Vacation

Off On Our Honeymoon

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Today MC and I flew to Orlando Florida for our honeymoon. Our cruise is not until tomorrow but we wanted to get to Florida early in case there was bad weather. We took JetBlue from LaGuardia to Orlando and we really didn’t have any issues. The security line was long other than that it was a pretty uneventful flight. I’m not complaining, trust me I’m just stating the facts.

We got a rental car and drove the short distance to our hotel. Since it was the 1st night of our honeymoon I want to stay somewhere nice so we booked a room at the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando. I realize it was actually on the Disney properties. We drove past finds all the walk in the Disney World and got a huge complex of hotels.

We were hoping for room upgrade from AMEX and since it was our honeymoon. Alas that didn’t happen but the room we did get was still pretty fantastic. We did also get chocolate covered strawberries and champagne as a welcome gift. I gotta say AMEX treats us right.

By the time we were ready to eat dinner there was only like one or 2 options. the fancy steakhouse seemed a little too fancy for our tastes that night. We ended up and peacock Alley which is the hotel lounge. I had a drink or two and we had appetizers and hung out for a little while before we went to bed. It was good to just relax after a long day of traveling.

The Trip Home From New Mexico

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Today we had to get up early and make the drive from Santa Fe back to Albuquerque to fly home.  I will take this time to mention we rented a XM Satellite radio for the trip from the rental company since we knew we would be in the middle of nowhere.  Wow, those things suck.  There were times when we didn’t even have any obstruction and it had trouble playing music.  Next time i thin we will be ok with just using music on my iPhone.  The iPhone had a few moments but otherwise it worked pretty well as a GPS.  The problems we had were with the TomTom app having really bad data on POI’s.  Wow it had stuff in there with addresses that were flat out wrong.

Because Santa Fe was so far from the airport and we had to get the rental car back by noon and we didn’t have a flight till 2:30 we got to the airport way too early.  Our luck there was no airport club, wifi or much to do.  We got some more reading in and found a sports bar for lunch.

To yet again prove how small a world it is, when we were boarding the plane M saw her friend Cormac settling into his seat for the flight home.  After we were in the air he came over to talk and it turns out he was in New Mexico for a conference.  We had the same connecting flight in Dallas so we all grabbed lunch before taking off back to NY.  We got back to LGA so late that all we did was head home and crash.

This vacation turned out to be just what we needed.  It was restful, fun, and a great trip.  It is hard to compare to our last trip to Europe but it was awesome in its own way!

Sante Fe

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On our last full day of the vacation we spent it in downtown Santa Fe.  We had breakfast at a really good place Cafe Pasqual’s.  From there we walked around Santa Fe Plaza.  MC got some nice silver ear rings.  After that we got our culture on and went to two museum’s.  First up was the Palace of the Governors, and then the new Mexico Museum of Art.  I liked the Palace better since it was a history museum.  it was very interesting to read about the regions history.  MC liked the art museum.

After we got our history on we walked around some more and ended up at a French Pastry Shop for a snack/lunch.  We were going to walk to a chocolate shop but it started raining so we headed back to the car and then drove there.  M got some chocolate but I didn’t see anything i liked.

We spent the afternoon at the hotel pool reading and soaking in the pool.  Even though i think the other two hotels were better this pool was the best pool out of the 3 places we stayed at.

For dinner we had reservations at the Inn of the Anasazi.  For our last night of vacation this was another fantastic restaurant.  M knows how to pick really good places from guide books!

The High Road to/From Taos

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We only planned on spending one night in Taos so we were upset to check out of the awesome hotel we were staying at.  Before we left Taos we wanted to check out the Taos Pueblo.  It is a UNESCO site or something like that.  Any settlement that has been around for 1100 years is cool to me.  We got a tour and walked around a bit.  It was very interesting to see.

From the Pueblo we took off for Santa Fe.  We took what everyone calls the high road to Taos, yet the guide book suggested we do it going from Taos so that is what we did.  It was only about 30-45 minutes longer than the other direction.  We had more breathtaking views of the countryside.  We stopped at some carpet stores that do their own weaving.  It was interesting but M was more into than I was.

We also stopped for a snack at Sugar Nymphs that was recommended by the books and then we had a late lunch at Rancho De Chimayo before heading off to our hotel outside Santa Fe.

