty awesome, $18 per person which includes an entrée and all you can drink Fosters, “Moomosas,” “MooMarys,” screwdrivers, and greyhounds. All four of us ordered the Burger with the Lot. It was topped with onions, a fried egg, pineapple, beets, bacon, cheese and lettuce and it came with a side of fries. My entire dish was clean, which is insane because I can never usually finish a full meal. I was even picking on my boyfriend’s fries when after all of mine were gone.

Needless to say, I’ll be going back soon. You can check out their website at http://www.thesunburntcow.com/.

Here is a screen shot of their brunch menu:

-Katie