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I am reading a book right now called “Devil in the White City” by Eric Larson. It is a non-fiction book that tells the story of the World’s Fair in Chicago (1893). It follows the growth and progress of Chicago and brings to life the great men behind this proud city and the largest fair the U.S. has ever seen. As you read about the years progressing up to the fair, you are also following the story of a serial killer in the same place at the same time. I haven’t quite figured out whether these two stories make sense, told together, but, I am enjoying the book thoroughly.

I am in awe of the city that Chicago was back at the turn of the century. Built along stockyards that fed the nation and filled the city with nauseous smells, on the shores of mighty Lake Michigan, this city rose out of flat Illinois landscape. It was burned down to to the ground only to rebuild itself even greater. Their was a fierce pride and ambition in the people of Chicago. Reading about the great architects who built its skyscrapers and famous buildings is fascinating.

So, now I REALLY want to go to Chicago. I want to see all the sites I mentioned in my last post as well as visit all the historic sites I am reading about in this book…The Rookery, Jackson Park, the Stock Yard gate next to where the “bridge of sighs” was located, etc. What a very fascinating and very American city!

Being isolated in the middle of the country, it developed a culture that was less “diverse” as that of New York or San Francisco. The people are fiercely American and proud of their mid-western roots. Chicago’s rise to power could never have happened without the prominence of the railroad and the cattle industry.

I often think that reading a historical account of the formation of Las Vegas would be equally as fascinating. It is also a city that rose to eminence in an isolated part of the country and has an interesting past. It would not be there had it not been for California’s strict laws against gambling that caused people to cross the border into Nevada to spend their hard-earned pay.

Anyone know of a good book about Las Vegas?

At any rate, read “Devil in the White City” and then visit Chicago!

Thanks to Jetzenpolis for the great Chicago skyscrapers picture!

If you have a long weekend coming up (Fourth of July, anyone?) and need some travel ideas….let me recommend heading to Chicago. The legendery “Taste of Chicago” has just commenced. It is several weeks of outdoor frivolity and fun, all centered around food. Can’t beat that! 65+ restaurants set up booths along the city streets and provide scrumptious fare for you to sample. In between you can sip beer and wine or dance to the many bands that are playing in the streets.

I love a summer festival….throw in beautiful downtown Chicago and then center it around food, and I am sold.

Thanks to Pink Aura for the picture.

Just a quick note on music.

I love all that they Bay Area has to offer with live music and festivals. SFBlues is coming up in September and so is the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Last weekend I saw one my favorite bands, Thievery Corporation, play at The Greek Theater in Berkeley. WOW! What an amazingly beautiful theater with fantastic acoustics. Also, it is right in the middle of Berkeley campus, so you get to walk through the gorgeous grounds of this historic college. I think that I would love to go to ANY concert at the Greek, even if it was The BackStreet Boys….it is that good of a venue!

Also, Outside Lands is about to happen in August in Golden Gate Park. Three days of terrific line-ups. Get your tickets now.

I hail from Austin, the purported “live music” capital of the world and San Francisco gives it a run for its money!

Last week I wrote about my “pretend” trip to Orlando. This week I  forgot to do my little atlas game. So, I am going to write a short little entry about my new “love affair”. That is right–I am having a love affair with San Francisco!  I feel very lucky to be living near this fabulous city! The last two weekends have been spent in the city and were pretty near perfect-I just keep discovering more about the city to enjoy.

I love that it is a large city with such cultural diversity, liberal politics, beautiful architecture and outdoor parks. The food is amazing and varied and the arts are wonderful. The nightlife will not disappoint either. In short, it has all the qualities that one of the top cities in the United States (even the world) should have.

But, it has even more! Because it is perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean and a short drive from dramatic mountains. On one side of the city are wild waves, crashing to shore, having traveled across thousands of miles of open sea. On the other is the more tranquil and beautiful bay. There are picturesque islands such as Angel Island and Alcatraz floating between the Bay Bridge and legendery Golden Gate.

The city has the largest urban national park in the U.S.- the Presidio and is dotted with pretty open spaces throughout. And, of course, there is Golden Gate Park, larger than Central Park in New York City. Then you have the dramatically steep hills, bunching up the city, separating individual neighborhoods that are so different from eachother that traveling between them almost feels like a passport is needed!

The people are much more outdoorsy and laid back than say, New Yorkers. But, not as nice as people in Chicago. It is hard to surpass that midwestern openness! The beaches are beautiful…a little moodier and less suntan friendly than San Diego or Los Angeles, but wonderful  all the same!

