Here we go with a big ol’ travel post.
(1) New York: As I’ve mentioned before, Thom’s mom is arriving in town tonight, and then tomorrow morning the three of us will take the train from D.C. to New York, where we’ll be through Monday. On the agenda so far are Ashes and Snow at the Nomadic Museum, MoMA (it’s so nice being a member), Statue of Liberty, and a trio of musicals: The Lion King, Hairspray, and Mamma Mia. It’ll be her first time in the Big Apple, so it’ll be fun to play tourist (I say as if we live there).
(2) Omaha: Yes, that’s right. Thom has a couple of business trips coming up, one to Montreal in June (to which I was like, tag along? sure!), and another to Omaha next weekend (to which I was like, ehh, not so much). But after a while, I thought, why not? It’s not like I have anything else planned that weekend. And I’ve never been to Nebraska before, so there’s that. Aside: coming back will be pseudo-Amazing Race. Thom’s flight plans were made through his agency’s travel office, and I made mine separately (and more cheaply), so we’re flying back on different airlines. Let me use my Phil voice: “Both teams are now flying to Washington, Thom on Midwest Airlines via Milwaukee, and Jeff via Minneapolis on a Northwest Airlines flight scheduled to arrive 18 minutes later.” Maybe we’ll race to the taxi stand for fun.
(3) Seattle: Independence Air, the new-ish airline based at Dulles, is launching west-coast service in May with some very low introductory fares to the tune of $59 each way for May 1-10. United Airlines has matched the fare, but availability is spotty for both carriers. So we struck while the fare was hot, and will be flying Independence to Seattle on Friday, May 6, returning on the Monday night red-eye. Each roundtrip ticket came out to a total of $138.40. Total! I’ve found some really low fares to the west coast in the past, but that is by far the least I’ve ever paid. Go me, it’s my birthday! (No, really, my birthday is that Sunday, May 8.)
(4) Other trips to be planned: Over Memorial Day weekend, we’re thinking about visiting the Bay Area, and then at the end of June, Thom will be in Montreal for business, so I’ll try and join him there. Lastly, I had thought about going with my parents on their vacation to the Philippines next month, but in the end decided not this time. I did, however, find out that the most direct route from here is on Korean Air via Seoul, which pretty much lies on a straight line between Washington and Manila.
Whew. Bon voyage!
5 replies on “Here and there”
I will be interesting to see what you find to do in Omaha. Three of my new clients this year are located there, which equals at least 3 week long trips for me.
Wish we had time to say hi during your NY visit. Unfortunately, it’s a busy weekend! (Not too presumptuous, am I? As if you have the time or desire to see us!) 🙂
Maybe on a future visit?
So maybe I’m not the only one who thinks Phil Keoghan is hot? “You’ve been eliminated!” I haven’t watched Race since the gay couple won though…
Have fun in NY and, um, Omaha! (Every time I hear ‘Omaha’ all I can think about is Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom which I used to watch as a kid.)
Oh, Seattle, one of my very favourites. You simply must check out the Experience Music Project and the giant flagship Nordstrom. They are both amazing. Oh my goodness, I’ve gotta find you the name of the fabulous seafood grille we ate at last time we were there. An e-mail is in order!
T. Kevin: Just for you.
Scott C: We were surprised to find that Omaha does have some nice things to offer, including a wonderful zoo and some great parks, and a funky little 16-square block revitalized “Old Market” area of restaurants, clubs and shops (completely dead during the days, but picking up considerably on Friday and Saturday nights). We also went to an amazing gay club that’s even been featured in a New York Times piece, and that I thought was perhaps the best club I’d been to since my old Boston haunt, the 1270, closed years ago. Friendly, mixed crowd with little attitude, great music (but not so loud that we couldn’t have a conversation at the same time), cheap cover ($5, on a Saturday night), nice interior spaces, plenty of seating, and a really cool exterior courtyard with fountain. Omaha, who knew?