For the last leg of our stay we had reservations at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort.  As hotels go it was by far the worst of the 3 hotels we stayed at.  it was OK, but the other two were fantastic.

After we checked in we went to the indoor pool for a while before going into Santa Fe for dinner.  MC got reservations at a Galisteo Bistro in downtown Santa Fe.  The food was ok.  Compared to the great places we had been to this was nothing spectacular.

Taos

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Today was our travel day to Taos.  Originally we were supposed to goto Bandelier National Monument but the concierge at the hotel said it was mostly closed due to fires.  Instead we went to a pueblo near our hotel for a bit and then headed out to Taos.

It was a a pretty decent drive of about an hour and a half.  The views along the way were stunning though.  We stopped a few times to take pictures.

Once in Taos we went to Doc Martin’s restaurant.  No affiliation to the shoe guy.  I was disappointed at that, but it was a nice lunch.  After lunch we spent time in downtown Taos checking out all the shops.  It was fun but we didn’t buy very much.

After downtown we went to our hotel.  We were spending one night at the El Monte Sagrado Living Resort and Spa.  This hotel is fantastic.  It is by far one of the best hotel rooms I have ever been in.  It was huge, we had our own fireplace and just overall really nice.  I still think the room M and I had at the Mandarin Orientel in Las Vegas is still the best I have ever stayed in this is in my top 5, and I have traveled a lot.

We spent the afternoon lounging around the indoor pool and reading.  I have been glad for the downtime to just relax.  I am finishing my Tom Clancy book I started on the cruise last December.

For dinner we stayed at the hotel restaurant.  Again a well reviewed restaurant that did not disappoint.

Horseback Riding and R and R

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For our last full day in Albuquerque we got up early again (not as early as yesterday) and went horse back riding at the hotel.  We didn’t know this but the hotel is on an Indian Reservation.  We got to rid the horses on a trail on the reservation.  It was pretty cool.  We saw petroglyphs.  Well M did.  I saw them later on photos since I couldn’t see the rocks well enough to see them.

My horse was pretty good.  She actually listened when i wanted her to gallop, go left or right and sometimes stop.  The only thing was she wanted to stop and eat every five minutes.  I was pretty pleased with the horse choice.  The only thing bad was she attacked M’s horse and someone elses.  I am not kidding.  M and I got lined up next to each other for a photo and my horse tried to slam her head into M’s horse.  It was pretty bad ass.  While we were riding back another horse got close to her and she tried to do the same thing to that one.  I thought it was a bit funny.

I was glad to be finished with the ride since it was getting very hot and my legs were starting to kill me.

For lunch we went back into Albuquerque for lunch at the place that was closed on Sunday.  The Grove Cafe.  It was another really good lunch.  After that we we drove around downtown a bit and then went to a nice espresso place before heading back to the hotel to get in some pool time, and reading.

For dinner we went to the Corn Maiden Restaurant at the hotel.  It was very highly rated and it was fantastic.

Hot Air Balloons and More

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Our first full day in New Mexico was pretty fantastic.  M and I debated on doing a hot air Balloon ride.  We both wanted to but it was pretty expensive.  In the end we said it is a once in a life time experience and we were in one of the best places in the world to do it.

We got up at like 6:30AM to get picked up for the ride.  We learned the only real time you do a Balloon ride is right at dawn.  We got some fantastic photos of the ballon being inflated.  It was a pretty big ballon.  It fit 12 people and for our ride there were 10 of us.

There is so much i could write about this experience.  It was simply fantastic.  We got so many awsome photos.  There were 3 other ballons launching when we did so we got to get a lot of them and the scenery.  We got well over an hour of airtime before we set down right off a soccer field.

I learned that once we land you never just jump out or else the ballon will get lighter and fly away.  Don’t worry I didn’t try it but the pilot was very informative.  Once it was safe several of us got out and moved the ballon away from a building so we could deflate it.  It was interesting work helping to deflate and put away a 260,000 cubic foot ballon into a big bag.

We were done and back at the hotel well before lunch time.  We decided to drive to the Range Cafe for some lunch.  It was nearby the hotel and got good reviews in the travel books and everyone at the hotel suggested it.  We were glad that we did.  The lunch was good, but for desert M and I had a piece of chocolate layer cake that we both agreed was THE BEST WE EVER HAD.  From two people who love chocolate that is a stellar endorsement.  M has photos of me before and after.  They are pretty funny.