Last weekend I woke up in polished, upscale Pacific Heights(apt. sitting for a friend)–had a wonderful leisurely brunch and a massage(badly needed!)–met friends and went on a stunning, panoramic hike in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, of course, and stopped to take pictures of the bridge and bay(picture shown above). We returned to town and had a homecooked, delicious meal at Maverick and then laughed it up at Cobbs Comedy Club in North Beach.

This next weekend, I intend to check out the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young museum and perhaps the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, maybe even get some Burmese food at Burma Superstar. Yummm.

I read this post and think, “you are living well”! But, at least I recognize it and appreciate the richness of my life. I won’t live near San Francisco forever! So, for now, I will soak it up as much as I can.

Do you think there is a city that can rival San Francisco? Tell me about it!

Check out this hilarious post from UpTake! Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Facebook Secretary–you could stay smokin’ hot in the online social realm without neglecting your job or home life! I can see it now:

Facebook Secretary: “you have had 15 new friend requests (one from your ex-boyfriend in Toledo) and your friend, Nathan threw a sheep at you. You have also been poked five times and invited to see which Sex and the City character you are most like. “

Me: “Poke back, please…and take the quiz…I bet I am a Samantha. Oh, and screw the ex in Toledo….throw a sheep at him or something. Gotta get back to work. “

Nice.

Well, it is that time of the week again, already!

I plunked my finger down on the U.S. page of our world atlas and landed in Florida, once again! Now, Florida is a pretty skinny state, so my finger pretty much covered it all.  I decided to just pick Orlando. It was between that and Fort Lauderdale.

 But, as my last post reflects, I am in the mood to reconnect with my childhood lately. And Disneyworld in Orlando was definitely a childhood trip I remember taking. It could have something to do with the fact that I got lost for several hours in Epcot and nearly destroyed my parents with worry. But, I choose to think that it was Mickey, Cinderella, and Space Mountain that made such an indelible impression!

I would love to go back there sometime (preferably during a weekday in February, so there wouldn’t be hordes of people) and play at Disneyworld, Epcot, and Universal Studios. However, I have a feeling that there are more things to do in Orlando than theme parks.

It is a sunny city with beautiful beaches. The Gulf Islands are close by and beckoning and they are supposed to have a great science center in Orlando. I will just have to book a hotel and find out what it is all about.

Anyone have some good suggestions?

For those of you who grew up completely obsessed with Anne of Green Gables–that’s right, you are not alone–do I have the event for you!

I was recently visiting the TravelingMom website (a great travel website dedicated to women and moms) and noticed an article about the 100th birthday of the book. Apparently, Prince Edward Island–the home of our beloved heroine, is celebrating Anne’s birthday in style. There will be year long festivities with some of the best occurring over the summer.

I have always wanted to visit this beautiful little island and to visit “Green Gables” and the charming town of Avonlea. Now is my chance–and yours too!

There will be barn dances, country fairs, and picnics a plenty. I am sure there will be plenty of “Anne” impersonators as well as gallons of rasberry cordial on hand!

I am ready to book my ticket–the trick will be convincing my husband to come. I think I just won’t mention why we are going!

thanks to Smudge9000 for the Green Gables picture!

My jaunt around the U.S. continues—a different city every week—So, last post I wrote about a weekend in Miami. As I still haven’t made it there and am still as pasty pale as ever….I am glad that my finger landed on another beach destination this week. I could use a little virtual sun!

 I closed my eyes and plunked my finger down on my atlas today and right between L.A. and San Diego is where I ended up (as did a small piece of the sandwich I was eating–oops!). Now Los Angeles and San Diego are both huge destinations for travel with much to see and do. So, I picked the one I prefer–San Diego.

Thanks to Superfem for the palm tree pic!

 My brother lives here and I have visited once or twice. But, aside from the fantastic San Diego Zoo…I have really only seen the backyard pool at my brother’s house. He has two kids and they don’t get out much unless it’s to baseball games or dance recitals! So, I haven’t really done the place justice.

 There seems to be such a wealth of fun things to do in San Diego. Here are the top places I want to go, my next weekend there:

Balboa Park: If you can only hit up one spot in San Diego, this would be it. This is a huge park with lots of green spaces and sports field as well as 15 major museum, a zoo, and a botanical garden. You won’t run out of things to do here! I have heard that the Japanese Friendship Garden and the Air and Space Museum are pretty great.

Gaslamp Quarter: this is the place to go for sightseeing, strolling, good food and shopping.

Spend a day on Coronado Beach, which the Travel Channel has named as one of the top ten beaches in the U.S. Not only is it a beautiful clean beach for swimming and sunning, it is also in the charming small community of Coronado with great parks, shops, and restaurants for when you are done with the water. You can even stay at the famed Hotel Coronado…I visited this place as a child a remember thinking it was a life sized doll house on the beach.