For the afternoon we lounged by the pool.  We were going to go horse back ridding at 6pm but it was very stormy so they canceled it for the night.  We rescheduled for tomorrow.

For dinner we were lazy and stayed at the bar restaurant at the hotel since the nice restaurant was closed.  We had low key food.  M had a cheese plate and wine and I had a delicious hot dog.  Go figure that New Mexico could make good hot dogs.

New Mexico Day 1

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I am finally writing about our New Mexico vacation.  As I usually do if I write about stuff in the past I post date the blog entry so i know when everything actually happened.

Today was our first day of M and I’s New Mexico vacation.  In August we planned going away and after throwing around over a dozen North American cities we both thought lets go to Santa Fe.  Leaving on September 11 was not our original plan but I was actually glad to get out of New York City on this day.

We had a really early flight out of LGA.  M cashed in some American Airlines points she has been wanting to use on a vacation and got us free tickets for this trip.  The kicker was we even got a first class upgrade going to New Mexico.  We had to transfer in Chicago but it wasn’t too bad.

We got to Albuquerque a little before noon.  After we picked up the rental car (we opted for a small SUV) we headed out to our hotel outside of Albuquerque.  We were hungry so we stopped off in down town Albuquerque to try a cafe that M’s guide book suggested.  We didn’t notice until we were out of the car that it was closed on Sunday:(  We were then off to the hotel.

We were staying at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa outside of Albuquerque for the first 3 nights.  Our room wasn’t ready when we got there so we hit up the hotel bar for some lunch.  I had some fantastic flat bread with blue cheese and other stuff.  It was good.

Once we dropped our stuff off at the room and hit up the pool.  It was really cool.  We got back to the room to find a complimentary bottle of wine and cheese plate.  I was very impressed with American Express travel’s Fine Hotel & Resorts for this.  I never booked anything through them before but Joe recommended using them since I had a card already.

After snacking we had dinner at the hotel’s regular restaurant.  It was good.

We had a long day but it was a really good start to the vacation.

The Next Vacation

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M and I have been putting off dealing with planning our next vacation since we have a lot going on planning a wedding, so we were glad to take some time today and figure out when and were we want to goto next.

After discussing Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Arizona, Grand Canyon, and a few other places we opted to go with Santa Fe. We wanted somewhere a bit warm, with some history and also were we could do outdoor stuff. M thought New Mexico and off we went to research. This winter Joe was giving me a hard time for never using American Express Travel even though I have had a card with them for years and my fee pays for some nice perks. We decided to give them another try since they really helped with our cruise planning we booked for January 2012.

We ended up booking 2 resorts. One is a Hyatt that was one of the best rated resorts. It has horse back riding and other cool outdoor activities we wanted. We are going to spend 3 nights there unwinding and then going to a Hilton resort nearer to downtown so we can sight see, but also relax since it is a resort.

We are both pretty excited for the vacation and with all the deadlines for me at work this trip can’t come fast enough.

DC Trip

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Even though it was only a few days after we got back from our European vacation Friday we were off to DC for the weekend. M had a baby shower for her cousin and I thought it would be a good weekend getaway even if I was just going to hang out somewhere during the shower.

Friday night we took the train down and went to a nice Italian restaurant near the hotel we were staying at.

Saturday we meet up with M’s friends Katie and Kevin for brunch. It was only the second time I had met them we had a great time. After brunch walking back to the hotel we ran into M’s friend Mary Beth. What was so funny was we were having dinner with her that night but stumbling upon her was unexpected. We talked a bit and then hung out at the hotel. it was a fantastic day and we found some couches out in the shade on the Hotel property. We just read, and did some research on my iPad. I am thinking M may need her own iPad after seeing how much she wanted to use mine for browsing. We then meet up with Mary Beth again for dinner. We had a fun time at dinner.

This morning M went to the shower after we had breakfast at the hotel. I hung out at the hotel a bit before heading to Union Station to kill time till our train home. I sat at Starbucks using the free wifi a bit then walked around, then had lunch at Uno’s in Union Station.

The return trip since the price wasn’t much more we opted for the Acela Express vs the regular Amtrak. It saved some time and I always like the Acela. I am a fan of cool trains.

It was a short trip but we had a good time. We both really enjoy DC and it is also really nice that M has tons of friends who live there.