 So, there is my weekend in San Diego….do you have any suggestions for me?

In my post, “Travel from Sea to Shining Sea” from last week, I came up with the resolution to pick one U.S destination a week (by closing my eyes and pointing a finger at the atlas) and researching it as a vacation destination.

Well, this week I landed on the Sunshine State. My finger was close enough to Miami that I decided to choose it—I was less interested in Cooper City, Florida! Actually I was pretty excited to have landed near Miami as it has been on my radar lately. I just started watching a t.v. show that takes place there…Dexter. If you haven’t seen Dexter, check it out–very dark humor with a great main character. He is a serial killer with “good” intentions that works as a forensics analyst for the Miami police department. It is based on the book, Darkly Dreaming Dexter. There is a crazy plot line and it is really creatively done.

Anyway, watching all the street footage of Miami has made me curious about it. It seems like such a hot, loud, and colorful destination. I know that there are strong Cuban and Hispanic influences and great beaches as well as a happening club scene..but, that is about it. I have only been to Florida twice and that was to visit Fort Lauderdale with my grandmother and then to Disney World in Orlando. The rite of passage for any American child.

After a bit of research, here are some of the top things to do in Miami:

I definitely want to spend a day walking around both Little Havana and the Design District. They both offer great restaurants and shops. The design district has some beautiful mural or creative find around every corner, while Little Havana will transport you to Cuba, with old men playing dominoes and smoking hand rolled Cuban cigars.

South Point Park sounds like a scenic place to take in the city, the water, and the enormous cruise ships that chug past on a regular basis. If you have never seen one of these giants up close, I recommend it. It is pretty amazing to me that they manage to float!

Of course, one should never go to Miami and not spend a day baking on the white sand beaches or partying it up in a trendy club..here are they ones on my radar. For the day, I would like to soak up sun on the famed Miami Beach (more for the people watching, than anything else). I am not a big “club hopper”—but, “when in rome….”. So, I would probably check out The Mansion or Club 66.

Next time I have a long weekend, look for me on Miami Beach…I will be pale girl with a bright red sunburn sipping a cocktail out of a coconut. You shouldn’t have any trouble picking me out of the crowd!

Thanks to Mr. Usaji for the terrific Miami beach picture!

So, here is a scenario: You are tooling around online, reading about smart cars and searching for WV election results- instead of getting the sleep you need. It is getting close to midnight and all of a sudden–wham! It hits you. Tomorrow is your anniversary. Your angelic wife, who is sleeping in the next room is probably dreaming of the romantic dinner and flowers that you have planned–of the grand romantic gestures that are SURE to unfold on this special day.

Shit!

You haven’t done a thing.

You scramble around looking up the number of your favorite restaurant, florist, etc. But, you realize that there is no way you can get a dinner reservastion so last minute on a Friday, you can’t remember your wife’s favorite flowers, and you don’t cook worth a damn.

Time to pull out the big guns. A gesture that will be so unexpected and spectacular that your wife will never realize you almost forgot your anniversary—I am talking about a surprise getaway weekend.

But, where do you start?! You don’t have much time. You know your wife loves San Francisco–but, where to stay, what to do? Then, you remember your friend who told you about this new site-UpTake.

You quickly type in the address and are taken to a tranquil homepage, with a sweeping, powdery white beach, sparkling blue water, and an empty beckoning deck chair–You immediately feel calmer and are filled with the confidence that UpTake will help you with this dilemma.

Not only does the site calm you down but it is so simple to use. You search for hotels that are in San Francisco and click on the button that ensures you will only see results suitable for a romantic getaway. It takes you to a page where you can see a ranked list of the best places to stay and even read reviews that other people had to say about each place. It doesn’t take you long to pick out the perfect place, Hotel Vitale Embarcadero in downtown San Francisco.

But, what will you do there? San Francisco has a lot to offer, but, how do you filter through all the options to find the most romantic things? Your eyes drift over to the right side of the hotels page and you see a link to “romantic things to do“. Aha! Perfect! Now you have a list of the most romantic things to do and a romantic hotel to stay in. All that is left is airfare. But, that is easy enough with the plethora of airline booking sites on the internet–especially Kayak.

All of this done in under 10 minutes. Now you can get back to your online game of solitaire.

Thanks UpTake!

So, UpTake is the company I work for and it is entering public beta today. It has been a long road filled with hard work and fun. I just joined on this winter, but the concept and execution of this unique and terrific site has been in place for much longer than that.

Be sure and check out the site today–and visit our great travel blog as well! UpTake is an exciting new way to look at travel planning–it understands your desire to find the right trip for your circumstances while respecting your limited time.